The End of Saul's Reign

We have some more excitement to read today. The story of David has always been so interesting. I have loved sharing more with my children as I have learned. Another great reason to read through the Bible. There is more to that story of “David and Goliath.” As children get older they need to learn to fill in between the great stories.


Today’s reading begins with Saul seeking out a medium. Israelites and Philistines were going to battle soon and Saul had become so afraid. He tried seeking the Lord but the Lord was silent. Even though Saul had banished all mediums and spiritists, here he goes to seek one. He just had to know what to do to save himself. The verses do not tell us specifically why the Lord did not answer him but I would say He finally did through this medium. It was confusing to me that God would allow Samuel to be raised by this medium to speak to Saul. But who am I to question God. He can do what ever He wants how ever He wants to do it. I want to share something from the book “Handbook of Today’s Religions.” The chapter on Fortunetelling talks about the danger of seeking other spiritual means to your problems.

Whether all fortunetelling practice is nothing but a glorified con game remains a matter of debate. What is not debatable is the fact that any and all types of attempting to divine the future through fortunetelling is an abomination to God. God has already revealed to us in His Word the basic program for the future, and He condemns in the strongest of terms those who would try to find out what is going to occur without consulting Him. The Bible never says fortunetellers can predict the future. It is their attempt to peer into the future through occultic means that is objectionable. However, whether they can do it or not really does not make that much difference, if the person having his fortune told believes that they can. The same end is accomplished. The person, instead of looking to God for direction, now consults fortunetellers to receive guidance for his life. Satan has accomplished his purpose, which is getting people away from worshiping the true and living God. Since fortunetelling does this, it should never be practiced even for fun.

Saul receives his news that there is no way to save his kingdom and that he and Israel would be handed to the Philistines. Also, Saul learns that he and his sons would die the next day. This had to be like torture in his mind. The last hours of his life spent with such despair. This passage points out how the human heart continues to seek out anything other than God. We are commanded over and over to seek only the Lord and He will take care of all our needs in His time. But we always want to know in advance what is going to happen.

On the scene with David he was preparing to go to battle with the Philistine leader Achish against the Israelites. The other Philistine rulers did not trust David to go to battle with them because they knew David had loyalty to Saul. I do wonder if David would have really fought with the Philistines or turned on them during battle. The Bible doesn’t say.

David and his men return to Ziklag, only to find that the town had been raided by the Amalekites. They had taken captive the women and children. David and his men wept out loud until they had not strength. Some of the men wanted to stone David because they blamed him that their families had been captured. David sought the Lord and found strength in Him. The Lord told him to pursue the Amalekites. Some of the men were too tired to go so two hundred men stayed behind.

David and four hundred men set out to get their families back. They found an Egyptian slave that lead them to the Amalekites. David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day. David and his men were able to recover everything that had been taken from them. Some of the men who fought did not want to share with those who didn’t fight. David stepped in with his great leadership and pointed out that this was the Lord’s victory and they were to appreciate those who stayed with the supplies as well. David shared some of the plunder even with the elders of Judah as a gift.

In wrapping up 1 Samuel, we go back to the scene with Saul. The Israelites fight the Philistines and are defeated. Saul’s sons are killed (even Jonathan). I had hoped that Jonathan would be spared but God has a purpose for everything. Saul had been wounded and didn’t want to be tortured by the Philistines so he asked his armor-bearer to finish him but his armor-bearer would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it then his armor-bearer did the same.

When the Israelites see that Saul was dead and the soldiers had fled, they fled and the Philistines took over their area. Saul’s body and his sons’s bodies were taken and displayed as trophies. The people at Jabesh Gilead sent their “valiant men” to rescue the bodies to give them a proper funeral and burial.