The Crown – Season One – Episode 9 - Saul and the Medium of Endor

We’ve come to the end of season one.

Today we will be in 1 Samuel 28

The chapter begins with two announcements

Samuel has died

Saul has taken action against the mediums in the land. By expelling “mediums and spiritists,” Saul had obeyed Pentateuchal law (Lev. 19:31; 20:27; Deut. 18:10–11). So, good for Saul.

After the two announcements, the action resumes.

The Philistines are on the attack and closing in on Saul and the armies of Israel. Things do not look good and Saul is terrified.

1 Samuel 28:5 (NIV) — 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart.

Saul lived in fear. Several times in this story Saul is afraid.

1 Samuel 15:24 (NIV) — 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them.

1 Samuel 18:12 (NIV) — 12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul.

1 Samuel 18:15 (NIV) — 15 When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him.

1 Samuel 18:29 (NIV) — 29 Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.

I can understand fear – we’ve all felt it, but it seems to consume Saul and instead of turning to the Lord it leads him to making ungodly decisions. Obsessive fear is an indication of a lack of the Spirit.

Romans 8:15 (NIV) — 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) — 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

1 John 4:18 (NIV) — 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Jesus repeatedly says, “Do not fear.”

Saul doesn’t handle fear well, but this time in his fear he does cry out to the Lord. And he tries every way he can. He’s hoping he has a dream. He’s hoping the prophets will be able to help pout. But in every case, he gets no answers.

Here’s one of the saddest verses in the Bible:

1 Samuel 28:6 (NIV) — 6 He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.

So, in his desperation Saul sinks to new lows. He seeks out a medium even though he knew it was wrong. He had them all expelled.

The Story: Saul and the Medium of Endor

Saul sets out men to find a medium.

They find one in the city of Endor – not far but dangerously close to the Philistine camp.

Saul disguises himself.

The woman is suspicious. She thinks this may be a trap.

Saul assures her not to worry.

Medium asks Saul who he wants to see.

Saul asks for the prophet Samuel.

Samuel appears and terrifies the woman and somehow she now knows that the inquirer is the king, Saul.

Saul asks her what she sees.

She replies, “An old man with a robe.”

Apparently, the robe gives it away – Saul knows it is Samuel.

Samuel is not happy to be disturbed.

Saul asks for Samuel’s help in light of the Philistine’s impending attack. Since God won’t talk to me I need your help!

Here is Samuel’s message:

1 Samuel 28:15–18 (NIV) — 15 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 departed 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.” 16 Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? 17The 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. 18 Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today.

That sounds pretty familiar. Samuel’s message does not change. He does, however, add a little more detail in the next verse:

1 Samuel 28:19 (NIV) — 19 The Lordwill deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”

In chapter 31 that’s exactly what happened. Saul and his sons are dead and the Philistines overcome the Israelite armies and occupy the Jewish cities.

Let’s look back at the beginning go this story even before Saul was anointed. This is what God said to Samuel as he set him out to find the king they asked for:

1 Samuel 9:15–16 (NIV) — 15 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel: 16 “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.”

The very reason Saul was chosen was to rescue the Israelites from the Philistines and he failed miserably.

I don’t want to fail. I don’t want you to fail. I don’t want this church to fail. But more than that God does not want me, you, and this church to fail. So let’s look at this tragedy and see how we can succeed.

Nurture a relationship with God. Don’t just turn to him in a crisis. Don’t just go through the motions.

Saul never really seemed to know God.

When the Philistine crisis came, Saul was unprepared because he had not consistently nurtured his relationship with God. He had not replaced the magicians with prophets

Arnold, B. T. (2003). 1 & 2 Samuel (p. 380). Zondervan.

Saul is seeking God here because his life is in crisis. We all do that. But crisis is not always the best time to seek God because crisis moments push us to be desperate, gullible, and deceitful. We will do or say anything to get ourselves out of a jam. As proof, look at the many promises people make to God during times of crisis that they never fulfill once the crisis passes. They may “repent” but only until the catastrophe dissipates.

Is it wrong to seek God during a crisis? Absolutely not! God often uses those moments to shake us up and open our eyes to our true need. Many people trace their first steps with Christ to a major crisis in their lives. The danger, however, is that we are prone to see God as a vehicle to avoid pain, suffering, or hell.

