I Samuel 08

Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.

Well, we are in the final session of the book of 1 Samuel. It's sort of a shame that my travel
arrangements didn't have this particular session before Halloween. Because we're going to
encounter, among other things, in these final chapters of 1 Samuel, Saul and the witch at
Endor.

Let's just jump right in. Chapters 27 through 31 is our subject tonight. 1 Samuel 27 verse 1,
and David said in his heart, I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul.

There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the
Philistines. And Saul shall despair of me to seek me anymore in any coast of Israel. So shall I
escape out of his hand.

And the word perish there in Hebrew actually means to be consumed. But David arose and
he passed over with the 600 men that were with him unto Achish. That was the king, and
we'll get on to that.

See, Saul, even though Saul had at long last decided, apparently, that further pursuit of
David was fruitless. And Saul concluded that because I think he recognized finally that David
was destined by God for the throne. But see, David didn't know that.

And even if he'd heard that, he'd have just cause to be suspicious of it. So he's going to
really leave Judah for another refuge. And what better than to be among the Philistines.

Now this move of David will accomplish a couple of objectives. It'll deliver him from any
possible danger of Saul, of course, on the one hand. But it'll also ingratiate him to the
Philistines, so that he would have no need to have any fear of the Philistines either.

There's about a 16-month period then that David will be, in effect, vacationing or recreating
with the Philistines, which will give him an opportunity to get his act together, to organize
his combat skills, develop his leadership skills, and to stabilize the situation from the
turbulence of the past months. Because he also probably realizes it's coming to the end of
Saul's dynasty in any case. But David's whole style is to leave that to the Lord.

He's obviously passed by a number of opportunities, and he will pass by a few more, to keep
this strictly in the Lord's hands. Now back in chapter 21, he'd been with the Philistines and
gotten in a lot of trouble there. But now he's the leader of a strong band of 600 guys.

So he's no longer a pawn in that sense. And so his reception will be much better with the
Philistines. However, when you look at this thing spiritually, still his sojourn with the enemy
has forced him later to heal.

He's going to lie to the king in verse 10 through 12. When the Philistines finally gathered
against Israel, David was almost snookered into a situation where he was going to have to
fight his own people. Fortunately, the Lord delivered him in a way that kept him out of
getting into that jam.
But in any case, let's move on. To give you a feeling of the geography, if we look at the map
of Israel, we zero around to the Dead Sea and westward. We're moving from Zipf, if you will.

David's taking his band to Gath. Later on in these chapters, before we get to the book, the
action will shift north. In fact, north of this map, we'll show you at the time, up to the area
of Endor and Gilboa and all that that's closer to the Sea of Galilee.

But right now we're in that region that's just west of the Dead Sea and so forth. So moving
on to verse 3 and 4. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath. Gath is one of the five key cities of
the Philistines.

He and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Hanom and
the Jezreelites and Abigail, the Carmelites, Nabal's wife, you may recall. And was told Saul
that David was fled to Gath and he sought no more again for him. So that's probably some
of the good news.

He's got his family with him, of course. David's throwing himself on the mercy of this
Philistine ruler. In the previous occasion when David did this, he was feared by Achish and
barely escaped with his life.

But now it's clear to all that David was Saul's mortal enemy. And that David might even
prove useful to the Philistines in their ongoing struggle with Israel. So David said unto
Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the
country that I may dwell there.

Why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? In other words, he doesn't want to
really be right under his thumb. He wants to be somewhere in their region, but where they'll
be out of each other's way. So, see, in a district of his own, David also could observe his own
religious rights as a worshipper of Jehovah or Yahweh or however.

Not be under their constant surveillance also. So in verse 6, then, Achish gave him Ziklag,
that's a city to the south. Therefore Ziklag pertaineth to the kings of Judah unto this day.

In other words, that then becomes traditionally a house of Judah. There's going to be some
problems we'll see before the book's finished, but Ziklag will be identified from this point on
really as a town of Judah. And at the time that David dwelt in the country with the
Philistines was a full year and four months.

So we're moving from Gath down to Ziklag. Now I want you to notice as we look at this map
that to the south are the Amalekites. And the Amalekites are going to be problems shortly.

But we'll move on. David and his men went up and invaded the Gershurites, the Gezerites,
and the Amalekites. For those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest
to shore, even to the land of Egypt.

