For twice refusing to obey divine instructions, Saul was rejected by God as king. Nevertheless, the disgraced monarch would haunt the throne of Israel for several more years before at last slaying himself on the battlefield. During this interval, Saul would commit bloody crimes against his own people. Yet it was a third great sin against the One who appointed him that sealed his fate. As the sacred chronicle declares, it was for his transgressions against the Lord that Saul died:
So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; 1 Chronicles 10:13
It was fear of man that had motivated Saul to commit his former transgressions, and it was this same fear that led him to his final offence of seeking out a familiar spirit. At this time, the armies of the Philistines had ‘gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel’ (1 Samuel 28:1). While bold in his defiance against Heaven, Saul trembled before these mortal foes. We find that ‘when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled’ (1 Samuel 28:5). Filled with dread, Saul sought counsel from God. But ‘when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets’ (1 Samuel 28:6.) The question is: why did God not answer Saul in his hour of great calamity?
The vilest transgressor who comes to Jehovah in penitence and contrition will not be turned away. Yet to be heard, the sinner must bring the appropriate sacrifice. It is written that ‘the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise’ (Psalm 51:17). The proud monarch of Israel came to God with no such sacrifices. Because he sought God only for deliverance from his enemies, God denied Saul an answer. What good would delivering him have accomplished if his heart remained unchanged? If delivered, the king would have simply continued on in his sins, and persisted in his relentless hunting of David. Thus, upon receiving no answer from God, the king sought out another source of advice:
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. 1 Samuel 28:7
In his anguish and desperation, Saul hoped to receive counsel from his familiar friend Samuel. No doubt at Satan’s suggestion, Saul asked the medium to bring up the deceased prophet. Assuming the appearance and manner of his former friend, the lying spirit said to Saul, ‘Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?’ (1 Samuel 28:15). In reality, Samuel had not been brought up at all. Only Christ can raise a man from his sleep. And since Christ has no concord with Satan, it is outrageous to believe that Samuel had truly appeared to Saul in the cave of a witch.
But since Satan supplied his vain hope, Saul eagerly received the strong delusion. From the devil himself, Saul’s tormented soul sought for words of comfort and instruction. Said the king to the fiend:
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. 1 Samuel 28:15
For several dreary years, Satan had worked to drown out the voice of conscience in the king whom God had anointed. Heretofore, he had inspired pride and ambition in Saul’s heart, and urged him on in his wicked course. With his victim wrapped tightly in his coils, the serpent now perceived that Saul had reached an end of his usefulness. Changing his tact, Satan began to asphyxiate his victim through the very conscience he had previously numbed. Said the devil:
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. 1 Samuel 28:18
Saul’s guilty soul reeled in horror at this reminder of his sins. Far from providing the hope or counsel that Saul desired, Satan went in for the kill. Driving out any remaining courage, Satan foretold the king’s death:
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. 1 Samuel 28:19
Stripping the man of all hope, Satan’s words become a self-fulfilling prophecy. With his courage now fully gone from him, the king and his men marched defeatedly in battle, and Saul and his sons died according to Satan’s words.
While an extreme case, Saul’s course is typical of all who depart from the expressed will of God. Indeed, however strong, or noble, or intelligent a man may be, he will always resort to a power outside of himself for instruction and hope in times of need. On such occasions, one need not enter a witch’s dark cave in order to commune with familiar spirits. Through the black screens we peer into each day, we may just as readily enquire of sorcerers. As the medium of Endor drove Saul to his death through fear, the mediums of modern media pronounce self-fulfilling prophecies of disease and death to all who put their trust in them.
Yet those who heed God’s counsel are not distressed by the words of heathen oracles. Their trust is in their God, who has shown Himself able to deliver them in times of need. The sad case of Saul shows that seeking God only in times of calamity is a futile exercise. It is today that we must build faith and trust in God if we desire to withstand the greater trials of life.
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? Isaiah 8:19
Christopher Sparks