Lesson 216 - Senior
Memory Verse
Cross References
I The Rejected Saul's Hopeless Position
1. Samuel, God's Prophet who had been Saul's counsellor, was dead [1SM:28:3]; [1SM:25:1]; [1SM:9:27].
2. The Philistines were again gathered against Israel, [1SM:28:4].
3. Saul's fear was the beginning of the retribution sent because of his rejection of God, and for disobedience, [1SM:28:5]; [1SM:13:13]; [1SM:15:26-29].
4. Saul could not receive an answer from God, [1SM:28:6].
II Saul's Visit to the Witch of Endor
1. The law of God against witches and sorcerers was unmistakably clear, [EXO:22:18]; [LEV:19:31]; [LEV:20:27]; [DEU:18:9-12]; [ISA:8:19-20].
2. Saul had previously taken a firm stand against witchcraft, [1SM:28:3], [1SM:28:9].
3. In seeking for a witch, Saul once more became a wilful transgressor of God's law, [1SM:28:7-10]; [1SM:15:23].
III The Appearance of Samuel, the Man of God
1. The witch agreed to use her devil power, and heard Saul's request for Samuel, [1SM:28:11].
2. Her astonishment when Samuel appeared proves he did not come by her power or at her bidding, [1SM:28:12]; [EZE:14:7-8].
3. Saul recognised Samuel from the witch's description, [1SM:28:13-14].
4. Saul attempted to honour Samuel as in the past, [1SM:28:14]; [1SM:13:10]; [1SM:15:13].
IV The Message of God Given Through Samuel
1. Saul wanted counsel and advice, since God no longer answered his prayers, [1SM:28:15].
2. The message Samuel gave Saul was not new, or according to his wish, but was a repetition of a former denunciation, [1SM:28:16-18]; [1SM:13:13-14]; [1SM:15:26=29].
3. Saul was told that he and his sons would die the next day and that Israel would be defeated, [1SM:28:19].
4. Saul, formerly God's chosen, was prostrate in despair but still deliberately unrepentant, [1SM:28:20-25].
Notes
The Hopelessness of an Apostate
The life story of Saul, Israel's first king, is truly a biography of inconsistency. Alternately cruel and tender, Saul showed unreasonable clemency to his enemies and pursued his best friends with the anger of a demon. At first he was a humble servant of God, but in a short time he became an example of stubbornness, rebellion, and conceit. He obeyed the voice of God in even the smallest details at the beginning of his call, but soon after his accession to power began to rebel against God to an extent that is hardly equalled by anyone, until he finally was rejected by God and man.
The deceiver of men has taken some Biblical passages that specifically teach certain truths and, by clever and cunning argument, caused those who do not love the truth to think that the very opposite from the actual truth is being taught. Some say that this lesson text teaches the possibility of contact with departed spirits; but we can plainly see, when we examine the passage in openness of heart and mind, that the very opposite is true. There is enough evidence presented in this one incident to refute completely every false teaching on that particular subject.
Saul was in a crisis. Israel's enemies were pressing hard. Saul had no counsellor, either human or divine, to guide him. Everything seemed to be silent but the poignant evidence that he was abandoned by God. The only things that would justify us in saying that the Lord had not completely and absolutely abandoned Saul are in this incident of divine intervention in pronouncing solemn doom upon him, and in the fact that God did not allow the devil to interpose himself as Samuel in order to make valid the witch's claim to supernatural power.
We see the kind Israel, once head and shoulders above all in Israel, now stooped in shabby disguise, with haggard face and sunken eyes, fatigued from hunger and nervous strain, consulting a witch. He had degenerated so far, spiritually, that he actually believed a witch could bring Samuel from the realm of the dead. He had gone so far that he no longer realised that whatever these servants of Satan may do, that is supernatural, is either by devil power or by deception.
Nothing good can come from the source of evil. Truth will never be spoken by the father of lies unless he can, by its use, make an otherwise offensive deception acceptable. In this particular instance there is little doubt but that Satan wanted to establish a precedent, which would prove to be the undoing of many people in subsequent days, but he was prevented from doing so by Almighty God. Those who love that which is not truth may choose to distort this incident in an attempt to prove their claims, but those who love God and His truth see here the unmistakable refutation of every diabolical claim.
The Final Rejection and God's Answer
It was necessary for Saul to travel approximately ten miles, through the enemy lines, under disguise, to reach Endor. After finding the woman, he had to persuade her to violate not only the divine law but his own edicts that ordered the punishment of those who did violate the divine law. In doing this he violated the law of God and his own law as well. This action was deliberate, for he countered the woman's arguments and persuaded her that no harm would come to her if she obeyed his request. He knew he was doing wrong, being reminded of that fact by the woman; but he deliberately acted according to his own desires. He knew his way was in absolute rebellion against everything that is divine; yet he followed his course with unyielding determination. He was wholly set to do evil.
