You can turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 28. I should say at the outset, some of what we deal with tonight, I'm not sure of the specific interpretation, so some of this will be tentative. When we get to the section where Saul is dealing with Samuel, we will refer to him as Samuel, and at the end we'll look at the various options. Some believe it was actually Samuel Others believe that it was the devil, various options in terms of what's going on here in 1 Samuel 28.
So I'll just begin reading in verse 1. Remember that verses 1 and 2 go specifically with chapter 27, but I do want to begin reading in verse 1. Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, you assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.
So David said to Achish, surely you know what your servant can do. And Achish said to David, therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever. Now Samuel had died and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.
Then the Philistines gathered together and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.
Then Saul said to his servants, find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, in fact, there is a woman who is a medium at Endor. So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. And he said, please conduct a seance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.
Then the woman said to him, look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life to cause me to die? And Saul swore to her by the Lord saying, as the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing. Then the woman said, whom shall I bring up for you?
And he said, bring up Samuel for me. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.
And the king said to her, do not be afraid. What did you see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth. So he said to her, what is his form?
And she said, an old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down. Now Samuel said to Saul, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? And Saul answered, I am deeply distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams.
Therefore I have called you that you may reveal to me what I should do. Then Samuel said, so why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? And the Lord has done for himself as he spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek.
Therefore, the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground. and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night.
And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled, and said to him, look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hands and heeded the words which you spoke to me. Now therefore, please, heed also the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you. and eat that you may have strength when you go on your way." But he refused and said, I will not eat. So his servants together with the woman urged him and he heeded their voice. Then he arose from the ground and sat on the bed.
Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house and she hastened to kill it. And she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread from it. So she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night." Amen.
Introduction and Chronological Context
Well, just a reminder of the chronology. Remember that this section, 28.3 to 25, actually goes just prior to chapter 31. So essentially, the flow of the narrative in chronological order would be 27, 28, 2, and then 29, 1 to 11, and then chapter 30, and then 28, 3 to 25, and then 31. So what we have is 28, 2, David's dilemma, and then this parentheses about Saul, and then David's dilemma is revisited or picked up again in chapter 29.
So in a way, the writer creates a great deal of tension. If we didn't know the story and we read chapters 27 and 28 to 2, we would see that David has gone to Philistia. David is living under the protection of Achish. David is out killing the enemies of Israel, but he reports back to Achish that he's going on raids within Judah itself.
So he has built up a camaraderie. and to respect with Akish. And Akish wants him to be his servant forever. And as we come to chapter 28, we see that Achish then presents David with the next battle. He wanted him to fight with him against Israel.
Of course, David can't do that. And so we're left hanging. What's going to happen to David? Well, that's what chapter 29 then answers.
So we might ask the question, why is 28, 3 to 25, inserted right here, especially if it goes with chapter 31. And the way that we know this is the geography that is mentioned. Notice in 28.4. We see that the Philistines are gathered together and came and encamped at Shunem.
So Saul gathered all Israel together and they encamped at Gilboa. So this is just before the battle as we compare chapter 31 verse 1. The Philistines fought against Israel and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. So Gilboa is the site of the battle.
And what we find with Saul in 3 to 25 is that he is presently there. Look at chapter 29 and verse 1. Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek and the Israelites and camped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. So if you have Gath down here on the map and Gilboa up here, Aphek is just about halfway.
So what you have in 27 is there in Gath In chapter 29, they're in Aphek, and in chapter 31, they're in Gilboa. So 28, 3 to 25, happens on the eve of the battle with the Philistines. Another indicator is in verse 19 of chapter 28. when Samuel says moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. So the chronology is clear.
The question is why 3 to 25 in the midst of David's dilemma? It could perhaps be to indicate that David's dilemma as big and as difficult as it may have been was nothing in comparison with Saul's dilemma. Saul has received no direction whatsoever from the Lord. The king of Israel has no recourse to prophet or to priest or to dream.
The king of Israel has been cut off by the God of Israel and now the king of Israel has applied himself to witchcraft in order to get guidance and direction so that he may know how to proceed with the Philistines. So David's dilemma is a difficult one, but Yahweh will indeed deliver him from that. Saul's dilemma is a monstrous one, and there will be no deliverance. In fact, in 1 Chronicles 10, in summarizing Saul's downfall, It points specifically to 1 Samuel 28 and the fact that Saul consulted a medium.
