Lesson 26: Finding God’s Will, Any ‘Witch’ Way You Can
(1 Samuel 28:1-25)
Recently millions of people were exceedingly angry with America On Line. Right around Christmas time, AOL commenced a new program. For $19.95 a month, a person could get unlimited internet access through AOL. The problem was that everyone thought this was a “good deal.” The people already connected to AOL began to use this service a lot more – after all, it didn’t cost any more to use this internet provider 15 hours a month than it did for 5 hours. And many others, hearing of such a good deal, became new subscribers. The result was disastrous for nearly everyone. There were simply too many people trying to use AOL at the same time.
One of our computers at home is connected to AOL, and many times over a period of weeks we were unable to log onto the system. We were not even able to check our e-mail. For several weeks, there were a whole lot of unhappy customers, some of whom were more than just unhappy. They made sure AOL knew about it. Lawsuits were filed, threats were made; all in all, it was pretty ugly for a few weeks, and all because people could not do as quickly or as well what they had been doing the past few months. Few seemed to recall that a few years ago, nobody even dreamed they might ever be able to do such things.
If such a furor arose over the partial failure of an internet provider, imagine what it would be like to lose one’s connection with God. This is exactly what happens to King Saul. In our text, a series of events occurs which leaves Saul frightened to death. Saul gets a good case of “foxhole religion.” He seeks to “inquire of the Lord” to learn what he should do to get himself out of the mess he is in. In spite of numerous attempts to inquire of the Lord, every one of his efforts fail. God is there, but He is silent. In contemporary terminology, Saul tries desperately to get “on line,” but every one of his “providers” fail to respond. Saul is in trouble, and yet he cannot obtain divine guidance that might be the key to his victory. What will he do? The answer: he will do something he has never done before nor will ever do again.
By far, these are the darkest days of Saul’s life. We will soon see just how dark they are and why he finds himself in this dilemma. Let us seek to discern the lessons found here for the ancient Israelites and for us as well. Prepare yourself, because this is one of the most troubling chapters in 1 Samuel. It is not a “happily ever after” story; indeed, it is just the opposite. Let us listen and learn, lest we cause ourselves to follow in Saul’s footsteps.
God Is There, But He Is Silent (28:1-7)
1 Now it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.” 2 And David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.” 3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists. 4 So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together and they camped in Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. 6 When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor.”
All of us have had one of those days when absolutely everything that can go wrong does go wrong. This is such a day for Saul. (Incidentally, David’s day isn’t going too well, either.) Saul’s problems are staggering. First, the Philistines are waging war against the Israelites, and this time they are very serious about it. The Philistines have continually harassed the Israelites throughout the reign of Saul.1 But this time, it appears the Philistine kings have determined to break the back of Israel’s military might once and for all. This they intend to do by combining all of their armed forces at Aphek (29:1). From there, they will march northward, up through the Plain of Esdraelon to Shunem (28:3-25). Their strategy seems to be to “divide and conquer” Israel by separating the nation in the middle and then working on the northern and southern halves independently. While the Philistines will fight with their full forces, the Israelites cannot. Saul’s scouts inform him of the size and location of the Philistines’ forces. The numbers are staggering. On top of all this, they are sticking to the lower ground to make full use of their chariots. I can almost hear Saul mumble under his breath, “We’re history.”
Second, Saul may well have heard that David is among the Philistines who have assembled to attack Israel. If Saul dreads facing off with this massive Philistine army, he may also be shaken to learn that David is among these Philistines. Our chapter begins with the account of the Philistine king, Achish, informing David that he and his men will go with him to fight against the Israelites. David assures Achish that he will prove himself a worthy ally, to which Achish responds by informing David that he will be his bodyguard for life. We know from chapter 29 that David and his men are with Achish at Aphek, and it is here that he and his men will be instructed to go back home to Ziklag. It may be that Saul’s scouts spot David and his men among the Philistines gathering at Aphek. You can imagine how Saul feels about going up against David, especially after he himself has said to David:
“And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand” (1 Samuel 24:20).
Then Saul said to David, “Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place (1 Samuel 26:25).
