Right & Wrong

We pick up the story in 1 Samuel 28:3. We’re told, again, that Samuel had died. This is a repeat of the death notice in 1 Samuel 25. The author mentions this again so we remember he’s dead; it’s going to be an important detail.

And then we’re informed that Saul has done something right, at least initially.

1 Samuel 28:3 NIV

3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.

Saul has rightly kicked out the mediums and spiritists from the land. This, in keeping with the Law of God. In expelling them, Saul’s doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

So says the Law of God:

Leviticus 19:31 NIV

31 “ ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 20:6 NIV

6 “ ‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.

Deuteronomy 18:10–12 NIV

10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.

Saul’s decision to get rid of these things might not have been a popular move.

I’m sure this had an effect on many in the land of Israel, an economic impact if nothing else. No matter how common mediums and necromancers (people who consult spirits of the dead) might have been, the Mosaic law forbade them as abominations.

These things were common throughout the ANE. Many texts have been discovered which instruct and teach these practices.

Biblical religion is the only one known to forbid it. These things were a problem throughout the surrounding region and continued to be a problem throughout the Israelites monarchy (read about it from 1 & 2 Kings to Isaiah).

These two things—Samuel’s death and the mention of Saul’s removal of mediums and spiritists—are the setup for the rest of the chapter.

Here, then, is the current conflict:

1 Samuel 28:4–6 NIV

4 The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. 6 He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.

Saul’s afraid at the sight of the Philistine army. This is natural, especially when you look at a map and see how far the Philistines force had advanced already. The Philistine force is dominating Israel and they continue to press forward.

Saul was afraid; terror filled his heart.

Joyce Baldwin writes: “Saul was afraid with the kind of fear that gnaws physically and incapacitates a person for action.”

Saul inquires of the Lord. This is the right move. This is the proper response when fear falls, when one doesn’t know what to do.

Saul inquires of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.

These were the permitted means of asking the Lord that remained.

There were dreams which could have given him guidance. Kings in the Bible have dreams which often need interpretation from someone else, but were, at that time, one way God communicated.

Urim was a priestly oracle, but Saul had deprived himself of such when he killed all the priests at Nob.

Prophets, trained in Samuel’s school, were another avenue of hearing from the Lord. But Samuel is dead...

Saul wanted to hear from the Lord now in the hour of his distress, but went he sought didn’t. He inquired of the Lord and didn’t hear anything.

So Saul does what he knows is wrong. Let it be said: There is Never a Good Time to do what is Wrong in the Eyes of the Lord.

1 Samuel 28:7–10 NIV

7 Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” “There is one in Endor,” they said. 8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.” 9 But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?” 10 Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.”

There is Never a Good Time to do what is Wrong in the Eyes of the Lord.

Saul knows better. He absolutely knows better. He knew well enough to banish the mediums and spiritists from the land. But now he turns to one.

His actions show this is wrong. He dons a disguise, putting on clothes that wouldn’t give him away, and goes at night to the woman medium.

Nighttime is when you do what is shameful. When you fear being seen. When you want to hide. When evil is on the agenda.

But you can't hide from the One who sees all, from the One who knows the heart.

Saul had rightly cut himself off from mediums and spiritists—the practices of those who don’t know the Lord.

And now Saul turns to them. This is how the chronicler frames Saul’s death.

1 Chronicles 10:13–14 NIV

13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, 14 and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

There is Never a Good Time to do what is Wrong in the Eyes of the Lord.

Saul does what he knows he shouldn’t. The woman who is a medium knows that what she does is not legal.

She tells the disguised Saul, “Saul has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land.” And she admits she’s afraid for her life.

Saul ironically swears by the Lord that her doing what the Lord forbids will be okay.

Wrap your head around that. The Lord will, according to Saul, be okay with her doing something the Lord has forbidden?!?

“Saul swears the oath by Yahweh, by Yahweh’s life, as he seeks help from a source that Yahweh has condemned.” -DRD.

