Introduction:
A. The story is told of two brothers, from a small town, who, over the course of many years, cheated, swindled, robbed and generally stole from everyone that they ever did business with.
1. The entire town and surrounding community reviled and despised these two brothers as everyone was aware of just how disreputable and dishonest they were.
2. One day, one of the brothers mysteriously died.
3. Although they had never attended church, the one remaining brother went to the local preacher and offered to contribute to the church vast sums of money if he would come to the funeral and say the appropriate words, AND, a an additional large bonus, if and ONLY if he would - during the course of the eulogy -refer to his brother as “a Saint.”
4. The preacher was troubled by the request, however, it was a very poor church and the church desperately needed repairs.
5. Members of the congregation had heard about the preacher’s dilemma and were curious as to what he would do.
6. The Funeral began, the funeral home was packed, and the preacher started with the usual prayers and followed the customary rites and traditions.
7. As he closed the service, he paused and turned to face the remaining brother, saying, “As you all know, the departed was an awful individual who robbed, cheated, swindled and stole from everyone he ever did business with. However, compared to his brother, who is still with us, he was – ‘a Saint!’”
B. As we will see as our study of the life of David progresses, in comparison to Saul, David was a saint – well, I’m not sure I would go that far – David committed his share of sins.
1. So David certainly was not perfect, but he always had a humble and contrite heart, and turned back to the Lord after he had gone astray.
2. Saul on the other hand was a different story.
C. In our lesson today we will follow the story of 1 Samuel which turns its attention away from what was going on with David to what was going on with Saul.
1. We will be working through 1 Samuel chapter 28.
2. Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the entanglements David has gotten himself into with the Philistines.
3. The narrator forces us to wait to see how the tension between David and the Philistines is resolved by inserting this story about Saul into the middle of the situation.
The Story:
A. Today’s story begins, “The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. (1 Sam. 28:4-6)
1. Chapter 28 marks the spiritual low point in Saul’s life and records one of the darkest hours of his reign as king.
2. As we have discussed in previous lessons, Saul has made his share of major mistakes.
3. Early on in his reign, he had made the terrible mistake of offering the sacrifice that only priests were allowed to offer. He did so because Samuel’s arrival was delayed, and he and his men were afraid the battle would begin before Samuel got there.
4. His most significant act of disobedience came later when he disobeyed a clear and direct command from God.
5. It was at that time when God informed him, through Samuel that the kingdom would be removed from him and given to another.
6. At that point, both God and Samuel stopped working with Saul.
7. So it is no surprise at this point, that Saul is afraid and that God is not responding to him in the typical ways – through prophets, dreams and the Urim.
B. Therefore, Saul becomes more desperate.
1. He acts like a person who is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
a. At first that person may try all the clinics and experts.
b. When nothing conventional is working, then they may turn to any treatment available, no matter how experimental or illegal – some have to leave the country to get those treatments.
2. And so when the approved religion will not meet Saul’s needs, he goes elsewhere.
3. So what did Saul do? The Bible says, “Saul then said to his attendants, ‘Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.’ ‘There is one in Endor,’ they said.” (1 Sam. 28:7)
4. So in desperation, Saul turns to the occult for his spiritual insight.
5. In the Hebrew, the phrase translated “medium” literally reads, “a woman who is a mistress of necromancy,” that is, one who consults the dead.
6. The Old Testament law clearly forbade necromancy (divination by means of communion with the dead), and called for the death penalty on any who would consult mediums.
7. Leviticus 19:31 says, “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.”
8. Leviticus 20:6 says, “I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.”
9. Leviticus 20:27 says, “A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.”
10. And Deuteronomy 18:9-13 says, “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God.”
11. Nothing could be clearer. These practices are detestable to God and will defile the people of God.
12. The punishment for participation was death.
13. Earlier in Saul’s reign, he had made a concerted effort to rid the land of mediums, but less than 10 miles from where he has set up his military base, he is told there is a medium.
C. The Bible continues the story, “So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. ‘Consult a spirit for me,’ he said, ‘and bring up for me the one I name.’ But the woman said to him, ‘Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. ‘Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?’ Saul swore to her by the LORD, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this.’” (1 Sam. 28:8-10)
1. So Saul disguised himself and slipped away in the dark of night to meet the medium – how often when we know we are up to evil we try to hide what we are doing under the cloak of darkness!
