As the children of Israel were on their way to the good land to accomplish God’s purpose, Amalek and his people came to fight them right when they were tired and weary (see Exo. 17). Throughout the Old Testament there have been many battles between Israel and Amalek, and God commanded that they would be exterminated.
Amalek is a type of the flesh; as soon as we want to fulfill God’s purpose, the flesh rises up and attacks us, bothers us, and does its best to hinder us in our going on with the Lord. The flesh is nothing else but the totality of the living out and expression of the old man, whether good or bad.
The flesh is the camp of God’s enemy and the largest base of his work, and the flesh takes the lead over sin, the world, and Satan to fight against us. God hates the flesh in the same manner that He hates Satan because Satan today is in our flesh, and God wants to destroy the flesh.
We need to see why is God so angry at the flesh, and what makes the flesh so terrible in His eyes. With Amalek in the Old Testament there was not just a desire to fight against the people of Israel but there was a hand against the throne of God (Exo. 17:16). Our flesh is not just against God but it is in constant rebellion against His throne.
The flesh rebels and is completely against anything that God wants to do. Because the flesh is in enmity against God, we are to deal with the flesh in a thorough way.
King Saul was commanded by God to destroy the Amalekites completely, but he spared the good things that they had so that “he might offer them to God”. This was not just disobedience to God but a rebellion against God. Because of this, Saul lost his kingship, and at the end of his life when he was about to die, an Amalekite helped him to do so.
However, in Exodus 17-18, after Amalek was thoroughly dealt with, the kingdom of God came in. May we be one with the Lord to deal with the flesh in a thorough way so that the Lord’s kingdom would come in.
The Flesh is the Largest Base of Satan’s Work and is in Rebellion Against God
From Gal. 5:19-21 and Exo. 17 we can see that the flesh is the camp of God’s enemy and the largest base for his work. In a sense, the flesh even takes the lead over sin, the world, and Satan, to fight against us; the flesh is the first among our enemies, always hindering us and attacking us as we are on our way to fulfill God’s purpose (Rom. 8:3).
The flesh is the base: here sin operates, the world works, and Satan moves. Satan lives in the flesh, sin dwells in our flesh, and the world has a way in us through the flesh. All the work of Satan in man is accomplished by means of the flesh.
Because Satan dwells in our flesh, God hates the flesh as much as He hates Satan, and He wants to destroy the flesh as much as He wants to destroy Satan (see Exo. 17:16; Deut. 25:17-19; 1 Sam. 15:2-3). When in our experience we put the flesh to death, the world cannot hold us, sin cannot operate in us, and Satan is powerless to work on us (see Gal. 5:24; Rom. 8:13).
The purpose of Amalek and his people attacking the children of Israel was to frustrate them from entering the good land; the purpose of Satan’s stirring our flesh to fight against us is to keep us from entering into the full enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as our good land (Deut. 8:7).
May the Lord give us His feeling of hate toward the flesh so that we may see what the totality of our fallen human being is. When God shows us the flesh the way He sees it, we will repent of our natural kindness, patience, and humility, realizing we have a lot of cultural refinement, self-effort, politeness, and etiquette, yet Christ does not live in us. We will then exclaim, Lord, we agree with You: exterminate all the living out of the old man with its expressions!
Amalek didn’t just fight against God’s people; Amalek tried to overthrow God’s throne, having a hand against God and His people. The flesh is in rebellion against God and against His throne. Our flesh is an enemy of God’s authority and is in rebellion against God’s governmental administration.
The flesh doesn’t just commit sins or wrongdoings; the flesh is against God and is in rebellion against His governmental administration. Since the flesh is a hand against the administration of God, it is in rebellion against the economy of God’s administration. Whatever God does governmentally, the flesh opposes.
The flesh does not agree with the leading brothers – simply because God appointed them. The flesh does not agree with “one church in each locality” – simply because the flesh is in rebellion against God. The good flesh of some brothers may rise up to cause them to think they are “elders”; according to God’s administration, the overseers are manifested by the Holy Spirit and the elders are appointed by the apostles, but the flesh rises up against this.
Whenever there’s an adjustment or a word of warning, the flesh rises up against God. Whenever the Lord wants to do something or speaks something, the flesh rises up. We need to agree with the Lord that the flesh would be radically dealt with so that the Lord’s kingdom may come in!
Lord Jesus, expose Your enemy in the flesh. Expose the camp of Your enemy in our flesh and give us Your feeling toward the flesh. Oh Lord, may we hate the flesh the way You hate it, and may we cooperate with You to radically deal with the flesh so that Your kingdom would come in. Lord, in our flesh there’s only rebellion against God, but in our spirit we are one with You to put the flesh to death and live one spirit with You for the building up of Your church and the bringing in of Your kingdom!
