28:1 In those days the Philistines gathered their troops for war in order to fight Israel. Achish said to David, “You should fully understand that you and your men must go with me into the battle.”
With Samuel dead, Saul getting older, and David and his army switching sides, King Achish decided to attack Israel in their weakened condition.
2 David replied to Achish, “That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!” Achish said to David, “Then I will make you my bodyguard from now on.”
David had to make a tough decision. He did not want to fight his own people, but he was not able to openly reject Achish. He had to show some loyalty to Achish for giving him a safe refuge against Saul.
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums and magicians from the land.
The Hebrew word for “mediums” is אוֹב, (oav) meaning those who communicate with the dead. The Hebrew word for “magicians” is יִדְּעֹנִי (yidoni), meaning those who contact the spirits. Perhaps Saul removed them in order to regain favor with Jehovah.
4 The Philistines assembled; they came and camped at Shunem. Saul mustered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.
The two armies camped opposite each other. Shunem was located in the Valley of Jezreel. Gilboa was five miles northwest of Mount Gilboa. The Valley of Jezreel would enable the Philistines to use their chariots and iron weapons to crush the Israelites.
5 When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was absolutely terrified.
The Philistine army was tremendously large. Also, David was fighting for the Philistines. Saul was without a prophet. These military weaknesses caused Saul great fear.
6 So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him—not by dreams nor by Urim nor by the prophets.
Saul had slain all of the priests, so he did not have access to the Urim and Thummin. Samuel was dead. Jehovah did not answer by either prophets or dreams.
7 So Saul instructed his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him, “There is a woman who is a medium in Endor.”
Since Jehovah refused to answer, Saul turned to the occult. He found a witch who survived the purge.
8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing and left, accompanied by two of his men. They came to the woman at night and said, “Use your ritual pit to conjure up for me the one I tell you.”
Saul disguised himself as a customer seeking supernatural guidance.
9 But the woman said to him, “Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed the mediums and magicians from the land! Why are you trapping me so you can put me to death?”
According to the Mosaic Law, sorcery in Israel was a capital offense. Saul had removed most of the sorcerers, but he did not administer the death penalty. As long as sorcerers were in Israel, then the people were seeking and gaining demonic guidance.
10 But Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not incur guilt in this matter!”
Saul promised the witch that she would not incur guilt in this matter.
11 The woman replied, “Who is it that I should bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up for me Samuel.”
Saul asked the woman to bring up Samuel, who was a real prophet of God and an enemy of all witches and sorcerers.
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly. The woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
The woman expected to bring up a demon who would impersonate himself as Samuel. Instead, God allowed the real Samuel to appear. The witch screamed, because she did not expect the actual Samuel to appear. She then figured out that she was actually speaking to King Saul himself.
Currently in the New Age Movement, there are spirit mediums who are involved in channeling. They claim to call up the spirits of deceased human beings. What they are actually calling up are demons who are disguising themselves as deceased humans. These demons are under the direction of Satan. They disguise themselves as spirit guides, but they give out information which aids the satanic world system.
13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god coming up from the ground!”
The witch used a simile to describe Samuel. He was like a god coming out of the ground. At this time, Samuel was living in Paradise. Paradise was in the middle of the earth. The saints in Paradise would not be released until the resurrection of Christ. They enjoyed a heaven-like existence in Paradise.
Those who died and rejected God were living in Hades. There was a large, uncrossable chasm which separated these two underworlds. According to Jesus, Lazarus and the saints lived on one side. The rich man and other evil people lived on the other side. They could speak to each other, but they could not cross this great divide.
14 He said to her, “What about his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up! He is wrapped in a robe!” Then Saul realized it was Samuel, and he bowed his face toward the ground and kneeled down.
Saul recognized that Samuel had appeared. This Old Testament verse shows that there was a belief of the afterlife taught in the Old Testament.
15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul replied, “I am terribly troubled! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me—not by the prophets nor by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do.”
Saul wanted advice on how to encounter the Philistines.
16 Samuel said, “Why are you asking me, now that the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy?
Samuel reminded Saul of his rebellion towards God, thus making him an enemy of God.
17 The Lord has done exactly as I prophesied! The Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David!
Samuel predicted that Saul’s kingdom had been torn from him and given to David.
18 Since you did not obey the Lord and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this thing to you today.
Saul refused to complete the genocide upon the Amalekites, so Jehovah left Saul to rule on his own.
19 The Lord will hand you and Israel over to the Philistines! Tomorrow both you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also hand the army of Israel over to the Philistines!”
Once the King of Israel dabbled into the occult, then this was the last straw for Saul. His cup of iniquity was full. God allowed him be slain the very next day. This verse could mean that Saul became a believer. Another more probable possibility was that Jonathan would be in Paradise, but Saul would be thrown across the chasm to live in Hades.
20 Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words. He was completely drained of energy, not having eaten anything all that day and night.
This tragic news sapped all of the energy out of Saul.
21 When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, “Your servant has done what you asked. I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me.
The witch saw how the bad news affected Saul. She reminded Saul that she did only as she was asked.
22 Now it’s your turn to listen to your servant! Let me set before you a bit of bread so that you can eat. When you regain your strength, you can go on your way.”
The witch offered King Saul a meal before he left.
23 But he refused, saying, “I won’t eat!” Both his servants and the woman urged him to eat, so he gave in. He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed.
Saul refused to eat, but then reconsidered.
24 Now the woman had a well-fed calf at her home that she quickly slaughtered. Taking some flour, she kneaded bread and baked it without leaven.
The woman prepared and cooked one of her best calves.
25 She brought it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and left that same night.
Saul and his servant ate with a witch from the satanic world system. Eating a meal was considered a fellowship among friends. Saul had devolved into the occult. Afterwards, he headed to the battlefield. Saul was given one more night to make himself right with Jehovah.