Twenty-five years earlier, God said to Saul, “I want you to kill every Amalekite” (1 Samuel 15). Why? The Amalekites were a constant problem for the people of Israel. As the Israelites made their way to the Promised Land, the Amalekites would attack the back of the pack - where the older folks, mothers with babies, and the sick and feeble would walk. Therefore, because they showed no mercy, God declared to Moses that he would war against the Amalekites from generation to generation (Exodus 17).

In 1 Samuel, God reiterated his charge against the Amalekites when he told Saul to destroy them - every man, woman, child, and all that they owned. Saul dutifully led the Israelite army in war against the Amalekites. When the battle was over, he said to Samuel, “Blessed be the Lord. We have obeyed what the Lord told us to do. We have been victorious over the Amalekites.”

“If that’s true,” said Samuel, “what’s the bleating I hear in my ear?”

“Oh,” said Saul, “we saved a few of the sheep to sacrifice to the Lord.”

“Who’s that?” Samuel asked.

“Him? Oh, that’s Agag, king of the Amalekites,” Saul answered. “I brought him back here as a trophy.”

Samuel then said to Saul, “Because you have not obeyed the Lord, the kingdom has been taken from you. You have lost your authority, opportunity, and ministry. You were supposed to kill every Amalekite, but because you compromised, because you did things your way, you’re in trouble.”

At the end of Saul’s life, who finally did him in? Ironically, it was an Amalekite.