The Terrible Kindness of a Condemned Man's Last Meal Text: 1 Samuel 28:20-25
Introduction: The Hospitality of Hell
We come now to the pathetic end of a man who had everything. Saul was tall, he was handsome, he was anointed by God, and he was given the kingdom. But a man who will not obey God in the small things will eventually disobey Him in everything. A man who rejects the Word of the Lord will eventually find himself in a place where the Lord no longer speaks to him. And a man to whom God will not speak will, in his desperation, turn to anyone who will. In Saul's case, this meant turning to a witch, a medium, a necromancer at Endor. He has rejected the living God and now seeks counsel from the dead.
He has just heard his death sentence, not from a demon masquerading as Samuel, but from the real Samuel, sent by a sovereign God to deliver a final, terrible word of judgment. God, who refused to answer Saul by the appointed means of Urim, prophets, or dreams, now answers him through the forbidden means of a witch, and the answer is an iron door slammed in his face. Tomorrow, God says, you and your sons will be with me. Your kingdom is torn away and given to David. The Philistines will win. There is no hope.
What we are about to witness is the aftermath of this divine verdict. It is a strange and unsettling scene. A condemned king, a terrified witch, and a final meal. This is not a scene of repentance or reconciliation. It is a picture of the kindness of the damned, the hospitality of hell. It is what happens when God's judgment is final, and all that is left is the empty courtesy of those who are about to perish. This passage is a stark warning about the nature of final despair and the utter emptiness of human comfort when divine comfort has been removed.
The Text
Then Saul quickly fell full length upon the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; also there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day and all night.
And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Behold, your servant-woman has listened to your voice, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.
So now also, please listen to the voice of your servant-woman, and let me set a piece of bread before you that you may eat and have strength when you go on your way.”
But he refused and said, “I will not eat.” However, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to them. So he arose from the ground and sat on the bed.
And the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly sacrificed it; and she took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it.
And she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night.
(1 Samuel 28:20-25 LSB)
The Collapse of a King (v. 20)
We begin with the immediate physical and spiritual collapse of Saul.
"Then Saul quickly fell full length upon the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; also there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day and all night." (1 Samuel 28:20)
The judgment has been pronounced, and the effect is instantaneous. Saul falls "full length upon the ground." This is not a posture of worship or repentance. This is the posture of a man whose spine has just been removed. He is a hollow man. The Hebrew is emphatic; he fell the "fullness of his stature." The tall king, the man who stood head and shoulders above everyone else, is now completely prostrate, not before God, but before the terror of God's unalterable decree.
His fear is not the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. This is the raw, animal terror of a creature that has been cornered by its Creator. He is afraid "because of the words of Samuel." He does not dispute them. He does not argue. He knows they are true. This is the terror of a conscience that has been seared and is now being held over the flames. The Word of God, which is a comfort to the righteous, is a terror to the wicked. For the believer, God's Word is a lamp to our feet. For the apostate, it is the final, blinding spotlight before the execution.
The text adds a practical note: "there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day and all night." Saul is physically empty, which mirrors his spiritual emptiness. He has been fasting, not out of piety, but out of anxiety. He was seeking a word, any word. Now he has received it, and it has drained him of what little strength he had left. This is the end result of a life lived on one's own terms. It ends in total depletion, with no resources, no strength, and no hope. He is a husk.
The Pity of a Witch (v. 21-22)
Into this scene of utter despair steps the woman, the medium of Endor.
"And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified and said to him, 'Behold, your servant-woman has listened to your voice, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. So now also, please listen to the voice of your servant-woman, and let me set a piece of bread before you that you may eat and have strength when you go on your way.'" (1 Samuel 28:21-22 LSB)
The woman sees his terror. She is a practitioner of the dark arts, one whose trade is an abomination to the Lord, and yet she shows a kind of pity. But we must understand what kind of pity this is. This is not godly compassion. This is the camaraderie of the condemned. She has just participated in a capital offense. She reminds Saul of this: "I have taken my life in my hand." She is saying, "I risked my neck for you, now you must listen to me."
