Guidance from the Medium - The Book of 1 Samuel

In this Bible Story, David plays the part of loyal servant to Achish the Philistine king, but remains loyal to Israel. When the Amalekites raid David’s town and steal all their families, David’s heroic spirit is rekindled, and he mounts a rescue mission. This story is inspired by 1 Samuel 28. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is 1 Samuel 28:7 from the King James Version.

Episode 94: Dark days were at hand for Israel and the Philistines, and battle after battle began to wear on the hearts of both nations. Saul was now without David, without Samuel, without God, and without peace. He begged God to speak to him, sought prophets, and waited for dreams but God was silent towards him. Desperate, he went to Endor and sought the medium that lived there in hopes of bringing the spirit of Samuel up from the dead. God allowed this to happen but instead of hearing words of hope, Samuel told Saul that tomorrow he and his sons would die in battle.

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Producer: Ben Gammon

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Music by: Andrew Morgan Smith

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. Then, said Saul unto his servants, seek
me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I
may go to her and inquire of her. And his
servants said to him, behold, there is a woman that
hath a familiar spirit at endor First Samuel twenty eight seven.

(00:21):
Heavenly Father, in moments of silence, when I am in
between my present circumstance and my future, promise teach me
to wait on you and your voice. I have made
a conscious decision that when I desire answers to life's problems,
I will not seek them in false mediums, astrology, psychics,

(00:43):
or those connected to the dark arts. Instead, I will
position myself to be in your presence and to hear
your voice. I decree and declare that your word is
my guiding light. I decree and declare that your voice
has the ability to cut through any dark times I
may be facing. Your word is a lamp unto my

(01:06):
feet and a light unto my path. And because I'm
connected to your spirit, I don't have to settle for
ungodly and false spirits. I will choose to wait for you, Lord,
knowing that as I do, my help will arrive. At
just the right time. In Jesus' name. Amen, thank you

(01:31):
for praying with me today. Continue listening for an incredible
Bible story brought to you by Bible in a Year dot.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Com guidance from the medium. In our last story, we
learned about Saul's latest pursuit to take David's life. David
once again had the opportunity to end Saul and with

(02:01):
him all the fleeing and exile. Yet David's conviction as
a man of God stood its ground. He spared Saul,
and Saul once again repented and left David's presence. Now,
David dwells in the land of the Philistines, serving under
King Akish. David and his men made raids on the
enemies of Israel, pretending to make raids for the Philistines.

(02:25):
In this story, the Philistine Horde rises up against Israel.
David continues to wrestle with his alliances, while Saul, now
living apart from the spirit of God, turns to dark
arts to settle his weary and restless soul. Inspired by
the Book of First Samuel, Hello.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
This is Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
Bible in a Year podcast. In our last episode, we
saw that David's loyalties were tested as the Philistines gathered
to do battle against Israel and David and his men
were among the ranks ready to attack. We saw how
God prevented David from going into battle against his own

(03:06):
people and protecting him from the consequences of terrible decisions. Today,
we'll return to Israel to meet up with King Saul
and see what he was doing in the lead up
to this same battle. While yesterday we saw David seek
God's guidance before fighting the Amalekites, today we'll hear how
Saul turns to the occult for guidance. It is a

(03:27):
final turning away, a terrible apostasy from God that will
spell ultimate disaster for him. Thus, now listen to today's
reading from God's Word.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
The days grew darker and darker. War between the Israelites
and Philistines raged like wildfire. Both sides struck devastating blows,
and the spirit of both nations were growing dim. Valleys
became swamps with the blood and gore of battle. Villages
and towns were destroyed from plunder. Yet the Philistines were

(04:01):
great in number and continued to bang on the drums
of war against Israel. David still dwelled with his men
and King akish In the two became very close. David
began to struggle with his identity as a Hebrew while
in the presence of Philistine friends. Though he did not
slay any Israelites, his association with the enemy made him guilty. However,

