First Samuel 15 is a record of Saul's disobedience in his conquest of the Amalekites. He conquered the enemy, yet he was altogether disobedient to God. Here Saul was absolutely, thoroughly exposed, and then he was given up by God and also by Samuel. This chapter contains an important lesson for us today.
In typology the Amalekites signify the flesh—the fallen man (Exo. 17:8-16; Gen. 6:3a; Rom. 3:20a). The divine revelation in the Bible shows us that God did not create the flesh. God created a man. However, man became fallen and eventually became flesh. Genesis 6:3 indicates that because man had become flesh, God could not do anything with him. Romans 3:20a says, "Out of the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before Him." Here "no flesh" means no fleshly man. All men have become flesh. We, the believers in Christ, have been saved, but most of us are still living in the flesh.
In the entire universe, God's real enemy is not Satan but us. As long as we remain in the status of the flesh, we are an enemy to God (Rom. 8:7). Our flesh is altogether one with Satan. Without the flesh, Satan would have no way to fight against God. In the church life all the troubles come from the flesh. The hardest thing for God to deal with is the flesh.
In our daily life we may be either in the spirit or in the flesh. When we exercise our spirit, the vision is clear. But if we remain in the flesh, the vision will become dim. When we are in our spirit, we may regard the church, the elders, and the recovery as wonderful. However, when we are in the flesh, we may be critical of certain elders, or our flesh may be so bothered that we may even consider leaving the recovery. Whenever we realize that we are in the flesh, the enemy of God and the source of troubles in the church life, we need to pray and ask the Lord to forgive us.