Saul And The Witch Of Endor – Part 1 – Facing The Fruit of Disobedience

1 Samuel 28:1-6                                                                                                         Lesson 17a

Key verse 28: 6                                                                                    Kevin E. Jesmer  8-25-14

“He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.”

This passage is avoided by many Christian circles because it deals with issues that are controversial. It deals with matters of disobedience to God that seem legalistic and it also brings us face to face with the ideas of witchcraft and ghosts in the Bible. In all my over two decades of being a Christian, I have always breezed over this passage, at most stating that the passage was “controversial” and moving on. And so did my peers. But in preparing this series I needed to take time out to really look at what this passage is saying. It will be addressed in two messages. The first, dealing with Saul’s rebellion and the second, Saul’s turning to a medium. And so join me in the exploration of this ancient account of Saul’s desperate attempt to find redemption.

Saul found himself in a desperate situation.  Look at verses 1a, 4-5 and 15b. “In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel…. The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart…. “I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams….” (NIV) The Philistines assembled, mustering their forces in a great drive to destroy Israel. Saul was terrified as he witnessed the Philistine army assembling for the final showdown. What could he do? He was terrified.

Saul reacted as we would all initially react, with our own human expertise. He gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa. There were thousands of fighting men, a vast army. But even a mighty army could not quell the storm brewing within his heart.  “I am in great distress” Saul said. What would you do if you were in Saul’s shoes?

In his desperation, Saul also tried to inquired of the Lord. But God did not answer him. Loiok at verse 15b again, “I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams….” He tried to pray, but his unrepentant heart had cut him off from God.He expected the Lord to answer him, through prophets and in his dreams. But his spiritual mentor, Samuel was dead and God remained silent.

Saul was at his wits end. Saul had tried every avenue to open up the lines of communication with the Lord. But God refused to answer him. Saul turned to another means of finding answers, the Urim and thummim. Look at verse 6, “He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.”

Some may be wondering what these interesting objects, the Urim and the thummim, that are mentions here? Exodus 28:30 sheds some light on them. “Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.” A pouch on the ephod of the high priest held the Urim and Thummim, two small objects, two plates or flat stones, that were used by the High Priest to determine God’s guidance in certain matters. These names literally mean “Curses” and “Perfections”. They were taken out to either get a “yes” or “no” answer. God had instructed the Israelites to use the Urim and the Thummim for consulting him. By doing this, the Israelites were taking the decisions out of their own hands and bringing it before God. Only the high priest could use the Urim and Thummim. (Life Application Bible commentary. p. 452)

Saul was trying his very best, humanly, to talk to God and find answers but to know avail. God remained silent. Why? Saul was neglecting one important element in opening the lines of communication with the Lord. It is called repentance and humility. If we scoot ahead in the passage, to verses 16-19, we can see Samuel’s message to Saul. “Samuel said, ‘Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away 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 hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines.”

The message to Saul is in reference to the words in 1 Samuel 15:17-23, “Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸ And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹ Why did you not obey the LORD ? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD ?” ²⁰ “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. ²¹ The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”  ²² But Samuel replied:   “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD?  To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.  ²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” (NIV)

God had given Saul a mission, to defeat and annihilate the Amalekites who had taken advantage of the Israelites when they were vulnerable. (Deut 25:17-19) God called Saul to be his instrument of judgment on their enemies. He also wanted to test Saul, to see what was in his heart and train him for national leadership. But Saul failed to stand up as a servant of God. How did Saul get to this point?  

    Saul started well at the beginning of his calling. God had given Saul a chance to be Israel’s king but when the time came to carry out God’s difficult commands, he interpreted them in his own way.He listened to the consensus of his soldiers and compromised, sparing the king of the Amalekites, Agag, and the best of the livestock and everything that was good. (15:8-9) Saul was guided by his pride and arrogance and revealed himself to be a man of incomplete, partial, selective obedience to the Lord. This makes him, essentially, a man of disobedience to God. But he was very grieved at what Saul had become.

Samuel, Saul’s spiritual mentor, on the other hand, shared in God’s heart and mind. He cried out all night to the Lord for Saul’s future when he saw Saul falter. Perhaps he prayed that the Lord might forgive Saul and give him another chance. Perhaps he prayed that Saul may repent and make a more concerted effort to fulfill the mission to be king.  But despite of Saul’s mentoring and prayers, Saul went to Carmel to erect a monument for his name’s sake. (1 Sam 15:12)  Saul was seeking glory for himself rather than glory for God.