So this is pretty much the fruition of the downfall of Saul. It started with a little bit of defection, a little bit of accommodation, a little bit of taking matters into his own hand, a little bit of paring off the edges here and there, a little bit of disobedience here, all to the point where now he is actually seeking out a witch in order to get guidance so he knows how to proceed against the Philistine threat. So as believers, the dilemmas we may face are certainly big and they're certainly difficult and they're certainly hard to be sure, but we nevertheless face them with God Most High. If you are of Saul, if you are an unbeliever, you still have trials, you still have difficulties, You still have dilemmas in life, but you do not have God.
That, then, is the greatest dilemma of all, trying to live a life without the presence of the Lord God Most High. So that's probably the author's intention. It's almost as if he hangs us at this point where we've got this tension. What's going to happen to David?
And then we shift gears to find out what's going on with Saul.
Overview of Three Considerations
So we're going to treat this section under three considerations. First, the occasion of Saul's decision in verses 3 to 6. Secondly, the request by Saul concerning the medium in verses 7 to 14. And then thirdly, the meeting with Samuel in verses 15 to 25.
Defining Necromancy
A medium is essentially someone who speaks to the dead. Necromancy or a necromancer, somebody that communicates with the dead in order to get wisdom or guidance or help for the living. It seems absolutely paradoxical to me But thank the Lord that he has given us his word rather than these sorts of things.
The Occasion of Saul's Decision
So let's look first at the occasion of Saul's decision. Three things we ought to consider here. First, the death of Samuel. Second, the threat posed by the Philistines.
And third, the desire of Saul. Notice in verse 3, now Samuel had died. He didn't die here. He hasn't died at this particular occasion.
This simply sets the stage for what is to follow in this particular narrative. Samuel died back in chapter 25 at verse 1. This is simply a reminder and it does indicate something as well in terms of the prophetic ministry in Israel. There were still prophets to be sure but no prophet par excellence as Samuel was.
And so all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah in his own city. And then at the end of verse 3, and Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land. You see the wisdom of the author in that one verse he sets the stage for everything we need to know when we get into the rest of the chapter. This one verse contains the information necessary to proceed in the narrative.
Those are the sorts of things you ought to look for in your Bible study. When an author or a narrator gives us a historical context, gives us a setting, gives us a specific referent, that is in order to assist us to understand what the bulk of the narrative is all about. So Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land. So that when we get down to it, when we see Saul seeking a medium that he had put out of the land, we are to conclude that he is in vile rebellion against the word of the living God.
Now the Bible, the Old Testament law, the Torah specifically dealt with this issue of necromancy or mediums or communicating with the dead. Leviticus 19 and verse 31, give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits. Do not seek after them. Do not seek after them to be defiled by them.
I am the Lord your God. Again in chapter 20 in verse 6, and the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits to prostitute himself with them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people. Again in verse 27 in Leviticus chapter 20, a man or a woman who is a medium or who has familiar spirits shall surely be put to death. They shall stone them with stones, their blood shall be upon them.
And then in Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 9 to 14, Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 9 to 14, this indicates is that there shouldn't have been houses or shops where there were mediums or where there were fortune dollars or where there were those who were communicating or attempting to communicate with spirits of those departed. This was a capital crime in Old Covenant Israel. In Deuteronomy 18 at verse 9, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. You need to understand that Canaanites practiced these things.
This was part and parcel of life in Canaan in this situation. He goes on to say, there shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations, the Lord your God drives them out from before you.
You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, For these nations which you will dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you." David Samora says, the very need for such prohibitions is an indication that the problem of necromancy and of religious practices related to the dead was widespread in ancient Canaan. So you see you're an Israelite living in Canaan and you've got Saul's problem. You're not hearing from God.
There's no prophetic word. There's no dream. There's no priest. There's nothing to sort of give you the shot in the arm that you're looking for.
You happen to see your Canaanites go down to the local medium. and they call upon some dead person and then they go home and things seem to go well for them. The Israelite would be tempted to go that route. They are prohibited from doing so. Davis makes this observation.
We must remember that scripture describes such practices not as futile but as pagan. We need to understand when we look at 1st Samuel chapter 28, 3 to 25, something happens there. The woman sees something and so does Saul. Is it legitimately Samuel?
Again, we'll look at those options at the end. But whatever happens, they did see something in this particular situation. So Davis says, we must remember that scripture describes such practices, not as futile, but as pagan. He says Yahweh forbids Israel to use these means, not because they do not work, But because they are wicked, the devil is a real deceiver.
He appears as an angel of light. When persons mess with the occult, sometimes things happen. And this is the point. God doesn't forbid us because they don't work.
It's not the case, don't use that particular device or Don't go to that particular medium or to that particular spiritist because it's vain and empty and it doesn't work. That's not God's point. But it's because they're wicked, they're abominable, they're associated with paganism and with false religion. So the death of Samuel, verse 3, sets the context or the stage for what is to follow.
