Day 86. 1 Samuel 28-31

At the beginning of our reading for today David is still a mercenary of a Philistine princeling named Achish. Faithfulness is one of the hallmarks of David's character, and he is faithful to Achish. In return, Achish makes David his bodyguard for life (28:2). It looks as if David is being set up for a test of loyalty.
The Philistine armies are massing to fight Saul and the army of Israel at Gilboa (28:4). Deprived of the LORD's spirit, Saul is "afraid and his heart trembled greatly" (28:5). Deprived of the LORD's guidance from prophets, dreams or the sacred lots—remember that Saul had slaughtered the priests—Saul again takes matters into his own hands, and on the eve of the battle in disguise he consults the medium at Endor to discover its outcome (28:7).
The Law of Moses expressly forbade attempting to contact the dead through mediums (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). The veneration of the dead and communication with them was part and parcel of the idolatry of Israel's neighbors. Although the Old Testament does not deny that such contact is possible, the attempt to make contact with the spirits was a capital crime in ancient Israel. No wonder the medium of Endor is terrified when she discovers the identity of her visitor.
Our Christian understanding of life after death was quite different from that of the ancient Hebrews. Their belief was that at death the "shade" of the deceased went to be with his or her ancestors in a dark and dusty cave under the earth called Sheol. What went on there was outside the concern of the LORD the God of Israel, who was the God of the living and not of dead. Saul himself, we are told, had "banished the mediums and wizards from the land (28:3). We are to understand that it is his desperation and lack of trust in the LORD that now drives him to the "witch of Endor," who does in fact succeed in raising the spirit of Samuel.
The passage is a very impressive one. The ghost of the dead prophet rebukes Saul for disturbing him and refuses to impart any new and comforting revelation. Instead the dead Samuel will only reiterate a litany of doom he predicted in life—the Lord will give the army Israel into the hands of Philistines, the kingdom will torn from the house of Saul and given to David, and on the morrow Saul and his sons will join Samuel in Sheol (28:19)
Meanwhile in the camp of the Philistines, their lords refuse to allow David and his men to fight with them for fear they will be betrayed. So Achish sends David home and spares him the choice of whether or not to fight against Saul and his own people (29:11). In this too we are invited to see the LORD at work, taking care of his Chosen One.
But when David returns to Ziklag, the town the Philistine king had given him, he discovers that it has been raided and burned by the Amalekites. Most of the population, including David's two wives, has been carried off to be sold into slavery. Those who remain are ready to stone David because they are "bitter in spirit for their sons and daughters" (30:6). But in the face of hatred and blame David reacts in the way we have seen him act before—he strengthens himself in the LORD his God and acts. Trust and faithfulness are part of his character.
And he first consults the sacred lots to discover what he should do, and in obedience to the LORD'S command, he pursues the raiders. On intelligence gained from an Egyptian they have left behind, he finds the Amalekites celebrating their victory (30:16). David attacks and the marauders flee, leaving behind their spoil and their captives. So the prisoners are rescued and the booty recovered. But some of those who fought with David—"corrupt and worthless fellows" we are told (30:22)—want to begrudge the non-combatants—whose who stayed by the baggage—any portion of the spoil. But again in the character of the ideal king, David forbids this ungenerous attitude. When the LORD has been generous to us, he says, should we not also act generously (30:23-24)?
Back at Mount Gilboa the battle is raging. As Samuel predicted , things are going badly for Israel. Saul's sons, Jonathan among them, are killed, and Saul himself falls on his own sword to avoid capture (31:4). The Philistine victory is complete. Saul's body and his armor are taken as trophies to be displayed in the temples of the Philistine gods, who seem for the moment victorious over the God of Israel (31:10). But the faithful men of Jabesh-gilead hear of the outrage and remember how Saul saved them from the Ammonite eye-gouger Nahash many years before (1 Samuel 11:1-15). They boldly steal back the bodies of Saul and his sons, burn them, bury the bones "under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh," and weep for them (31:13). And with this melancholy ending the tragedy of Israel's first king and the Book of 1st Samuel conclude.