1 Sam
28:3-7, 11-19 (ESV) 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."
. . .
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."
NOTE: Most have
understood this passage as unique in the results. That is, the woman is
genuinely surprised to see Samuel, possible expecting the more common form of a
demon. Also, Samuel apparently tells her that Saul is the client, which
surprises her even more. This is not the typical séance, and God has allowed
Samuel's spirit to rise from Sheol to speak to Samuel. For Samuel's part in all
of this, there is a tremendous amount of hypocrisy. He rids the land of mediums
and then goes and seeks one. He swears by the Lord (verse 10) not to harm her,
even though her actions were in violation of the law. Samuel tells Saul that
God does not answer because Saul had not listened. The two actions go hand in
hand. Even more interestingly is that Saul learns of the defeat of Israel's
army and still takes the army into battle the next day. Did he think he achieve
a result in opposition to God's revelation? Maybe he secretly wished for death
since his life was such a mess of contradictions. God said to Cain, "sin
is crouching at the door, it desires to have you, but you master it." Sin
has been eating away at Saul since he never dealt with the sin in his life. He
never really repented. And he never
really sought God. He sought approval from men, but not from God, and God
deserted him. Approval from God is necessary for real life, and is a protection
from insanity.
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