The Tragic Ending of King Saul

The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul.  The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. (1 Samuel 31:2-3 NASB)

The end of Saul is a dramatic sad story.  Years before, Saul was in a similar predicament when Jonathan defeated a Philistine outpost in 1 Samuel 13, and the Philistines responded by mobilizing the entire army, like here.  But here, Saul takes his stand.  Before he continued the 'guerrilla' tactics that worked so well in the hills of Palestine.  Here, Saul tries to fight a 'conventional' battle.

But even if this isn't the manner in which he normally fought (and by now, it may have been), Saul's heart isn't in this one.  He has been told that he will not survive the battle, nor will his sons.  Saul lives long enough to see his sons fall, he wounded by archers and can't escape himself, and so decides to commit suicide instead of letting the Philistines torture him to death.

The story of Saul is not one of 'redemption'; there is no silver lining to his story.  He was so often about himself; and by himself, with his hopes in ruins around him, he died.  But God had plans for him, intentions Saul would never enjoy.  His story started out with great hopes, with Saul prophesying, with victory, with honor and with obedience.  It ends very differently, and the difference was his relationship with God.

It's twelve years before Israel again regains her footing with David as king.  The devastation of Saul's sin, self-centered living, and raging jealousy of David marks his people for over a decade.  They are unable to fully recover from Saul's mistakes.  This is true except for Judah.  For those twelve years, David rules Judah as king, and seems at least as strong as the other eleven tribes.

Again, the failure to relent, to accept the guidance of God, prolongs the pain left by Saul.  Had the people relented even after Saul refused, recovery would have been swifter.  The failure of Saul to accept the restraints of God placed on him because of his disobedience; his refusal of correction carried on into the people themselves.  Once again it becomes clear sin does not just affect the sinner.

So here are the lessons I learn from this tragic ending to a tragic figure:

• My obedience is more important than I am, for it affects more than just me
• Failure can be recovered through accepting the correction of my Master
• Relenting is often the peaceful humility necessary for success before my Master
• It's not about me; and never will be

A Man of War At Peace In War

When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive.  Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.  Now David's two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.  Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. (1 Samuel 30:3-6 NASB)

 So, the Philistines don't like David.  They send him home rather than permit him to go into battle with them.  The king of Gath even had him set to be his body guard.  It was going to be glorious!  David and his six hundred were set to turn the tide against the Philistines, perhaps destroying all the leaders of the Philistine cities.  Or whatever David had in mind, we'll never know.  Instead he was sent home.  God had something else for him to take care of.

Upon reaching his city, given to him by the king of Gath, it has been raided and burned with fire.  I think, from clues within the chapter, that the Amalekites knew that their troubles had come from Ziklag, David's city, and had come to take revenge.  Since it was unguarded, they simply captured everyone, and burned it.  No one died.  That's what David came home to; burnt houses and missing families.

The six hundred and David wept.  They responded in frustration, but weeping until they had no strength.  These are tough guys, but emotional.  They feel sadness and they cry.  But this isn't 'skinned-knee' crying.  This is 'loss-of-life' crying; deep emotional grief.  They grieve, a lost art among modern men.

Once done grieving (or as part of it, if you think of grief as a process), they speak of stoning David to death.  Life is bad, let's kill the leader.  It's not that unusual with men who are described from the beginning as "bitter of soul" that when their circumstances are no longer in their favor, they blame others.  On the other hand, they may have realized that those who raided them were the ones whom they had plundered, leaving no witnesses (1 Samuel 27:8-9).  This is what they had done to others, and David had led them to do it.

But David had lost as well.  He wept as they did.  His house was in ashes as was theirs.  Yet when they spoke of stoning him, he 'strengthened himself in the LORD his God.'  In his circumstances, very similar to theirs, he found strength in the One who led him rather than blaming the One who led him. 

Consider that David led men who were of low character, but remained of good character.  That is not easy.  Among such warriors as history records following David; he leads them, they follow, they may think of killing him, but instead follow him once again into battle.  What sort of bearing and fiber makes up someone like that?