2. Saul was supposed to be not only Israel’s king, but also the spiritual leader of the nation.
3. But now he sinks to the lowest spiritual point possible by involving himself in the occult which had been so strictly forbidden to the chosen people of God.
4. The witch, who all her life had dealt in deception, was immediately on her guard.
5. She had no intention of being trapped by this stranger in the night.
6. In an ironic outburst of spiritual sincerity, Saul swore by Jehovah God that no harm would come to her.
7. What Saul had earlier prohibited by royal decree, because of the Law, he now authorizes – he is such a divided man.
D. What happened next? The Bible says, “Then the woman asked, ‘Whom shall I bring up for you?’ ‘Bring up Samuel,’ he said. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, ‘Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!’ The king said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid. What do you see?’ The woman said, ‘I see a spirit coming up out of the ground.’ ‘What does he look like?’ he asked. ‘An old man wearing a robe is coming up,’ she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.” (1 Sam. 28:11-14)
1. With these preliminaries out of the way, the conversation moves to specifics.
2. Saul tells the woman who to contact. He asks her to contact the champion of spiritual orthodoxy, the priest and judge of God – Samuel.
3. Suddenly, as the witch started into her incantations, she discovered whom it was she was working with – this man was Saul the King.
4. Why it is that point that she knew it was Saul we do not know.
5. She could see the spirit coming up out of the ground, but Saul could not see him.
6. When she described what the man looked like, Saul knew it was Samuel and bowed down before him with his face to the ground.
E. Samuel was not happy to be brought into this séance.
1. The Bible says, “Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?’ ‘I am in great distress,’ Saul said. ‘The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.’ Samuel said, ‘Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy? The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines.’” (1 Sam. 28:15-19)
2. The initial words from Samuel do not bode well for Saul – “Why have you called on me?”
3. Sadly, Saul lays the fullness of his abandonment and despair before Samuel.
4. Then Samuel in an impatient and didactic tone, explains that he and the Lord are closely allied, and if the Lord has turned away from Saul, then Saul can be sure that Samuel will as well.
5. Then Samuel painstakingly reviews the record and it has not changed, nor has the verdict softened.
6. Samuel quickly spells it out like ABCs.
a. The Lord has departed from you.
b. The kingdom has been torn from you and has been given to David.
c. This is all the result of your willful disobedience.
d. Your army will fall to the Philistines.
e. Tomorrow you and your sons will perish.
F. That’s not the message Saul was hoping to hear from Samuel.
1. The Bible says, “Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel’s words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night.” (1 Sam. 28:20)
2. And so stunned and shattered by the pronouncement, Saul collapsed.
3. His huge form fell to the floor. Not a word escaped from his dry lips, as he lay there like a lifeless log.
4. It was all over and he now knew it for sure.
G. The Bible says, “When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, ‘Look, your maidservant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do. Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way.’ He refused and said, ‘I will not eat.’ But his men joined the woman in urging him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the couch. The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.” (1 Sam. 28:21-25)
1. The final part of this scene is so pitiful and tragic to me.
2. The woman and the men with Saul recognize that he needs some nourishment and they urge him to eat.
3. At first he refuses, but they convinced him and so he gives in to their wishes.
4. The depths of depravity to which Saul had descended can be measured by the fact that he would share a meal with this wicked woman.
5. Here under the cover of darkness the first king of Israel ate his last meal on earth prepared over a witch’s fire, fashioned by fiendish hands that had often dabbled in the occult.
6. The evil spirits of the underworld surely looked upon the situation and laughed in triumph.
7. Saul received enough energy from that meal to rise and go – he is headed for the Philistines and for his final humiliation – his death.
8. Look at the way 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 describes the reason for Saul’s demise, “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”
II. The Application
A. What lessons should we take with us from today’s tragic story?
1. Let’s consider a few.
B. One important lesson we learn is that we must remove any barrier that hinders our relationship with God.
1. Saul’s barrier had to do with repeated disobedience.
2. The repeated sin in his life blocked God’s ability to work with and in Saul.
3. Isaiah 59:1-2 says, “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
4. The things that hinder our relationship with God can be as blatant as willful sin, or as subtle as putting other things or other people ahead of our relationship with God.
5. We might find ourselves too busy or too distracted from spiritual things by the every day things of life.
6. Nevertheless, whatever the cause, if we want to cultivate a heart for God, then we have to remove any hindrances from our relationship with God.