God decided to confront Saul about his sin and so God sent Samuel to reveal the truth to him in 1 Samuel 15:17-18. “Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸ And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’”God wanted him to know what he had done and to confess his sins, repent, accept the grace of God and try once again to be the king of Israel. But Saul made all kinds of excuses, not taking ownership for what he had done.  Excuse making is the opposite of confession and only reveals pride and self righteousness. Excuse making keeps us in state of rebellion against God. It really paralyses us.

Saul knew how displeasing his act was before God and so he thought that he could make it right by sacrificing the best of the plunder to God. But God’s favor can never be won like that. God does not want sacrifices made only to save ourselves! God wants faith that inspires us to live according to God’s calling in our lives.

Even in the light of this seething rebuke, Saul did not repent. He felt sorry about it all, yes, but he was more concerned about what his people would think of him. (15:24) He begged Samuel to go with him to show publically that Samuel still supported him. But Samuel rebuked him further. Look at verse 15:26, “But Samuel said to him, ‘I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!’” God’s judgment against Saul would be decisive. “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.” (15:28) Later, Samuel felt sorry for Saul and accompanied him back to the city. Deliberate disobedience to God is rebellion. It is born out our unbelief and pride. When we try to offer to God our sacrifices on our own terms, trying to appease God only after our sin is found out, without actually submitting our hearts to God in humility and true worship, we are dishonoring God.

Rather than our self prescribed sacrifices, God wants our obedience, born from our faith and offered up in thanksgiving. When we set out to obey the Lord on his terms, then we are surrendering our hearts to God in worship. God is pleased and dwells in our hearts. John 14:23 reads, “Jesus replied, ‘He who loves me, he will obey my teaching. My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’” (NIV)  And Jesus’ commands to us are not burdensome. Listen to Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (NIV)

Saul was not in good place. Because of his rebellion against God, God would deliver Israel and Saul into the hands of the Philistines. Moreover, the next day, Saul and his sons would be killed in the war and eventually stand before the judgment seat of God. What a dreadful message to Saul it was! Judgment had finally come upon him. It left him speechless and diaphoretic.

Saul tried so desperately to have his prayer answered by God. But God was not answering, remaining silent instead. Sometimes people wonder why their prayers are not answered. This passage should shed some light on one reason why we may be facing unanswered prayer. From this passage we can see that if people are living in prideful rebellion to God, they should not be surprised when God does not give them further guidance. God wants us to pray in humility, repentance and faith. Why should God answer if we are proud, unrepentant, with very little desire to obey him? Having the right attitude as we approach the throne of God helps when we are about to pray.

There is also a time when God has decided something and his judgment will surely come. God had interacted and talked with Saul for decades. He had given him lots of chances to repent and make it right, but Saul didn’t do it. There is a time when God simply decides, no more talking. Think about Romans 1:24,26,28. In these verses Paul talks about the sins of the Gentiles and how they had gone so far in their worship of idols and following the sinful desires of the heart, while refusing to repent, “²⁴ Therefore God gave them over …” Therefore God gave them over. God decided to lift the hedge of protection and let them live apart from him. Maybe they would repent and come to the Lord to be saved. There is a time when talking is done. Fathers have said to their kids, “OK…no more talking! This is how it is going down.” God is gracious. He extends his mercy our entire lifetimes. But there are times when he lifts the hedge of protection and give us over to our own sinful nature. We should never choose this option.

But do you know the wonderful thing about the Lord? In this age of grace he is graceful and he still chooses to listen to the desperate prayers of those who are living separate from him. Do you know how I know? God answered my, “Oh God!” desperate prayer when I was suffering in the darkness of sin as an unbeliever. He heard and he delivered me. God is graceful.

But let’s face it…we are all prone to disobedience. Is there anyone who can say that they fully obey the Lord? If we try to, we may look pretty good compared to others for a while, but we will burn out eventually. And what is obedience anyways? Is it always attending every meeting of the church? Is preaching to at least two people daily? Is it constantly studying the Bible? Sometimes obedience to God is to sit back and do nothing but pray and let God be God. It may be to get a job and support your family. It may be to study hard and graduate. In the end we all should come to God and humbly confess our disobedience. We can confess our helplessness to follow the will of God in our lives fully. Ask the Lord’s forgiveness. He will surely forgive. The Lord will cover us in his grace and dwell in us by his Spirit and empower us to obey him in our daily walk as we go forth in his strength. We are delivered and Christ is glorified.