Verses 1-2, “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.' ” Achish makes plans for the Philistines to overtake Israel, and wants David to lead this attack. This no doubt had Saul in a panic, knowing that David was going to be king. He probably assumed this would mean the end of his life.
Verses 3-7, “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 En Dor.' ”
After the death is Samuel, the spiritual state of Israel most likely declined in his absence, and another was not raised up in his place. Saul was previously obedient to God's command to remove the spiritists from the land, but when he sought the Lord, He would not answer him. Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” In a desperate attempt of his flesh, Saul ordered his servants to find a medium that could raise the dead, to give him spiritual guidance. We are all born spiritual beings, and long for spiritual understanding and guidance. But rather than filling this void with the Holy Spirit of God, many will seek after demonic activity instead. Why do you think people are so obsessed with magicians and the occult? It is pretty pathetic that our country has an entire theme park dedicated to Harry Potter, whose author is an avowed Satanist!
Verses 8-14, “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 séance 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.”
At first, the medium is hesitant because she does not want to get in trouble for practicing something that Saul forbade, but he persuades her nonetheless. Saul asks her to raise up Samuel from the dead, and as soon as she does, she is aware of Saul's true identity. It is Biblical accounts like these, that allow us to see that demonic activity is real, but as Christians, we have no reason to pursue it. We do have plenty of reasons to avoid it, however. Romans 16:19, “...but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.”
Some pastors are quite bold about rebuking Satan and casting out demons. We know from the scriptures that this isn't right either. Jude 1:8-10, “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!' But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.” We cannot even begin to know and understand the demonic realm, and have no business attempting to take on Satan. We are told to cling to God instead of corrupting ourselves with involvement. James 4:7, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
Verses 15-20, “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.”
Saul didn't really need to raise Samuel from the dead, he already knew that the Lord had rejected him as king and would tear the kingdom from him. Samuel told him this while he was still alive. The problem is, those in sin do not want to hear the truth. They continue to seek advice or counsel until someone tells them what they want to hear, rather than the truth that they reject. At some point, they are too far gone to repent, and the Lord can begin to execute judgement. Notice that Samuel did not give Saul any way of escape, because there wasn't one. This is why we set our sights on righteousness. Not because we are legalistic and want to judge everyone else for their sin. But because we do not even want to play around on the slippery slope of sin that leads to Hell and find ourselves at the bottom, with no way of escape.
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.” 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 En Dor.” I Samuel 28:1, 3-7
ReplyDeleteSaul was now afraid because the Philistines were after him, and were coming quickly. because Saul tried to call out to the Lord and did not hear him, he decided to seek out for anyone who had any kind of contact with the spiritual relm. Saul went to a woman who was a medium and sought out Samuel. Samuel basically told Saul that he was going to die the next day. This was probably not want Saul wanted to hear. He probably wanted someone to help him in the mess he made for himself, but because he denied the Lord there was no one to help him.
When people turn from the Lord and do not head godly counsel, the Lord will cut them off and the will not hear from the Lord anymore. His hand will not be upon their life. When these people try to go to the Lord He will not answer because they turned their back to Him. We need to make sure we are not one of these people turning their back from God. We need to heed the voice of godly counsel not becoming like Saul, who would not listen to Samuel or the Lord.
I'm this chapter, the Philistines are about to attack the Israelites, and David is made a leader over the army by Achish. Saul was greatly afraid that David was fighting on the side of the Philistines. Also, Samuel's death is brought back up. Since Samuel's death, there was no one else raised up to take his place. The spiritual guidance was lost, and the Israelites were most likely going astray. Saul had previously cast out all those who were involved in occult practices, but now he wanted to go see a medium. He had tried to seek God, but God was silent. He didn't speak to him in dreams, or through the urim, or through prophets.
ReplyDeleteSaul has his servants find him a medium, and he disguises himself and goes and sees her. Saul believed he could speak with Samuel and he could tell him what to do. This just shows how far gone Saul was. He believed he could use a demonic practice to speak to Samuel and gain wisdom from God. After promising the medium she would not get in trouble, Samuel appear to saul. The medium was greatly afraid because she had most likely never interacted with holy spirits before. Also, Samuel came because God told him to, not because this woman controlled it! Saul had disturbed Samuel from his place of rest (Abraham's bosom) and told him everything that had hapened. Samuel told Saul the SAME thing he told him when he was alive. God's word doesn't change, and Saul already knew what the Lord's will was. The kingdom was taken away from Saul and given to David. The only thing Samuel did tell Saul is that he and his sons would be dead tomorrow. There was no way to change God's will. Saul chose to disobey God continually, and eventually God departed from him.
When someone is reluctant to listen to the truth when a man is alive, they won't change if they were to hear it supernaturally. Just think of the rich man who is in hades and wants to go warn his family and tell them the truth. Luke 16:28-31- "for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.”
If men won't listen to God's word from those who God raised up on the earth, th3y won't listen if someone came back from the dead. Their hearts are hard. Saul didn't obey the Lord even when Samuel rebuked him while he was on the earth. Samuel didn't change his words. it was still the same thing that Saul didn't want to hear.
There was nothing Saul could do to change God's will. Saul was going to die the next day in battle, and the Philistines would win. Saul's hearts had departed from the Lord a long time ago, and eventually God stopped speaking to him. We need to be careful that we don't refuse to listen to God when He commands us to do something. If God rebukes us, we need to listen! The longer we go refusing to obey, the harder our hearts become. When God chastens us, we need to listen and repent!