And David smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep,
the ox, and the asses, the camels, the apparel, and returned and came back to Achish. So a
little raiding going on with what apparently were common enemies to both Israel and the
Philistines. And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to-day? And David said, Against
the south of Judah, against the south of the Jeramalites, and against the south of the
Kenites.

By the way, the word south is Negev. These are desert regions. See, the word Negev actually
means the dry country, but it becomes a synonym for south in Hebrew.

It's the waterless district south of Jerusalem between the hills of Judah and the actual
desert. And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest
they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will it be his manner. All the while he
dwelt in the country of the Philistines.

And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly abhor him.
Therefore he shall be my servant forever. So Achish chooses to interpret this to his
advantage.

So that ends chapter 27. We now get to, in some respects, one of the more colorful chapters
in the historical books, The Witch of Enders. 1 Samuel 28.

A couple of verses first. 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 thou
assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to battle.

Thou and thy men. David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do.
And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head forever.

Now actually, we don't recognize it here in the English translation, but the words that David
gave Achish were actually deliberately ambiguous. The words, What thy servant can do,
contained no distinct promise of faithful assistance in the war against the Israelites. And the
expression, Thy servant, is simply the ordinary form of speaking to one's superior.

So in this formalized deference to Achish, Achish, of course, can interpret it to his own
preference. And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do.
Fortunately, he never found out, because there's other things that'll come up in the way.

But in the meantime, there's this incident that starts at verse 3. The whole business with
Saul. We're going to shift now to Saul's camp. The key fact here, the writer emphasizes in
verse 3, is now Samuel was dead.

You remember when Samuel died, that left Saul without a counselor. There was quite an
unpleasant parting between the two. But now Samuel was dead, and Saul is desperate,
desperately misses Samuel.

I think Benjamin Franklin said it so well, many years ago. He said, When the well is dry, we
learn the worth of water. And with Samuel gone, I think Saul realized how essential he was
to him.

Anyway, now Samuel was dead, and all Israel lamented him and buried him in Ramah, even
in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of
the land. And in other words, the writer here is highlighting two key background factors.
One is that Samuel is dead, and the other is that there had been enforced by Saul, the
injunctions in the Torah against satanic practices, mediums, necromancy. We'll go through a
list here in a little bit. Those that had familiar spirits, that's a euphemism for a medium.

A modern day translation would be a channeler and wizards and so forth out of the land.
And the Philistines gathered themselves together and came out and pitched it. Shunam and
Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched at Yelboa.

Now, if we look at map at Israel, we've been focusing on that band of land between the
Dead Sea going western to the Mediterranean. We're going to now shift up to the northern
part. So to blow up this map, give you a little better feeling of the terrain here.

See, we have Gath and Ziklag down here in the bottom of the map. It's up almost near the
Sea of Galilee. Then we have Mount Tabor, and just below it is Endor, and a little bit further
south is Mount Gilboa.

Endor is where we're going to see the action that takes place in the coming verses. You
might notice while we're at it that Endor is only about seven or eight miles north of a place
called Gilboa, which is going to feature very prominently before the book closes. And Beth-
shan.

See, Beth-shan is also in Jabesh Gilead. That whole region is going to be very prominent in
the forthcoming chapters. So when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by the Urim, nor by the prophets.

So Saul was used to having some channel of communication from the Lord, and he's
discovering that it's all dried up. You know, there's nothing more terrifying. Nothing more
terrifying, even today.

One of the things that may shock you is that it's not uncommon for Christians to go through
a period of time that some of the ancient writers called the dark night of the soul. When
you're praying and he doesn't hear you, and you know he doesn't hear you. Terrifying thing.

Terrifying thing. And the first thing to discover that it is not unusual, I'll just mention it right
now, if you're interested in that area, I encourage you to explore my wife's book. My name's
on the book, but it's really her book.

Faith in the Night Seasons, which speaks to the dark night of the soul, the dark night of the
spirit, and God's purpose. It's his call to intimacy in a very strange way. It's important to
understand that.

I won't digress to get into a whole thing there. I'll just mention it as a sidebar, so to speak,
but I encourage you to explore that if you find yourself in that situation. But anyway, let's
move on.