There was nothing about the nature of his request that caused wonder or alarm in the witch. But there was ample in what she immediately saw that did cause her both alarm and astonishment. Here is positive evidence that she had nothing whatever to do with the events that swiftly followed Saul's request to talk to Samuel.
The witch at Endor, because of her devil given power of divination, could enter, to a certain extent, into the realm of spirits. But in this instance God let her see, in addition, that which was ordinarily beyond the gulf, for she manifested complete and overwhelming surprise when she saw "gods ascending out of the earth." It was not what she had planned. It was not what she had expected. She had had no opportunity to use her enchantments, as yet, neither had she time to exert her deception or resort to her devil power. What she saw was not there at her bidding. This was a greater revelation, and one that took place along a different line than anything she had seen before. The reason was that this was given by the power of One who was greater than either she or her master the devil.
In considering this tragic event, we can see that God worked unusually because of an unusual situation. Saul was an unusual man, an unusual king in a unique position in the history of a nation that is, itself without equal among the nations of the world.
God is not held to precedents, rules, or customs. If God wants to adopt a method of this kind He can do it and step aside from the course or pattern in and by which He usually works. But that does not mean that He is laying down a principle that will always be the rule. If God chose to bring Samuel back to pronounce doom upon the apostate Saul, He could do so without instituting a rule that the dead can ever be called back by any person. And the fact that He did it once does not mean that He will do the same thing again at any future time. God made laws for man, but not for Himself. He operates according to His infinite wisdom and sovereign will. We are positively justified in saying that God sent Samuel back from the realm of the dead -- that He intervened in this affair setting aside the witch and, in a way, also setting aside Saul -- for His own reasons and to accomplish His own purposes.
Saul asked for counsel. He asked for more instructions. But he received neither. It is not written that he actually saw Samuel. The description the witch gave was sufficient for him to know that Samuel was there and that the voice he heard was Samuel's. The attitude of the witch shows plainly that Samuel did actually appear and was not merely impersonated by her as is the common practice of these devilish deceivers This incident lends no support to the erroneous belief that information can be received by recourse to the spirit world, for even in this divinely ordered case we see that Saul received only the words of his doom repeated to him with only a finality of execution added to them. Those who set aside the plan of God and seek for a consolation and comfort that is not justly theirs, through the spirit world or any other agency of the devil, will hear no actual consolation but merely the voice of impending doom speaking their condemnation. There is but one way, and that is God's way!
The Results of Rejection
There is no doubt that this is one of the saddest lessons that is to be found in the Bible. There is certainly no joy in the realization that a never dying human soul is sinking into an endless eternity. Here was a man who had known the love of God and who had tasted of the rich blessings of God's favour. Now we see him, dejected and beyond hope because there was not found, even in this time of extreme crisis, a grain of repentance in his heart for his rejection of God.
The only thing Saul had ahead was an entrance into eternity. The only additional words he heard from the lips of Samuel were: "To morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me." This meant that he would soon be cut off from the land of the living, where there is hope, and be found in the realm of the twice-dead, where hope is past. He would not actually be in the realms of joy and bliss with Samuel, for we read in the case of the rich man and Lazarus that there was a great gulf fixed between the wicked dead and those who have gone to be with the Lord. How basically different was the condemnation in the words of Samuel to Saul than the hope, which was contained in the words the dying thief heard spoken by Jesus: "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." The thief had repented; Saul had not!
Saul was prostrate on the ground in sheer hopelessness, grief, and remorse. Under persuasion he finally arose, sat on the bed, and ate some quickly prepared food. He did not do so because he desired the food, for his hope was gone, and also all that is good and pleasant in life. One can hardly imagine the ghastliness of the silence that must have hung over the group that waited there. There was none of the jesting, boasting, or nervous anticipation of battle usually found among fighting men on the eve of an engagement. No doubt they ate in silence, their hearts heavy with the words of doom that were spoken that fateful night.
The morrow approached. The man whom God had chosen for a high calling -- the one who once had felt the thrill of knowing that the pure, undefiled Spirit of God was upon him, to speak through him, and to guide him -- went out into the night!
Questions
1. Why was Saul rejected by God?
2. Who had been Saul's counsellor?
3.What was the crisis that confronted Israel, and Saul as their leader, at this time?
4. What counsellors did Saul have at this time?
5. What did Saul do in this time of crisis?
6. What did Saul's reaction indicate, especially as to his own spiritual condition?
7. What was the law of God concerning sorcerers and witches?
8. What attitude had Saul taken toward this law of God in the past? Was his attitude changed in this time of crisis?
9. Does this lesson text give certain false prophets any basis for their
10. Was Saul's request for information granted? What benefits did he receive from the course he took at this time?