When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out 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 medium at En-dor.”
1 Samuel 28:5-7
Fear can be a great motivator or a huge stumbling block. Saul was facing the Philistines and he was very afraid. Fear of failure is paralyzing. Fewer things strangle us more effectively than fear of failure. He appears to do the correct “next step” by inquiring of the Lord. However, Saul had a proven track record that demonstrated he was not always inclined to seek the Lord or pay any attention to the Lord’s instruction when given (1 Sam. 15). God was silent towards Saul. None of the normal avenues of how God revealed Himself was “working” in this case. The prophets were not communicating with Saul; there was no dream and there was no answer through Urim. Simply put, the Lord was not answering Saul, God was silent. If the enemy struck fear in Saul’s heart then getting silence from God clearly made him panic. Clearly, Saul was completely “over his head” and did not know what to do. He needed advice from someone and he never did pick up on the fact that if God was not answering there might be a reason for it; God was not going to lead someone who would not follow.
What was his next best option? Technically, if Saul was listening to God there are no other good options. Saul needed wisdom and guidance and his desperation drove him to consider the unimaginable – he went to a medium. A medium was someone who called up the dead in order to get advice about life circumstances. We would call it necromancy where the dead are consulted to know the future. It was his way to get guidance in order to know what to do in the present. The narrative tells us that Saul knew this was not good with God on many levels that we will not go into it here, but we know this was a really bad idea. Strange as it is, the medium called up Samuel from the dead to speak to Saul and give him advice. Whatever we think about all that, Samuel tells Saul two critical things: first, why are you asking me (a servant of God) for advice when the Lord had already departed from Saul and had become his adversary (28:16). Secondly, Samuel pointed out to Saul that he has consistently ignored or disobeyed God’s command in leading Israel. The consequence was clear, Saul would lose the right to rule and it would be given to David. Saul and his sons would be overrun and killed by the Philistines the very next day and David would be given the throne (28:17-19).
We find ourselves in some cultural conflicts today. Certainly, they are not quite the same as Saul facing the Philistines, but it is coming pretty close. There have been verbal conflict, physical engagements and even destruction of property and loss of life. We live in precarious times and it is easy to be afraid, even greatly afraid. There are two things that strike me about how Saul’s situation can impact us:
- Have we really been listening and obeying what God has told us to do in the past? Saul was blatantly disobedient to God and had made a habit of not surrendering completely to God’s Word. His choice of disobedience set himself up for failure because his fear became his final authority in making life decisions; he made a habit of dismissing God’s Word. We may need to consider repentance before the Lord when we have not obeyed his Word in the past. If we did not obey God in the past we are setting ourselves up for failure in the future. But since we do not know the future and God does, He may be compassionate and forgiving to give us a second chance if we keep a posture of humility before him and seek His face.
- Are we seeking answers in the wrong way and from the wrong source? We are facing some critical and increasingly precarious conflict in our culture. We are hearing lots of voices as to how we should think, feel and what needs to happen. We need to start listening to the hurt and pain of others. We need to be open to examine our own bias to understand each other and find ways to move to resolve and reconcile our issues, but the voice that we must listen to above all else is the Lord’s. That silence created a real problem for Saul since the Lord had rejected him and was not answering his requests. We can face a very similar problem if we are not careful. The real danger in our effort to make any progress in resolving these cultural battles is when we start seeking solutions from sources that are not grounded in the Scriptures. Listening to the pain and hurt is critical. Finding solutions from the Scriptures is essential. We have to vet all these issues through the lens of God’s Word, or we will get buried by the world. Metaphorically speaking, why would we consult the dead on behalf of the living?
Pastor Brad
