This morning’s message will be a Halloween sermon. I wonder how many times you’ve ever heard a Halloween message? Probably rarely, if ever. Halloween brings a heightened awareness to the realm of evil spirits, so I would like to take this Sunday after Halloween as a time to caution us concerning the evil spiritual forces that roam this earth, and of how easily people are tempted to dabble with the things of the supernatural.
Many people think there’s nothing wrong with occasionally playing with a Ouija board or reading horoscopes. “It’s harmless,” they say. But what happens if a person messes with the spiritual realm? To be more specific what would happen if someone from our church read horoscopes, watched television shows about witchcraft, or even called the Psychic Hotline? In today’s passage of Scripture we are shown a man who actually played with witchcraft and consulted the Psychic Hotline. That man was King Saul.
God Did Not Speak on Mt. Gilboa (vv. 3-6)
3 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. 4 Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, 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 the prophets.
In verses 3-6, we see that the Philistine army had encamped at Shunem, and Saul’s army of Israelites had camped out on Mt. Gilboa. Both the names of Shunem and Gilboa contain meanings, which are very symbolic. Once we see the meaning of each place name, we can then see how God is revealing here in the text the spiritual state of each army. What do the names of both Shunem and Gilboa mean? What we are going to find out might surprise us!
Shunem in Hebrew means “rest,” and “quiet.”(1) Now, Gilboa has many meanings. One is, “fountain of ebullition.”(2) I looked up this word ebullition, and it means either “a sudden violent outburst or display,” or “the act, process, or state of boiling or bubbling up.”(3) The name Gilboa in Hebrew also means a “heap of stone,” or “a heap of dung,”(4) and also “to desire earnestly,” “to ask” or “to inquire.”(5) We see a lot of different meanings derived from the name Gilboa. Well, let’s apply this information!
For some strange reason the Philistine army was in a place of rest while the Israelite army under Saul was camped upon a hill whose meaning meant, “heap of stone, violent outburst” and “to ask or inquire.” The symbolism here reveals that the Philistines were at peace, and for some strange reason in God’s will, while Saul was “in a heap of trouble,” so to speak, or in spiritual trouble as he cried out to God for help. Mt. Gilboa was symbolically a desolate heap of stone because Saul had done something against God’s will.
Verse 6 reveals that when King Saul cried out for help, that the Lord refused to reveal Himself. Why did the Lord not speak with Saul? Author Beth Moore provides a good answer to this question. She begins by asking, “Why is God silent at times?” and she answers by saying this:
Isaiah wrote, “Your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Remember that Saul continued in disobedience to God. He relentlessly sought the life of an innocent man and even attempted to spear his own son! He had the priests of the Lord slaughtered and gave approval to an entire town being wiped out. [Moore says] we’ve seen some regrets, but we’ve never seen him truly turn from wickedness to righteousness.(6)
Because Saul was living in unrepentant sin, God refused to answer him either through dreams or by Urim [hang on and I’ll explain the Urim]. We see here a regression of faith in Saul. First, Saul tried to talk to God one on one through prayer. This is an acceptable practice, but God didn’t answer Saul because his heart was not right with the Lord.
Secondly, after he couldn’t hear God, he lowered his standards a little, and sought some form of dream revelation. If God chooses to speak through dreams, then it must be His initiative, and God will sometimes speak through dreams. However, if we intentionally seek after dream revelation then we are bordering on cultic practices. It has been suggested that Saul’s revelation may have been similar to a drug-induced trance, in which the dreamer sought to see the future. This practice wouldn’t have been good, for any kind of drugs cloud the mind from hearing God’s voice.
Thirdly, Saul resorted to consulting the Urim. The Urim was a stone that was sometimes used along with another stone called the Thummin. They were basically fortunetelling stones, which “may have been flat disks with ‘yes’ and ‘no’ sides [like the magic 8 balls we see in toy stores. These stones were cast down similar to rolling dice; and however they landed, foretold the future]. When both agreed the answer was clear. When they disagreed, further guidance was sought.”(7) The Urim and Thummin were to Saul like tarot cards or Ouija boards are to people today. If you are seeking guidance from tarot cards, Ouija boards, or horoscopes then this is a sign that you have fallen away in your relationship with the Lord, like King Saul did.
