1 Samuel 28--Saul and the Medium of En-dor

1 Samuel 28
English Standard Version

Saul and the Medium of En-dor
28 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.” 2 David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”

3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. 4 The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.”

8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.” 9 The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?” 10 But Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.

15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” 16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”

20 Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. 21 And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you. I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me. 22 Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.” 23 He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. 24 Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it, 25 and she put it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

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The first few verses have to do with our passage from last time, when David fled to the Philistines for safety--we'll again pick up this story with David and the Philistines in Chapter 29.  For now, the author wants us to know that the Philistines are going to war with Israel and that David and his men have been ordered by the Philistines that they must fight alongside them.  David seems to agree and then tells the Philistines that now they will really see what David and his men can do (implying that David is a great warrior but he fought his onw battles and they have not seen it).  Achish is so impressed with David's response that he makes David his personal bodyguard for life.  This attitude towards David and his men will change by chapter 29 though.  That's the only glimpse of what's going on in David's like that we see in this chapter, because this chapter is mostly about Saul and how he is dealing with the death of Samuel, who was a prophet to Saul and the people, especially now that the Philistines are once again about to make war with the people, and Saul may have it in his mind that David has joined forces with them.

Saul inquires of the LORD what he should do when he sees the Philistine army amassing and preparing for battle, but the LORD does not answer Saul because he has rejected him as king.  Saul still hasn't gotten the message that the LORD wants him to step aside and let David lead the people.  If Saul had done that and put himself in subjection to David, then perhaps things would not have needed to end so badly for Saul and his house, but as it is, Saul will bring about destruction not just on himself, but on all his heirs.

When Saul doesn't receive an answer from the LORD, he remembers how he used to always be able to go to Samuel, and he would tell Saul what the LORD said.  Oh, how he missed Samuel, especially now that Samuel was dead, though Samuel had not spoken to Saul for some time before his death.  Saul comes up with one of his crazy ideas that sounds completely fine to him, but he should have known better.....he thinks that if only there was a way to talk to Samuel from beyond the grave, Samuel might still speak to Saul for the LORD, though Samuel is dead.  Saul cannot accept that the LORD is not speaking to him because the LORD has rejected him as king and has nothing more to say to him.  Saul will get his wish, but the answer he is going to get is not favorable.  Saul even tried to go to the high priest (remember this is a high priest that Saul appointed because he killed all the priests in Nob that helped David, and the true high priest is with David right now), and the LORD would not answer the inquiries of the man that Saul called "high priest" on Saul's behalf.  The LORD also did not speak to Saul through dreams, nor did He send any of His other prophets (there were others after Samuel for sure).  The LORD wanted Saul to get the message they were no longer on speaking terms, but Saul refuses to accept this and thinks he can manipulate the situation to make the LORD speak to him.

Now the fact that there is even a medium in the Land and that Saul knows where to find her is troubling.  The Law of the LORD required that all witches, sorcerers, necromancers, mediums, priests and priestesses of false gods, prophets of false gods and other false prophets, and all other persons that received their power and messages from demons should be put to death by being burnt with fire.  Not even the tradition capital punishment of stoning was enough for the LORD here because he wanted the people to have the visual image that all these had their portion in the fiery judgment of hell, as would all those who joined them.  Saul has failed in his duties as king to put those that risked the spiritual safety of the people of God to death because he's so busy fighting the Philistines in physical battle.  Now he not only has let this medium back into the Land since Samuel died, but he knows exactly where to go to find her.  If he knew this, why did he not go out to drive her out of the Land long ago, and why does she feel safe when he approaches?  The fact that Saul goes to this medium tells us just how far away from the LORD he has gotten--this same man in the beginning of the book had the Spirit of the LORD come upon him so that he prophesied along with all the other prophets, but now he is consorting with mediums because the LORD will no longer speak to him.

Now Saul hires this medium to conjure up whoever he names, and she agrees after questioning him to try to make sure it is not a trap (for she knows what she is doing is punishable by death), and Saul swears by the name of the LORD that nothing will happen to her (again, how he has fallen that he would swear such an oath).  He asks her to conjure up Samuel and once Samuel actually appears and speaks to Saul, she recognizes Saul for who he is and thinks she has been lied to and tricked.  She expects trickery and deceit because that is what she does, so she expected the same from others.  In this case, she got a lot more than she bargained for, because normally he "gift" was all tricks and theatrics, but this time, the LORD actually let Samuel come back to speak to Saul, and she sees Samuel coming back and is scared because she realized she was not in control here--the LORD was the one in control of this "meeting."  All she can do now is ask Saul what he sees and hears as the vision and message were not meant for her.  We also see the heart of Saul here because he bows down to show homage to Samuel, and I'm not sure Samuel would have approved of that at this point.

Samuel actually speaks to Saul (again, the medium would be shocked here because the spirits she conjured were not supposed to speak by themselves, but where supposed to speak through here as a "medium" so that she could control the message).  Samuel asks why Saul disturbed his rest--an image used much in the Old and New Testaments for what comes for those of us who are saved after what we call "death" in this life (see the book of Hebrews and how it speaks of entering God's Sabbath rest when we die).  Saul tells Samuel that his heart is troubled because the Philistines are once again assembling for war, and he needs guidance, and the LORD will not answer him.  Samuel asks what can he tell him if the LORD has made Saul his enemy and chosen not to speak to him?  Is Samuel greater than the LORD that he could deliver a message from the LORD when the LORD has no message to give to Saul?

Samuel reminds Saul that the kingdom has been taken away from Saul and given to David.  That is a certainty in the LORD's eyes, and David is now the king of Israel, even though Saul is the current occupant of the palace in Jerusalem and David is in hiding among the Philistines.  Then Samuel reminds Saul that all this is because of his disobedience back when the LORD told him clearly to make war with the Amalekites, and he refused to do so.  Back then he was told that the sin of rebellion was as the sin of witchcraft, and here he is consorting with mediums in the sin of witchcraft.  The LORD surely knew Saul's heart.  "Obedience is better than sacrifice" is still the message that Saul needs to hear and hopefully this reminder of Samuel takes Saul back to that last message that he ever heard Samuel speak to him when Samuel was alive.

Then Saul gets a message he did not expect.  Because of Saul's rebellion and his refusal to give up the throne, the whole nation will be judges for it is actually the LORD's will that the Philistines attack and be victorious and that they take over the whole Land and Saul and all his sons will die in the battle, which is sad because we know that Jonathan did nothing wrong to David and desired to serve him.

Saul fell to the ground and lost all of his strength because of the message that was spoken to him and because he had not had anything to eat all day and all night.  Even the Witch of En-dor was concerned for him so that she wanted to prepare a meal for him so that he might regain some strength for his journey, and then she wanted to get him out of her house for she wasn't sure what might happen next.  He initially refused her hospitality, but the witch and the servants of Saul that were with him all encouraged him to eat, so she prepared his last meal for him--she killed the fattened calf for him and made fresh bread for him and all his men.  Yet Saul knows that no matter how much strength he has for the coming battle, the outcome is now certain.  Philistia will win, Israel will be conquered, Saul and all his sons will die in battle, and David will (eventually) reign over all of Israel.  It is the will and Word of the LORD.