Saul and the Medium of En-dor

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

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.”

Saul keeps hitting walls. The one “person” Saul turns to, Samuel the prophet, is ticked off at him disturbing him in his rest.

Nevertheless, Saul starts in with his problems. Not sure about you, but if a spirit were to appear to me, my problems would definitely be the least of my concern. Now whether that speaks of my lack of connection with the spirit world, or the immensity of Saul’s problems, I will let you decide.

Given that, Saul’s problems are fairly massive! He is in great distress!

Philistines are on the War Path

The immediate physical threat Saul is facing is a large Philistine army, already in the nation of Israel, chomping at acquiring more and more of the nations land. As mentioned in earlier posts, the Philistines have been very aggressive in their troop movements, and it seems there has been no comparable effort on Saul’s part to resist.

Even now, as his army, all of his army are facing the enemy, he realizes he is no match to the greater strength of the Philistines. And then there is the rumor that David is with them, the same David that will sit on Saul’s throne. That has got to be rumbling around in his thoughts!

God has departed from him

Yes, the Philistines are knocking on the door, asking for the victory over the weakened nation of Israel. A king that is preoccupied with a challenger, and who has rejected the nation’s God.

Saul rejected God. Now God has departed from him. And he knows it. He admits it. He admits it to the prophet.

God does not answer him

Not only has God departed from King Saul, but he admits that no matter how hard he tries, God will not answer his requests. God will not respond to the pleas of the king, even when the nation is on the brink of defeat!

Samuel, ever the man committed to truth gives no solace, but only clarifies the problem and Saul’s eventual fate.

Samuel reminds Saul that God has become his enemy. Wow. Harsh truth. Where is the love Samuel?

We are so thankful that God is the God of love, that His mercies are fresh every morning, and that His faithfulness extends from the east to the west, yet I was stumped when I first came across this concept of God being an enemy. If this is a new concept to my reader, may I suggest a post I wrote a few years back – The Lord’s Enemy. It seems God will become an enemy if we so choose!

Not only does Samuel tell Saul of God being his enemy, but that the kingdom has been (past tense) torn from him. He is a man living on borrowed time, a paper tiger with his destiny set.

Samuel gives us, and Saul, the reason for this abandonment, this refusal to assist, this action of rejection on the part of God. The reason?

Because Saul kept the best animals for sacrifice to the Lord. You remember the story. God had told Saul, through Samuel, to completely destroy Amalek.

1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” 

No matter how you judge this action, it is clear that nothing related to the nation of Amalek was to survive the scourge of Saul reigning down on them. This was the command of God.

Saul went religious. Saved some animals to sacrifice to God. What a righteous man! A righteous man that sealed his own doom! And not only his own doom, but that of his sons, and the nation of Israel. For our sin always affects those we are closest to.

Is there any hope for such a desperate situation? For Saul and his sons, no hope at all. This is a very dark day in the life of Israel!

If only there was a savior for Israel. No one would suspect he was one who had suffered, had lost his family and friends, was rejected by his own nation, and was persecuted by those in power.

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