Saul does wrong here. It’s clear to everyone.

1 Samuel 28:11–14 NIV

11 Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” “Bring up Samuel,” he said. 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” 13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.” 14 “What does he look like?” he asked. “An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

This whole turn of events is sad. Israel was forbidden to engage in such practices.

Still, people regularly do what the Bible prohibits—be it ancient Israel or the contemporary church.

We might not hire mediums or fool around with necromancy (I pray you don’t), but we mess around with activities and actions the Lord tells us not to.

You’re sensible people. I don’t need to fill in the blank here for you.

There’s Never a Good Time to do what is Wrong in the Eyes of the Lord.

The Bible describes these actions—calling on spirits, summoning the dead—not as futile or silly or pointless but rather as pagan and evil.

The Lord forbids Israel to use these things, not because they don’t work, but because they are wicked.

The woman, the medium is able summon Samuel. We don’t know how.

There’s no description of the wording used to call up Samuel from the dead. Perhaps the writer didn’t even want to mention the actual deed, evil as it was.

For whatever reason, the Lord, for His own reasons, permitted Samuel to “come up” in order to speak this word of truth (and doom!) to Saul.

1 Samuel 28:15 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.”

Saul makes a confession here, not to the Lord, but to the spirit of dead old Samuel.

Saul is honest. He’s in distress. He’s worried about the Philistines. He shares that “God has departed from [him] and that God no longer answers [him].”

One of the saddest statements in the Bible. Whew.

And then Saul gives the reason he has summoned Samuel: “The Lord wouldn’t answer me, so I called on you to tell me what to do.”

Now, I don’t know for sure how long Saul inquired of the Lord. It couldn’t have been long; less than a day. It seems he moved on rather quickly from valid means of seeking the Lord’s guidance.

Saul impatiently gives up on the Lord. The Lord doesn't answer him when Samuel thinks He should. The Lord doesn't bend to Saul's timeline. Saul must think the Lord owes him an answer.

Saul's attitude toward the Lord is a little haphazard.

Saul has ignored the Lord's instruction. He's killed the Lord's prophets. He's forfeited the kingship and hunted the Lord's anointed. And now he thinks he's owed an answer, some guidance, some help from the Lord.

His is a life disordered. His expectations are skewed. When Saul doesn’t hear from the Lord in his time-frame, he moves on.

We're instructed at different places in the Bible to keep wrestling with the Lord, to keep pleading with Him, to be persistent in prayer, to wait patiently for Him.

Psalm 13 has long been my favorite psalm. It was the Psalm to which I turned to at my lowest point, when I was at rock bottom.

I had just resigned my first ministry position. I was disenfranchised with the church and thought I'd probably never serve in a church as a pastor ever again. I had no real desire to do anything with the church any longer ever, if I’m being honest.

It was then Psalm 13 really hit me.

It smacked me right upside the head at a time when I was convinced I was in Saul’s shoes. Cut off from God’s presence. God was silent as far as I could tell. God’s presence was distant at best. I was stuck in my situation for so long it felt like He had forsaken me.

I read this psalm over and over. The psalmist’s questions were my questions.

Psalm 13:1–4 NIV

1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, 4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

The psalmist (David) thinks the Lord has forgotten him, has hidden His face from him. The Lord has turned away from him, so he thought.

But what does the Psalmist do? Does he turn to mediums or necromancers? Does he consult the horoscopes in the newspaper or pull out the Ouija board? Does he lay out the tarot cards or look at the tea leaves in the bottom of his cup?

No. Nothing like that.

The psalmist keeps asking, “How long, Lord?” The psalmist pleads with the Lord to pay attention— “Look on me and answer me!”

And eventually—eventually, maybe months or years down the road—the “How longs?”, the wrestling, the pleading turns to praise:

Psalm 13:5–6 NIV

5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

When believers fear God’s absence, they instinctively turn to the God they think has forsaken them and complain TO HIM about His forsaking them.

