The Medium and Samuel's Return
Few scenes in the Bible are as dark and disturbing as 1 Samuel 28. Israel’s first king, once chosen and empowered by God, disguises himself, travels through the night, and consults a medium at Endor (Ein Dor). The Philistine army has gathered for battle, Saul is terrified, and the LORD no longer answers him through dreams, prophets, or the priestly Urim and Thummim.
Desperate for guidance, Saul asks the woman to bring up the dead prophet Samuel. But why would Israel’s God refuse to answer Israel’s king? The answer lies in Saul’s own actions.
Saul's Rebellion
The Amalekites attacked Israel soon after the exodus, targeting those who were weary, weak, and falling behind (Deut 25:17–18). Because of their persistent hostility, the LORD declared that judgment would eventually come upon them (Exod 17:8–16; Deut 25:19).
Generations later, God commanded Saul to carry out that judgment: “Go and strike Amalek and completely destroy all that he has” (1 Sam 15:3).
Saul defeated the Amalekites but disobeyed the command. He spared King Agag and kept the best livestock and possessions (1 Sam 15:8–9). Though Saul claimed obedience, the surviving animals exposed the truth. He blamed the people and admitted that he feared them more than the LORD (1 Sam 15:13–14, 21, 24).
Samuel declared that obedience is better than sacrifice and that Saul’s rejection of God’s word had cost him the kingdom. Then he added, “Rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination” (1 Sam 15:23)—a statement that would prove strikingly prophetic in 1 Samuel 28.
The Road to Endor
Samuel had died, the Philistines had gathered at Shunem, and Saul was terrified. He inquired of the LORD, but received no answer through dreams, the Urim, or the prophets (1 Sam 28:6).
Samuel had already explained why the kingdom was being taken from him: Saul had rejected the word of the LORD. Yet Saul wanted a new message to solve his crisis without responding to the one already given.
Instead of repenting, Saul sought a medium at Endor who consulted the dead. The irony is painful. Saul had expelled mediums, yet now traveled in disguise to seek their help. The king who refused to obey Samuel while he lived now tried to summon him from the dead. Saul wanted different results without changing.
Was It Really Samuel?
When Saul and his men arrived at the medium’s house incognito, we read:
8 Then Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said, “Consult the spirit for me, please, and bring up for me the one whom I shall name for you.” 9 But the woman said to him, “Behold, you know what Saul has done, that he has eliminated the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then setting a trap for my life, to bring about my death?” 10 So Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” (1 Samuel 28:8–10)
Once reasonably assured that no harm would come to her, the woman asked:
“Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” (1 Samuel 28:11)
The request must have been startling. Samuel had served alongside Saul, and their names were closely associated, especially with the nationwide removal of mediums that Saul had carried out.
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!” (1 Samuel 28:12)
Exactly how she concluded that her visitor was Saul is unclear, but the text emphasizes her shock and fear at what she saw. Saul quickly asked:
“Do not be afraid, but what do you see?” (1 Samuel 28:13)
Her answer is particularly intriguing in Hebrew:
“I see a divine being coming up from the earth.” (1 Samuel 28:13)
Very literally, the woman says, “I saw elohim (gods/divine beings) ascending from the earth.” Both אֱלֹהִים (elohim) and עֹלִים (olim, “ascending”) are grammatically plural. Thus, “I saw divine beings coming up from the earth” is the most straightforward grammatical rendering.
Saul, focused entirely on his mission, asked for more:
“How does he appear?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage. (1 Samuel 28:14)
The Hebrew word for robe is meʿil (מְעִיל), a distinctive outer garment associated with prophets, priests, and important officials. Samuel is specifically described as wearing a meʿil earlier in the book: his mother made him “a little robe” each year while he served before the LORD (1 Sam 2:19).
The robe also carried a powerful memory for Saul. In 1 Samuel 15:27–28, Saul grabbed Samuel’s robe as the prophet turned away, tearing it. Samuel responded:
“The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today.”
Thus, when the medium described an elderly man wrapped in a robe, Saul immediately recognized Samuel.
The most natural reading of the chapter is that the figure genuinely was Samuel, though his appearance seems to have been beyond the woman’s expectation or control. She was shocked and afraid, the narrator repeatedly calls the figure “Samuel,” and his message agrees with what he had already proclaimed during his lifetime. God, in His sovereignty, caused Samuel to appear and dramatically confirm his earlier judgment.
Samuel asked:
“Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” (1 Sam 28:15)
Saul explained that the Philistines were attacking and that God had turned away from him. Samuel’s response was devastating:
“Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned away from you and has become your enemy?” (1 Sam 28:16)
Samuel then connected Saul’s present crisis directly to his earlier disobedience:
“Just as you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the LORD has done this thing to you this day” (1 Sam 28:18).
Saul Asked; He Did Not Truly Seek
At first glance, 1 Samuel 28 appears to conflict with the later account of Saul’s death in 1 Chronicles 10. First Samuel says that Saul “inquired of the LORD” (1 Sam 28:6), while Chronicles says he “did not inquire of the LORD”:
“So Saul died for his unfaithfulness, which he committed against the LORD, because of the word of the LORD, which he did not keep, and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of her, and did not seek the LORD” (1 Chr 10:13–14).
The Hebrew helps clarify the difference. In 1 Samuel 28:6, the verb is שָׁאַל (sha’al), meaning “to ask” or “to inquire”: Saul asked the LORD for information. Chronicles uses a different verb, דָּרַשׁ (darash), emphasizing that Saul did not truly seek the LORD in a faithful, covenantal way.
The Faithful King
Saul’s failure points beyond him to Israel’s need for a better king. When the people first demanded a ruler like the surrounding nations, Samuel reminded them of what they had forgotten: “The LORD your God was your king” (1 Sam 12:12). Israel’s human king was therefore called to rule under God’s authority, faithfully obeying His word. Saul failed precisely at this point.
Saul rejected God’s command, protected his own honor, and sought divine guidance without genuine repentance. Jesus, by contrast, obeyed the Father completely, even when obedience led to suffering and death. Where Saul feared the people, Christ remained faithful to God. Where Saul tried to preserve his kingdom, Jesus surrendered His life and received an everlasting kingdom.
You can learn more profound insights (CLICK HERE for more)
