I don’t like uncovered widows at night, and let me tell you why. When I was in fourth grade, we moved from the little mountain town of Fiddletown into the city limits of the city of Ione. It was the first time since I was born that we had lived in a track house. At the front of the house was a big bay window. Our living room was set up so that the T.V. was opposite of the front door on the left side of that window. We had a recliner next to the front door and right against the window.
I liked to sit in the recliner because you could see outside, and still be able to watch the T.V. It was around Halloween when I was sitting in the recliner watching something on the T.V. I heard a noise outside and looked to my right. There, at eye level, with only a piece of glass between us, was a werewolf. I jumped out of the chair and screamed! Come to find out it was my dad in a mask, but ever since then, I have not liked having chairs next to windows, and I do not like having the windows uncovered at night. A little trauma goes a long way.
October and Halloween brings a bit of fright to our society, as our culture focuses on ghouls and goblins and other horror themed things. And it’s this aspect of fright that brings us to one of the most interesting and unique passages of First Samuel, which is found in chapter 28. As we jump into First Samuel 28:1, let’s do a quick refresher of how we got here.
David’s introduction and life is juxtaposed against Saul’s. David trusts God, Saul doubts him. David expects God to work, Saul takes it upon himself to fix situations. David seeks God to work out his will, Saul seeks God to work out his own will. Due to these things we can see why God chooses David as king rather than Saul. Because of this we have walked away from the last several weeks with the understand that God desires us to eagerly follow him in humble trust that is confident that he will work things out as we obey him. This summarizes the last nine weeks as we have see the fall of Saul and the rise of David. This is the core of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. God isn’t just looking for us to have a mental belief in him, but an active trusting relationship that grows as we obey him.
It’s with this as the foundation of faith that we can now turn our attention to the spiritual realm. As we jump into First Samuel 28, verses 1-3 tell us that David has agreed to go to war against the Israelites with Achish the Philistine, this will be important next week, but for now we are going to focus on the major part of the thought of this passage.
Dropping down to verse 4, is where we’ll begin to read.
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. 4 The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And 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 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.”
8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.” 9 The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?” 10 But Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.
15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” 16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
20 Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.
v.3-14
Let’s stop there. The passage begins with a call back to chapter 25 and Samuel’s death. We’re also told that over the course of his reign, Saul had ran out the mediums and necromancers from the land of Israel. This is in accordance with Deuteronomy 18:10-12, so we know that Saul is acquainted with God’s word. Mediums and Necromancers are those who speak to the dead on behalf of the living. These are grouped in with those who tell fortunes and read divinations. The idea here is that there are those who seek to circumvent and go outside the power of God. This is why it is a problem. It’s trying to replace God with another power that, we as humans can control, rather than submitting to the power and authority of God.
However, Saul has become desperate because God has fallen silent. No matter the avenue Saul tries, whether it be dreams, throwing of lots of the Urim and Thummin, or through prophets, God will not answer Saul.
So Saul turns to the only other place he can think of, a medium, someone he knows God does not want his people to associate with. But there are no mediums in Israel, he got rid of them. So he has to go to En-dor a place currently held by the Philistines.
When Saul arrives his appearance as a Hebrew is why the medium is at first hesitant to help. She doesn’t want her life to be in danger, but Saul, in disguise, assurers her she’s safe. Even going as far as to invoke the name of God for an oath, adding to his life more sin, and further stepping in the opposite direction of God.
It’s here that we get the only time in the Old Testament where a person, who is not resurrected back to life, comes back to speak with the living. And we have to notice the shear horror that happens to the medium. In this instance, she not only realizes that it’s Saul in disguise, but that something is coming out of the earth. When asked by Saul what it is, our English translations call it a god. The Hebrew word is elohim. Which is the Hebrew catch all for anything divine. The term carries with it the understanding that the elohim are those beings who carry God’s divine authority. Angels are called elohim, but humans can also be given the title.
However we need to notice that the medium’s reaction shows that something like this is not the norm for her, and it seems to be the first time this has happened.
By her description of of the old man in a robe, Saul confirms that it is Samuel and he responds by bowing in a humblest of position. But it’s not true humility, it’s an act to get something out of Samuel.
v.15-20
Samuel isn’t happy with Saul, who would be? But Saul is desperate because God is no longer speaking and the Philistines are at his door.
