David knew better than to trust Saul's word. Saul was not his own man any more. The situation had become impossible for David. He was loathe to leave the southern region, but some of the clans of Judah were clearly against him. The prophet Gad had already warned him not hide out in Moab.
1 Samuel 27:1-4 -- In desperation, David presented himself and his army to Achish, the Philistine lord of Gath. His domain was the closest of the five capital cities, and it appears the ruler was easily fooled. This was the same man who a couple of years earlier believed David was insane.
It is the subject of some debate whether David's choice here represents a failure of faith. On a human level, it is clearly understandable. It is also a very carefully planned move, in that David had no intention of harming his own nation. His intent was not so much to serve Achish as to avoid Saul. In this, he certainly succeeded.
27:5-7 -- After a brief stay in Achish's accomodations, David suggested to his new master that such an arrangement was burdensome to him. At least part of David's reasoning was to stay as remote as possible while earning his own way. Achish responded by making the town of Ziklag a personal gift to David. From that time on, the royal House of David kept the city as a personal possession. It is noted that David remained in the service of Achish for about a year and four months.
27:8-12 -- Raiding the Amalekites served a treble purpose for David. It weakened an enemy of Israel, and it provided him with an income of sorts, and it gave him a means to convince Achish David had truly come over to the Philistine side. David also hit the allies of Amalek, the Geshurites and Girzites. All of these occupied the Negev, and while badly hurt by Saul's attack early on (ch. 15), they were not wiped out. Saul had failed to press for a full destruction, so they continued as a threat to Israel. David worked at finishing the job. He would kill all humans on each raid, and in the bargain prevented anyone from revealing the source of his plunder. He was then free to tell Achish what he wanted to hear, that the raids were on Judah and her allies. Achish was sure he had a servant with no place else to go.
28:1-2 -- The time of grain harvest came around, and the Philistines mobilized for raids on Israel. Achish gave David marching orders to join in the fun. David carefully avoids making any promises, merely remarking, "You know what I can do." Achish took this as an oath of loyalty, and promoted David and his men as his royal bodyguard. It is an ancient tradition that a ruler would select foreigners for this task, as there was less chance they would take any interest in local intrigues. There was no way a foreigner to take the throne, and were quite unlikely to be bought off by any would-be usurper.
28:3-6 -- The scene switches to Saul in his mobilization to meet the Philistines. We are reminded that Samuel had died, and that Saul had long ago exiled known witches and mediums, and anyone else practicing pagan magic. An advance party of Philistines took up a position that had been often used by invaders before: the foot of Moreh Hill, near the source of the Jezreel River. The area was rough, but fairly flat, with fresh water springs all over. Saul's advance party was across the valley on Mount Gilboa, Gideon's stand. Saul possessed none of Gideon's courage. Seeing the preparations taking place in the valley below, Saul knew the follow-on invasion would be huge. His natural human fear could find no ease from God. Jehovah had clearly made Himself completely unavaiable to Saul.
28:7-14 -- In desperation, Saul asked his men to help him break the law, by finding a medium. This was someone, usually a woman, who claimed to channel for spirits of the dead, but in reality communed with a single demon. Dabbling in the spirit realm was dangerous business, and mediums developed a familiarity with their one demon; thus, the term "familiar spirit." They avoided communicating with any other spiritual entity. As the medium peered into the spirit realm, she could detect their approach. A part of the show she might put on was to speak in screeches, whispers and incomprehensible mutterings (Isaiah 8:19, 29:1) and ventriloquism, making it appear the voice came from the ground. All these together were a part of the schtick of getting in contact with departed spirits, whether the demon manifested as someone sought, or it was faked with tricks.
Saul removed his distinctive royal garb and wore common clothes. He had been fasting already as a part of his effort to get hold of God. Now he had a two-hour hike at night over rough terrain, by-passing an enemy camp. He arrived in quite a state at Endor. The medium gave an obigatory warning that she was officially out of business, and asked if this was some sort of trap. The penalty for what Saul was asking was execution if she was caught. Swearing by a Lord he no longer knew, Saul promised to keep the business secret.
The medium began her effort to contact her familiar, and asked whom Saul was seeking. He answered Samuel, the well-known prophet. The medium was stunned when the real thing began to approach. She knew immediately this was King Saul, for nothing else could explain an actual spirit of the dead. Clearly, this situation was not under her control, for God had taken the opportunity to give one last message to Saul. While Saul could not see the spirit, the medium could. She described the old prophet in his distinctive dress and Saul prostrated himself.
28:15-19 -- Samuel berated Saul for disturbing him. Saul answered describing his predicament, complaining that God was avoiding him. Samuel then asked how Saul could have the nerve to expect anything better from Samuel, one wholly devoted in life to serving the God that had rejected Saul, and had become Saul's enemy. He reminded Saul of the promise that the kingdom had been given to David, and how that was the result of failing to destroy Amalek as commanded. His final words were Saul's doom: the Hebrew troops would lose the battle, and Saul would die, his sons with him.
28:20-25 -- Saul collapsed into a semi-conscious state, overcome with physical and emotional exhaustion. The medium tried to arouse him. Having done what Saul asked, at great risk to her own life, the least she could do to make it up to him for the net result was to offer him food and water. Saul refused, but after some urging from his servants there, they finally prevailed upon him to dine. She prepared her best as quickly as possible, and Saul sat up and ate, along with his servants. While it was still dark, they left and returned to the camp at Gilboa.
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Ed Hurst
05 June 2004
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