When I think of my circumstances, and how often I have caved to feelings of self-pity, I'm ashamed.  I don't demonstrate that sort of bearing and character that other men would follow into battle.  They'd be too afraid I'd fail and run and hide.  That's a valid fear if all I show them is that I'm interested in only my own wants and desires.  What I need to demonstrate is that I'm sold out faithful to my Master.  I need the courage that comes from character that comes from being faithfully in the presence of the King of Kings.

My circumstances are great.  My house isn't burned with fire, my enemies haven't heaped on me the ignominy I heaped on them, and my family is present and accounted for.  Here I am before dawn typing away on a blog about my Master without fear of being hauled off and jailed.  I'm blessed really.  So, why in the good circumstances do I find it so difficult to be selfless; to think of my wife and daughter before myself, to consider my fellow believers before my self, to think of those who work with me in ministry before myself?

I have neighbors around me hell-bound on a super highway at top speed.  Am I doing anything to wave them off?  Am I trying to get their attention?  This isn't watching a train-wreck, this is simply coming along side someone.  Am I willing to strengthen myself in the LORD my God and get back into the fight?  There are doors of hell waiting for my foot to kick them in all around me.  Behind them are captives ignorant to their danger, and without hope in the darkness.  I hold a light.  Why do I hide it?

Time to take down some strongholds, starting with those I've let the enemy build in my own life.  The lives of those living around me depend on it; and so does my family.  Time to suit up, let me grab this sword sitting over here; and a sledge hammer, a good 5-pounder should do it!  Pay no attention to the sound of crushing concrete, it's just those wicked strongholds coming down.  Be just a second...

Which Witch?

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists.  So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together and they camped in Gilboa.  When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly.  When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.  Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek 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 woman who is a medium at En-dor." (1 Samuel 28:3-7 NASB)

One of the elements to Scripture few people dispute is the prohibition against communing with the dead or other form of 'fortunetelling'.  So, seances, tarot cards, rolling bones, scrying, and other forms of 'divination' are unequivocally prohibited in Scripture.

 In modern Christian circles, this has led some believers to then discount such things as faked by those who claim to practice them.  For those, this passage poses a whole lot of problems. For some believers, those things are believed to be real, but also real dangerous; the realm of demons.  For those, this passage poses a whole lot of problems.  There's no real way to look at this passage comfortably.

A few things to point out leading up to this event: 1) Saul has tried, as a righteous king, to empty the land of those who practice divination through communing with the dead.  2) His attempt failed (like his righteousness).  3) Everyone but he knew it.  4) Saul knows the 'terminology' enough to suggest his familiarity with such practices.  So, the popular practice was to permit their existence; but to keep them secret from the king.  The people used and seem to rely on such people.  And Saul seems to be from such a background.

I think of the setting something like today, where there is commonly found a 'horoscope' in any newspaper, along with a 'religion section'.  So everyone knows where they are.  The signs in every major city and many small towns advertising a 'fortune teller' are another indicator.  They're everywhere, and seem to be popular enough to remain in business.  That is the sort of setting I imagine except that in this context, there are no papers, no road signs, and these people are illegal, so underground.  Somewhat like 'drug dealers' everyone knows, but no one talks about; popular enough to remain in 'business' but no one knows with whom.

At this time Saul is in a dangerous place.  He is facing all the Philistines once again (he did this before in 1 Samuel 14), and he has tried to get a word from God about what to do.  He tries by dreams, prophets, and the 'Urim' of the priests.  Nothing works.  This is not like he can't figure out what God is saying, this is silence.  He's afraid.  So, he asks about not just a medium, but a leader-woman of mediums, sort of a 'super-spirit-channel-surfing-chic'.  And his servants, the ones supposedly responsible for carrying out the kings mandate against such people, know exactly where to find one close by.  This story keeps escalating the weirdness.

Saul disguises himself and goes, meets the nameless 'super-spirit-channel-surfing-chic', and has her call up Samuel.  Now, a couple of things are troubling here.  First, Samuel dies in right relation with God, so I would think that he would be found in God's presence.  If I'm right, then, for him to appear, he would need to appear from God's presence.  So how can one practicing what is prohibited by God successfully pull someone from His presence?  But wait, there's more!

