Desperate Men Seek Desperate Measures
“Then said Saul to his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor”. I Samuel 28:7
To set the scene, David was being pursued by Saul, who was his father-in-law and the king of Israel. Saul was extremely jealous of David because David was a much better leader and was more popular with the people of Israel, thus Saul wanted to kill him. I Samuel 27 tells us that David fled to the Philistines, sworn enemies of Israel, to escape Saul’s threats. David took 600 of his men with their families to Achish, king of Gath, a province of Philistia, and Achish gave them the city of Ziklag in which to reside. They were there a year and four months. During that time, David and his army destroyed some of the enemies of Israel. Achish believed that these victories were over Israel, and believing that David would fight with him, he decided to engage in warfare with Israel again. David had tricked Achish into believing that he was anti-Israel, but David couldn’t fight against his own people. That’s the problem with tricking people; it often comes back to bite one in the rear end! How was the LORD going to deliver David from this dilemma?
Samuel, the prophet who had reluctantly anointed Saul as king, had passed away. Saul depended on Samuel because Samuel, who spoke the words from the LORD, was the one whom Saul consulted for advice. When Saul saw how the Philistines were gathering for battle, he was very afraid. He couldn’t consult Samuel any longer, thus he enquired of the LORD directly, but God did not answer him. Saul was on his own. However, he had to do something. He refused to go into battle without some counsel. He instructed his servants to search out and find a woman with a familiar spirit, a medium or a fortune teller. In respect for Samuel, Saul had previously had all fortune tellers and wizards removed from Israel. God was very serious about shunning those with a familiar spirit. To have anything to do with them caused one to be defiled (Leviticus 19:31). However, desperate men will sometimes do desperate, sinful things in order to get themselves out of a jam.
Apparently, Saul’s servants were aware of a medium, one who claims to be able to contact the spirits of the dead, who lived in En-dor, about four miles from Mt. Tabor, six miles east of Nazareth. (Anyone who remembers the old television show, “Bewitched”, will remember that Samantha’s mother was named “Endora”. The devil works through Hollywood, among many other venues, to make the occult acceptable unto people.) Saul didn’t want anyone to find out that he was consulting one whom he had banished from Israel, thus he disguised himself and went at night. He asked the medium to bring up the spirit of the one that he would name. She was apprehensive because she knew that her “profession” had been outlawed, and she thought this could be a test to trap and execute her. But, hey, money talks, and she was ready to listen.
Saul assured her, swearing by the name of the LORD, that she wouldn’t be punished. She asked the name of the one whom Saul desired to be conjured up. He said, “Bring me Samuel”. We are not told her method, but she made some sort of enchantment, and a figure appeared. She assumed that it was Samuel, but most commentators believe that it was Satan taking on the appearance of Samuel like a “shapeshifter” in science fiction, although there was nothing fictional about this. Other commentators believe that it was the spirit of Samuel as God allowed him to appear. As will soon be evident when this apparition speaks, his words were words of truth and words of rebuke to Saul thus giving credence to the belief that this spirit was actually that of Samuel. This is one of those passages in scripture that leads to divided ideas of who this figure was. We know that Satan has power, but we also know that God can do anything to further His cause.
When this spirit appeared, she apparently recognized it as Samuel. She then rebuked Saul for disguising himself. How did she realize that her visitor was King Saul? Perhaps she knew some of the history between Samuel and Saul and understood that this was not just some parlor trick but an actual confrontation between the two men. Saul told her not to be afraid, and since he could not see the spirit, he asked her what she was seeing. She answered that she saw “gods” or spirits coming up out of the earth. Samuel’s spirit would have come down from “Abraham’s bosom”, the place of those who died believing in God’s promise of a Redeemer. However, all other spirits that she had conjured up had arisen from the earth so perhaps she assumed the same with Samuel. Saul asked her to describe Samuel. She described him as an old man wearing a mantle, a large, blanket-like covering. Saul was convinced that this spirit was indeed Samuel, and in reverence, Saul bowed before him. Saul had not displayed this kind of reverence to Samuel nor to God at any point in his life. However, now he was a desperate man in need of direction.
Next time: Samuel’s Words of Rebuke and Warning