REVIVING IDEOLOGY OF AMALEK
Let us restore God’s complete throne and defeat the evil ideology of Amalek once and for all...
The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, travelling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. …
The LORD answered Moses, ‘Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.’ So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. …
The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.’ So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.’ Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. He said, ‘Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the LORD, the LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.’ EXODUS 17.
The first part of the passage quoted from Exodus Ch.17 is a well-known account of Moses, in which he struck the rock as God instructed, and water came out of it. The grumbling Israelites, who had an intrinsic distrust of God, represent our hearts. Today I would like to focus on the latter part of the passage, ‘Amalek’, which means “warlike”. This account is the first fight for Israel. There is no record of fighting having occurred while the Israelites were still in Egypt. However, when the Israelites received their water from the rock, i.e., God, and now possessed a source of water, a war between flesh and spirit commenced. The possession of water or a well in the wilderness was critical. Thus, all of a sudden Amalek appeared on the scene to wage a war against Israel, presumably over the water. Deuteronomy 25:17-18 tells how craftly and mercilessly Amalekites attacked Israel shortly after she found a new source of water:
Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.
It is said that there are seven levels of interpretation of each passage in the Bible. At a deeper level of meaning, the account of Amalek speaks of the two natures of man; flesh and spirit. In the Bible, ‘water’ (rivers of living water) represents the Spirit. Once Israel was delivered from slavery in Egypt and received their water from the rock, a war against flesh (Amalek) started as Paul taught:
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want (Ga.5:17)
and will last until flesh is doomed. So, for man, who consists this dual nature, our conflict is with ourselves.
The account of how Moses, Joshua and Hur fought the battle with all three participating, conveys a message that we will win a spiritual conflict only when we give it to the Lord to fight for us. Moses had to continue to hold up ‘the staff of God’ in his hands to win. ‘Aaron’, representing the priesthood, prayer and ‘Hur’, which means “light” and represents the Holy Spirit, supported Moses. Joshua fought against Amalekites with ‘the sword’, which symbolises ‘the Word of God’. Thus, Israel overcame the Amalekites at that time but the war between the Amalekites and Israel was not just a one-off occurrence. Since then, offsprings of Amalek continued to challenge Israel to destroy her generation to generation until the days of Esther, when God’s promise to ‘blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven’ was fulfilled.
The following excerpts from the article: ‘Amalek Behind Riots, Culture War Against America’, written by Rabbi Chananya Weissman explain what is behind the culture war against the west, by comparing the ideology of the Torah and the ideology of Amalek, who is waging a war against it.
He claims:
Amalek has successfully neutralized Europe, is in the advanced stages of conquering America without planes and tanks, and is using the same tactics to weaken Israel from within more than all its external enemies have collectively managed since the state was declared. …They erode the foundations of a moral society, using the system to destroy itself,
and he concludes:
The Torah’s commandments are to be clearly explained and learned by all, never to be added to or taken away from. …Therefore, it is our responsibility to spread true enlightenment to the masses, with genuine pride, and light a spark in the souls of those who are lured by Amalek’s empty slogans and buzzwords. Let us restore God’s complete throne and defeat the evil ideology of Amalek once and for all.
☆Amalek(A): It is morally wrong to defend your property when someone seeks to take it from you or destroy it.
Torah(T): A person does not stand idly by while someone steals his possessions. A poor person is like a dead person; one should not remain passive in the face of those who seek to destroy his home and livelihood.
☆A: It was the practice of kings to put to death the entire families of those who rebelled against them, and even their political rivals. This practice continues to this day in many parts of the world to tighten the leader’s grip on power. Amalek preaches it as a moral virtue.
T: The Torah repudiates it. Indeed, King David personally supported the descendants of those who had sought his own death.
☆A: People who are “frustrated” or “angry” may express their emotions however they see fit, especially if they consider themselves victims of society in some way. Those who challenge such behavior are insensitive, hateful, and their mere speech can even be considered an act of aggression and violence. Hence, acts of actual violence against such people are self-defense, resistance against aggression, and entirely legitimate.
T: Anger is the lowest of human traits …The only acceptable form of anger is sincere objection toward the desecration of God’s name …Anger is never a justification to harm a person or his property …A Godly person works on himself to eliminate anger …he does not wallow in perpetual victimization and demand society to coddle him.
☆A: You have to destroy society to rebuild it.
T: A Godly person seeks only to build and improve society, beginning with building and improving himself, then by contributing to society and helping others.
☆A: Whatever is the moral standard of today will be considered primitive tomorrow … Morality is determined by social groupthink.
T: Morality is determined only by God and never changes. Parents are to be honored even if they are severely flawed, because they are our direct link to our origins, which we cherish.