The idea that Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land is again additional information or necessary information as we move our way through.
The Philistine Threat and Saul's Fear
Now the threat posed by the Philistines, we've already dealt with their location, they're ready, they're gathered for battle with Israel, they're located at Shunem. And when Saul saw this, what happens? He is terrified, he's greatly afraid. This is Saul as we see him in chapter 17 when David comes on the scene.
Remember when Goliath is taunting the armies of Israel. We see Israel greatly afraid and Saul right there with them. He's a lot different than when he first comes on the scene. His claim to fame after he is identified as the would-be king was killing Ammonites until the heat of the day.
Something happened to Saul and it wasn't just that he lost his courage in terms of battle, it was that he lost his relationship with the living God. He didn't have faith in Yahweh. David has faith in Yahweh. David is a servant of the Lord.
And for all David's problems, as we move through the rest of 2 Samuel, and we see David fall into the sin he does with Bathsheba and then with Uriah, Nevertheless, he is a man after God's own heart. He never stops. He never defects. He never apostatizes.
The success of David is measured by his relationship with God. The failure and the decline of Saul is measured by his rejection of the living and true God. So Saul is terrified when he sees what is happening in this instance. Note his desire in verse 6.
When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. So there was no dream. There was no priesthood, there was no prophet. We know why there was no priesthood, because he slaughtered them all.
In chapter 22, there was one surviving priest, the man named Abiathar, and that man is now with David. We know that Saul was no longer subject to the prophetic word. He was cut off according 1st Samuel chapter 15. The Lord God had rejected Saul in that instance because he engaged in rebellion.
Remember that God through Samuel said that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. It was rebellion in chapter 15 and now it has come to fruition as full-blown witchcraft in 1st Samuel chapter 28. The man's decline is truly amazing. The man's decline ought to rise up and point a finger at us and call us to take heed, lest we also fall.
Remember, tracing back Saul's history, the very beginning of the end was in 1 Samuel 13. Samuel said, I will meet you. You wait for me. Samuel was late, and so Saul undertook to offer up sacrifice on his own.
He was not authorized to do so. God, through the prophet, had told him to wait. But Saul had a hankering to worship, and he went ahead and he undertook. We get to 1 Samuel 14, and what does Saul do?
He imposes a fast upon Israel. No doubt, with holy purposes and reasons, I thought, you know, if we fasted and we showed our devotion to God, well, then he would certainly bless us. Well, that didn't work out for Saul. Saul was a sinner against God.
As I said in chapter 15, God tells Saul to go in to destroy Agag and the Amalekites. He spares Agag, he spares the livestock, and this because of his religious devotion. I thought we would use the livestock to offer up sacrifice to the Lord. By the time we get to the end of chapter 16, the spirit of the Lord has departed from Saul.
A distressing spirit has come upon Saul, and he is troubled in heart. David comes on the scene. David is a national hero and a victor. Saul should have been thanking God for sending David to spare their their skin at the Valley of Elah, but instead he's filled with envy and rage and malice and murder.
Saul is a case study in defection and in apostasy, and believers today would do well to take their cue from David rather than from Saul.
Saul's Request Concerning the Medium
So notice that brings us secondly to the request by Saul concerning the medium in verses 7 to 14. In the first place he asks his servants, find me a woman who is a medium that I may go to her and inquire of her. Davis says Yahweh's silence did not silence Saul's terror. hence he wrongly turned to what he had rightly prohibited. I like that statement.
He wrongly turned to what he had rightly prohibited. Remember verse 3. It was as a result of Saul that the mediums and spiritists were put out of Israel. According to the Levitical law, they should have been executed.
So he somewhat complied, he somewhat obeyed, at least they were outside of the land of Israel. But now he is engaging in that which he had prohibited. Davis says he asked his men to locate a woman skilled in necromancy. Perhaps a word from the dead would help him face tomorrow.
And it is intriguing that the servants of Saul knew exactly where to find such a woman in Endor. Now if we go back to our map, this was our map, we have Gath and Philistia here, we have Aphek here, remember they're at Shunem and Mount Gilboa. Endor is about four and a half miles north of that location. So when Saul puts on a disguise in order to go visit this witch at Endor, he has to skirt the Philistine armies as well.
He has to move past them because they're further north than Israel. It's not a lot of distance, but then he has to get around them. in order to go to this witch at Endor. What does that indicate to us? He is a desperate man.
What should that illustrate for us? Men apart from God are desperate men. We need direction, we need guidance, we need help in this world. And that's why Solomon in the Proverbs says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Persons need direction. We have issues. We have problems.
