1 Samuel 27-29 "David among the Philistines, Saul among the Dead" Last time we suggested that the story of David and Abigail was at the center of the "Adventures of David." In that story the tide turns. It is perhaps worth noting that until the death of Nabal, the only people who have died since the death of Goliath are the friends and supporters of David (I'm not including unnamed Philistines, but individuals who play a meaningful role in the narrative). David fled to Samuel at the end of chapter 19. Samuel is dead by the beginning of chapter 25. David fled to the priests in chapter 21. Saul kills Ahimelech and 85 of the priests (along with all their wives and children) in chapter 22. David has some success in fighting the Philistines, but when he has the opportunity to kill Saul, he restrains himself because Saul is the LORD's anointed! When will David's enemies start to fall? The death of Nabal at the hand of God (assisted by the word of Abigail) is the turning point. As Abigail puts it, all your enemies will be like Goliath and Nabal! 1. David among the Philistines (27:1-28:2)) Why does David go to the Philistines? Look at what he says: (Read verse 1) It is all very good to say that David recognized that he needed to leave Israel. But why the land of the Philistines? And especially, why Gath the home of the recently departed Goliath!? To put it another way, why not Moab? His parents were there. Saul would not likely invade Moab in order to find David. For that matter, why not Edom, or Amalek, or Egypt? We don't know all of David's reasons. But it is fitting that David, the LORD's anointed, should find refuge in the midst of Israel's worst enemy. After all, Jacob had found refuge in Egypt! And Philistia is the "Egypt" of the 11th century BC. As Jacob went down to Egypt, so David goes to Philistia. And a thousand years later, Jesus will flee from another king into Egypt! (The lesson for you is that God will sometimes use your worst enemies to protect you!) And for some reason Achish, the king of Gath, trusted David. He had, by now, heard of David's rift with Saul, and so he was willing to take David into his service, thinking "The enemy of my enemy must be my friend!" And for 16 months David dwelt under the protection of Achish. During that time David would make raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. The Geshurites and the Girzites (from Geshur and Gezer) were clans of the Canaanites whom Israel had been commanded to destroy in the days of Joshua. So David engages in herem warfare total destruction in order to do what Israel had been commanded to do. David, the LORD's anointed the Meshiach is becoming all that Israel was supposed to be! Further, David is destroying the Amalekites the task that God had given to Saul, so that Saul could demonstrate that he was the LORD's anointed! David is becoming all that Saul was supposed to be! But he tells Achish, I've been raiding the Negeb of Judah! And so Achish trusted David, thinking, "he has made himself a stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant." And in those days when the Philistines gathered for war against Israel, Achish said to David, you are going with me against Israel. This would be the final test. And David said to Achish, "Very well, you shall know what your servant can do." The text does not give us many clues as to what David was thinking. Would he fight against Saul? Would he fight against Israel his own people? 2. Saul among the Dead (28:3-25) The text abruptly shifts from David to Saul. David is living in the land of the pagans, but becoming all that Israel was supposed to be, destroying the enemies of God (and the enemies of Saul). But Saul, who dwells in the land of promise, is becoming all that the pagans had been! Verse 3 of chapter 28 reminds us that Samuel was dead, and that Saul had cast out the mediums and necromancers as the Law of God commanded But when the Philistines came and encamped at Shunem, and Saul brought the Israelite army to Mt Gilboa, he trembled at the size of the Philistine army. It is interesting that the Philistines chose to engage Saul so far north. This is about 40 miles north of Saul's hometown. It is also about 40 miles from the Philistines' home turf. But the significance of this location was probably not lost on Saul. This was where Gideon had defeated the Midianites with 300 men in Judges 7. And so Saul inquires of the LORD: will you give me success like you gave to Gideon? But the LORD did not answer, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. God's silence is more terrible than his voice! But Saul is desperate. He must know what God is doing. So Saul seeks out a medium one who can call up the spirits of the dead. And he is told that there is one on the other side of Mt Gilboa at En-dor. En-dor is in between Mt Gilboa and Mt Tabor. Psalm 83 tells us that En-dor is where the Midianites were destroyed in the days of Sisera and Jabin, when Deborah and Barak sat on top of Mt Tabor, with the Midianite army of chariots below them when God opened the heavens and brought down torrents that caused the Midianite chariots to get stuck in the mud! And so Saul goes to the medium of En-dor to inquire of Samuel what is to happen. Saul disguises himself, but she is suspicious of him. But she is satisfied by his oath: "As Yahweh lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing." Notice that Saul is not turning to other gods. He is not trying to find out what Chemosh is doing (the god of the Philistines). Because when he goes to the medium, he swears by the name of Yahweh and asks to speak to Yahweh's prophet, Samuel! He is seeking Yahweh, but he is seeking Yahweh in a way that Yahweh explicitly condemned. What shall we say about this seance? Some have said that the medium was just a faker, since she apparently was surprised when the real Samuel showed up. James Orr went so far as to suggest that the entire episode was a fake. The medium was just a modern fortune-teller. She recognized Saul immediately, and