1 Samuel 28 Footnotes

28:6 Why didn’t the Lord answer Saul’s plea for help? The Bible teaches that people who consistently reject God’s leadership in their lives, and refuse to follow the guidance he has already provided, should not expect him to deliver them from trouble resulting from their poor choices (Jb 27:9; 35:12; Pr 1:23-28; Is 1:15; Jr 11:11; 14:12; Ezk 8:18; Mic 3:4; Zch 7:13; Jms 4:3). Saul had consistently disobeyed God (1Sm 13:13-14; 15:11-23), even going so far as to kill the Lord’s priests (22:17-19). He had created vast problems for himself and his nation. The Lord was not going to promise the king supernatural deliverance from those problems, even though Saul earnestly sought his help. Instead, God would use the Philistines as the instrument of judgment against Saul.

28:8-22 Did the medium of En-dor really conjure up the dead Prophet Samuel? Though scholars disagree on this question, the Bible suggests that she did. The law of Moses sternly forbids consultation of mediums (Lv 20:27; Dt 18:10-12) but never says that communicating with dead people is impossible. Saul was seemingly able to speak with a figure that not only accurately repeated key themes from Samuel’s previous private conversations with Saul, but also correctly predicted the deaths of Saul and his sons. This suggests that the king was indeed speaking with Samuel.