We have dilemmas. And Saul is so spent and so pressed that he's about to face the Philistines in battle and he's terrified, so he is reaching out to the dead in order to find direction for his life. So the servant said, in fact, there is a woman who is a medium at Endor. Now notice the meeting with this medium.
Verse 8, so Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes. It means he took off his royal garments. He doesn't have his robe. He doesn't have all the regalia that would indicate that he's royalty.
He knows that if this woman identifies him, the woman's not going to read his tea leaves. The woman isn't going to be there for him if she identifies that it's, in fact, Saul, because Saul's the reason she has lost her place in Israel. So Saul disguises himself, puts on other clothes, and he went. And two men went with him, and they came to the woman by night." Notice at the end of verse 25, then they rose and went away, that night.
It's interesting, this all happens under the cover of darkness. Later, the prophet Isaiah will say in chapter 8, verses 19 to 22, And when they say to you, seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter, should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." I think it's conspicuous that Saul does this misdeed at night.
The prophet goes on to say they will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry and it shall happen when they are hungry that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God and look upward. Then they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish, and they will be driven into darkness. Van Hoy says this is the same sort of gloom and darkness found in 1st Samuel 28. It is the darkness of the absence of God.
That is Saul's dilemma. And so the author is saying, David's got it rough, but God's going to look after him. Saul has been abandoned by the Lord God Most High. Saul, when he refused God, has brought it to the point where God has now refused him.
He's telling us as readers we need to take heed to this. This ought to terrify us if we ever get to the point where we're happy with a closed Bible or with neglected means of grace. We ought to take our cue from Saul and do just the opposite.
Saul's Oath and the Woman's Fear
Now notice the request put to the medium in verses 9 to 14. Well first he says, please conduct a seance for me. Can you imagine that? The king of Israel.
The typical picture of the kingdom of God on Earth. He is asking this witch at Endor to conduct a seance for him and bring up for me the one I shall name to you. Then the woman said to him, look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Gil rightly suggests that this should have pricked his conscience.
He's Saul. He, of course, knows what he's done. He knows that he operated according to the law of God. He was responsible to put these mediums and spiritists out of the land.
And now she says this, and he's standing there, hardened as can be. She at the end says, why then do you lay a snare for my life to cause me to die? She fears it may be entrapment. They're coming to get their tea leaves read.
They're coming to get some communication with the dead so that she can be then turned in and executed by the state. Now this is absolutely amazing. If you go back for just a moment to chapter 23. Chapter 23.
Remember we saw Saul and the sort of things that he would say that just were like, boy, how could he ever do such a thing? Remember in Keilah, in verse 7, Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, so Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars. Come on, Saul, you can't really believe that you are getting the blessing of God. You are receiving the favor of God.
Later on he pronounces a benediction upon the Ziphites. Notice in chapter 23.21, and Saul said, Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Is he kidding? Does he actually think he can pronounce a benediction?
Go back to 28 and verse 10. This woman expresses her fear that she is going to be executed for being a medium, and Saul has the gall to swear by Yahweh that her life will be preserved. Notice in verse 10, Saul swore to her by the Lord saying, As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing. How bad can this man possibly get?
Vanoy says that Saul blasphemously used the name of the Lord to guarantee the woman that she could violate the law of the Lord with impunity. Davis adds, the reader must not miss the irony. Saul swears the oath by Yahweh, by Yahweh's life, as he seeks help from a source that Yahweh has condemned. I mean, this man is gone, brethren.
There is not a shred of decency left in Saul. And this is the miserable picture of a man who neglects the things of God. I cannot overestimate that, because the reality is it started off small. The first few chapters, when we see Saul, he's a man head and shoulders above all the rest of Israel.
He's from a humble background. Samuel anoints him. Everything is good. He knows how to kill Ammonites.
He looks like he has the ability to lead. He has a courage. He has a bravery. He has a battle-proven ability.
And then, from 13 on, it's just this gradual, horrific decline. If you have ever met or known somebody in the Christian life that has fallen away, ask them, what was it that started it out? I mentioned it before, typically people don't just wake up on a Monday morning and apostatize. They don't wake up on a Monday morning and say, I'm done with Jesus.
I'm done with God, I'm done with the church, I'm done with it all. No, it doesn't typically start that way. I'm sure they're out there, but it's typically those who leave off things, those who neglect things, those who take little steps here and there. Those little steps gradually add up to huge falls.
We need to learn that lesson from this apostate that has been vividly displayed for us so that we can understand what religious defection ends up as.
Samuel Summoned and the Woman's Surprise
Now notice the specific request in verses 11 and 12. The woman said, Whom shall I bring up for you? And he said, Bring up Samuel for me. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice.