(04:23):
he could not return to Saul, for his mind was
like a tempest, tossing him to and fro. The Philistine
hoarde approached the borders of Israel once again, Saul looked
upon the sea of soldiers with fear and trembling. Saul's
mind had grown weary and tainted with hatred. His soul
was tormented and unsteady. A subtle madness overcame Saul, and

(04:46):
since God had removed his spirit from him, there was
no rest. Saul had not truly felt peace since David
last played songs for him in the throne room. It
seemed like a hundred years since that time. Samuel, who
was his guiding compass, had been long dead. Night had
fallen and the Israelite camp was quiet and dimly lit

(05:07):
by torches. Saul walked to the outskirts of camp and
fell to his knees. The only sounds were Saul's tears
as he wept before God. He buried his face in
the dirt, begging God to speak to him once again silence.
He looked to the stars, listening for any semblance of
God's voice. Nothing. Saul sought prophets, but there was no response.

(05:31):
Saul waited for dreams, yet he was still met with
nothing but torment. Saul arose from his bed and woke
up his servant. Find me the necromancer woman from Endor,
he commanded. So the servant departed to find her and
set up a meeting for her and Saul. If God
would not respond to his prayers, perhaps another being would

(05:52):
lend its ear. Sir Saul ventured a few miles north
to meet her. A different type of darkness covered the city.
Croud of evil hovered over Endor like storm clouds. Saul
disguised himself in a cloak to hide his identity and
traveled the alleyways of Endor with secrecy. Saul entered into
the necromancer's home. The room reeked of spice and death.

(06:16):
Saul uncovered his hood and looked around the room. Dead
ravens hung from the ceiling an incense burned under carved
images of wicked gods. The room was dark and lit
only by a few faint candles. There in the corner
of the room, a woman sat at the edge of
her bed. She was equally revolting and intoxicating. She wore

(06:36):
a scalding stare that shook Saul's spine. Saul stood a
few feet away from her and whispered, I need you
to bring forth a spirit for me. The woman remained
silent and arose from her bed. She passed Saul and
circled him like a lioness. You know that the Righteous
King Saul has banned all mediums and necromancers from the land.

(06:59):
This could very well be trapped for me, The woman
spoke with a smooth voice. She did not yet know
it was Saul who stood before her. Saul clenched his
jaw as the Lord lives. I can assure you no
punishment will await you, Saul said. He did his best
not to stutter when he spoke, for even Saul knew

(07:19):
that he was playing with unknown power. The necromancer stood
a foot away from Saul and looked him in the eye.
She was silent for a few moments, staring at Saul
with an uneasy gaze. Whom shall I bring for you,
she asked, Samuel the prophet, Saul said. The woman took
a step back and bowed her head. Her hair covered

(07:42):
her face. As she bent her neck forward, Saul could
hear faint mumbles from the woman. She shook her shoulders
back and forth, and her mumbles grew louder and louder.
The woman began to shake uncontrollably, and a loud scream
came out of her. You deceived me, the woman shouted, you,
our king Saul. The woman gritted her teeth and pointed

(08:03):
towards Saul. I promise you will not be harmed, Saul said,
Now tell me what you see. The woman's eyes rolled
back with her head. She mumbled and jolted her neck
back and forth. I see a man crawling up out
of the ground, she said. He is old and wrapped
in a robe. The necromancer began to tremble and scream
in fear. She had come in contact with demonic spirits before,

(08:27):
but now she was dealing with the spirit of God.
Saul fell on his face before the woman. He knew
who she was seeing was indeed Samuel The woman loomed
over Saul, and the tone of Samuel came forth from
her voice. Why have you disturbed me? He said. Saul
looked up, still kneeling on the floor, and said, I

(08:47):
am in great distress. The Philistines are overtaking us, and
God has turned away from me. I am lost without guidance.
What shall I do? Tears fell from Saul's eyes and
his hands were shaking. Why do you ask me? God
has made you his enemy, Saul. I told you that
he would take your kingdom from you and give it
to another. Now you know it to be David. There

