"reveal to me"
1 Samuel 28:15
Are you the kind of person who likes to shake a present to see what's in it? Do you like to see the sizes and shapes of your gifts under the Christmas tree, or do you prefer to be surprised? The Apple of my Eye won't even let me put presents for him under the tree until Christmas morning. He doesn't want to accidentally guess what's in a package.
Once when I was a teenager, I was trying to cajole my sister into telling me what she'd gotten me for a gift, instead of just waiting for Christmas, or my birthday, or whatever it was. She said calmly, "Fine. It's on the shelf in my closet. Go look." And all of a sudden, I didn't want to anymore. As much as I wanted to know, I realized it would be better to wait until the time was right. It would be wrapped, and it would be a celebratory day of fun, made better by the gift my sister had gotten for me. The timing of receiving a gift is important. The timing of finding out is important.
Today's verse is from Chapter 28 of 1 Samuel. You can tell that because under the quote it says, "1 Samuel 28...." Oh, you saw ~ right. Okay, you're good.
Anyhow, it's toward the end of Saul's life, but of course he doesn't know that ~ yet. What he does know, is that those pesky Philistines are gathering for war. Again. And when he sees that, he is afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. So he did something he had never, ever done before. He inquired of the Lord.
But the Lord did not answer him. But really, why should He? Saul had disobeyed God by disobeying Samuel, God's prophet and representative. Now Samuel was dead. And Saul had killed all the priests in his rage over imagined treason by David. Actually, that's not true. He had killed all but one priest. That one priest had escaped, and if you think he was going to report for duty now to help Saul with his communication dilemma.... well, he just wasn't.
Now, even knowing all that Saul had done ~ to David, to Samuel, to the priests, to the people he was supposed to be leading.... I do feel sorry for him. But Isaiah 55:6 says "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near." If we refuse to talk to Him, there will come a time when He won't listen.
So the only option Saul can think of is a witch. A medium. Now mediums, sorcerers and the like have been forbidden by God (Deuteronomy 18) and Saul himself outlawed them from the city. So he had to ask his servants to find someone for him, and indeed they knew of a woman in a place called En Dor. So Saul put on a disguise to go to her, to ask her to return to the craft that he had forbidden. And, um, God of course...
Ezekiel 34 prophesies dire words for the shepherd that does not care for the flock. Saul, the king, is forcing her to sin for his benefit. And when she succeeded, she know it was not of her power. She was frightened, thinking she might now be punished by Saul.
But he puts her at ease, and begs her to tell him what she saw. And what she saw, was Samuel. And at Saul's request, Samuel did what he had tried to do for Saul over and over during his life ~ reveal God's truth. "The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to David. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord... the Lord has done this thing to you this day."
And if that's not bad enough.... "Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel, with you, into the hand of the Philistines. The Lord will deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with Me."
Okay, Saul, you wanted to know what to expect. Well, be careful what you wish for. He was struck with fear, and had the energy to return to his camp only because his servants and the medium urged him ~ practically forced him ~ to eat.
And then in chapter 31, we see it play out exactly as Samuel has prophesied. To Saul's credit, he did indeed go into battle, despite knowing what would befall him. He was struck with an arrow by the enemy, and not wanting to die at the hand of the enemy, he asked his armor-bearer to kill him. But the armor-bearer refused, so Saul took his own life, falling on his sword.
And do you think, that maybe as much as Saul wanted to know, maybe he was sorry he knew? Knowledge is like that sometimes. Sometimes we wish we didn't know what we know. Makes you wanna just trust the One who knows, doesn't it?
~ "For every matter
there is a time and judgement...
for man does not know what will happen" ~
Ecclesiastes 8:6,7
I love reading your posts. I should get over here more often.
ReplyDeleteI heard a sermon once in which the speaker said that the witch of Endor was used to conjuring up not the dead but "familiar spirits" who would imitate the person who had died, but in Saul's case she was so shocked because the Lord caused the real Samuel to appear. I find this fascinating. If this was a resurrection of Samuel, was it only temporary? Did Samuel return to his former place/state? I could ask the same question about the saints who came out of their tombs and were seen in Jerusalem at the time of the resurrection of Jesus.
I suppose it was temporary. I'm pretty sure Lazarus eventually died a second time. Only Enoch and Elijah seem not to have died in the sense we think of.
Please forgive my mind-wanderings. I can be a bit over-analytical at times!
First of all, your over-analytical mind-wanderings are welcome here ~ I've been called over-analytical a few times in my life, to be sure.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I do assume Samuel returned from whence he came, although I'm not sure it would count as a resurrection. How God accomplished the medium's goal here, is something I don't we can quite comprehend; we simply don't have enough details.
It's also interesting to note that he told Saul that "tomorrow, you and your sons will be *with me*" (1 Sam 28:19). That's got me over-analyzing!
This is just me, but I think the Lord meant "with me" in the case of Saul and his sons (for they died) in the same sense that Jesus meant when he said to the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise" -- that is, in the grave, in the place where the dead go, in Sheol (Hebrew), in Hades (Greek) (the latter word not to be confused in our modern minds with Hell or Gehenna (Greek), which is the lake of fire). The Lord is everywhere of course -- remember from the Psalms, "If I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there."
ReplyDeleteAnd since the Lord "has the keys to death and hell" He freed the captives in the Paradise portion of Sheol (the abode of the blessed dead as opposed to the abode of the wicked dead -- see Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus and "the great gulf fixed") to Heaven with Him when he ascended to His Father (not on Ascension Day but after He told Mary Magdalene in the garden on Easter morning "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father" (he did tell Thomas a week later to touch the wounds in His hands and His side).
Nobody ever understands what I am talking about when I get on this subject, but I'm thinking that you just might understand.
Over-analytical and Bible-believing Bob
Interesting indeed, Bob. I've never thought about it that way. To me, the key is in the wording. The word "paradise" that Jesus uses with the thief on the cross is "paradeisos" and it's only used three times in Scripture - that instance, as well as in 2 Corinthians 12:4, by Paul, and Revelation 2:7, regarding the location of the tree of life.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me. There are many things we don't get to understand on this earth, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy discussing them! :)