1 Samuel 28:11–19 (ESV) — 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: There are a
couple of things to note in trying to understand this passage. The first thing
is the surprise of the medium who "cried out with a loud voice." Why?
This seemed unexpected even from her experience. Which is not to say that she
did not experience supernatural events, although probably evil workings of the
devil. But this surprised her, probably because it was so real. Second to
understanding this passage is that Samul came 'up. as opposed to 'down.' At
this time, prior to Jesus' resurrection, paradise was down in the earth located
next to hell, but with a very wide chasm between the two. After Jesus' death,
he shuts down paradise and transfers the saints (Ephesians says he descended
and then ascended leading a host of captors in his train) to heaven with God,
above and not below the earth. This is why all the prophets spoke of going down
when they die. So Samuel is coming from the right direction, but probably
coming from a different location then maybe the woman has seen in the past
(paradise versus hell), and probably his appearance was different as well. So,
in this case, I think God actually caused Samuel's spirit to rise. Everything
Samuel says is word-for-word what he said in the past. And the things he say
that are new, are absolutely correct; on the next day, Saul and his sons and
the army of Israel will fall by the hand of the Philistines. In fact, this may
be the reason that God removed David and his men from this attack, because
David would have certainly turn on the Philistines and routed them by virtue of
a two-pronged attack. But what is the point. Saul has been judged because of
his refusal to do things God's way, and I also believe by his treatment of God,
seeing God as Saul's servant in times of crisis, instead of Saul being God's
servant. How do we treat God?
No comments:
Post a Comment