Consulting A Medium

I Samuel 28:1-14

"And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men. 

And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. 

And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.” (I Samuel 28:1-2) 

Always before, when an enemy was defeated, there was a period of peace before they dared try again.  Under Saul, there was never a period of peace when the Philistines were afraid to come against Israel.  I believe it was because while God gave the victory, Saul always focused the attention on himself, his desires, and his efforts to motivate rather than on God.  The Philistines were not afraid of Saul.

All the Philistine kings got together to make a concerted attack on Israel, rather than individual raids.  Believing David had been so mistreated by Saul that he had turned against Israel, Achish wanted him to accompany him to the battle.  David made no commitment, just going along with him, and Achish offered him the the position as chief body guard, convinced of his loyalty.

“Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. 

And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.  And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.  And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. 

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. 

And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.” (I Samuel 28:3-7) 

Since the time of Samson, there had been a steady trend awasy from God, despite Samuel’s best efforts to direct them to God.  As king, Saul had the power to enforce the law, rather than just depending on people to keep it.  He had followed up on Exodus 22:18, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” by having some killed.  

Samuel had died about a year and a half before, and Saul had the priests murdered.  When the Philistines attacked, Saul had no one left to turn to for spiritual guidance.  He prayed for guidance, but as Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”

Saul had repeatedly acknowledged he was wrong, and many think of that as repentance.  Proverbs 28:13 makes it clear that real repentance involves not only acknowledging sin, but changing our behavior.  “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”  While Saul acknowledged his sin when he was caught, there was no effort to change, implying that he really didn’t consider it that important.

God wasn’t taken in, and didn’t answer, so saul decided to find some one else for an advisor.  He sent his servants out to find a witch or medium to ask for advice, and they found one who hadn’t been killed at Endor.

“And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. 

And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? 

And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.” (I Samuel 28:8-10)

The people knew that Saul had slain most of the witches, and that it was what the law specified.  Saul didn’t want them to find out he was breaking the law, so he disguised himself, and asked the woman to make contact with a dead man for him.  The woman didn’t recognize him and was afraid to comply, suspecting that it was a set-up to entrap her.  Saul swore that nothing like that would happen.  

“Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee?

 And he said, Bring me up Samuel. 

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.” (I Samuel 28:11-12)

Convinced that he was sincere, the woman called for Samuel to speak to her.  Always before, a spirit she was familiar with had posed as the person she asked to speak to.  She was horrified when Samuel himself appeared rather than the familiar spirit.  Immediately she recognized that this had to be Saul.  She panicked, expecting to be killed.

“And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? 

And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. 

And he said unto her, What form is he of?

 And she said, An old man cometh 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 himself.” (I Samuel 28:13-14)

Saul reassured her, and asked what she had seen that upset her so.  As she described it, she had seen a real spirit being coming up out of the earth.  She described him as being an old man dressed like Samuel usually dressed.   Her description of him coming up from the earth supports Jesus’ description of Abraham’s bosom in Luke 16, and Peter’s statements in I Peter 3, since those who died before Christ’s death had to wait until he paid for their sin to enter heaven.  Saul recognized that it was Samuel and bowed down to the man who had anointed him king.

There are an amazing amount ot people who profess to be Christians who are like Saul.  Rather than give up their sin, and develop a personal relationship with god, they depend on other people.  When things go wrong they find it easy to turn to other sources of direction, whether astrology, palm readers, shamans, or various other groups.   Samuel’s comments to Saul are enlightening.