A woman in En-dor

Having heard that there was a medium in En-dor, Saul quickly went there. (1) To reach the place, he had to pass by the enemy camp. Therefore, he disguised himself and traveled by night. To avoid detection, he only took two of his men with him. This darkness was almost symbolic of the darkness in Saul’s own heart. (2) The medium was initially wary, but eventually complied with Saul’s request after he swore to her by the Lord. While committing a sin against God, Saul swore an oath by God’s name. Saul is indeed a man of contradictions. (3) Saul asks the woman to summon Samuel for him.

Appearance of Samuel

Mediums summon and interact with the spirit of the dead. However, in actuality, they are summoning evil spirits disguised as the dead. The evil spirits enter the medium and speak pretending to be the dead. Therefore, a medium is someone who is possessed by a spirit of medium. However, in this passage, something unusual happens. Let’s look into what took place. (1) The woman conducts her usual mediumistic practices, but the situation turns out to be different than usual. When the real Samuel emerges, the woman screams out loud, startled by what she sees. (2) She realizes that the person requested this was king Saul and said to him, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!” (3) She saw a figure ascending from the earth but was invisible to Saul. She describes this figure as “an old man wrapped in a robe.” (4) Hearing this description, Saul understands that Samuel has risen from the earth and bows down in homage. “The earth” here refers to “Sheol,” which is the place where the dead will go. Saul, during Samuel’s life, refused to follow his advice. Yet, after that Samuel has died, he seeks to speak to Samuel even by breaking a prohibition. Let’s learn from Saul’s failure. The time to obey Jesus Christ is not “someday,” but “now.”