Once the Israelites left Egypt, a variety of different forces opposed them. Their own disbelief would be the most powerful by far, but a host of literal enemies also stood in their way.
The very first recorded battle happens not long after the waters of Massah and Meribah in a place called Rephidim against a group of people known as the Amalekites. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve heard about their descendant before. According to (Genesis 36:12), Amalek the grandson of Esau.
Esau’s disagreement with Jacob has been well-documented in Scripture, but the last time we saw these two men together, they had put aside their differences and seemed to reconcile (Genesis 33). Now though, true to their original character, the descendants “struggled” with each other.
Moses later records that this action was deliberate. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 states that Amalek attacked the rearguard of Israel when they were “tired and weary,” hoping to cut them off. More importantly, they “didn’t fear God”—evidently because of their opposition to His people. When the time came, Israel was to wipe them out.
We can only guess as to the reasons why Amalek attacked the Israelites. The most obvious (and probably correct) reason was that Amalek inherited the animosity from his grandparents, even though those people existed 400 years earlier. Talk about holding a grudge.
It’s also likely that since they were familiar with Jacob, they knew about Israel’s true intent, which was to conquer the land of Canaan in line with God’s promises. To set themselves up as an obstacle in that pursuit is to fight against God. To attack them from the rear where they were most vulnerable was a desperate and cowardly attack.
We’re going to see a lot of the Amalekites in the future. Despite God’s command to completely destroy the people, they still existed during the time of the Judges (Judges 6:33) and David (2 Samuel 1:1). Saul was famously tasked with annihilating them, but failed to do so because he thought his opinions trumped God’s (1 Samuel 15).
That’s one of the hallmarks of Scripture, though: Ancient enemies that have personal grudges against God and His people that reappear when they are not properly handled. It’s a metaphor for our own spiritual situation and teaches us what could happen when we don’t remove the Amalekites from our life.
