1 Samuel 28:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy?

NIV: Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy?

NASB: Samuel said, 'But why ask me, since the Lord has abandoned you and has become your enemy?

CSB: Samuel answered, "Since the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy, why are you asking me?

NLT: But Samuel replied, 'Why ask me, since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy?

KJV: Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?

NKJV: Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy?

King Saul is so distraught about the upcoming battle with the Philistines that he resorted to calling on a necromancer to ask Samuel for help. To her great surprise, Samuel appears (1 Samuel 28:8–14). Some interpreters believe this was a false apparition: a demonic imitation of Saul who delivers a truthful, but terrifying message. Others think this is the only time in Scripture where God allowed the actual spirit of a dead person to be recalled to earth.

Samuel's answer to Sauls desperate plea for help is what common sense would predict. Saul already knows the answer to his own question because Samuel gave it to him while he was living: The Lord has turned away from you. Even worse: God has become your enemy. The problem is not the Philistines; it's that the Lord is against you (1 Samuel 28:17–18).

As God's people, we often do something similar. We don't like the truth in God's Word, either about our sin or how God means for us to treat others. So, we continue to seek answers that will justify our sin. Or, at least, some hint that the consequences for our wrong choices won't be that bad, after all.

The Bible tells us God will never leave us or forsake those who have accepted Jesus to be their savior and Lord (Hebrews 13:5). We cannot lose our salvation (John 10:27–30; Ephesians 1:13–14). Christians will never lose the Holy Spirit, but we can lose the Holy Spirit's protection and guidance. If we continue to live a sinful life without repenting, the Holy Spirit may stop convicting us, and even, maybe, let us die before we do more damage (Ephesians 4:30; 1 John 5:16).

We don't know if Saul was saved, but if he was, he's reached this point of God taking his life as a response to sin. Saul had years to repent, perhaps to soften God's judgment. The next day, He and his sons will die (1 Samuel 28:16).

First Samuel 28:15–19 brings bad news to King Saul. A large Philistine army has faced off against the Israelites. Saul needs guidance, but God is silent. He visits a medium, and she's shocked when Samuel's spirit appears (1 Samuel 28:1–14). Samuel repeats his former message: because of Saul's disobedience, God will give the crown to another. But then he adds a warning: Saul will die the next day, along with his sons. Saul, who has been fasting, will collapse. The woman and his servants will get him to eat, and he will leave to face his fate (1 Samuel 28:20–25).

Israelites and the Philistines prepare for war. The Philistine king Achish demands that David fight with him against Israel. Terrified at the amassed Philistine army and unable to reach the Lord for help, Saul finds a medium to contact Samuel's spirit. Samuel repeats that the Lord has taken the kingdom from Saul and adds that Saul and his sons will fall, along with Israel, the next day. The medium serves Saul and his men a large meal, and the men leave under the cover of darkness. David is saved from having to fight his own people, but Saul and his sons do die. David will soon be king (1 Samuel 29; 31).

David and his men have escaped Saul (1 Samuel 27) and begun been fighting Israel's enemies under the protection of the Philistine king Achish (1 Samuel 28). Now, Achish wants David to fight Israel with him. Saul sees the Philistine army and is terrified. He finds a medium to call up Samuel's spirit. Samuel tells Saul that he, his sons, and Israel will fall. Fortunately, the other Philistine kings refuse to fight with David, and Achish sends him home. But Saul's sons are killed. Mortally wounded, Saul will take his own life (1 Samuel 29; 31).

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.