Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(1 Samuel 28:1) And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, "Know you assuredly, that you shall go out with me to battle, you and your men."
In the last chapter and post, David had let his faith falter, and he went to seek refuge from Saul in the land of the enemy, the Philistines. He had lied and had secured Achish's trust in him, so now the king fully expected that David and his men would fight against the Israelites.
(2) And David said to Achish, "Surely you shall know what your servant can do." And Achish said to David, "Therefore will I make you keeper of my head forever."
David answered Achish in a way that made the king trust that David would fight against the Israelites, and Achish told David that he would make him his personal bodyguard forever.
(3) Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put away those who had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land.
The prophet Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented his death, and they buried him in his own city, Ramah. I believe the point may be that Samuel had been Saul's spiritual adviser, and now he no longer had him to advise him on matters like war. It appears that Saul had previously removed all wizards and those who had familiar spirits, which would have included witches, fortune-tellers, astrologers, and the like. To attempt to know what God has not thought proper to reveal, is a sin against His wisdom, providence, and goodness, and specifically against His commandment against such attempts (Leviticus 19:31, Isaiah 8:19).
(4) And the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.
The Philistines gathered and camped at Shunem, and Saul and the Israelites camped at Gilboa. The two camps were separated by the valley of Jezreel, as seen from this map borrowed from Jesus Walk:
(5) And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. (6) And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
When Saul saw the Philistines, he was very afraid, and he enquired of the Lord. However, the Lord had left Saul (1 Samuel 16:14), and He did not answer him, not by dreams, and not by the Urim and Thummim which would have been in the ephod of the priest who was no longer with him for he had killed them all except for Abiathar (1 Samuel 22) who had escaped with the ephod to David (1 Samuel 23:9). The Lord did not answer Saul through any prophets, either.
(7) Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek me a woman who has a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and enquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, a woman who has a familiar spirit at Endor."
Saul, who had once wisely put out of his country all the wizards and fortune-tellers and the like, now sought one. His servants told him there was such a woman at Endor, a city in the tribe of Manasseh. It is interesting to note that the word translated as "enquired" in verse 6 is not the same word translated as "enquire" here. In verse 6 the original word is "shaal" and means "inquire, ask, demand, beg." In verse 7 the word is "darash" which means "tread, frequent, usually to follow, by implication to seek or ask, specifically to worship." It seems to me that the words should have been reversed, but Saul had ceased following the Lord. Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions adds that "darash" meant to "resort to." I get the idea that Saul was getting desperate for an answer from a fortune-teller.
(8) And Saul disguised himself and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. And he said, "I pray you, divine to me by the familiar spirit and bring up for me the one I shall name to you."
Saul disguised himself and put on different clothing than his royal garments, and he went with two men to the woman at night. He asked that she exercise her art of divination to bring up from the dead the person Saul would ask of her. It seems necromancy, communicating with the dead, was her particular art.
(9) And the woman said to him, "Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land; why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?"
The woman, not knowing that it was Saul who enquired of her, told him that Saul, the king, had cut off all those with familiar spirits and wizards from the land, so asking her to do this was to put her life in danger.
(10) And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, "As the Lord lives, there shall no punishment happen to you for this thing." (11) Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up to you?" And he said, "Bring me up Samuel."
Saul swore to the woman by the Lord that no punishment would happen to her, so she asked him who it was he wanted her to bring up from the dead. He told her he wanted the prophet Samuel.
(12) And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice, and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!"
When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. It's interesting to note that many of the old commentators I study go to great lengths to explain this was not really Samuel because no one could bring up the dead. However, if no one could bring up spirits of the dead, then why would the Lord forbid them from doing so? There is a spirit world that is very real, and the Lord does not want us dabbling in such arts. It opens the door to dark spirits and those that would pretend to be something they are not to ensnare us. I think it's possible that the woman may have practiced in deceit and was not accustomed to actually seeing a spirit she called for, and this caused her to cry out. Actually, since she dealt with "familiar" spirits, perhaps she was used to a spirit that would in turn supposedly communicate with the one she sought. Whatever the case, she was shocked to see Samuel. How she knew it was Saul who enquired of her is not explained but it must have been by divine revelation.
(13) And the king said to her, "Do not be afraid, for what did you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I saw gods ascending out of the earth."
Saul told the woman not to be afraid, but to tell him what she saw. Although she said she saw gods, plural, the word she used was "elohiym" which usually refers to the one true God in three persons, if you will, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This was a sight she had never seen before, and she perceived it as magnificent as a god.
(14) And he said to her, "What is his form?" And she said, "An old man 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 himself.
Saul asked the woman in what form was the so-called god. She said it was an old man coming up, covered with a robe. I have so many questions and thoughts here! It's obvious by his questions that Saul did not see what the woman saw. The fact that an old man would "come up" from the ground makes me believe it was a demonic spirit. But Saul perceived it must be Samuel, and he bowed to the ground before him. And the idea that Saul would bow before a demonic spirit is a most sad fact as to the state of Saul at this point in his life.
