Swept Away

One Year Bible (May 20)

I Samuel 26:1-28:25

“SWEPT AWAY”

Can you begin to imagine the headlines in “The Gibeah Gazette”? What about in the “Hebrew Herald” or the “Israelite National Enquirer”!

Perhaps there were headlines such as… “The Anointed & The Medium”, “Wanted: Dead or Alive”, “Secret Agent Seeks Spirit!”, or “Downtown Abyss” ... You get the point!

If you thought that Saul had reached a new all-time low with the “Dirty Dowry” just wait till you see “HOW LOW CAN HE GO?” in today’s lesson. He is about to seek advice from “BEYOND THE GRAVE”! (So many headlines to pick from, Hmmmmm.)

Let’s check the front-page news to get the scoop…

Saul disguises himself by wearing ordinary clothing instead of his royal robes. (Ah Oh! This is not going to be good! If you need to disguise yourself in order to go there… Think twice!)

He went to a woman’s house AT NIGHT… (Yikes! This guy is headed in the wrong direction!)

“I have to talk to a man who has died,” he said. “Will you call up his spirit for me? (Saul knows the power of dabbling with the dark side! Do we get that?)

“Are you trying to get me killed?”, the woman demanded. “You know that Saul has outlawed all the mediums and all who consult the spirits of the dead. Why are you setting a trap for me?

(Ah, Oh! She is talking to the very one who outlawed this practice!! You see, Saul takes an oath in the NAME of the Lord, but no longer follows the WORD of the Lord.)

So, now let’s take a little peek at the “back story” shall we?

What prompted Saul to do such a thing?

When Saul saw the Philistine army, he became “frantic with fear”. He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord REFUSED TO ANSWER HIM, either by dreams, by sacred lots, or by the prophets.” (II Sam. 28: 6-20)

So, Saul requests a woman who is a medium. Does Saul not know God’s teaching about Mediums? Perhaps we should just take a peek at the Levitical laws at that time:

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers (a wizard or magician); do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:31)

“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.” (Leviticus 20:6)

Saul persists and they actually see a man coming up out of the earth who the medium describes as “a god”. This is “no god”... “Here Comes the Judge”…Samuel is BAAAAACK!

Samuel’s response to being called back to earth is, “Ummmm, why have you disturbed me by calling me back?” (28:15) (This is no “Happy Meal” for Samuel, but it is “The Last Supper” for Saul!)

Samuel replied, “Why ask me since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy? The Lord has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David.” (28: 16)

Let the final words of “The Judge” sink in…TOMORROW the Lord will hand you over to your enemy and you and your sons will be HERE WITH ME! (“Dust to Dust”)

Talk about a Last Supper Speech! Saul is now speechless and he is unable to eat!

Here is the part that is hidden on the back page of the paper “The King’s Chronicles”;

Actually, I am just messin’ with you! You can read it for yourself in I Chronicles because it is not a secret anymore…(What Saul did in secret is now exposed for all to see… interesting how sin works that way!)

“So, Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.” (I Chron. 10:13-14)

This is the sad story of The Medium, The Message, and The Misery.

Every person would hear these sad headlines… “Insecurity. Incognito. Insubordinate”.

To tell you the scoop, I don’t really know the gossip that was going around at that time. However, I can tell you the absolute truth from “The Daily Bread” because the Word of the Lord came true that very day,

“...If you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.” (I Samuel 12:25)

Saul’s willful flesh sealed his fate that day… This evil king was SWEPT AWAY!