Her solution to Saul's existential dread is profoundly worldly. He has just heard that he is going to die and lose his kingdom, and her response is, "Let me set a piece of bread before you." She offers him a sandwich. This is the best the world can do in the face of divine judgment. It can offer a temporary distraction, a fleeting physical comfort. It cannot offer hope, forgiveness, or reconciliation. It can only offer a meal to strengthen a man for his journey to the gallows.
This is the essence of all false comfort. When a man is dying of cancer, the world offers him a better pillow. When a man is drowning in his sin, the world offers him a drink. It addresses the symptoms, never the disease. The woman's offer is a kindness, but it is a terrible kindness. It is an attempt to put a little meat on the bones of a man who is about to be executed. It is a kindness that accepts the verdict of damnation and simply tries to make the last few hours more bearable.
A Meal Before the End (v. 23-25)
Saul initially refuses, but is eventually persuaded to eat.
"But he refused and said, 'I will not eat.' However, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to them. So he arose from the ground and sat on the bed. And the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly sacrificed it; and she took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it. And she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night." (1 Samuel 28:23-25 LSB)
Saul's refusal, "I will not eat," is the only appropriate response he has left. It is a cry of despair. Food is for the living, for those with a future. He has no future. But his resolve is weak. His own servants, who have followed him into this mess, join the woman in urging him. Peer pressure is a powerful thing, even at the gates of death. He listens to them. Notice the contrast: he refused to listen to the voice of God through Samuel, but now he listens to the voice of a witch and his servants.
So he arises and sits on the bed. He is no longer on the throne, nor is he prostrate on the floor. He is on a bed, a place of rest, but there is no rest for him. The woman then shows extraordinary, almost frantic, hospitality. She takes a "fattened calf," a choice animal reserved for a special occasion, and quickly prepares a feast. She slaughters it, bakes unleavened bread because there is no time for it to rise, and serves the king his last meal.
This meal is a dark parody of covenant fellowship. It is a table prepared in the presence of his enemies, but God is not the host. It is a communion of the damned. They eat together, Saul and his servants, in the home of a woman whose practices God has condemned. They are strengthening themselves for the battle they are about to lose. They are fueling up for their own destruction. After the meal, "they arose and went away that night." They walk out of the witch's house and into the darkness, a darkness that for Saul will be permanent.
Conclusion: The False Comfort of a Fatted Calf
So what are we to make of this grim little story? It is a picture of life without God. It is a world where judgment is real, but repentance is absent. In this world, the only thing left is a kind of superficial, horizontal pity. The witch feels sorry for the king. The servants feel sorry for the king. They give him a good meal. But none of them can do anything about the fundamental problem: God has departed from him.
This is the world our secular age is trying to build. It is a world that has rejected God's Word and is terrified of His judgment, and so it offers the fatted calf of materialism, entertainment, and distraction. It says, "Don't worry about death and judgment. Here, have something to eat. Have some pleasure. Strengthen yourself for the journey." But it is a journey into the night.
The contrast with the gospel is absolute. The Bible also tells of a last meal, a supper that a condemned King shared with His servants on the night He was betrayed. But that meal was not about strengthening a man for his death; it was about establishing a covenant through His death. Jesus did not eat to gain strength to face the cross; He is the strength. He broke the bread and poured the wine as a promise of life, forgiveness, and resurrection.
Saul ate a meal that prepared him for a battle he would lose and a death that would seal his doom. At the Lord's Table, we eat a meal that reminds us of a battle that has already been won and a death that has conquered death. Saul was urged to eat by those who were perishing with him. We are urged to eat by the One who died and rose again for us.
Do not be deceived by the world's fatted calves. Do not accept the false comfort of those who can only help you on your way into the darkness. When the terror of your sin and the reality of God's judgment fall upon you, do not fall full length in despair. Fall on your knees in repentance. For the true King did not stay on the ground. He rose from the grave, and He offers not a temporary meal, but the Bread of Life Himself. And all who come to Him and eat will never go away into the night, but will have strength for the journey into everlasting day.