(15) And Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disquieted me, to bring me up?" And Saul answered, "I am sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me and answers me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams; therefore I have called you that you may make known to me what I shall do."
Now scripture states that it was Samuel who spoke to Saul. He asked why Saul had disquieted him to bring him up. This cannot be the soul of Samuel as he would be at rest in Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22) or in heaven (Luke 23:43). Nothing could disturb or trouble him, and his soul would not be in the ground. But if it was truly Samuel who spoke to Saul, then I believe it was his body that came forth from the ground, and that could only be by the power of God. It appears that Samuel appeared before the woman had done anything to bring him forth (verses 11 and 12 above). God has control over everything and everybody, living or dead, and although He would not answer Saul by prayers or dreams, etc., He had a message for him, but in a way that would make Saul know He was no longer with Him. Saul told Samuel how the Philistines had made war against him and how God had deserted him, and he had called Samuel to ask him what he should do.
(16) Then Samuel said, "Why then do you ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from you and has become your enemy?"
Samuel asked Saul why he would ask him what to do as he had been God's prophet, and God had departed from Saul, as he himself knew.
(17) "And the Lord has done to him as He spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David; (18) Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, therefore has the Lord done this thing to you this day."
Samuel told Saul that the Lord had done just what He had said He would do (1 Samuel 13:14), for He had torn the kingdom out of his hand and had given it to David. And that was because Saul had not obeyed the voice of the Lord. In 1 Samuel 13, Saul had offered an unlawful sacrifice, specifically against the way the Lord had told him to wait to do. Additionally, the Lord had told Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites, including all their livestock. However, Saul spared King Agag and the best of the livestock (1 Samuel 15:9). Therefore the Lord had torn the kingdom away from Saul, rejecting him and not answering him.
(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 shall also deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines."
This specter of Samuel told Saul that the Lord was going to deliver him and his sons, as well as Israel, into the hands of the Philistines. Even more alarming to Saul, he told him that he and his sons would be with him the next day. At the very least, it meant they would be dead, but if this was a demon taking on the shape of Samuel which actually Saul couldn't see (verse 14), then it meant they would be in hell. However, I'm sure that the loving Jonathan would be in heaven, so this could only mean they would be dead. The hymnist Charles Wesley wrote:
“What do these solemn words portend?
A ray of hope when life shall end.
Thou and thy sons, though slain, shall be
To-morrow in repose with me.
Not in a state of hellish pain,
If Saul with Samuel do remain:
Not in a state of damn’d despair,
If loving Jonathan be there.”
Although a beautiful sentiment, Wesley could not know the fate of Saul and his sons' souls. But his feeling was that God would have mercy on Saul, and well He might have, and they would all be with Samuel in heaven. However, that is supposing that this apparition of Samuel was indeed his spirit, and I don't believe it was. God was allowing this body of Samuel (maybe it was his body, but Saul couldn't see it) or this demonic spirit to tell him that he and his sons would die sometime in the near future, which was sometimes the meaning of the original word "machar" that was translated as "tomorrow."
(20) Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth and was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all the day nor all the night.
Saul fell stretched out on the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel. There was no strength in him to rise up again because he had not eaten all that day and all that night.
(21) And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was sore troubled, and said to him, "Behold, your handmaid has obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hand and have hearkened to your words which you spoke to me. (22) Now therefore, I pray you, hearken you also to the voice of your handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before you, and eat that you may have strength when you go on your way."
The woman came to Saul and saw how troubled he was. She reasoned with him that since she had done what he asked of her and had even put her life in danger by doing it, that he might do what she asked, and let her give him some bread so that he might regain his strength and go on his way. I am sure she was afraid of what might happen to her if the king was found dead at her place, she being a worker of dark arts that the king himself had banned from the country.
(23) But he refused and said, "I will not eat." But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him, and he hearkened to their voice. So he arose from the earth and sat upon the bed.
Saul at first refused to eat, but his servants and the woman talked him into it. He got up from off the ground and sat upon a bed.
(24) And the woman had a fat calf in the house, and she hasted and killed it, and took flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread of it. (25) And she brought it before Saul and before his servants, and they ate. Then they rose up and went away that night.
The woman hurried and killed a fat calf she had, dressed it, and made unleavened bread to go along with it. She brought the meal to Saul and his servants, and they ate and then went on their way that same night.
All the details of how Samuel was able to be brought out of the spirit world to speak to Saul were not given, so we are left to imagine how it happened. The facts are that there is a spirit world where guardian angels and demons exist. And Saul did not actually see the being he assumed was Samuel, but as God is supreme over all, He compelled the spirit to tell Saul what He wanted him to hear. And because our Lord is all-good all the time and desires that all men be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), He most likely was letting Saul know his end was near so that he could repent and make peace with his Maker. I don't believe any spirit has the ability to know the future; that is something that is only known by God, but as everything and everybody is at His command, even spirits can be compelled to say what He wills them to say.
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