At Saul’s desperation, Samuel gets straight to the point that the reason God isn’t speaking is because of Saul’s disobedience, which is add to by him seeking a medium, and using the Lord’s name in vain by making an oath by it. And due to his disobedience, God has not only stopped speaking, but has chosen David to be the next king. This solidifies David’s ascension and Saul’s downfall.
Samuel’s final words to Saul is that Saul and his sons’ will lose their lives tomorrow when they battle the Philistines.
Verses 21-25 end the passage with Saul needing food and the medium providing it. After Saul eats he returns to his camp to meet his end.
It is in this unique passage that we see a little bit of the separation and crossover of the spiritual realm.
The Bible is clear that there is a spiritual realm, and in that realm there are purely spiritual beings, some who follow God, and some that do not. We refer to those purely spiritual beings that follow God as angelic beings. Those purely spiritual beings that do not follow God, we call demons. Demons are fallen angelic beings who have rebelled against God’s authority.
We are not purely spiritual beings, but a hybrid between the spiritual and the physical. And we are unique among God’s creatures in that we have the breath of life from God. No other beings have this breath, and so, in us, the spiritual is wrapped around by the physical. A state that those who follow Jesus will have in a new body for all of eternity, whereas those who have chosen their sin over God will be separated from.
As we live right now, the spiritual realm is skewed to us. This is because of our own sin and the sin that permeates our world. We can sense spiritual things, but there is a heavy separation between what happens in the spiritual realm and what we can perceive of it.
We see this with the medium at En-dor. She has some sense of the spiritual realm, but when Samuel rises, it horrifies her. The reason for this is because, for all what we think we can perceive of the spiritual realm, we only can experience glimpses.
The Prophet Isaiah is given a glimpse into the throne room of God, and relays that experience in his sixth chapter, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! (Is. 6:1-5)”
Isaiah’s reaction was a realization that he was a sinner and shouldn’t be in the presence of God.
John the Apostle had a similar experience when he saw Jesus in his full glory. He relays his experience in poetic form in Revelation 1, “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead (Rev. 1:12-17a).”
The spiritual realm is not something that is a normal experience and those that speak of it in Scripture relay how truly otherworld it is.
However, we must understand that only those on the spiritual side have the ability to give glimpses to it. They have access to both the physical and spiritual, and our access is only give by their leave. If we are seeking the spiritual realm, we only see whatever spirit we are communicating with wants us to see. The spiritual realm is like a one-way mirror, allowing one side to see a reflection, while the other sees through it. A one-way mirror is described as, “… perception of one-way transmission is achieved when one side of the mirror is brightly lit and the other side is dark. This allows viewing from the darkened side but not vice versa.”
This is how our perception of the spiritual realm works. We only see as much as the spirits on the other side illuminates us to see.
So if we are seeing things through a spirit that is in rebellion against God, we will only see enough for that spirit to bring us onto their side. This is why God tells us to stay away from things like mediums, and divination such as tarot card readers. Even things like horror movies can be utilized by spiritual forces. And God tells us to stay way from these things because the spirits that are sought are only those spirits in rebellion against God, and who are not out for our benefit, but their own.
Wheres when God reveals the spiritual it’s to bring us closer to him. He wants to pour out his forgiveness and mend us from our sin. To Isaiah, who realized his sin, we continue to read, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’ (Is. 6:6-7)”
To John we read, “But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.’ (Rev. 1:17b-18)”
The purposes of spirits in rebellion against God is to bind us further in sin and to turn us away from God. The purposes of God revealing the spiritual realm is to bring us closer to him; to set us free from sin and lead us into the life he created us to experience.
The medium at En-dor was horrified at what she saw, because it was the first time that God pulled back the veil between the physical and spiritual and allowed Saul to speak with Samuel. Before then, she had only been communicating with the demonic which only allowed her to see shadows of the spiritual realm.
God is calling us to rely solely on him to experience the spiritual, because his goals are for our benefit. Any other avenue to the spiritual is lined with deceitful spirits calling us away from God’s true life.
C.S. Lewis once said, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” God is calling us to understand that the spiritual realm is real and that their are those sprits who are seeking to pull us further from God, deeper into sin, and finally into eternal death. So, let us seek God who is out for our good, who desires that we experience his good and lasting life. And allow him to reveal the spiritual realm as he sees fit.
My challenge for you this week is to read these words from the Apostle Paul from Philippians 4:4-9 every morning this week, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Let us be a people who seek our spiritual Father who desires good for us. Amen.
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