Topic: King Saul’s Failure
One of the most terrifying experiences in a believer’s life is divine silence. There is nothing more tragic than when God stops speaking. In First Samuel 28, Saul finds himself in a desperate situation. The Philistines are advancing, fear overwhelms him, and when he seeks the Lord, there is no answer—no dream, no Urim, no prophet. Heaven is silent.
Verse 6 reveals that when King Saul cried out for help, that the Lord refused to reveal Himself. Why did the Lord not speak with Saul? Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” Saul continued in disobedience to God. He relentlessly sought the life of an innocent man and even attempted to spear his own son. He had the priests of the Lord slaughtered and gave approval to an entire town being wiped out.
Back to verse three. To me it’s very interesting that this verse says, “Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.” This verse might seem to be stuck in this passage for no apparent reason. There is a purpose for this statement, though, and that purpose is to contrast Saul’s commandment to abolish fortunetelling, with his later consultation of other sources of revelation besides God. Saul was falling into the same sin that he had abolished. This would not have happened to him had he possessed the proper relationship with God in the first place. If Saul had sought the forgiveness of his sins, then God would have spoken to him. However, he failed to humble himself before the Lord and fell further into sin.
Saul was in a spiritual battle at Endor, warring inside, but he was losing to his own pride and his own desires. He was sinking deeper into sin, as observed when he asked for a medium. A medium is a fortuneteller, or in today’s world someone on the Psychic Hotline. Consulting a fortuneteller is a horrible sin, according to the Scripture; and the person who would do such a thing has strayed in their relationship with the Lord.
Saul at Endor is not just historical; it is deeply prophetic. It warns us that divine silence is not God’s absence but God’s judgment. When a person resists the voice of God long enough, they risk a point of no return. This passage challenges us to value God’s voice, to obey while He speaks, and to never seek forbidden alternatives when He is silent.
People turn to witchcraft because they haven’t experienced closeness with God. They have a deep void within them that needs to be filled, and they are filling it with the occult. God could fill that void if only people would turn from their sins and repent. But like Saul, many people refuse to repent, and so they must fill that empty space inside themselves with things such as witchcraft, horoscopes, and fortunetelling.
Matthew 6:33, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be [ added
to you.”
See you Sunday!
Dr. Scott Kallem