Look back to verse three. To me it’s very interesting that this verse says, “Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.” This verse might seem to be stuck in this passage for no apparent reason. There is a purpose for this statement, though, and that purpose is to contrast Saul’s commandment to abolish fortunetelling, with his later consultation of other sources of revelation besides God. Saul was falling into the same sin that he had abolished. This would not have happened to him had he possessed the proper relationship with God in the first place. If Saul had sought the forgiveness of his sins, then God would have spoken to him. However, he failed to humble himself before the Lord and fell further into sin.
A Spiritual Battle at En Dor (vv. 7-10)
7 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.” 8 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 seance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.” 9 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?” 10 And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”
Saul was in a spiritual battle at En Dor, warring inside, but he was losing to his own pride and his own desires. This spiritual battle that Saul was in was not the Ewok’s Battle for Endor, as portrayed in one of the Ewok movies; however, there was indeed a battle that was taking place at En Dor – a battle over good and evil. Saul was losing this battle and sinking deeper into sin, as observed when he asked for a medium. A medium is a fortuneteller, or in today’s world someone on the Psychic Hotline. Consulting a fortuneteller is a horrible sin, according to the Scripture; and the person who would do such a thing has strayed in their relationship with the Lord.
What we have here is a real Halloween story, for this episode is sometimes called Saul’s visit to the “witch” of En Dor. Saul was going to pay a visit to a witch, and verse 8 shows us that he went trick or treating. We read that he “disguised himself and put on other clothes.” When Saul met the witch, or the fortuneteller, she didn’t wish to tell his fortune because she knew it was wrong and that she could have been killed for it. At one time, Saul had thought it was wrong too, for he had the practice of fortunetelling abolished in the land. But we see here that Saul went against his own command and even against God’s wishes. He even swore by the Lord, the very God who condemned fortunetelling and witchcraft. Saul was treading on dangerous ground here.
How dangerous is witchcraft? Deuteronomy 18:10-14 says, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess [or destroy] listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.” Witchcraft is an “abomination” unto God, meaning it is loathsome, detestable, and disgusting to the Lord. Saul should have been familiar with the Old Testament law, and known that witchcraft was detestable in God’s sight; but he was blinded by sin at this moment.
Today there is a resurgence in witchcraft. Just look at the shows on television. Back when I was in my early twenties, the shows started rather innocently with Sabrina the Teenage Witch. “Sabrina” was a teenager’s initiation into witchcraft. After they became initiated, they were then immersed in the violence and satanic ritualism of shows like Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Dark Angel. These were shows that became popular in my mid-twenties; and don’t forget The Blair Witch Project.
I haven’t kept up with the scene as much as I used to, but I am aware there is a pretty recent show called Medium, and you don’t have to see many movie previews during a commercial break to realize that a majority of them are for horror movies; and teenagers aren’t the only ones hooked on these shows, for adults are too. It all starts out as being innocent, and by the time one gets deeper into witchcraft, they are numb to the evil, and can’t even recognize it.
There is a great rise in witchcraft, as we see from a group called Wicca. Wiccans are witches, who claim to be peaceful and nature loving, and thereby easily lead the environmental and “green” obsessed people of America into joining their group. People are deceived into dabbling with the supernatural under the notion that what they are doing is peaceful and harmless; but anytime a person plays with witchcraft they are playing with the ways of the devil. When a person plays with Satan they are playing with fire and will soon get burned.
Why are people turning to witchcraft? Witchcraft, fortunetelling, and the things of the occult give people a sense of power. Being able to foretell the future makes a person feel in control, and life can be pretty out of control sometimes. The devil wants people to think they are in control, but in reality he is in control of them. It’s one big deception. People don’t want to turn to God, because a relationship with the Lord requires us to turn the reigns over to Him. To me, it makes more sense to place our life in the hands of the Creator of the universe, then to try and control things ourselves.
Another reason why people are turning to witchcraft is because they haven’t experienced closeness with God. Like Saul, they have not heard His voice. They have a deep void within them that needs to be filled, and they are filling it with the occult. God could fill that void if only people would turn from their sins and repent. But like Saul, many people refuse to repent, and so they must fill that empty space inside themselves with things such as witchcraft, horoscopes, and fortunetelling.
Saul Attended a Séance (vv. 11-14)
11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 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!” 13 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.” 14 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.