And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul. Now something intriguing here is that the woman is surprised. she startled when she sees this literally if you look at the margin in the New King James she will actually will see that in verse 13 in just a moment but notice in verse 12 when the woman saw Samuel she cried out with a loud voice why would she be startled? it may give us a hint or an indication or a suggestion that everything she'd done up to this point was a fake it was a fraud I mean I can't imagine that everybody who sets up a a sign at the front of their house that says fortunes told, and tea leaves read, and dead communicated with. I can't imagine all those persons have special powers.
Maybe they do, but maybe it is the case that they're fakes, and they're charlatans, and they're more than happy to give you a general prediction about life. I see in your future that you're going to continue to breathe, and you're just so consumed with their alertness, and their alacrity, or their astuteness, you pay them their money. This woman was startled when she saw what she saw, which suggests that perhaps she had never successfully engaged in necromancy prior. So nevertheless, she does see something.
And when she sees this something, it says in the text, Samuel, the woman spoke to Saul, saying, why have you deceived me? For you are Saul. This indicated to her that the one seeking Samuel was Saul. And that brings us to verse 13, the king said to her, do not be afraid, what did you see?
And the woman said to Saul, I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth, or I saw God's ascending out of the earth. Literally, God's Elohim, the word that we use for God is a plural form, and it can also be God's, plural. God is the divine being, it's used in Psalm 82 for judges. Here it is a good gloss or a good rendering to speak of a spirit.
I think that is a legitimate interpretation in this particular text. So Saul asks her specifically, what did you see? She says, I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth. So he said to her, what is his form?
And she said, an old man is coming up and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down." Now this is precisely what Saul was after. He wanted to communicate with Samuel. He wanted the prophetic word.
He wanted understanding. He wanted guidance. He wanted help, because he's going to face the Philistines in battle.
The Meeting with Samuel
And that brings us, thirdly, to this meeting with Samuel in verses 15 to 25. Actually, before we proceed, it is intriguing how brief the narrative is in terms of the actual action There's not a detailed scenario where the woman does whatever the woman does. There's no detailed sort of indication concerning her process or concerning her ritual. When you look at, say, for instance, the Levitical sacrificial system, It's spelled out in great detail, isn't it?
I mean, in terms of Leviticus chapters 1 to 9, what sacrifice is for what? I mean, it's detailed, right? Most readers get to about Leviticus 3 and they scratch their heads and they say, wow, I don't know if I can handle this much longer. It's just detail after detail after detail in terms of how to approach the living God via the sacrificial system.
You go back even further to the building of the tabernacle. Again, we get to chapter 25 in the book of Exodus, and we see that that's the largest section in the book of Exodus, 25 to 40. and it's the detailed description on how to build the tabernacle. And what we find there is that God prescribes for his people how they are to conduct themselves in his house. Notice that God doesn't tell Moses how Moses is supposed to prepare Moses' house.
God doesn't say to Moses, I want a lamp there, I want a table there, I want bread there, I want an altar there. God gives liberty to Moses, but when it comes to God's house, according to the regulative principle of worship, God determines how he is to be worshipped. At any rate, detailed explanations. Not so here.
Why? Because the author doesn't want anybody to get an itch to go out and find a medium, or to try and do this for themselves, or to go purchase a Ouija board from Walmart and give it a shot. The author gives us just a bare sketch so that it doesn't create in us this desire or this longing or this curiosity wherein we might pursue these things. This is not a how-to conjure-up-spirits-from-the-dead passage.
It is very brief in order to discourage such an approach from anyone who reads this particular chapter. I believe at times curiosity is the first stepping stone into the occult. Persons see it, they're interested, they're intrigued, they listen to something, they hear something, they see something, and they take just a little step and they end up getting into those particular things. Now notice the meeting with Saul.
There is a question, a response, and aftermath. Notice Samuel's question in verse 15. Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? It's a good question, isn't it?
Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? Now notice Saul's response. Saul answered, I am deeply distressed for the Philistines make war against me and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore. That's probably one of the most difficult statements in all of the Bible for anyone to ever have to come to grips with.
God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore. It truly is a terrifying picture. of what is in view here. Neither by prophets nor by dreams, therefore I have called you that you may reveal to me what I should do. Essentially what Saul says is my problem, Samuel, is the complete absence of God.
Remember David's dilemma? He's got to march with the Philistines against Israel. At that point, he probably doesn't know precisely how he's going to deal with that. Nevertheless, we'll put that on the back burner for now and deal with that in chapter 29 and show how faithful God is to deliver David yet again through the Philistines.
The problem in this section is solved. He's got no God. I am deeply distressed for the Philistines make war against me and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore."
