No doubt, readers of this blog are familiar with the biblical account of King Saul being told by God via the prophet Samuel to kill all the Amalekites and their livestock (I Samuel 15). Saul refused to do so, and he spared the Amalekite king and much of the livestock. The Amalekite king, named Agag, was finally killed by the prophet Samuel (I Samuel 15:32-33). However, since King Saul spared King Agag, it is entirely possible that Saul either spared not just Agag but other members of the Amalekite royal house or allowed them to escape in the lackadaisical manner in which he acted on God’s commandment. A later event in the Bible indicates that this is exactly what happened.
In the book of Esther, the houses of Saul and Agag interact again. Mordechai and Esther were relatives and they were both descended from the tribe of Benjamin. What is fascinating is that they were descended from Kish, the father of King Saul of Israel, who spared Agag (Compare Esther 2:4-6 and I Samuel 9:1). Haman, the advisor to the king of Persia who wanted to kill the Jews, is called an “Agagite” in Esther 3:1. Harper’s Bible Dictionary (see “Haman,” p. 369) notes the family connections between Saul and Agag on one hand, and Mordechai and Haman centuries later. Saul and Agag lived in the 11th century BC while Mordechai and Haman lived as enemies in the 5th century BC. Is it not likely that Haman had a deep grudge against the Jews because one of Mordechai’s ancestors (the Benjaminite king Saul) had killed many Amalekites and his own ancestor, King Agag?
This means that Saul’s failure to thoroughly wipe out the house of King Agag of Amalek almost resulted in the extermination of the Jews approximately six centuries later when a descendant of Agag convinced the Persian King to issue a proclamation against the lives of the Jews in the Persian Empire. While God’s intervention resulted in the tables being turned in such a way that the Jews were delivered and Haman and his ten sons were hanged on the gallows they had built to hang Mordechai (Esther 7:10, 9:13-14), this entire episode would not have occurred if King Saul had zealously carried out God’s instructions in the 11th century BC. This is a classic example of things going wrong many centuries into the future when God’s laws are not initially obeyed.
Let’s consider the possibility that this ancient enmity may be continuing today. While the book of Esther relates that Haman and his ten sons were slain, it says nothing about any death sentence being pronounced upon Haman’s daughters, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins, etc. This allows for Haman to have had many descendants remaining alive throughout the following millennia and into the modern era. Where might they be? They lived in ancient Persia, and that ancient region is now called Iran. Many Jews returned to the ancient Promised Land and founded a Jewish state in 1948. The modern Jewish nation is now being threatened by the radical leaders of modern Iran. Just as Haman the Agagite was a close advisor to the ancient Persian king, might there be modern “Agagites” near the seat of power in the modern nation of Iran contributing to the rabid anti-Jewish attitudes at the Iranian government? The modern Iranian leaders want to “wipe Israel off the map,” and are arming Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza to join them in trying to do exactly that! The spirit of Haman apparently lives on in the modern leadership of Iran, which wants to exterminate the Jews, as did Haman long ago.
It goes even deeper than described above. The modern leaders of Iran call the Israelis/Jews “the little Satan,” but they call the USA “the big Satan.” In other words, their hatred is directed against both the modern house of Judah and the modern house of Israel (those who have read my article about “The USA in Prophecy” at my home page understand that the USA is the leading nation of the modern house of Israel–descended from the Israelite tribe of Manasseh–one of the leading tribes of ten tribes of Israel). Ancient king Saul ruled over not just the Jews, but also all the other tribes of the ancient Israelites. Iran, in hating the Israelis, the USA and even other western nations in Europe, is reprising the role of ancient King Agag, who fought all the Israelite tribes in ancient times. Might history be repeating itself more than we realize?
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