The Halloween story continues, as we can tell from verse 14. The psychic said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” I think this would scare anyone! We have here the typical image of a ghost. For all Saul knew, this man in a cloak could have been the Grim Reaper himself coming for his soul. But we know it wasn’t, for we read that Saul perceived it was the ghost of Samuel. [I don’t want to dwell on this, but I must mention that Samuel was able to be conjured from the dead, because before salvation in Jesus Christ people did not go straight to heaven. They went to sheol, which was the grave. Samuel was brought back from the grave.]
Notice in verse 14 that Saul bowed down to the ghost of Samuel. It’s as if he were worshipping him. Here was King Saul bowing down to an apparition, when he wouldn’t even bow to the Lord of the universe. Saul was at this moment worshipping a spirit, as though it had some power over life, when he should have been worshipping the God who created the spirits and has all authority over them. People will more readily worship what they can see, like this spirit, before they will worship what they cannot see.
Saul couldn’t see God’s power in his life, because he was distant from the Lord. Because he couldn’t see God, he didn’t worship Him. Why was he able to see the spirit of Samuel? It’s because when one strays from the Lord that person is actually closer to the realm of the dead, and spirits, and demons then they are to heaven. A person will be able to see whatever he or she is closest to. If we want to see God then we must become close to Him, but if we are seeing spirits and demons, then that should tell us we are actually closer to hell.
If we dabble with fortunetelling, horoscopes, Ouija boards, or witchcraft, then this tells us that we are closer to hell than to heaven, and we need to get our lives right with the Lord. We need to bow down to the God who has the power to destroy the evil realm that people believe is so great. If you are accrediting power to the devil in any way, form, or fashion, then you need to know that you are on the wrong side of the battle. The devil loses in the end, and God wins. Check out the last book of the Bible!
The Ghost of Samuel Spoke (vv. 15-20)
15 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.”
16 Then Samuel said: “Why then do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? 17 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. 18 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. 19 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.” 20 Then immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel.
We see here why the Lord wouldn’t speak to Saul. In verses 16 and 17, Samuel told Saul that the Lord had departed from him, and had given his kingdom over to David. The reason for this, according to verse 18, was that Saul refused to obey the voice of the Lord and destroy Amalek. If we don’t obey God’s voice and draw near to Him, then the Lord may choose to depart from us too. We also see in this passage the answer as to why the Philistines were in a place of rest and peace, while Saul’s army was in a place of turmoil. According to verse 19, the Lord was going to use the army of the Philistines to execute judgment on Saul. Don’t find this surprising, for in Romans 9:17 Paul said that God used Pharaoh to bring glory to Himself.
The Philistines were in the will of God, because they were going to be used as His instrument of judgment on King Saul. Saul and his sons were going to be put to death. If we remain disobedient to God, and fail to repent of our sins and receive forgiveness in Jesus Christ, then we too will die - we will die a spiritual death.
Time of Reflection
We have seen today that Saul had strayed in his relationship with the Lord. When he did so, he began experimenting with the realm of the supernatural and the things of the devil; and because of his search for meaning in drug induced visions, fortunetelling, and consultation with witches, he was distant from God, and he was going to experience death. If we stray from the Lord and mess with the ways of Satan, then we too will experience death - spiritual death, in eternal separation from the Lord.
To apply this to our church, if there are church members who stray from the Lord and remain unrepentant, then God will consider this place as a pile of rubble or as a dung hill, as the name Gilboa implies. We can stray from the Lord not only by playing with the spiritual realm, but through numerous other sins. If a great many of us stray from God and fail to repent, then our church will fall like Saul’s army did. Let’s make sure that we repent of our sins, ask God’s forgiveness, and enter into a close relationship with the Lord. Let’s make certain that we seek His wisdom, and not the false wisdom of the world.
Sin leads to death. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Will you receive the gift of the forgiveness of sins, and the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ this morning? The Bible tells us how: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
NOTES
(1) Strong, p. 113.
(2) Ibid., p. 27.
(3) Simon and Schuster Collegiate Dictionary, 1999 Prentice-Hall, Inc. All rights reserved.
(4) Strong, p. 27.
(5) Ibid., p. 22.
(6) Beth Moore, A Heart Like His (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1999), p. 111.
(7) Lasor, Hubbard, and Bush, Old Testament Survey, p. 771
