The Witch of Endor
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On the morrow Saul must engage the Philistines in battle.
The shadows of impending doom gathered dark about him; he longed for help and guidance. But it was in vain that he sought counsel from God.
‘The Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.’ The Lord never turned away a soul that came to Him in sincerity and humility.
Why did he turn Saul away unanswered? The king had by his own act forfeited the benefits of all the methods of inquiring of God. He had rejected the counsel of Samuel the prophet; he had exiled David, the chosen of God; he had slain the priests of the Lord.
Could he expect to be answered by God when he had cut off the channels of communication that Heaven had ordained?” “Spiritism was a common practice among the nations round about, but Israel had been forbidden to have anything to with it (Deut. 18:9–14).” “During the life of Samuel, Saul had commanded that all wizards and those that had familiar spirits should be put to death; but now, in the rashness of desperation, he had recourse to that oracle which he had condemned as an abomination.” Now he ordered his men to find a woman who supposedly could contact the dead. Interestingly, his servants knew the location of just such a person.
The Philistine army was camped just north of the plain of Jezreel on the south side of the hill of Moreh. Across that plain to the southeast was the camp of the Israelites at the foot of Mount Gilboa. The witch Saul wished to see had hidden near the village of Endor on the north side of the hill of Moreh. Saul had to evade the Philistine army to his west and travel nine miles in a northwest direction to reach Endor.
To seek counsel from an emissary of Satan meant traversing enemy lines. But worse than that, Saul had crossed over to Satan’s side.
Willfully separating oneself from God to pursue one’s own path is a recipe for disaster.
