1 Samuel 28:13 "The king said to her, 'Have no fear; what do you see?'..."

The king said to her, “Have no fear; what do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being coming up out of the ground.” (1 Samuel 28:13)

Comment:

This verse is from the passage in which King Saul knows he has lost favor with the Lord and is being challenged not only by the Philistines but also by the young Hebrew David, anointed by Samuel to be the next king. Samuel has since died and, although communicating with the dead is not accepted by Hebrew society, Saul in desperation consults a medium in Endor recommended by his servants. He goes by dark of night and asks her to summon the spirit of Samuel. The word translated here as “divine being” means “a being from another world.” The belief at the time was that the dead went to Sheol, a place beneath the flat earth. Hence the spirit comes “up” to meet and advise the king. Saul’s inner knowing has already told him that his rule is at an end; the spirit he has conjured tells him nothing that he doesn’t already know in his heart. We often do the same—try to ignore the divine guidance within by seeking another voice, another spiritual source that might tell us something else. But Truth is Truth, whatever the source. Our own inner knowing is all we ever need—and no divine guidance from another source will ever contradict that knowing.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed