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In 1 Samuel 25 we learn about the death of Samuel
and all Israel mourns for him. It is interesting that these two books are named
for Samuel and yet he dies before the end of book one. Perhaps that is why the
Septuagint (the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures dating to the 2nd
century BCE) titles these books as 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2
Kings are titled as 3 and 4 Kings.
1 Samuel 25 also tells us that after Samuel’s
death, David continued to live in hiding from Saul, and no wonder, for now there
was no one to stand between them to protect David. This chapter relates David’s
dealings with Nabal of Carmel who refuses assistance to David despite David’s
protection offered to Nabal’s servants. We meet Nabal’s wife Abigail who is a
wise woman trying to make her way as best she can in a man’s world. Unbeknownst
to her husband, she provides David and his men with sustenance and forestalls
David from retaliating against Nabal. Nabal is struck dead by the Lord some ten
days later. I think we can learn from this that sometimes if we will simply be
still and trust the Lord, then the Lord will fight and win our battles for us,
moving our enemies out of the way in one manner or another.
David ends up marrying Abigail and he also takes
Ahinoam of Jezreel as his wife. We are told that Saul gave David’s wife Michal
to another man. Once again, we have a knock on the head for the contemporary
evangelical idea of “biblical marriage”. There simply is no consistent pattern
of marriage throughout Scripture. Rather, we see various marriage practices in
keeping with the different cultures represented. In the Hebrew Scriptures we
see polygamy practiced over and over again without apology, even though most
Christians today would not agree with this practice.
In 1 Samuel 26 we once again see Saul coming
after David and David sparing Saul’s life when he has a chance to kill him.
David refuses to interfere with the life of the Lord’s anointed.
When I was in seminary, I was assigned, in
preaching class, to preach on the story of David and Goliath. In that sermon, I
referred to Saul as a wimp for failing to follow the Lord. My preaching
professor scolded me severely and said he was surprised that the roof did not
cave in on me for calling the Lord’s anointed a wimp. However, I still think
Saul was a spiritual wimp and that David was the better man.
At the beginning of 1 Samuel 27 we see David
doubting whether he will ever escape from the hand of Saul. We, today, reading
this story know how it ends and so we think of David as a great success.
However, we must remember that David did not see himself that way. He
struggled. He doubted. Life looks easier when you know the whole story, but
living life day to day when you do not know how the story is going to end—that
is difficult.
In chapter 27, we also see David going over to
the side of the Philistines, even agreeing to fight on the side of King Achish
against Israel. This is a good reminder that even the stories of good men like
David are complicated. No one is completely good or loyal all the time. And
yet, on the whole, we are told that the Lord viewed David as a man after his
own heart.
In chapter 28, we have the story of Saul
desperately seeking a medium so that he might get advice from the dead Samuel
about how to handle his next campaign against the Philistines. Of course,
seeking the advice of a medium was against Israelite law, and in this case was
against Saul’s own ruling. Yet Saul seeks out the medium it anyway.
Desperate men go to desperate
extremes. As C. S. Lewis says, “The descent to hell is easy, and those who
begin by worshipping power soon worship evil.”[1]
This was certainly true of Saul. However, Saul gets more than he bargained for
when the witch of Endor is able to call up the “shade” of Samuel, for Samuel
tells Saul that he will not be successful against the Philistines and that in
fact he and his son will die the next day in battle.
I believe this story teaches us that the power of
some mediums/witches is real. In this case, the witch/medium is able to call
someone up from the dead and that person, Samuel, speaks truth to Saul.
However, we need to beware of mediums because we can never be sure what type of
spirits they are connecting with. There are only two types of spirits: good and
evil. If a medium is not connecting with the Lord in prayer then he or she is
connecting with Satan. The Bible tells us that Satan is a liar and the father
of lies. Therefore, mediums and the spirits they have intercourse with are not
to be trusted.
On one occasion, I had a friend who consulted a
medium and asked her about me and my future direction. This “friend” did this
without my knowledge or support. The medium told my friend a number of true
things about me that she could not have known on her own, so what she had to say was
really quite amazing to me. However, the medium recommended against a certain
future course of action I was planning on taking. I followed through with my
plans, believing that was the course of action the Lord wanted me to take. I wonder, what would have happened if I
had followed the medium’s advice? I am glad I did not.
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