7. The Spirit of God who lives within us will enable us to remove any barriers, but we must initiate the process, and then with the Holy Spirit’s assistance, we must see it through.
8. We certainly don’t want to be like Saul and allow things to hinder our relationship with God.
C. A second lesson we learn is that we should refuse to allow demonic powers to influence our lives.
1. We live in a time when interest in things like the occult, the New Age Movement, and Wicca have become very popular.
2. It seems like the media has been working overtime to make witchcraft a normal and acceptable part of life.
3. You’ve got movies and TV shows like Bewitched, Sabrina, Charmed, The Medium, and Harry Potter that have been hugely popular.
4. Advertizing bombards us with psychic trade shows, psychic hotlines, and websites.
5. Less than a mile from here on Rt. 57 is the resident Liverpool psychic – you can stop by and get a quick reading of your palm or tarot card.
6. Millions of Americans won’t start their day without checking their horoscope.
7. So many people today are playing with spirits, channeling, crystals, spells, spirit guides, neo-paganism, Wicca, and Satanism.
8. A generation of young people are being encouraged to play with spiritual power that God forbids, and we need to sound the warning.
9. When we open the door to these kinds of things we are opening the door to powerful and dangerous forces, and we are cutting ourselves off from God.
10. In our Scripture Reading today, Paul warned us saying, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…” (Eph. 6:10-13)
11. It is a spiritual battle against very evil forces and we must stand with God, with our armor on and with the Bible, which is the Sword of the Spirit ready at hand.
12. As we have already seen, God has made it clear in the OT that becoming involved in the occult and contacting the dead are detestable things to Him.
13. In the NT we see that witchcraft and sorcery, the two terms that cover involvement in the occult, are condemned (Gal. 5:20; Rev. 21:8; 22:15) Those who are involved in these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
14. If we want to be faithful to God, we must steer clear of anything having to do with the power of evil.
15. We cannot mix together elements of Christianity, with elements from any other religion or spiritual approaches or philosophies.
16. Saving faith is not like a cafeteria style restaurant, where you grab a little of this and a little of that.
17. As Jude wrote, we must “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 3)
D. Finally, I think we learn the lesson that we must trust in the Lord only, and approach Him only in ways He has authorized.
1. In the Old Testament, when God’s people turned to idols or mediums, God called it “playing the harlot.” They were committing spiritual adultery.
2. It would be just like a husband or wife putting themselves in the arms of someone other than their mate.
3. When we make someone else our source of wisdom, strength and knowledge – whether that person is Dr. Phil, or a witch doctor, or spirit guide – then we have put someone else in the place of God.
4. God will not compete for our affection. He is a jealous God.
5. We must give all our allegiance to God alone and we must seek Him only in the ways He has revealed – which include Jesus (the way, the truth and the life), the Holy Spirit (not spirits) who lives in us and is our comforter, and guides us into truth, and that truth is the Word of God itself.
6. Paul wrote this about Scripture, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
7. It is through the Holy Bible, through Christian worship and prayer, and through our brothers and sisters who are the temple of the Holy Spirit that we come to know and trust in God.
E. Let me end with these words from the last verses of the NT book of Jude, “But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 17-25)
F. We are in a spiritual battle and we must put on the full armor of God and ready the sword of the Spirit.
1. We must not disobey like Saul did, and reach for and depend on any unauthorized and evil weapons and sources.
2. We must remain faithful to the Lord and help each other remain faithful as well.
3. May God strengthen us and keep us, for the battle is the Lord’s – He will give the victory.
Resources:
David – A Man of Passion and Destiny, by Charles R. Swindoll, Word Publishing, 1997.
David I, by W. Phillip Keller, Word Books, 1985.
The Making of a Man of God, by Alan Redpath, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1962.
I and II Samuel, David F. Payne, The Daily Study Bible Series, Westminster Press, 1982
First and Second Samuel, J. Carl Laney, Everyman’s Bible Commentary, Moody Bible Institute, 1982.
First and Second Samuel, Eugene Peterson, Westminster Bible Companion, Westminster John Knox Press, 1999.
First and Second Samuel, Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation, John Knox Press, 1990.
“What The Bible Says About Magic and Ghosts” Sermon by Ben Mandrell.
“Can We Talk to the Dead?” Sermon by Marty Baker.