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit. That's a
shocker. His listeners must be shocked, because Saul himself has just zealously made this
illegal.
But he knows there's, in spite of their attempt to enforce it, there's bound to be still one out
there somewhere. Saul said unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit,
that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a
woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

So his insiders tip Saul off that, yes, there is. See, there's always an underground, right? Let's
talk a little about the satanic arts. In Deuteronomy 18, verses 9 through 12, there are nine
abominations listed before the Lord.

One is passing children through the fire. It's some of these pagan rituals that were done in
those days. The whole issue of divination.

I might mention that behind each one we're going to list, the concept of divination is an
abomination to the Lord. Why? Why is that so bad? Why is trying to foretell the future so
bad? Because only God knows the end from the beginning. And that's a prerogative or an
attribute or capability that he is very jealous of.

And for us to attempt to obtain a glimpse of the future through some satanic art is an
abomination, and it's dangerous. And one of the things I like to underscore here, this is not a
question of just being victims of some harmless superstitions. I think in cultural terms, one
could say, Well, that's a superstition, you should avoid that.

That implies it's just because it's ignorance. No, it's not. It's more dangerous than that
because there are malevolent spirits that will take advantage of you and that can feign such
things.

So this whole pursuit of divination, whatever form it is, is an abomination to the Lord, as he
points out. An observer of the times or astrology. Well, gee, I always like to look at the little
astrology column in the newspaper.

It's just a recreation of what harm can come. Be careful. Those things were capital crimes in
Israel.

They were punishable by death. Why? For two reasons. God abhors them.

That's the primary reason. Also, they are dangerous. This is what an expert would tell you is
an entry, the beginning of a demonic control in your life.

An enchanter, a witch. This whole issue today of good witchcraft. You know, the Harry
Potter series is a colorful example.

Many people are really up in arms of that. Many others dismiss it as colorful children's
stories. And it probably lies somewhere between the two.

But there are dangers in it. I can't speak to how much danger you might just enjoy as a
children's story, but when you go to their website and you find they're trying to recruit
witches, that's a whole other thing to realize. There's more going on here than meets the
eye.
A charmer, a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer, trying to
communicate with the dead. That's exactly what Saul is going to be doing here in this bizarre
episode that we find recorded in 1 Samuel 28. Exodus 22.18, sorceresses were to be killed.

Mediums of divination were punishable by death. Leviticus 19, Leviticus 20. The Torah
makes no, there's no secret to this, and I didn't want to get into a whole side trip on this
other than to make sure that you understand that this is operative today.

It's not just some cultural thing of the past or some colorful story in the Old Testament. It is
something that is operative today. There are people that promote this in our schools.

I love what Ken Hovind did at the recent conference. He says, you know, it's funny how the
liberals always have a way of getting us to argue about the wrong things. They argue about,
should we teach creation in public schools? That's not what we should be arguing about.

We should be arguing about, should we have public schools? Government schools is a better
term probably. Anyway, moving on, 1 Samuel 28.8. 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 thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I
shall name unto thee. The woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath
done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
Therefore then, layest thou a snare for my life to cause me to die? So she's addressing this
apparent stranger, figuring that she's just, it's an entrapment situation here.

And Saul swore to her by the Lord. Now there's a contradiction in terms. And Saul swore to
her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this
thing.

And he may have misspoke, by the way, because he probably said it so authoritatively, she
began to realize that if he can say that, and he's authoritative, then he probably is
somebody, he's a heavy, she's dealing with here. And so the woman, Whom shall I bring up
unto thee? He said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, now notice the
Bible, when she saw Samuel, this is not a hallucination, this is not some phoniness on her
part, because she is shook.

There's some commentators speculating, well, this may have just been a ruse on her part
that went beyond or something. No, she's caught by surprise. She didn't know he was
coming.

She didn't know he was going to be asking this. By the way, she's the only one that did. One
thing you'll notice, if you look at the text carefully, many people don't realize this.

Saul did not see Samuel. He heard him, didn't see him, by the way. Small point, but it's in
the text.

Watch this. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice. I can imagine.

You see, she's used to her familiar spirit. What's going on here has caught her by surprise.
This is out of control.
She recognized that right away. And what's making Saul saying, Why hast thou deceived me,
for thou art Saul? She put it together. She figured out that because of it, I would suspect,
this is just conjecture on my part, because of the authority with which he swore to her, as
one who had authority, and Samuel, who was Saul's counselor, she's connected the dots.

She's realized she's been had. The king said unto her, Be not afraid, for what sawst thou?
See, he didn't see it, she did. Do you know why? Anyone? When Samuel, before he died, he
says, Thou shalt see me no more.

