As we closed Chapter 27 yesterday we found David and his men and their families living in Philistine-held Ziklag with the permission of Achish, the king of the Philistines. David and his men were making raids on small villages occupied by the tribes of Canaan, killing all their people and taking all their goods, and returning to Achish with the goods claiming they were stolen from the Israelites. David is pretending to have turned his back on his own people Israel due to having to live in exile from them; this also allows him to gain the trust of Achish so Achish won't throw him out of Philistia again and put him back within reach of the murderous King Saul. But David's raids and his deception have been too successful. Achish makes it clear that he expects David and his men to go out with the Philistine army to fight against Israel.
"In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, 'You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.'" (1 Samuel 28:1) It may be that when David appealed to the king for asylum he did not expect the Philistines to welcome him and his six hundred men into their army. The Philistines, generally speaking, harbored a great deal of resentment and racial prejudice toward the Israelites. David must not have imagined any of these soldiers wanting to march out shoulder to shoulder with him. Right now I bet he's thinking, "What have I done? I've put on such a good show of being an enemy of my own people that none of Achish's soldiers still harbor any suspicions against me. It no longer enters their minds that I might be a spy, as they thought on my first trip to Philistia. Now they think I'll be a valuable asset in their army since I'm so familiar with Israel's military tactics. How am I going to get myself out of this predicament?"
I think David's mind is racing a mile a minute but he doesn't allow his thoughts to show on his face. Instead he boldly proclaims he will do his best for King Achish and confidently asserts that the king will be proud to have him in his army. "David said, 'Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.' Achish replied, 'Very well, I make you my bodyguard for life.'" (1 Samuel 28:2) David is not only expected to go out with the army and make war against Israel, but his particular job is to guard the life of a king who would love to see the nation of Israel destroyed and its every citizen killed. He does a good job of holding it together on the outside but I believe he is in deep distress all the way to his soul.
David isn't the only man in deep distress in Chapter 28. King Saul learns that the Philistines are mobilizing their forces to invade Israel. We are going to be told that "terror filled his heart" at the prospect of all-out war with this huge army. "Now Samuel was dead, and Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land. The Philistines came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants, 'Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.' 'There is one in Endor,' they said." (1 Samuel 28:4-5)
It appears that at while the prophet Samuel was still alive, most likely during the time when he was still a friend and mentor to Saul, Saul did something right: he rid the nation of those who were known to operate as mediums. This was in obedience to the command of the Lord, who said, "Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 19:31) "I will set My face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people...A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads." (Leviticus 20:6, 27) "Let no one be among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12a)
When Saul sees the enormity of King Achish's army, his heart nearly fails with fear. He does something that the political and military leaders of Israel have done before him when facing enemy armies: he seeks the advice of the Lord regarding his battle strategy. He doesn't ask the Lord directly, for he has no personal relationship with Him as far as we can tell, but he asks priests and prophets to call upon the Lord on his behalf. Saul formerly had the high priest of Israel and all the priests residing at Nob put to death, falsely accusing them of being involved in a plot with David to stage a coup, and I imagine that the priests and prophets called to intercede for Saul are shaking in their shoes. They dare not refuse his summons but probably expect to be struck down by the sword if they don't produce an answer from the Lord. At the same time, they dare not falsify an answer from the Lord because to their credit they still respect the Lord more than they fear the king. They will not pretend to receive an answer from the Lord even if it means their death.
If the Lord won't answer Saul, he reasons that maybe a medium can contact a person from the unseen realm who will. He falls to yet another spiritual low by deciding to seek counsel from a psychic medium---the type of person the Lord says He despises, the type of person whose occupation makes them guilty of a capital crime in the Lord's book. Upon learning that there is a medium at Endor, Saul makes haste to visit her at once. "So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman." (1 Samuel 28:8a)
Saul isn't at all bothered by the fact that he's committing a sin worthy of the death penalty in Israel. He disguises himself but not because he's ashamed of his sin. He's also not disguising himself because he fears being stoned to death according to the law; although he is not actually above the law, as the king he considers himself above the law, and his subjects fear him too much to take up stones against him. No, he disguises himself so the medium won't realize he's the king. During the early days of his administration he declared that anyone caught acting as a medium would be put to death. If the woman realizes he is the king, she won't consult the spirit world for him. She'll think it's a trap to catch her breaking the law. In fact, in tomorrow's passage she'll try to refuse the request anyway, feeling in her heart that something isn't right with this whole situation. She'll end up recognizing him as king after all but Saul---a lawbreaker himself!---will coerce her into acting as a medium for him anyway, promising by an oath in the name of the Lord (whose law he is breaking) that she will come to no harm. Saul is going to get an answer from his visit to the medium but it won't be an answer he wants to hear.
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