Whilst Saul has been busy hunting for David to kill him, he’s left other matters of his kingdom unattended. As a result, things have been stirring in the surrounding nations.

1 Samuel 28:1-2
1 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men. 2 And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.

• The Philistines have gathered their armies together for war to fight against Israel. Achish, their king, is leading the charge.
• And somehow, David has gotten caught up in this as well, but fighting for the wrong side. That’s what happens when you go to your enemies to seek for safety and refuge. We will look at this part in more detail later.

Upon seeing this, how does king Saul react?

• 1 Samuel 28:5-6
  5 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. 6 And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
• Saul was afraid with the Philistines at his doorstep. But what else made matters worse? Samuel had already passed away so he could not go to him for counsel on what to do.
• Moreover, the Lord did not answer him by dreams, or Urim or by the prophets.
• What does it mean by dreams? Through visions or dreams like what king Nebuchadnezzar had or the prophets in general.
• What is the Urim? The Urim was one of the stones on the breastplate of the high priest. And God would communicate to the people sometimes through those stones guiding with a yes or a no.
• And then prophets were also silent. They didn’t come with any message for him.
• So Saul felt like he was all alone, and even separated from God.

So what did Saul decide to do instead?

• 1 Samuel 28:7
  Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.
• Saul decided to go and look for a woman who had a familiar spirit. What did that mean? A woman with a familiar spirit is a necromancer or a witch. It is someone that communicates with the dead.
• Instead of seeking God, Saul went to get counsel from the devil himself.
• 1 Samuel 28:8-9
  8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. 9 And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
• Why did Saul have to disguise himself? Because he himself had gone against those that were necromancers and witches when he was faithful to God. He had cut them off. He had them killed.
• And this was not something that only he had done. This was an express command from God to the Israelites since He had established them as a nation when they came out of Egypt.
• Leviticus 20:6
  And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
• God had communicated through Moses that those who went after wizards and witches would be cut off from the camp of the people. It was a serious offense to go consulting the devil for advice. They were clearly not of God.
• Isaiah 8:19
  And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
• God did not approve of any of His people to seek after those that had familiar spirits or to wizards. He did not work through such people. He always worked through His prophets and priests.
• We ought to be careful that we don’t do such a thing today as well. Witchcraft is still a very much real practice. Talking with the dead is something that is still sought after even today.
• What does God wants us to do?
• Isaiah 55:6-7
  6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
• How do we seek the Lord? We seek Him in His word. The Bible will guide us and show us the right way to walk. He will lead us with His law. And He will lead us with His Holy Spirit if we seek Him in prayer.
• God never works through such mediums as witches or wizards or necromancers. Those are all the devils ways.

But now, coming back to Saul, who did he want to talk with? Why did he want to talk with the dead?

• 1 Samuel 28:11
  Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
• Saul asked for the prophet Samuel to be brought up so that he could speak with him and get counsel from him.
• Whilst Samuel was alive, Saul did not want to listen to his advice. He did not want to obey what Samuel had to say to him.
• Whilst he was alive, Saul did not even go and visit him after he had been rebuked by him.
• But now in his desperation, he goes to a witch and tries and communicate with Samuel, the prophet of the Lord. His desperation had blinded him to the fact that he was running to the devil hoping to find advice from God!
• 1 Samuel 28:12-14
  12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. 13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. 14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.
• It seems like this witch was able to successfully call up Samuel from the dead. As soon as she saw him, she also recognized Saul as well and she became afraid for her life. But Saul gave the reassurance that he would not hurt her.

However, was that really Samuel that this woman had called up? Was she actually able to bring Samuel back from the dead? What does the Bible speak about those that die?

• Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
  5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
• The dead don’t know anything. When they die, everything is gone. All their thoughts, all their feelings. They don’t have any more a portion of anything that is done under the sun.
• Psalms 146:4
  His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
• The moment a person dies, all their thoughts also perish with them as well.
• And especially would a witch NOT be able to resurrect a person from the dead. The devil had no such power to give to those that follow him. Only God could resurrect people from the dead and give His followers such power.

However, Saul is not yet done. He then proceeds to have a conversation with this being that the witch has conjured up.