They go on and deal with this God, crying to God to answer them, because they realize they have no where else to go.

So they keep turning to Him. Clinging to Him. Crying out to Him. They know He listens, even when He doesn’t answer or seem to answer.

They don’t run to false gods or godless practices; they keep dealing with the Lord.

Saul seeks the Lord. That's good. That's the right move.

There’s Never a Bad Time to do what is Right in the Eyes of the Lord.

Saul's initial impulse is absolutely right. He should seek the Lord. He should confess his distress, his sin, his wrongdoing to the Lord. And keep on seeking the Lord's face.

This is what believers are meant to do. This is what is right in the eyes of the Lord. This should our first impulse, and our second and third and 80th impulse.

Saul gives up pretty quick on hearing from the Lord. And he turns to that which is forbidden.

Saul will hear from Samuel:

1 Samuel 28:16–19 NIV

16 Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? 17 The 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. 19 The Lord will 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.”

Samuel reminds Saul that it’s because of Saul’s disobedience that he didn’t hear from the Lord—the Lord has done this to you today.

Saul hadn’t been listening to the Lord. Hence, the Lord’s absence here.

If you regularly despise God’s Word, He’ll take it from you. If you persistently refuse to obey the Lord, you will endure His silence.

The spirit of Samuel speaks to Saul and reinforces what he told Saul when he was alive. 1 Samuel 15:28—Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.”

Samuel uses the name of the Lord seven times and accurately says that Saul and his sons will die.

Samuel is witness of the Lord’s faithfulness, the Lord’s tearing the kingdom away from Saul, the Lord’s handing over of Israel to the Philistines.

Saul shouldn’t have consulted a medium (there’s never a good time to do what is wrong in the eyes of the Lord).

And here, when he hears from Samuel, it’s not good. There’s not any guidance that Saul wants. This isn’t going to help Saul in any way; Samuel doesn’t tell Saul what to do.

There’s only truth and the truth isn’t good news or glad tidings.

Upon hearing from Samuel, Saul reacts:

1 Samuel 28:20–25 NIV

20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel’s words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and all that night. 21 When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do. 22 Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way.” 23 He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his men joined the woman in urging him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the couch. 24 The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. 25 Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.

It’s a hopeless scene for Saul and Israel. Saul is overcome. It’s possible (likely even) that Saul fasted before speaking to Samuel.

The woman medium is also, apparently, a world-class chef. She provides a meal fit for a king. Butchering the best calf, baking unleavened bread. A nice pre-disaster meal to send them on their way.

“Good luck storming the castle!”

“Think it’ll work?”

“It would take a miracle.”

That same night they [Saul and his men] got up and left. And off they went to face their foretold demise.

Davis asks if this scene reminds us of another last supper.

“Does this bring to mind another religious and very talented individual? One who had preached Christ and had done miracles in His name? And you remember how you shudder every time your read those words about him in John— “As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.”

You remember the scene. You remember Judas’ exit. John wasn’t merely wanting to tell us the time. He wants to tell us it was night. He was entering the darkness itself.

BUT there was someone else who entered the darkness.

Mark 15:33–34 NIV

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

We’re pretty detached from this, we can think. We’re better than this. We aren’t like Saul or Judas, certainly not.

And, of course, we’re wrong. We all ascend to the same level on the podium; we are all first-rate sinners.

But the glory of the gospel is that God’s Son went through the darkness of God’s absence for us. The darkness. The God-forsaken-ness.

Jesus’ cry from the cross— My God, My God, why have you forsaken me—sounds very much like Saul’s (1 Samuel 28:15) “God has departed from me. He no longer answers me.”

At Calvary, Jesus walked out into outer darkness in order that you might walk in the light.

Question: Do you seek the One who has endured the darkness of God’s wrath for you?

Think about all the wrong you’ve done, and how by faith, you are credited with all the right Jesus has done.

There’s Never a Better Time to Thank God for all He’s Done for us in Jesus Christ.