Interesting. The more I read the scripture, the more I become overwhelmed with its
precision. With its precision.

Way back there, when Samuel died, he said, Thou shalt see me no more. And that was made
good. Here he is, in some kind of God-ordained situation, as we'll see.

Saul can hear him, can't see him. I think that's fascinating. There's many places in the
scripture, that kind of precision unlocks all kinds of treasures.

So, just leave that for your own discovery. What sawst thou? And the one said unto him, I
saw gods ascending out of the earth. Now, by the way, one of the big discussions on this
whole area is, did the woman really call up the spirit of the dead? I don't think she did.

God just used the opportunity. Had she deluded herself into believing that she had such
power? No. Or was she a deliberate imposter? She may have been, but this is far beyond
her skill.

The fact that Samuel actually appeared is a key fact. In 1 Chronicles 10, we're in Samuel, but
in 1 Chronicles 10, when we eventually get there, in verse 13, in the Septuagint, the
translation is very precise. It says, Saul asked counsel of her, it's reflecting on this incident, it
said, Saul asked counsel of her, that a familiar spirit to inquire of her, and Samuel made
answer to him.

So the scripture in 1 Chronicles 10, especially in terms of the addition of the Septuagint,
makes it clear that it was Samuel. This is the same view that's held by Justin Martyr, Oregon,
Augustine. Tertullian Jerome maintained the appearance of Samuel was some kind of
diabolical delusion.

But I think the text argues against that in many ways. It's clear that Samuel's coming here
was of the Lord, not because of the witch's art in any way. The witch was surprised when
Samuel appeared.

And Samuel came because he had a special message from the Lord that turns out to be true.
And if you apply Deuteronomy 18, which that's the way you test a prophet, if what he says
comes true, you know he's a prophet of the Lord. And what this spirit's going to, what this
apparition or whatever it is, tells Saul turns out to be true.

You're going to be with me tomorrow. And Saul will be. So the prediction's true.
And I don't think that this is any kind of satanic response. God would not entrust Satan to
deliver this kind of a message. So the witch is here just a spectator once Samuel's on the
scene.

So let's move on. So Saul says to her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh
up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel and stooped
with his face to the ground and bowed himself.

Now there's a little background here. I didn't get a chance to put it in the slide, but you'll
follow me here. What apparently convinced Saul that it was authentic was she happened to
mention that he was wearing his characteristic robe.

And it's the very robe that Saul had seized and ripped as Samuel declared that the kingdom
had been ripped out of his hand. That was back in 1 Samuel 15, if you recall. So Saul is
hearing Samuel's voice, but he doesn't see him anymore because that was predicted back in
chapter 15, that he would see me no more.

So Samuel said to Saul, notice the scripture doesn't say the apparition said or some other
euphemism. It says, Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up? Saul
answered, I am sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me and God has
departed from me and answereth me no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams.
Therefore I have called thee that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.

Saul has reached his point in extremis, if you will, maybe beyond that. And it said, Samuel,
wherefore then dost thou ask of me, saying the Lord has departed from thee and has
become thine enemy? Now this is a strange translation. The word for enemy here is in the
Aramaic form and it's found only one or two places in the Hebrew.

The Septuagint renders this has come to be on the side of thy neighbor. The Vulgate, the
Latin says, passed over to thy rival. The Targum says that become the help of man who is
thine enemy.

The Septuagint is probably the right one. But anyway, that the Lord has departed from him
and really become partner, if you will, to his neighbor, namely David. And the Lord hath
done to him as he spake by me, for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand and
given it to thy neighbor, even to David, because thou obeyest not the voice of the Lord, nor
executest his fierce wrath upon Amalek.

Therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. So this is the final confirmation
that Saul is, it's over. Saul, you've lost it.

Just as he rent Samuel's garment, the Lord has rent his kingdom away from Saul. It's no
longer his. And it's interesting, again, he emphasizes that you did not execute my fierce
wrath upon Amalek.

He didn't do that. And because he didn't do that, he not only lost the kingdom, but because
he didn't do that, there's going to be some Amalekite. In fact, as we'll see, very interesting,
before the book is over, it's an Amalekite that finally kills him or at least claims to have.
We'll get into that debate here in a little bit. And of course, when you think of Amalek, the
descendants of Agag, the king of Amalek, remember Haman of Esther. If Saul had done his
job, there never would have been a need for Esther's heroics in the book of Esther.