• 1 Samuel 28:15-20
  15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. 16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? 17 And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: 18 Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. 19 Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. 20 Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.
• Saul in his desperation has gone to a witch for help, to seek advice from Samuel who is already dead.
• We know that that is not Samuel. Saul was communicating with a demon, a fallen angel, who in appearance looked like Samuel and also spoke like Samuel.
• It even proceeded to give a prophecy that Saul and his sons would perish in the battle at the hand of the Philistines the next day.
• And after finishing the conversation, Saul fell to the earth. He had lost all his strength. He had hoped to go to this woman to call up Samuel and to communicate with him so that he could get some sound counsel, some strength from his words. But all he got was hopelessness and despair. And at the end, he could not take it any longer and just collapsed.
• Now, did the devil really know that he and his sons would die tomorrow? Of course not. But he looked upon the situation and made a calculated decision to say that because the odds were truly not in Saul’s favour. Any person could have seen that.
• And anyways, the devil was doing all that he could to dishearten Saul so that he would not be focused and fight properly in battle.
• In his desperation, Saul really thought that he was talking with Samuel.
• Yes, it looked like him, it sounded like him. And maybe even the words that it used and the construct of its sentences were just like Samuel’s. He brought up the situation about the Amalekites – history that was true. But it was not Samuel.
• Saul was communicating with a demon.

And I want to remind you also, dear friend, that if you have a loved one that has passed away, the Bible says that they are all asleep. Their thoughts have perished. They don’t have any part in anything that is done under the sun anymore. And if you suppose that you think you are communicating with your dead loved one, the Bible says clearly that you are not.

• You don’t find such actions in church. Not because God has no such power, but because He doesn’t condone such actions.
• If God saw fit to resurrect your loved ones like how Jesus resurrected Lazarus, it would be obvious. However, God does not conjure people up just so that we can communicate with them and then let them go off back to the land of the dead.
• The Bible says:
  • Isaiah 8:20
    To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
• God communicates to us clearly today through His word. And you will find no such precedence for God’s people to go and consult witches and wizards.

The Bible is the one that tells us that when we are communicating with the dead that we are communicating with demons. That when we worship the dead we are actually worshipping demons.

• 1 Corinthians 10:20
  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
• Paul says that what the Gentiles sacrifice to, they are actually sacrificing to devils.
• Psalms 106:37-38
  37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, 38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
• Then in Psalms we are told that the Israelites sacrificed their sons and daughters to the devils, they were really sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan.
• In their supposed worship of the dead, they were in reality worshiping demons.

We are warned in scripture that such things will manifest itself again at the end of time. That the devil will play a prominent role just before the second coming of Christ.

• 1 Timothy 4:1
  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:9
  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.
• Even Satan himself would be involved to personate Christ and deceive many. And why would many be deceived?
• 2 Thessalonians 2:10
  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
• Because many do not receive a love of the truth. We are content to listen and obey old wives tales and traditions of which we have learnt from our parents and our own religious experience.
• Many more of us are just too busy for the Bible. Too busy to spend just a few minutes a day to read. Too busy to be acquainted with the truth.
• But at the end of the day we must come back to a thus saith the Lord. What does the Bible say? For it is the truth that will cut through all the error, the lies and the deception that Satan throws out on us to deceive us.
• Satan has done a masterful job at keeping us away from the truth. From the words that will open our eyes and make us wise unto salvation.

And ultimately, what happened to Saul the next day in battle?

• 1 Samuel 31:1-6
  1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. 4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. 5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. 6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.
• Saul ultimately perished in battle. He actually took his own life. He and his sons would die on the battlefield that day.
• The devil had done enough to dishearten Saul. And in that encounter, Saul was also pushed beyond the point of no return. He sincerely believed everything that this medium had communicated to him. But at the end, he lost his life and even eternal life itself.

Thus fell the first king of Israel. A noble beginning, but a sad ending. A life that could have been so much more if wholly and fully dedicated to the Lord.

How will it be with us today? The history of Saul, Satan is striving to repeat in our day also. Maybe your life has started out with so much promise and hope. God has blessed you with much talents. But are you still in the faith today? Are you still walking with Christ?

• Revelation 12:12
  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
• The devil knows that his time is short. He is living on borrowed time. He only has a little time left before Christ will come again for a second time. And he is doing all that he can to keep all those that live on earth out of heaven.
• He’s doing all that he can to distract us and to keep our minds preoccupied with things on the earth.
• He’s doing all that he can to make us forget of heavenly things and even of this great war that is raging around us.

May God help us to come back to His word again. To spend time in communion with Him once more so that we would be more than conquerors and that we would be a mighty tool in God’s hands to finish the work in this generation!