Saul Wants God's Help, Not God
Now notice the end of the verse, therefore I have called you that you may reveal to me what I should do. It's interesting because what Saul indicates here is that he doesn't want God for God. His problem isn't the absence of God. His problem is the absence of God's help.
And I think his answer betrays that. I think his answer gives evidence of that. God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. What should Saul have done?
Instead of fetching a medium and seeking to conjure up Samuel, he should have been praying and fasting and weeping and pleading. and searching the scriptures and seeking after God. You see, brethren, when God is silent towards you, the response is not go down to the local fortune teller. It is to be like David. We'll look at this at the end tonight.
David had times when he didn't have that felt presence of God. Did David go down and find a medium to conjure up Samuel? No. David kept seeking God.
You see, the genuine believer wants God for God. He doesn't want just what God can give him. Davis says, if anything, Saul's quest should have been to face Yahweh, not to seek Samuel. His need was not for information, but communion.
You see, Saul doesn't get it. He's a hardened man. Not so much to prepare for battle, but to seek God's presence. Saul, it seems, wanted the results of God's favor more than he wanted God's favor.
It's a subtle distinction, but it's a real distinction. Do we want God's favor? Do we want God's presence? Do we want God himself?
Or is it just what God can do for us? Saul betrays the spirit that has plagued him since Back in chapter 13, he looks at God as a means to achieve a particular end. I think this is a peculiarly fitting word for Christianity in our generation because we utilize God. We seek to manipulate God.
We treat God as if he's Baal just to spit out the particular blessings or privileges we want. If God does not give us what we want, we conclude that, well, you know, He just doesn't love me, and He's not there for me, and He doesn't care for me. No, brethren, the glory of Christianity, the glory of biblical faith, the object and the prize is God Himself. It's not what God gives, it's who God is.
That's the blessed boon of our Christian religion. So this is Saul's problem.
Samuel's Response: Judgment Rehearsed
Now notice the response of Samuel in verses 16 to 19. Note that Samuel tells Saul nothing new. There's no new information here. He simply rehearses what Saul has already been told by Samuel during Samuel's life.
He didn't need to conjure up Samuel, he didn't need to go to this medium, he didn't need to skirt the Philistines, he didn't need to disguise himself, he didn't need to degrade himself further by going to the very witch that he had cast out of the land of Israel. Everything in verses 16 to 19 is information that Samuel had already given to Saul. Note first the fact of God's departure. Verse 16, Samuel said, So why do you ask me, seeing Yahweh has departed from you and has become your enemy?
In other words, you can't change that at this point, Saul. He has departed from you and He has become your enemy. What does this indicate? Saul, the least of your problems are those Philistines on the other side of Gilboa.
Saul, the least of your worries are those Philistines with their rage and their madness and their desire to terminate you and all the Israelites. You've got an enemy you haven't even begun to consider. You haven't fully entered into the gravity of this particular situation. You haven't felt your genuine need.
Notice in the second place, this is the fulfillment of God's Word. Verse 17, and the Lord has done for himself as he spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David. Remember back in chapter 15, specifically in verse 28, we read, that are in verse 27, and as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe and it tore.
So Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. I'm sure that didn't feel good to Saul when he heard that his neighbor would be better than him back in 1528. How do you think this bit of information from Samuel to Saul felt in chapter 28? God has departed from you, God is now your enemy, and oh, by the way, that neighbor that is better than you is David.
The man you've been hunting, the man you want to murder, the man who has graciously spared your life on two occasions, he is the man that is going to receive the kingdom. I'm sure Saul probably didn't find this as a thrilling tidbit of information at this particular juncture. Notice in the third place the reason for God's action. Why does God do what He did?
Why did God do what He did? Verse 18, Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord, nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek. Therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. You see, again, brethren, we have this idea that obedience is sometimes optional.
If I don't want to do what God says, well, you know, I'll just confess it and forsake it and ask His forgiveness, and then I'll do better. Well, that didn't happen in 1 Samuel 15, verses 22 and 23. Samuel said, as always, great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord. That's the kind of stuff we need to come to grips with.
You know, when we look at that Ten Commandments and we just violate them with impunity, does it ever occur to us that Saul did such things and ended up in a horrible condition? We should learn from these things. We should take notice of these things. We should remember that obedience to the voice of the Lord is greater or is better than sacrifices.
It's what he says in verse 22, Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Now we might not seek out that medium at Endor, but our rebellion to the revealed will of God as it comes to us in the scripture is as the sin of witchcraft. You may not go visit the local fortune teller, you may not go to Walmart and buy yourself a Ouija board, But rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.
It is in the same category. And this is precisely what had been underscored in 1 Samuel 15. And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he also has rejected you from being king.