Greear, J. D., & Thomas, H. A. (2016). Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Samuel (pp. 170–171). Holman Reference.

In all his prayers, consultations with prophets, and use of the Urim, Saul was after a solution, not after the Lord. He wanted to use God to make his life work. Many of us follow the same pattern.

Greear, J. D., & Thomas, H. A. (2016). Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Samuel (p. 173). Holman Reference.

A crisis-solving God goes silent. This is one of the scariest parts of this story. God doesn’t answer Saul and why should he? He consistently didn’t listen. God going silent should terrify us.

Centuries later another prophet will arise and confront the people of God with these terrifying words:

Amos 8:1–11 (NIV) — 1 This is what the Sovereign Lordshowed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2“What do you see, Amos?” he asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. 3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!” 4Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, 5 saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 6 buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. 7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done. 8 “Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn? The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt. 9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day. 11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

God goes silent when we simply go through the motions.

His is a nominal religion. He engages in outward religious acts and even tries to enforce divine standards—when it is not inconvenient for him. He still uses the language of conventional piety—but this is precisely the flaw. It is conventional piety, not the expression of heart commitment.

Mackay, J. L. (2019). 1-2 Samuel. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), 1 Samuel–2 Chronicles: Vol. III (p. 269). Crossway.

Proverbs 1:28–31 (NIV) — 28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, 29 since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. 30 Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, 31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

Matthew 7:21–23 (NIV) — 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Saul never really knew God. He went through the motions – those that he agreed with. He turns to God in a crisis and eventually God goes silent.

Nurture a relationship with God. Don’t just turn to him in a crisis. Don’t just go through the motions.

God’s Word Cannot be Altered

What did Saul expect to hear from Samuel?

Oh, I overreacted to that time when you went ahead and made that sacrifice without waiting on me.

Now that I think about it, that totally destroy command was way out of line. You had every right to disobey. Well done, Saul!

That David can be pretty annoying with his harp and all. I’d try to kill him as well.

Killing all those priests at Nob. We did need some new blood so kudos to you for getting rid of all those old guys.

Saul expected Samuel to change his message, but Samuel repeats everything he had said in the past.

God’s word stood and could not be altered. He should have believed it instead of thinking that by further consultation he could reverse its judgment. The Lord did not answer him, because there was no more to be said.

Baldwin, J. G. (1988). 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 8, p. 175). InterVarsity Press.

Sometimes we go to the word of God and expect God to accommodate his will for us. The Bible is full of difficult commands. God has high expectations of us. God has established some standards of life and morality and sometimes we expect God’s word to change.

I shouldn’t have told you not to be greedy. You need to take care of yourself!

That gossip prohibition - I can understand how you need to tell other people all that great information you have.

Gluttony – who can resist that buffet! You have to get your money’s worth out of those all you can eat deals.

Loving your enemy – you’re right! I didn’t know what bad people were going to be to you. Go ahead and hate them. Get your revenge!

All that teaching about sexuality – well, the world has changed and we can make some exceptions. Love is love after all!

We could go on and on. We will not be successful spiritually if we go to the word of God and expect God to change and accommodate our sins. We want God to change the message – he doesn’t.

Stay at 17 inches

https://www.sperrybaseballlife.com/stay-at-17-inches/

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck. Or maybe you think I escaped from Camarillo State Hospital,” he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. “No,” he continued, “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?” After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches,” more question than answer.

“That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?”

Another long pause.

“Seventeen inches?”came a guess from another reluctant coach.

“That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?”

“Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident.

“You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?”

“Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison.

“Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?”

“Seventeen inches!”

“RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues?”

“Seventeen inches!”

“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?” Pause. “They send him to Pocatello!” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter.

“What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. You can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches, or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'”

Theme – you can’t widen the plate. Saul wanted to widen the plate. We live in a world that want to widen the plate. When we try to manipulate God’s word, we are doomed just like Saul.

May Saul’s life be a cautionary tale to all of us. We live in a broken world and a good part of that brokenness is a result of us not nurturing a relationship with God and not living in obedience. In Season Two, coming some time next year, we will see what it means to live in God’s blessing. King David will offer a stark contrast to King Saul. Not perfect, but always pursuing God!

Let me close out this series with these words from David and then invite you to stand and sing:

Psalm 145:1–3 (NIV) — 1 I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. 3Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.