Tuesday, October 6, 2015

I Samuel 28: Small Medium At Large

Do you believe in psychics and seances?  The Bible contains fairly clear(*) teaching on this subject: there is indeed a reality to such things, but God's people are not permitted to avail themselves of them.

Christians can get in trouble when they make the mistake of downplaying the harm of sorcery and necromancy.  To either disbelieve in these practices or to engage in them believing them to be of God are huge spiritual errors.

King Saul approaches the end of his rather ignominious life by bringing down even more shame upon himself through seeking out a medium in order to consult the spirit of the departed prophet Samuel.  Saul is frightened because the Philistines are threatening to attack with a large army and he has no idea what he should do or what awaits him (vs. 5).  God is steadfastly refusing to give Saul direction, either through dreams, the casting of lots, or prophets.  Desperate, Saul tries to find a witch he has not expelled from the land so that he can talk to Samuel.  He finds one at Endor.

To many Bible readers' surprise, the medium actually succeeds in making contact with Samuel!  But the message from beyond the grave is not an encouragement to Saul; instead, Samuel reminds Saul that he has been rejected from the kingship and gives him the additional bad news that he and his sons will die the next day.

Saul is terrified by this news and collapses.  It is all the people around him can do to get him to revive himself with a little nourishment and prepare to meet his fate like a man.

Here's the lesson for us: even though there may indeed be "something" to dark arts of witchcraft and magic, God has put a "Do not touch" sign on them for His children.

P.S.
(*) I use the word "clear" very sparingly as I consider it to be one of the most abused words by preachers and teachers today.  However, in this case, the shoe fits.

P.P.S.
Here's an old joke that goes along with this chapter:

Dave and Mike, both in their 90's, had played professional baseball together and, after they retired, had remained close friends. Dave suddenly fell deathly ill. Mike visited Dave on his deathbed. After they talked a while and it became obvious that Dave had only a few more minutes to live, Mike said, "Listen old friend. After you die, try and get a message back to me. I want to know if there's baseball in heaven."

With his dying breath, Dave whispers, "If God permits, I'll do my best to get you an answer."

A few days after Dave died, Mike is sleeping when he hears Dave's voice.

Dave says, "Mike, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, yes, there IS baseball in heaven. The bad news is, you're scheduled to pitch the top half of tomorrow's double-header."

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