I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.
Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 28-31.
The first thing I want to comment on is that the town where Saul found a medium was Endor. George Lucas chose to name of the home of the Ewoks. It seems unlikely that George Lucas knowingly chose that name from this source, but I am curious how he came up with it for the movie. Aside from that, I struggle with this passage because my reading of the rest of the Bible leads me to believe that the spirits of the dead cannot be summoned in this manner. Yet, here we have the witch of Endor summoning Samuel’s spirit for Saul. Perhaps my understanding about summoning the spirits of the dead is mistaken (although God clearly forbids attempting such a thing, even if it is possible), or perhaps this story of Saul summoning Samuel’s spirit is merely figurative. In either case, despite having refused on multiple occasions to heed God’s commands, Saul was seeking God’s guidance one last time. But this time, Saul could not get any guidance from God, no matter what methods he tried, not even by consulting Samuel’s dead spirit. There is an important lesson for us here. If we refuse to do as we know God has directed us, eventually He will not offer us guidance, no matter how desperately we desire it.
The Philistine king to whom David had gone seeking protection from Saul asked David to join the Philistine army being assembled to go to battle against Saul. David eagerly accepted. Based on David’s refusal to kill Saul when he had the chance, and the fact that he raided no Israelite towns (while telling the Philistine king that they were Israelite towns, I have to wonder what David really planned to do. However, in the event, the other Philistine kings and military commanders demanded the David not be part of their order of battle. They remembered what had happened the first time they had gone to battle against Saul, when the Hebrew troops in their lines switched sides in the middle of the battle. Perhaps David knew that this would happen. Or perhaps God just provided him a way to avoid going to battle with the people over whom he would soon rule.