So this was the reason. In other words, Samuel is essentially saying to him, Saul, you shouldn't be surprised. We covered this ground. We already went through this in chapter 15.
You should have learned the lesson. You should have cried out for repentance. in repentance, you should have sought the Lord while he can be found, and called upon him while he is near." And then notice the judgment of God upon Saul in verse 19, "'Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.'" So the two-fold judgment, the death of Saul and his sons and the defeat of Israel.
The aftermath is essentially Saul's response, he falls full length on the ground, verse 20, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him for he had eaten no food all day or all night. Turns out the medium can fix a mean calf, so she cooks up a meal, convinces Saul to eat, he eats, and then he goes and he dies in battle. Gil makes the comment she didn't want him to drop dead in her house. I mean, it's bad enough that she's a medium.
She certainly didn't want to be found with a dead king in her house. So I think that's a pretty astute observation there. So that's the exposition.
Interpretive Options for the Apparition
When we come to this appearance of Samuel, certainly interpreters differ on what we're dealing with. I think the three majority reports are, first, the witch engaged in deception and told Saul what he had already expected to hear. She deceived him, she faked him out, and basically told him what he already wanted to hear or expected to hear. William Perkins says, neither could this be a bare illusion, though.
For he plainly, Samuel, foretold Saul's destruction, which an ignorant woman could not know. The idea is probably not that it was a fake. It was probably not the case that she was just, you know, pulling some hocus pocus on him and pulling the wool over his eyes. That's probably not the option.
The second option is the witch really made contact with the departed spirit of Samuel. The text certainly reads that way. The text does not indicate we're dealing with an apparition. The text does not indicate that we're dealing with the devil.
The text very specifically, in verse 15, indicates that it's Samuel. And then verses 16 to 19, essentially, Samuel rehearses or repeats everything Samuel had already said when he was alive. Now, certainly there are some problems with that interpretation. Because you see, if God condemns, via the law, putting mediums and spiritists out of the land, it seems odd that he would sanction the use of a medium to conjure up Samuel in order to give information to Saul.
As well, according to the text and according to Saul's own statement, the Lord would not communicate with him, neither by dream, or by Urim, or by prophet. There was no access to God by Saul. So it does at least present a challenge that why then would God, through Samuel, communicate to Saul? Now, as I said at the outset, this is tentative.
I'm not prepared to die on any of these interpretations tonight. It is a difficult passage. I called Pastor Barcelos this afternoon, and I said, if one of your children or somebody in your church asked you about Samuel in 1 Samuel 28, what would you tell them? He said, well, I would tell them, let me talk to Pastor Butler.
And then he said, if I couldn't get a hold of you, he said, I would say that's a very obscure passage and a difficult passage. There are such in the Bible. There are difficult passages, brethren. This is one of them.
Perkins makes this observation concerning that it was really Samuel. He says, the souls of the saints departed are far from the devil's claws in dominion. The souls of the saints departed are far from the claws of the devil and his dominion. are the Devil's Claws and Dominion. Perkins believes, as does Matthew Henry, as does John Gill, as does a whole host of others, that what we're dealing with is the activity was produced by a demonic spirit that surprised and manipulated the witch.
So again, I am not prepared to die on any of these interpretations. I'm simply telling you that that's what they are. But the bottom line, and this is what we ought not to miss, is that Saul's dilemma is huge. Saul's problem is massive.
Saul has an enemy greater than the Philistines, and that enemy is the living and the true God. In terms of that interpretation, though, that it was indeed a demonic spirit. I think of all that I read today, Matthew Henry seemed to alight well on that interpretation. He said, the specter or apparition personating Samuel asks why he is sent for.
He says, to us, this discovers that it was an evil spirit that personated Samuel. For it is not in the power of witches to disturb the rest of good men and to bring them back into the world when they please. Nor would the true Samuel have acknowledged such a power in magical arts. But to Saul, this was a proper device of Satan's to draw veneration from him, to possess him with an opinion of the power of divination, and so to rivet him in the devil's interests.
He goes on to say, it is cold comfort, it is cold comfort which this evil spirit in Samuel's mantle gives to Saul, and is manifestly intended to drive him to despair and self-murder. Had it been the true Samuel, when Saul desired to be told what he should do, he would have told him to repent and make his peace with God, and recall David from his banishment, and would then have told him that he might hope in this way to find mercy with God. But instead of that, he represents his case as helpless and hopeless, serving him as he did Judas, to whom he was first a tempter and then a tormentor, persuading him to first sell his master and then to hang himself. Again, I think there are strengths to number two and three.
I do not think number one is accurate. I do not think it was a fake. I do not think it was a fraud. I think she saw something.
