Christians don't seem to want to give me a real answer to this question--?

Some of them are only pro-life when it's convenient, remember?

Like with Fouro33 down there, when they have to justify something, they compare living beings to cancer-- even the infants! Hey, Fouro, were the infants and suckling newborns enemies of Israel as well? But I see what you mean-- all the babies and animals of Afghanistan were chuckling with glee at our loss too! I remember thinking, "I hope US soldiers kill every infant, suckling, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey in that god forsaken nation."

Yeah...

You're not interested in the reasons for anything Christians do. You just want an audience to posture in front of and spew out your anger at God. You don't get this angry at something you don't believe in. You not only believe in Him, you feel rejected by Him, if He did strike you dead at least you'd know He was paying attention to you. Why don't you come down off the soapbox and just have a talk with Him? Christ is waiting for you to make that move, you can have what Christians have if you want it. You are worth that sacrifice He made. God bless you.

Ok, this was in the old testiment were the jews had to keep themselves(ordered by God) pure. Before christ fuffiled the jewish law this had to be done. The Jews had to be kept pure from their enimies until the time of christ. The sons of Amalek were evil and God destroying pagans that were set to destroy the jews. God had been the protecter of his people but often times because of the disobedience of the jews because they mixed with the many tribes suffered consequences.

I often times get confused myself, but God does not destroy people just for the sake of genocide. If you read the flood in noahs time, people consider that to be genoside but God saved Noah and his family because their hearts were not evil but pure before God. The people who were destroyed were given chances upon chances to believe God and repent but because of the wickedness of their hearts God who is o patient like he did probably warn the people of Amalek knew that they would not turn their hearts.

You have to understand that the Jews have been chosen and though things are silent in Isreal they still have the covenant kept between God and Abraham that he would protect his people.

He condemn Amalek who oppressed Israel.

Deu 25:17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;

Deu 25:18 How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.

Amalek attacked Israel from behind where the weakest were. The old and frail. They were going to destroy Israel while they were tired from their long march. This was evil in GOD's eye even more evil then Egypt who forced the people into slavery and to stop them from growing as a nation killed all the male children.

So GOD destroyed the whole nation of Amalek as he destroyed the whole nation of Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness. As he will destroy the wickedness of all those who forget GOD.

Psa 94:23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.

Pro 21:12 The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.

Probably, the reason you don't get an answer is you don't like the ones you get. You have judged the answers before you get them. That seems to put some folks off a bit.

Amalek was a leader of a group of people. All of these people (including the Jews) are Palestinian. True genocide would have involved wiping themselves out.

God commanded the Jews to wipe out a group that posed a mortal threat to the Jewish people. We still do that today. We call it war. So did they.

My Bible (NKJ) says this:

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I will PUNISH AMALEK FOR WHAT HE DID TO ISRAEL, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt."

1 Sam.15:2

Then, in verses 9-11 it says "But Saul and the people spared oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were UNWILLING to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 'I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for HE HAS TURNED HIS BACK FROM FOLLOWING ME AND HAS NOT PERFORMED MY COMMANDMENTS.' And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night."

vs18-"Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go, and utterly DESTROY THE SINNERS, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.

Why then did you not OBEY the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD?"

The Lord wanted them wiped out, because they were evil, and Saul failed to do this, because he listened to the people, instead of the Lord. So, the Amalekites were evil and did evil things. They were not innocent and they had to be totally wiped out, so they wouldn't be a thorn in the side of Israel, but it wasn't done. These were enemies of Israel. God had reasons for what He wanted done.

Edit: Please allow me to add one more thing. Those infants and children who were killed, would have grown up to be evil, just like the adult Amalekites. Instead, they were killed. Where do children and infants go when they die (regardless of their parent's choices?) They go to HEAVEN TO BE WITH THE LORD. They are not held accountable. Physical death is not spiritual death. God took those children and infants to Heaven, and the evil adults would be in Hell. Just like if an atheists and their child dies, the atheist would not go to Heaven, but the child would. So, the children DID NOT perish spiritually.

You are angry, because you do not understand the ways of God. Evil came into this world because MAN DISOBEYED GOD. He chose to follow satan instead. God never intended for anyone to die, but the wages of SIN IS DEATH. It all goes back to the Garden of Eden, when sin entered the world. Not by God, but by satan and man.

God is a vengeful God. He made the world and can shape or destroy it to his liking. If seems that those people that have never actually read the Bible or understand it are the only ones that see "holes" in it or think it "contradicts" itself, not you I am sure.

I'm about to get trolled to death for this, but I don't believe that God really said that. I don't believe God ever condones such things. Yes, that contradicts the Bible. Yes, that means I disagree with what the Bible says here. I believe the Jews decided to kill them, and used God as arbitrary justification and to garner support. Still common practice. Dubya anyone?

For tater, I want you to recognize that people expect those things from Satan. It defines him. God is commonly viewed as loving and merciful, hence the question.

For fouro33, I'd like to propose the idea of a merciful, loving God who forgives, not kills those who sin.

You don't seem to have a problem with the god of the unbelievers, Satan, commanding genocide, homocide, and suicide every second of everyday, but you have a problem with passages in the bible from thousands of years ago about God who you obviously know nothing about. You really don't want any real answers, you just want someone to agree with your way of thinking about God and see things your way. I am sure you will get a lot of answers from others who are lost like yourself that will please you.

This question leads to a very deep question about the rightness and justice of God. I have so much more to learn on this subject, but at this point in my life, I believe in the justice and righteousness of God. There's so much I want to say, but I know it would be too long. As I learn and study, I enjoy sharing it. If you want a link I can send one. It's even hard for me to grasp it fully.

As I continue to research and read -- and find answers I may not want to find -- I then have to wrestle with the spiritual and the flesh. It is a powerful journey.

Very simply ... if the Amalekites weren't destroyed ... they would have eventually destroyed the Israelites ... and if that happened ... Jesus Christ, the Messiah ... would never have been born ... and God's plan for our redemption would have been frustrated.

The message is simple: God reigns supreme. Death is the universal penalty for sin. All have sinned, so all are subject to death.

The rules are the same for everyone. Get over it.