Radically Dealing with the Flesh for the Coming in of the Kingdom of God
King Saul was commanded by God to thoroughly deal with Amalek, but he spared the best of their cattle and things, and he spared their king; because of this, Saul lost his kingship (see 1 Sam. 15:2-3, 9, 14-15, 22-23).
God commanded Saul to exterminate the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they were travelling toward the good land, but Saul had a better idea: he kept the good things belonging to the Amalekites so that “he might offer them to God”. This was not merely a disobedience of God’s commandment but an open rebellion; God desires not sacrifice but obedience.
Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft in His eyes. Sparing the “good flesh” and offering it to God is hateful to Him because such a practice involves demons and idols of vanity. Sparing our good flesh and using fleshly skills and abilities to “work for God” is rebellion against God.
Many believers treasure “the good aspects” of their natural life and their natural virtues, and they would cooperate with God to deal with their bad temper but consider the good parts of their flesh as being OK and even useful to God. We are charged by God to destroy the flesh in both the good and the evil aspects, but we may treasure the choice parts of our natural being.
Saul lost his kingship because of his failure to deal thoroughly with Amalek, and we will also lose our kingship if we don’t utterly destroy our flesh (see 1 Sam. 15:22-23, 26, 28; Rev. 5:10; 1 Pet. 2:9). If we want to be co-kings with Christ and overcomers for the Lord, we need to agree that the totality of the living out of our old man must be terminated.
When Amalek was dealt with, the kingdom of God came in (Exo. 18:1-26); when we thoroughly deal with the flesh, the kingdom of God will come in. The kingdom of God is God’s authority by which all things are subject to God (Mark 1:15; John 3:3, 5; Rev. 11:15; 12:10; Dan. 2:44). Because the flesh is in rebellion against God’s throne and is versus the kingship, the flesh must be dealt with before the kingdom of God can come in (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Eph. 5:5).
It is good to cooperate with the Lord to completely deal with and destroy the flesh so that we may live under God’s rule in His kingdom, enjoying the Son of His love and giving the Lord the ground to touch the core of rebellion in our being for the advancement of His kingdom.
If we follow the Lord’s word to utterly destroy the flesh, we will have the kingship and we will be in God’s kingdom (Gal. 5:19-21; 2 Pet. 1:5-11).
Hallelujah, there’s much hope for us: if we read the New Testament we see how Apostle Paul and Apostle John were delivered from their flesh. Praise the Lord, He is working on us and within us, and we can cooperate with Him for the putting of the flesh to death!
Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with Your operating on us and within us to utterly destroy and eradicate the flesh. Lord, we don’t want to lose our kingship because we didn’t thoroughly deal with the flesh in our lifetime. We choose not to be in the flesh but live in our mingled spirit one with You. Lord, may Your kingdom come in our being for the building up of the church! We give You the permission to touch the core of rebellion in our being so that You may have a way to advance in us and bring Your kingdom in us in full!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus, msg. 46, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 8 / msg 8, The Glorious Triumph of Jehovah as a Man of War and the Continual War with Amalek.
- Further reading on this topic: recommending Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 11 (by Witness Lee).
- Hymns on this topic:
# In the flesh I need no effort to express / Marks of Adam’s nature and its sinfulness; / In the spirit I need not to strive or strain, / I can live as He is and in spirit reign. (Hymns #593)
# Now I know myself in part, / And confess my helplessness; / All my temperament is odd, / All my life corrupted is. / Subtle self I cannot trust, / Nor to fleshly strength can cling; / All my trust and all my hope / Is in Jesus Christ my King. (Hymns #412)
# God’s children, we’re born to be kings with His Son, / And we need to be trained that we may overcome / And to know how to rule in His kingdom as kings, / That His kingship thru us be expressed o’er all things. (Hymns #947)
Amalek was the first enemy encountered by the children of Israel on the way to the good land (Deut. 25:17-18; 1 Sam. 15:2). This indicates that our flesh is the first among all our enemies. The flesh, sin, the world, and Satan are all related, but the most prominent among them in fighting against the believers is the flesh (Gal. 5:17). When in our experience the flesh is put to death (Gal. 5:24; Rom. 8:13), the world cannot hold us, sin cannot operate in us, and Satan is powerless to work on us. Amalek’s purpose in attacking Israel was to frustrate them from entering the good land. Likewise, Satan’s aim in stirring up the flesh to fight against us is to keep us from entering into the full enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as our good land (see footnote 1 on Deut. 8:7). (Exo. 17:8, footnote 2)