And I think that Saul saw something. But it's either the witch really made contact with the departed spirit of Samuel, or the activity was produced by a demonic spirit that surprised and manipulated the witch. Perkins says, after giving some reasons as to that interpretation, says, it remaineth then that this Samuel was a mere illusion of Satan. Well, we've already dealt with the downfall of Saul.
I don't want to rehearse that again, but I do want to leave us with a closing thought in terms of the absence of God.
Application: Learning from Saul and David
The professing Christian who refuses God's word may be refused by God. Now, we know that ultimately if somebody is refused by God, they were not of us. They were not of us, because the genuine believer does hold fast. He may not always hold fast as he ought, but he does hold fast.
Saul was not a man who lost his salvation. Saul was never a saved man to begin with. 1 John 2, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they were of us, they would have continued with us. But we need to learn, we need to understand, one of the means that God uses with his faithful, with believers, are warning passages.
Some say, well, if you're eternally secure and you believe in the preservation by God and perseverance of the saints, why are the warning passages there? That's a means that God uses for the good of his people. It's a means that God uses to keep us online. We ought to fear and we ought to tremble if we reject the word of God, we reject the means of grace, we leave off those things that God says is for our good.
We ought to fear and tremble. We ought to fear and tremble the thought of leaving those things off. We ought never to be content with a closed Bible And we ought never to be content with the neglect of the means of grace. If we get to that place where it's easy for us to skip Bible reading, it's easy for us to miss church, it's easy for us to neglect the things that are most necessary for us.
Have we forgotten the lesson in the wilderness with both Israel and Jesus? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. How is it that Christians today think they don't need daily bread? How is it today that Christians think they don't need to go and sit under the preaching of the word?
How is it that we've gotten to this place where there's this maverick spirit that just wants to do it on our own? And I don't need any help, and I don't need any guidance. I just need, you know, me. I'll take care of it.
No, you need the scriptures, you need the Lord God Almighty, and you need the means that He has ordained for your good. Secondly, the professing Christian must not ever turn to the occult in order to seek guidance. That is absolutely abominable. It was right that Saul excluded them from Israel.
It was absolutely horrific that Saul then sought one out. to seek her guidance or to seek her assistance in conjuring up Samuel so he could get a fix on how he ought to approach this battle with the Philistines. Christian, if you do not hear from God, then read more. If you do not hear from God, then study harder. If you do not hear from God, then read good theology books.
Don't get a Ouija board. Don't go to the local fortune teller. Don't seek those things out. If you start to play games with those things, it isn't long until you're in a bad place.
I doubt persons wake up on a Monday morning, you know, in the satanic church. or followers of Alistair Crowley, or followers of participants in black masses, or human sacrifice. I doubt anybody just gets there overnight. It's probably a gradual thing. You start a little bit here, and you end up in a bad place.
And then finally, the believer who senses silence from God will continue to plead with God. Look at Psalm 13 for just one example. Psalm 13, see a marked difference between David and Saul. Saul doesn't hear from God, he goes and visits a witch in Endor.
David doesn't hear from God and David just keeps knocking harder at God's door. Psalm 13, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me? You see, David had his trials. David had those. periods where he didn't have the felt presence of God. Does David then say in verse 3, I'm going to go fetch a witch in Endor, and I'm going to seek Samuel, and I'm going to get some guidance and some help on how to fill up this longing in my soul?
No, he keeps on with God. Consider and hear me, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lest my enemies say, I have prevailed against him.
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalms 42 and 43, why art thou cast down, O my soul? Hope thou in God. That is the marked difference between the genuine believer and the false professor. The false professor doesn't sense God and he gives up.
The true believer knocks, asks, seeks, continues, reads, prays, is in church. You know, that's the thing that I hear sometimes. I just didn't feel like reading my Bible because I didn't feel like I would find God. When does feelings become the controlling factor in our lives?
I don't feel like eating food that's good for me but doesn't taste good. I don't feel like it, but I do it. I don't feel like lifting weights or running or walking. You may not feel like doing certain things, but you know it's right, so you do it.
And yet, when it comes to the means of grace, I don't feel like it, so I'm not going to do it. That's just unrighteous behavior, and I think it opens the door to unfortunate ends. So let us learn from Saul, let us learn from David, and let us seek the Lord always.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for the Word of God and we thank you for these clear pictures that you paint in the Old Testament concerning faith and faithlessness. Help us, God, not to cut corners. Help us not to reject the things that you've ordained for our good, but help us to pursue these things with thanksgiving and with great joy. Be with us now.
Grant us grace in the remainder of this week. Bless all of our brothers and our sisters and bring us together on the Sabbath day that we may worship you in spirit and in truth. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.