Samuel speaks, and isn't happy to be 'disturbed'.  He then tells Saul what he least wanted to hear, "You're going to die"; but Samuel tells him like this, "...tomorrow, you and your sons will be with me."  I take that to mean that where Samuel is, so they will also be, in the presence of God.  For Saul, with his 'rejection' by God, I thought that unlikely; perhaps rejected from being king, but not as one of God's people.  Even so, Samuel is, through this process prohibited by God, performing what God would not do Himself (and therefore didn't want to happen?).  How is that possible?

I don't know.  Seriously, I don't think anyone looking at this from a 21st Century perspective knows.  Unless we develop time travel and can go back and actually witness this event, we have no real hope of understanding, and even then understanding wouldn't be assured.  So no one knows, but I wonder if one of these possibilities exist:

1. All dead before Jesus' life went to Sheol regardless of their relationship with God, without separation from each other and there was no 'presence of God' as we think of it, after death.  A problem with this is that there was in vogue at the time of Jesus' earthly ministry a concept of 'Paradise' and the 'Bosom of Abraham' to describe the afterlife of the righteous as separate from the 'unrighteous', and Jesus does not correct these beliefs. Actually He uses them in His ministry, parables, and even mentions paradise on the cross.  So some sort of division between the righteous and unrighteous seems to have existed even before Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
2. God prohibits any method of determining the 'future' or direction for events that does not derive from Him; but other methods do exist and exist powerfully.  Let's assume that they only exist in the purview of the demonic which would put them squarely in the realm of God's enemy, the devil, Satan.  If they are not of God, and yet powerful, then that is the most reasonable place to put them.  The problem here is that if there is a separation between the righteous and unrighteous, then how can Satan's power extend to the side of the righteous dead?  I would suspect that the only way this could truly happen is if the separation was collectively not in the presence or before the Throne of God; separated from each other, but still not in the presence of God (although, really, what's not truly in His presence?).  But that's not an adequate answer.  If this practice is of Satan, then how can Samuel be 'pulled up' without God's permission?  And if God permits it, why would He now give an answer to Saul and validate such a method at the same time?  Regardless who you read or what they claim, the answer is not obvious, nor easy.
3. God prohibits such practices, and they do not 'work' not really.  They are false methods of seeking knowledge that only belongs to God.  What the witch of En-Dor actually did wasn't supposed to work, and it surprised her when it did (which is why she screamed when Samuel pops up).  Unfortunately, this is very unlikely when the Scripture is taken at face value.  When the witch screams, she cries out that it's really Saul, the one she just said wanted to take her life.  It doesn't seem to be Samuel she's afraid of, but the knowledge that Saul is trapping her; knowledge gained in the process she is using to 'cause' Samuel to ascend.  This process really is 'bringing' Samuel up, in other words, what's she doing is causing it to happen.  Sorry, but that's how the text is written.  So, while God may be permitting this to happen, it's happening from what the witch is doing. 

There are more options, flavors of what I have here, but even these are closely related, so how many options are there really?  Not a lot.  With the discomfort caused by incompatible theological views crammed into a framework based on belief in the infallible inspiration of Scripture, I am left carrying that 'discomfort' into my application.  So here it goes:

My 'takeaway' from this encounter with the witch of En-Dor is that the kingdom of Satan is real and powerful.  Therefore my response to its existence is one of aggressive tactics.  I must be sensitive to my Master's Spirit's leading and guiding, attacking where He directs, being defensive where He places me, and always assured of victory.  I cannot be assured that this kingdom will fall on its own, without intervention.  People will be deceived by this power.

The reality I'm left with is that my Master views this other kingdom as usurping what is rightfully His, and therefore is to be destroyed.  I am His servant, His knight, and His to use in His destruction of the rival kingdom.  But I am under no illusion that this kingdom is 'figurative' or 'imaginary'.  The enemy is real and possesses real power.  Therefore I must stand in the power of my Master, wearing His armor, using His sword, and totally dependent upon His Spirit.  It's time to suit up!