Third, Saul is aware of the danger he is in and is desperately afraid. You may will remember that Saul seems to have been a fearful (or at least retiring) person from the very beginning. He wanted to give up the search for his father’s donkeys (9:5). He would not tell his uncle (Abner?) what Samuel had said to him (10:14-16). He hid with the luggage when lots were drawn to identify the king (10:22). So far as we read in 1 Samuel, he never initiates an attack against the Philistines, even though ridding Israel of Philistine opposition is a significant part of his calling as Israel’s king (9:16). After the evil Spirit from the Lord came upon him, he became fearful, and at times terrorized (see 16:14; 17:11; 18:12). This full-scale, all-out attack by the Philistines has all the signs of a devastating defeat for Saul and his army, so the author informs us that Saul is scared to death (verse 5).
Fourth, although Saul now desperately seeks to “inquire of the Lord,” he is not able to get any response from God. Saul is not really very experienced in seeking God’s will, as our text has shown up to this point. Unlike David (see 1 Samuel 22:10, 15), Saul is not accustomed to seeking divine guidance.2 It was not Saul’s idea to inquire of a “seer” to learn where his father’s lost donkeys might be (1 Samuel 9:5-9). When lots were drawn to learn who God had chosen as Israel’s king, Saul was not a part of that process; he was hiding (10:22). Saul did not seek divine guidance regarding when to wage war with the Philistines. There was no need, since Jonathan was usually the one who started the fight by attacking the Philistines (such as when he attacked the Philistine garrison at Geba -- 13:3). Later on in chapter 13, Saul “forced himself” to go ahead and offer the burnt offering, rather than continue to wait for Samuel. In doing so, Saul disobeyed the command Samuel had given him in chapter 10, a command pertaining to divine guidance:
“And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do” (1 Samuel 10:8, emphasis mine).
Saul is instructed to wait for Samuel to obtain divine guidance, but he does not.
In chapter 14, Jonathan’s secret attack on the Philistines brought about an earthquake and great confusion among the Philistine warriors. Saul watches all this from a distance, then calls for the ark of God to be brought to him (14:18). The priest is in the process of consulting God when Saul observes that the Philistines are in flight, so he stops the priest in the middle of his inquiry into God’s will and begins to pursue them (14:19f.). Saul’s foolish edict greatly hinders Israel’s pursuit of the Philistines, causing many of the soldiers to sin by eating the blood of the animals they devour in their famished state (14:24-35). After the men eat, Saul is ready to begin his pursuit of the Philistines, but the priest strongly urges that they first “draw near to God” to inquire into His will (14:36). When no answer is forthcoming that day, Saul concludes it is due to (Jonathan’s) sin and orders lots to be cast between all the Israelites on the one hand, and Jonathan and himself on the other. Saul and his son are indicated. Lots are then cast between Jonathan and Saul. Jonathan is indicated; Saul fully intends to use the casting of lots to justify putting his own son to death and would have if the people had not refused to allow it. Saul is far from a model of how one seeks divine guidance.
On this occasion as well it does not seem that Saul’s motives are pure in his efforts to inquire of the Lord. It does not seem as though Saul is truly “inquiring of the Lord” in the sense that he is seeking to learn God’s will in order to do it. This also seems to be the conclusion of the author of 1 Chronicles:
13 So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the LORD, because of the word of the LORD which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, 14 and did not inquire of the LORD Therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse (1 Chronicles 10:13-14, emphasis mine).
We are told that Saul “inquired of the Lord” (28:6), but it is not a genuine inquiry. Instead, it is Saul’s desperate attempt to get God to bail him out of the trouble into which he has gotten himself. A similar effort to inquire of the Lord is described in the Book of Jeremiah:
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is warring against us; perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all His wonderful acts, that the enemy may withdraw from us” (Jeremiah 21:1-2, emphasis mine).
Saul’s uneasiness progresses from fear to terror to sheer panic. He must do something drastic, now! It is as though Saul is reliving the events of chapter 13, only this time Saul’s sense of impending doom is even greater. The Philistines are camped in Shunem, and Saul and his army are camped in Gilboa (verse 4). The Philistines are poised to attack, and Saul knows he doesn’t stand a chance. He must act, and quickly -- or so Saul supposes. And so he makes a very desperate and dangerous decision. Since he cannot seem to get God’s attention in any of the conventional ways, he decides that he must inquire of a medium.
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