There are a few passages in the Bible that have been known to spur on a crisis of faith. Or have served as leverage for atheists to try to defame God’s character. One of the most commonly used stories is when God commanded the Israelites to wipe out the Amalekites—seemingly women and children included.
Although the Amalekites certainly had major faults, it does seem interesting how sometimes God seems to have mercy on nations such as Nineveh. But then he commands other nations to be eradicated. Is he being unfair? Or is there more than what meets the eye? Let’s explore one of the most controversial passages in the Bible.
Who Were the Amalekites?
Before we can investigate why God commanded the Israelites to wipe out the Amalekites in the Bible, we have first to understand their history.
Amalek is a descendant of Esau. Esau formed the nation known as the Edomites, and Amalek formed the nation known as the Amalekites.
Now, although Israel had developed several enemies throughout its history (most of whom had names that ended in -ite), there seems to be a pretty vehement anger that burns against the Amalekites. We will cover in the next section what they did to earth God’s wrath.
They settled in the Negev desert and operated as a nomadic tribe for most of their history.
They did have kings to rule over them, as did many other nations who surrounded Israel at the time.
Unfortunately, we don’t know a ton about their practices. We can assume they were polytheistic, like other surrounding nations of the time. We also know that many Canaanite nations included child sacrifice in their religious duties, so we can’t entirely rule that out of the equation.
We also know that other nations did spawn out of the Amalekites. Haman the Agagite, for instance, is a descendant of these people. Agagites were either offshoot of the Amalekites or another name for them. We know this because Saul neglects to kill the Amalekite king, Agag, and Samuel later kills Agag.
So now we have a cursory overview of the Amalekites, just what they did to earn God’s wrath.
What Did the Amalekites Do to Earn God’s Wrath?
The Amalekites plagued Israel throughout its history, often starting fights with them without even being provoked by Israel.
But one instance in particular made God remember their evil deeds forever.
The Israelites had just gotten out of Egypt. They’d endured 400 years of terrible slavery, and God had ushered them to safety across the Red Sea. Surrounding nations had learned about the ten plagues God had unleashed upon Egypt and had known to keep their distance.
But not the Amalekites.
They decided to attack Israel unprovoked. They were going after the most vulnerable who were traveling with the group.
God had the Israelites fight back, and the Amalekites retreated into the desert. But the wrong had already been committed. Despite knowing the power of Yahweh and staying back—or better yet, choosing to make a treaty with the Israelite people in the name of peace—they puffed up with pride and tried to pick off the Israelites.
So, during King Saul’s reign, God commanded the king to wipe out the Amalekites—including all the remaining inhabitants, the land, and even the animals. Saul didn’t quite follow through with the command.
He preserved the king and a few animals he supposedly would “sacrifice.” So, the Amalekites lived on and continued to plague Israel throughout their history.
But this still brings up the question: if Saul had gone through with the command completely, was it okay for God to condone innocent people in the scenario, such as women and children?
Why Did God Command the Israelites to Kill All of the Amalekites?
Is there any way we can justify God allowing innocent people (and animals) to be wiped out? Although we can’t find easy answers to this question, a peek into Norman L. Geisler’s response to this topic when interviewed by Lee Strobel can at least open our minds to a few possibilities. Here are some of Geilser’s points, as recorded in the updated and expanded edition of Strobel’s book The Case for Faith:
First, women and children are often given time to flee before battle. Part of why Jericho is so tragic is the Israelites had marched around the city for days. They’d known about what God had done to other nations—Rahab’s message to the spies confirms that they’d heard about Egypt. So, anyone still in the city had chosen to stay after plenty of warning. In the same way, the Amalekites would have had a warning about Israel’s arrival. There would’ve been messengers and spies telling people to leave. We can hope women and children escaped, as many would in this battle.
Second, 400 years to repent. Something often mentioned about the Amalekites (and inhabitants of Jericho) is that they had hundreds of years to repent of evil deeds. We see this idea in Scripture when God tells Abraham that the reason there will be four generations in Egypt before the Israelites return to Canaan is that “the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” (Genesis 15:16). God gave the Amorites, and the other Canaanite nations, time to turn back before he brought judgment. The Amalekites had chance after chance to repent—including after they had initially attacked Israel in battle. Instead, they chose to continue to sin. Although God is merciful, his wrath eventually spills over when so many injustices have been committed. We saw in the case of Nineveh—they repented when Jonah spoke to them, and generations later, they sin again and are judged for it. If the Amalekites had repented, God would’ve shown them mercy.
Third, the nation of Amalek was incredibly corrupt. Like Nineveh, it had fallen into every depravity known to man. Records of the Canaanite nations mention every kind of strange sexual sin (including temple prostitution), child sacrifice, slavery, and other appalling behavior. We get a sense of how brutal the Amalekites were from the fact they attacked the Israelites en route to Canaan: if they were willing to attack a vulnerable nation unprovoked, who knew what happened within its territory?
Finally, the age of accountability. There’s a heavily debated concept in Christian circles known as the age of accountability. The belief is that children (often aged 0-12) are not able to have a strong enough knowledge of God to make an informed decision about following him or not. So, if they are taken too young, they can be in the presence of God in heaven. This argument is also used for those with intellectual disabilities. If this is, in fact, something that exists, then any children who had perished that day would’ve been ushered into the presence of God. Although this doesn’t downplay the tragedy, it gives us peace to know they didn’t experience eternal torment.
None of these answers may provide complete closure—again, we know so little about this nation. However, we do know that God is tender-hearted and full of mercy. He will not strike out against a nation unless they have committed heinous acts that his wrath spills over. We have to assume this happened in the case of the Amalekites.
What Can We Learn from The Story of the Amalekites?
So, when faced with one of the most difficult events in the Bible, what can we take away from God allowing the Israelites to wipe out people?
First, we need to remember God’s mercy amid his wrath. There have been so many times when God has withheld his wrath from other nations and us. Although we do remember the acts of wrath—because they show his incredible power—we often can forget the times of mercy.
Second, we can’t always answer complex questions with simple answers. We know that God is sovereign. He technically has a right to do whatever he wishes. We also know that God is good, so whatever he does will be good. That said, it doesn’t downplay the grief that comes when we know a whole nation was on the end of incredible wrath. No matter how evil the people were, it certainly sobers us to remember that our sins can cause effects like this.
Finally, never attack someone unprovoked (and always repent if you do). The shady nature of the Amalekites’ fighting tactics and their inability to repent put them in this mess in the first place. God values repentance. And when we withhold it from others, we risk consequences.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Vipul Mayank
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
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