(09:10):
was a silence for a moment. Saul began to speak
until Samuel interrupted him, saying, tomorrow you and your sons
so be with me, and Israel will be cast into
the arms of the Philistines. Saul lay prostrate on the floor,
and the woman shook her head and stumbled backwards. Saul's
strength had departed him, and his face grew pale at

(09:32):
the news. The woman composed herself and offered sal food
before he left. Saul refused, but his servants insisted since
his face was so pale and deathly. Saul ate in
silence on the woman's bed. He stared into the blackness,
fearing every moment might.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
Be his last.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
Saul had called forth Samuel to be comforted, but he
was met only with more sorrow.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
Today story begins with the Philistines gathering for battle against Israel.
David is still in Philistine territory, but as we saw yesterday,
he would not be a part of the fight. Still,
the Philistine army is large and powerful, and King Saul
is filled with fear of this mighty enemy. Saul wants comfort,

(10:20):
He wants assurance of victory. He wants to hear from God,
but Samuel has been dead now for some time. Saul's
connection to God is cut off. He seeks other prophets,
but God does not listen. He waits for God to
speak to him in dreams, but there's no revelation. Saul
had strayed far far from God. He had lived in

(10:42):
disobedience and carnality. He had neglected to listen to God
for so long that God is not responding to his
Christ and so now he's desperate, so desperate that he
makes a tragic decision. He appeals to ungodly spiritualism. He
seeks counsel from a witch. Desperation is no excuse for sin, ever,

(11:04):
and Saul wasn't really seeking God for guidance and wisdom.
He was just seeking his own comfort and trying to
save his own life. His motives were terribly wrong. Saul's
actions were not only a violation of God's law, they
violated his own laws. He had given orders to clear
the land of all practitioners of spiritism and the occult.

(11:26):
But because Saul was desperate, he sins for a necromancer.
He disguises himself carefully so that his sin and hypocrisy
isn't revealed. He entered the median's home in the town
of Indoor and made his request. He needed her to
summon a spirit from the dead. Even this witch was
afraid that this was a trap, so Saul swore an

(11:49):
oath in the name of the very god he was
betraying that she would not be harmed. Saul told her
he wanted to speak to the prophet Samuel, who had died.
He wanced to speak to the dead. To this woman's
great surprise and horror, Samuel appeared. This was not an
evil spirit pretending to be Samuel, and it wasn't a trick.

(12:12):
This was real. She wasn't expecting it. You see, this
had nothing to do with her powers. This was God
at work, and this woman somehow knew it. She then
recognized that it was Saul who'd come to her. Why
did you lie to me, she asked in Tara, But
Saul told her nothing bad would happen to her, just
tell him what she saw. So she told him, and

(12:35):
Saul knew it was Samuel. He bowed in reverence, surely
thinking he was about to get the comfort that he needed.
But then Samuel spoke directly to him, asking why he
had disturbed his rest. Saul told Samuel God had fallen
silent and he was in distress over the Philistines. Samuel's
response was clear. God did exactly as he said he would,

(12:58):
because Saul had disobeyed God God and turn from him.
Not only that, he confirmed what God had already said
to Saul. The kingdom would be taken from him. David
would soon be the king, sooner than Saul could imagine.
Then Samuel gave Saul the most devastating news in First
Samuel twenty eighth nineteen. Moreover, the Lord will give Israel

(13:22):
also with you, into the hand of the Philistines, and
tomorrow you and your son shall be with me. The
Lord will give the army of Israel also into the
hands of the Philistines. Saul was devastated, and rather than
leave with confidence and comfort, he left with dread, for
he knew that God's will could not be changed and
his word would come true the next time. We'll see

(13:45):
how this all plays out in God's plan. Dear God,
how we thank you for your word the Bible. We
thank you that these stories are not fables or fairy tales,
but these are true stories inspired by your Holy Spirit.
He always let us learn the lessons that we need
to learn and to believe you and to obey your word.

(14:07):
In Jesus' name, Amen, thank you for listening to today's
Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas.
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(14:28):
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