So Samuel continues, Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hands of
the Philistines. And tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me. That must have gone
over great.

You want to chat with me? We'll chat tomorrow. You'll be with me. The Lord also shall
deliver the host of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.

You know, that's an interesting thing, by the way, to emphasize right here. Was Saul saved?
You wouldn't think so. But he's going to be with Samuel.

I think that's interesting. I wouldn't get into a big soteriological doctrine on the issue. But I
think it's interesting.

You see, if Saul's in heaven, it's not because of his actions anyway. It's because of the shed
blood of Jesus Christ. The same basis you and I will be there.

If we're in heaven, it's because of the blood of Christ and his faithfulness, not ours. Was Saul
faithful? No, he blew it. In a strange, elliptical way, we can take comfort in that.

When you blow it, it doesn't mean your salvation's at risk. Your rewards will be. The crowns
you might have earned might be.

There's a tremendous comfort in that. Here's Saul with all his mistakes. In extremis here.

He's at the depth of a dismal career. And yet Samuel says, you're going to be with me. I'm
sure it wasn't comforting to Saul.

It was probably terrifying because he realized he was going to die tomorrow. At the same
time, there's great comfort in that. He's going to be with Samuel.

And they'll have an eternity to discuss what should have happened. Thou and thy son shall
be with me. And the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hands of Philistines.

What a blow for Saul. Not only are you going to die, your nation, under your leadership, is
going to be clobbered by your enemies. That's disturbing that God judges his own people by
letting their enemies have victory over them.

That's a jeopardy America faces. If Hosea, chapters 4 through 14, if that parallel fits America,
and I believe it does, then the remedy God had for the northern kingdom, which was to be
wiped out by their enemies, could be, the parallel could be very serious. So, we have a
briefing package now, saying, Hosea, can you see? It explores the possible parallels.

Anyway, let's move on. Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth. In other words, he's
prostrate on the earth, so forth.
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. See, he'd been fasting, so he's very
weakened. So he literally is exhausted.

He falls on the ground, he's exhausted. You know, it's hard to imagine that here is a, that
King Saul, a king chosen by God, could participate in such a wicked deed. And there go all of
us.

You and I probably have more benefits and things than even Saul did, if we really take stock.
And yet we're not much better, in terms of our priorities. 1 Corinthians 10, 12 says, Let him
who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall.

Saul walked in darkness, not in the light. He disguised himself to enter this episode. But by
disguising himself, he revealed his true character.

Very ironic, isn't it? He put on a disguise, but by putting on that disguise, he reveals his real
character. One of furtiveness, one of deceit. He allowed a woman to break the law, brought
shame and defeat to his nation, to his family, and to himself.

Well, the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him,
Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I put my life in thy hand, and have
hearkened unto thy words, which thou spakest unto me. Now therefore, I pray thee,
hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread
before thee, and eat, that thou mayest have strength when thou goest on thy way. But he
refused, and said, I will not eat.

But his servants together with the woman compelled him, and he hearkened unto their
voice, and so he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. Now the bed was probably a
ridge around the side of the room that served as a seat during the day and a bed at night,
but anyway. And the woman had a fat calf in the house, and she hasted and killed it.

Apparently, necromancy pays well. Anyway, in the house, and she hasted and killed it, and
took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof. And she brought it
before Saul, and before his servants, and they did eat, and they rose up, and they went
away that night.

So we now get to Samuel 29. David now is still intriguing with the Philistines here. The
Philistines gathered together all their armies to Ephek, and the Israelites pitched by a
fountain which is in Jezreel.

So they're up north, they're west from the region we've just been in, Endor and all that,
closer to the valley of Jezreel, that's Megiddo and all of that. And the lords of the Philistines
passed on by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed on in the rearward
with Echish. Now it's interesting, the lords of the Philistines are passing on, but they have
the civil authority but not the military authority.

And they were not the military army commanders. This division of civil and military
authority predates the Roman system, the government of division of power. So it's
interesting that those ideas are operative here.
But in any case, when the armies of the Philistines then said the princes of the Philistines,
What do these Hebrews hear? And Echish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this
David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, which hath been with me this day?
This file is longer than 30 minutes.
Go Unlimited at TurboScribe.ai to transcribe files up to 10 hours long.