1 Samuel 28:3

SAUL'S DECISION TO CONSULT THE WITCH OF ENDOR

"Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the wizards out of the land. The Philistines assembled, and came and encamped at Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And 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 out 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 medium at Endor."

"Samuel had died ... Saul had put the mediums and wizards out of the land" (1 Samuel 28:3). This information was prerequisite to the understanding of what is next related. Saul's putting the wizards and mediums out of the land had evidently occurred in the early years of his reign when he was sincerely trying to do the will of God.

"Wizards and mediums" (1 Samuel 28:3). "From Isaiah 8:19; 19:3, it may be inferred that the oracles procured from such sources were uttered in a squealing voice, by means of ventriloquism."[4] "The Hebrew word for `mediums' here is [~'oboth], which is the plural of [~'ob], meaning `leather bottles.' It is generally taken to refer to the distended belly of the conjurer, into which the summoned spirit of the dead was supposed to enter, and thence speak."[5]

It is impossible to imagine anything any more fraudulent, any more evil, or any more founded absolutely upon falsehood than the profession of such followers of the devil as the mediums and wizards; one of the best known of those persons was the notorious Witch of Endor who is featured in this chapter.

Note the following from Deuteronomy: "There shall not be found among you any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, an augur, a sorcerer, a charmer, a medium, a wizard, or a necromancer ... Whoever does such things is an abomination to the Lord." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

"When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid" (1 Samuel 28:5). Saul's crisis of fear was aggravated by the new strategy of the Philistines, who, instead of fighting Israel in the hill country, on this occasion marched into the plain of Jezreel where their chariots of iron would give them an advantage. "This maneuver threatened to cut off Saul from the support of the northern tribes"[6]

"The Philistines at Shunem ...Israel at Gilboa" (1 Samuel 28:4). It was at Gilboa that Saul greatly trembled. "This was the spring by which Gideon and his men camped. It was called the `Spring of Trembling' (Judges 7:1, KJV). Saul here camped beside the same spring, and `trembled greatly.'"[7] "The two armies here confronted each other near the eastern end of the plain of Esdraelon."[8]

"The Lord did not answer him ... by dreams ... by Urim ... or by prophets." "How strange that the man who hated and persecuted the prophets Samuel and David expected to be answered by prophets, and that he who had slain eighty-five priests with all of their wives and children, including even the High Priest, expected to be answered by the Urim, and that he who had sinned away the Spirit of God expected to be answered by heavenly dreams! God is not mocked![9]

"Behold, there is a medium at Endor" (1 Samuel 28:7). "Endor is the modern Khirbet es-Safsafe about four miles south of Mount Tabor ... Psalms 83:10 indicates that Barak and Deborah defeated Jabin and Sisera in this area."[10] The fact that Saul had said to his servants, "Find me a woman who is a medium" indicates that the great majority of such persons were indeed women, even as it is today with fortune-tellers, palm-readers, crystal-ball gazers, etc.