”Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.” So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”“ I Samuel 28:7-8 NKJV
a. Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her: It wasn’t easy to find a medium in the land of Israel because Saul had previously put them out of the land. So Saul asked his staff to find him one and they suggested a woman in the city of En Dor.
i. Traditionally, this woman is known as the Witch of Endor. It may be appropriate to call her a witch, but it is more accurate to call her a medium or a necromancer – one who makes contact with the dead. The Hebrew word for medium is owb, and it has the idea of “mumbling” or speaking with a strange, hollow sound – as if one were “channeling,” with a dead person speaking through them. The Hebrew word has in mind the sound the channel makes as they speak. The English word mediumhas in mind the concept of a channel – they stand in-between the world of the living and the dead and communicate between the two worlds.
ii. “Endor was only a short distance away, on the north of the Hill of Moreh, and accessible despite the Philistine forces close by.” (Baldwin)
Endor was “located four miles northeast of Shunem and thus dangerously close to where the Philistines were encamped.” (Youngblood)
b. Saul disguised himself…and he went: As Saul sought the medium he brought upon himself a curse. God said in Leviticus 20:6: And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.
c. Bring up for me the one I shall name for you: Saul will ask the medium to channel the deceased prophet, Samuel. He did this because he wanted to know what God might say to him. Saul is like a man going to a palm reader to hear the will of God.
i. This shows the depth of Saul’s fall from God, and how it affected his mind. He obviously isn’t thinking clearly here. Once Saul rejected the truth, he was likely to fall for even the most foolish deception. (Guzik)
Fall From God!
Brethren, we need to be careful that we don’t follow in Saul’s path for it is written:
”Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.“ Romans 1:28 BSB
Saul disobeyed God and kept on sinning to the point that God gave him up to a depraved mind!
It basically comes down to a spiritual heart condition for it is written:
”Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”“
John 12:39-40 NKJV
Saul’s demise began with disobeying God and bitterness in his heart towards David.
Let’s perform a daily heart examination for it is written:
”Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.“
Psalms 139:23-24 NKJV
If I find bitterness forming in my heart, I try to pray that the Lord removes it and fills it with the love of Jesus.
Do you have any bitterness in your heart?
Blessings
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