1. Saul Visits a Medium (vv. 7-11)
After Saul lost his divine right to be the king of Israel because of his wickedness, he despaired because God no longer answered him. In a desperate attempt to learn what would happen in the future, he disguised himself and visited a medium at Endor (vv. 7-8). Saul requested to speak to Samuel, a might prophet of God who had died years earlier (v. 11).
2. Saul’s Destruction Prophesied (vv. 12-25)
28:13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid; but what do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being coming up out of the earth.”28:14 He said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a rob.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage.”
Scholars have debated whether or not Samuel actually appeared, a demon masqueraded as Samuel, or the medium played a trick on Saul. Consider the following evidence:
1) The text plainly states that the medium did indeed see Samuel and that he spoke (vv. 14, 16).
2) The medium genuinely was surprised and terrified at Saul’s appearance (v. 12).
3) What Samuel prophesied came to pass. Samuel declared that the kingdom had been torn from Saul's hand and given to David (vv. 17-18). He proclaimed that the next day Saul and his sons would die in a battle with the Philistines (v. 19).
Simply put, the medium had no power to raise Samuel. God allowed Samuel to return from the grave in order to give Saul a message of rejection, much as the dead Moses appeared before Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration centuries later.
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