When the Phones Are Dead: The King and the Crone
Introduction: The Static of Disobedience
We come now to one of the strangest and most unsettling episodes in all of Scripture. King Saul, the Lord's anointed, is at the end of his rope. The Philistine army is gathered against him, a terrifying host, and Saul's heart has melted within him. He has inquired of the Lord, but the heavens are brass. God is silent. No dreams, no Urim, no prophets. The lines of communication, which Saul himself had systematically severed through his rebellion, are now completely dead. And in the terror of that divine silence, Saul seeks to hear a voice from anywhere else. Anywhere at all.
This is what sin does. It cuts you off from the only source of life and wisdom, and then leaves you scrabbling in the dark, desperate for any counterfeit. When a man hangs up on God, he should not be surprised when he gets nothing but static on the line. But Saul cannot bear the silence. His disobedience has made him an addict for control, and now, in his withdrawal, he will turn to the spiritual underworld. He will seek out a medium, a necromancer, a woman with a familiar spirit at Endor. This is the final, pathetic stage of his apostasy. He had once, in a fit of civic righteousness, purged the land of such practitioners. Now, the king himself goes seeking the very darkness he outlawed.
We must understand that this is not just a spooky ghost story for a dark night. This is a clinical diagnosis of a soul that has been given over to its own rebellion. It is a demonstration of the principle that when men will not have God, they will not get nothing; they will get anything. They will trade the clear voice of the living God for the chirps and mutters of demons. Saul is about to discover a terrifying truth: you cannot escape the judgment of God by trying to get a second opinion from the damned. God is sovereign even over the devil's switchboard, and sometimes He picks up the line Himself to tell you that your call will not be going through.
The Text
Then Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, “Divine for me, please, and bring up for me whom I shall say to you.” But the woman said to him, “Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?” Then Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, “As Yahweh lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” And the woman saw Samuel and cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.” And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid; but what do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being coming up out of the earth.” And he said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.
(1 Samuel 28:8-14 LSB)
A King in Costume (v. 8)
The scene is set with an act of profound self-negation.
"Then Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night..." (1 Samuel 28:8)
Saul's disguise is more than just a practical tactic to avoid being recognized. It is a theological statement. He is the king, the Lord's anointed, the one set apart to represent God's rule in Israel. But here, he strips himself of his royal robes, the symbols of his office and calling, and puts on the clothes of an ordinary man. He is acting out his spiritual reality. He has abandoned his true identity in rebellion, and so now he must wear a costume to pursue that rebellion. He comes by night, because his deeds are deeds of darkness. A man who has rejected the light of God's Word must necessarily love the shadows. He is a king playing the part of a commoner, because he has ceased to be a true king in his heart.
The Devil Quoting Scripture (v. 9)
The woman's response to Saul's request is layered with a bitter irony.
"But the woman said to him, 'Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?'" (1 Samuel 28:9)
Here the witch, a practitioner of forbidden arts, appeals to the law of the land. She reminds this disguised man of the king's own decree. Saul's past obedience, however superficial it may have been, now rises up to condemn his present hypocrisy. He is the king, and he is the reason her profession is a capital offense. He is not just asking her to break God's law; he is asking her to break his own law. The snare he is laying is not just for her life, but for his own soul. He is the author of the law and is now seeking to become its chief transgressor. This is the twisted logic of the apostate heart.
Blasphemy as Reassurance (v. 10)
Saul's reply to the woman's fear is perhaps the lowest point of his spiritual descent.
"Then Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, 'As Yahweh lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.'" (1 Samuel 28:10)
This is not merely an oath; it is high blasphemy. Saul invokes the name of the living God, Yahweh, to guarantee the safety of a woman engaging in an act that Yahweh has declared an abomination worthy of death (Leviticus 20:27). He is using the name of God to promise protection from the consequences of disobeying God. It is the equivalent of swearing on a stack of Bibles to protect an abortionist. He has weaponized God's holy name in the service of his own desperate, idolatrous quest. His moral compass is not just broken; it is spinning wildly, pointing south to hell while claiming to be guided by the northern star of God's own life.
When God Hijacks the Seance (v. 11-12)
Having been "reassured" by this blasphemous oath, the woman proceeds, but the result is not what she expected.
"Then the woman said, 'Whom shall I bring up for you?' And he said, 'Bring up Samuel for me.' And the woman saw Samuel and cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, 'Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.'" (1 Samuel 28:11-12)
Saul wants to hear from Samuel, the prophet who anointed him and the prophet who pronounced God's judgment upon him. He is a man haunted by the word he rejected. But what happens next is crucial. The woman shrieks. This is not part of the show. Practitioners of these dark arts relied on what you might call spookaloo special effects, demonic impersonations, and the gullibility of their clients. They dealt with familiar spirits, lying demons who would pretend to be the departed. But this woman's terror is genuine. She got more than she bargained for. She performed her ritual, expecting to summon a demon who would do a Samuel impression, but instead, God sovereignly intervened. God hijacked the seance.
The real Samuel appeared, not by the power of her incantations, but by the decree of the Almighty. And it is this terrifying, authentic, divine intrusion that reveals Saul's identity to her. The appearance of the true prophet of Yahweh could only be for the king of Israel. She was prepared for a demonic parlor trick; she was not prepared for the throne room of God to break into her filthy little hut. God is making it clear that He is Lord even here, in the heart of enemy territory.
A Glimpse of the Other Side (v. 13-14)
"And the king said to her, 'Do not be afraid; but what do you see?' And the woman said to Saul, 'I see a divine being coming up out of the earth.' And he said to her, 'What is his form?' And she said, 'An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe.' And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself." (1 Samuel 28:13-14)
The king, the most terrified man in Israel, tells the terrified woman not to be afraid. He is desperate for the message, no matter the source. She describes what she sees: an "elohim," a divine or supernatural being, rising from the earth. This is not the language of a mere ghost. This is a formidable spiritual reality. When Saul asks for a description, the details are sparse but sufficient. An old man, wrapped in a robe. This was the signature garment of the prophet Samuel. It was this very robe that Saul had grabbed and torn years before, prompting Samuel's prophecy that the kingdom would be torn from him in the same way (1 Sam. 15:27-28).
Saul needed no more information. He knew. This was not a demon; this was the genuine article, sent by God to deliver the final sentence. And what is Saul's reaction? He bows. He prostrates himself. But this is not the posture of repentance. It is the cowering of a convicted criminal before the judge. He is not bowing in submission to God's will, but in sheer terror at God's inescapable verdict. He sought a word of comfort from the dark, and instead, God turned on the lights to show him the executioner.
Conclusion: The Unchanging Word
The rest of the story confirms this. Samuel gives Saul no new information. He simply reiterates the judgment that was already declared. Saul went to all this trouble, broke the covenant, blasphemed God's name, and trafficked with demons, only to hear the exact same message he could have remembered from his last encounter with the living prophet. The Word of the Lord does not change. You cannot appeal it, you cannot go around it, and you cannot seek a different verdict from a different court.
This is the end result of all attempts to find wisdom apart from God. All séances, all horoscopes, all trafficking with the occult is simply a disguised attempt to get around the clear, revealed will of God. It is the fool's errand of trying to find a loophole in the divine decree. But there are no loopholes.
The contrast for the believer is glorious. We have no need to consult the dead, for we worship a God who became alive from the dead. We have no need to seek a secret word from the shadows, for God has spoken His final and fullest Word in His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Word is not hidden in some medium's hut; it is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. Saul sought a word from the grave and found only death. We have a Word who came forth from the grave, and in Him we find only life.