Last episode we talked about David and his big battle with the Amalekites in the Negev. While that was going on with him, the exact opposite was going on with Saul. Saul was encountering Israel's old enemy the Philistines. They had amassed a massive army and to this point the Isrealites had been successful in defeating them by fighting them off as they had always engaged them in mountainous terrain. But the Philistines had pushed and manipulated the battle so they could fight at the Valley of Jezreel which was flat land. This was beneficial to the Philistines because they had iron chariots. Any military strategist would say that it looks as if the Isrealites would be slaughtered.
The reason this battle was so crucial and that Saul had to fight it, was because they were at a place called Beth Shan and if the Philistines were to take this location they would cut Israel in half. This location was too crucial, and Saul was forced to take the Philistines on in open combat, in flat terrain, taking on their iron chariots. It seemed suicidal, God had abandoned Saul for David.
So Saul turned to a medium. Saul himself had outlawed the use of mediums. It was outlawed in the law of God, but Saul was driven to the very brink of his insanity by havinfg to hold things together by the giant adversity that faced him having to fight the Philistines. When he saw this medium, he disguised himself because he knew if the medium recognized him as King Saul that the medium would not consult upon evil spirits. We know today that spirits guided through mediums are not through the Holy Spirit but are evil spirits. To Saul’s dismay the medium conjures up the spirit of Samual the great profit. Although Samual had been dead for many years he spoke truthfully to the situation at hand. He said that Saul would in fact fight this battle, and Saul, his sons and many of his army would suffer a very tragic defeat. Saul’s dilemma was over, he looked into the future, the future was clear there was only disaster and death for him and his kingdom.
Meanwhile David waited back at Ziklag unaware of what was going on. This is the topic of Pastor Harris’s teaching in this episode. The death of Saul and the ramifications of that day.