made up the whole thing. It would not have been hard to predict the Philistine victory, and any medium with knowledge of Samuel's attitude toward Saul could have come up with the things attributed to Samuel by the medium! That is a plausible account. But the text does not treat her as a fake. The text treats her simply as a medium. We do not need to adopt a modernist skepticism toward all spiritual realities. She probably did have some connection to the demonic realm. And so when the real Samuel showed up, she was scared because she now knew that this was beyond her control! And she then realized that this was Saul! But Saul was so desperate to learn the future that he continued in his rebellion, and assured the medium of his protection. Then Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? This has raised all sorts of questions? What does Samuel mean by "up"? This is not saying that Samuel was in some sort of "netherworld" the "limbo" of the Catholic church. Rather, it is simply the word used when a medium "calls someone up." But Saul explains that he has summoned Samuel, because God no longer speaks to him. So Samuel replies, well, if God no longer speaks to you, why call on me, his prophet?! The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. Why? Because you did not destroy Amalek (the people whom David has been destroying for the last 16 months!) Since you have not done what God commands, you and your sons are going to join me tomorrow. Samuel is not saying, "you are coming to heaven." Samuel is only saying, "you are going down to death." Samuel was not sent to instruct Saul (or anyone else) about God's plans for the afterlife. Samuel was sent to tell Saul that he was going to die! I'm not quite sure what Saul was expecting. God has rejected him. He is now seeking to ascertain the will of God through a medium (whom he himself had banished some years before). What does he expect?! I can't believe anyone would be that stupid! You've never done anything like that, have you? Saul is a poignant reminder of how sin works. One lie begets another. It all started when Saul said to himself, I need to ask Yahweh's blessing, so I'll just offer the sacrifice myself. Then it was the desire to bring thank offerings to Yahweh, so he didn't bother slaughtering the animals, he brought them as a thank offering (so that he could reward his troops with some good juicy steaks!) and worship God of course! Now Saul has become so obsessed with pursuing and maintaining his own kingdom, that he is now inquiring of Yahweh's prophet through a medium, and swearing to her in the name of Yahweh that he will not harm her! Brothers and sisters, this is where sin leads. If you "play" with temptation, if you allow yourself to seek your own kingdom, your own pleasure, your own power then this is where you end up! You end up in the land of the dead. I don't know if you realize how tragic verses 22-25 are. The medium appears kind and hospitable. She kills the fattened calf and baked unleavened bread and they ate, and went away that night. Not only has Saul consulted with a medium, and sworn to Yahweh that he will not harm her (though he should have killed her). But now he breaks bread with her, and shares in the feast of folly (Proverbs 9). Little does he know that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. 3. David Rejected by the Philistines (29:1-30:31) Now we go back to the Philistines. They had gathered at Aphek. This must have been before 28:4, because Aphek is on the northern border of Philistia, and Shunem is another 30-40 miles north. So we are going back to the mustering of the Philistines before they marched north before Saul consulted with the medium of Endor. After all, the medium says that tomorrow Saul will die, whereas chapters 29-30 recount at least four days worth of David's activity (and 2 Sam 1 speaks of David hearing of the death of Saul three days later). So a week before the death of Saul, David was dismissed by the Philistines. Why does the narrator dischronologize this section? Why not tell David's whole story and then Saul's whole story? After all, the events of 1 Samuel 28 take place after the events of 1 Samuel 29-30. This is why I have title the sermon, David among the Philistines, Saul among the Dead. Our narrator wants us to see the parallel. If he puts the story of Saul and the witch of Endor after 1 Samuel 30, then you will not see the parallel. The way the story is told, you can see how David's faithfulness in the midst of the land of the Philistines, contrasts with Saul's faithlessness and indeed, his descent into the land of death. You also are able to hear 1 Samuel 29-30 in the light of two things: Saul's oath "as the LORD lives" and Samuel's reminder that it was Saul's failure to destroy the Amalekites that resulted in his condemnation. And in 1 Samuel 29-30 first, after the Philistines commanders reject David, Achish swears, "As Yahweh lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. Achish may have been a fool to trust David (David, after all, had not been honest!), but he swears by Yahweh! He swears by the God of Israel! This Philistine king is a more honorable man than Saul. And second, David then pays for Saul's failure. If Saul had destroyed the Amalekites as he had been commanded, then David's wives and all his men's families would not have been kidnapped! But even as his men spoke of stoning him, David "strengthened himself in the LORD his God," and inquired of the LORD. And unlike Saul, God answered David, and told him to overtake the Amalekites and destroy them. David will do what Saul would not! Led by an Egyptian servant, they find and slaughter the Amalekites, and recover all their lost families and possessions. And David took of the plunder and sent presents to the elders of Judah in all the regions of Judah where he had wandered as tokens of his favor. And, no doubt, as a reminder that he still awaited the LORD's timing, and would count on them when the day came for him to become king.