1 Samuel 28:25

20-25 Those that expect any good counsel or comfort, otherwise than from God, and in the way of his institutions, will be as wretchedly disappointed as Saul. Though terrified even to despair, he was not humbled. He confessed not his sins, offered no sacrifices, and presented no supplications. He does not seem to have cared about his sons or his people, or to have attempted any escape; but in sullen despair he rushed upon his doom. God sets up a few such beacons, to warn men not to stifle convictions, or despise his word. But while one repenting thought remains, let no sinner suppose himself in this case. Let him humble himself before God, determined to live and die beseeching his favour, and he will succeed....

Verse 1 Samuel 28:25. _THEY ROSE UP, AND WENT AWAY THAT NIGHT._] The transactions of this chapter occupy one night only. 1. Saul came by night to _En-dor_, 1 Samuel 28:8. 2. He consulted the woman, and had his conference with Samuel the same night; for no time whatever appears to have been lost after his arrival at _En-dor_. 3. He was overcome by the heavy tidings which he heard; and which for a time appear to have deprived him of all power. 4. The woman kills a calf; dresses a part; makes and bakes bread; and Saul and his servants eat. And, 5. They rose and went away _that night_, 1 Samuel 28:25. The _next day_, in all probability, the battle happened

DOWNFALL AND DEATH OF SAUL (CHS. 28-31.) THE PHILISTINES GATHER TOGETHER FOR WAR. DISTRESS OF SAUL, AND VISIT TO THE WITCH OF ENDOR (1 Samuel 28:1.). EXPOSITION ACHISH SUMMONS DAVID TO JOIN HIM IN THE WAR AGAINST ISRAEL (1 Samuel

AND SHE BROUGHT [IT] BEFORE SAUL, AND BEFORE HIS SERVANTS, AND THEY DID EAT,.... Of the fatted calf, and unleavened bread, which she set upon a table before them, in the best manner she could: THEN THEY ROSE UP, AND WENT AWAY THAT NIGHT; that it might not be seen in what house they had been, and that they might get to the camp without being discovered by the Philistines, or known by the Israelites that they had been out....

1 SAMUEL 28:2 is continued by 1 Samuel 29:1; the _connexion is_ broken by the insertion of 1 SAMUEL 28:3. SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR. This section interrupts the connexion; moreover, it would come naturally immediately before the battle of Gilboa. Saul is at Gilboa (p. 29) in 284. Opinions are divided; some hold that this section is from another source (E) than the bulk of 1 Samuel 25-31, and some that it is from the same source (J), that originally it stood in that document immediately before ch. 31, and that it has got into the wrong place, because it was omitted from an edition of _Samuel,_ and reinserted in a later edition (see p. 273)....

Saul entertained by the woman 20. _all along_ HIS FULL LENGTH, lit. "the fulness of his stature." Terror of mind and exhaustion of body left him powerless....

_Samuel's Appearance._ 1 Samuel 28:15-25 15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. 16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? 17 And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, _even_ to David: 18 Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto this day, 19 Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand

SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR 1 Samuel 28:3 come from another document and interrupt the connexion, as will be seen if the account is read without them. In order of time their proper position is after 1 Samuel 30. In 1 Samuel 29:1 the Philistines are still in Aphek; in 1 Samuel 29:11 they advance to Jezreel, where we find them in 1 Samuel 28:4. In 1 Samuel 28:3 we have come to the eve of the battle, the account of which follows in...

ISRAEL’S FIRST KING 1 SAMUEL _HELEN POCOCK_ CHAPTER 28 V1 Later, the *Philistines gathered their army to fight the *Israelites. Achish said to David, ‘You must realise that you and your men must join my army’. V2 David said, ‘Yes, I am your servant. You will see what I can do’. Achish replied, ‘Good. For the rest of your life you will protect me’. In those days, if people went to live in a different country, they had to fight in the army of that country. So David and his men had to join the *Philistine army. In verse 2, David’s reply to Achish was not very clear. David knew that he had to join the *Ph

WENT AWAY THAT NIGHT. — The same night they retraced their steps, and returned to Gilboa. “Saul was too hardened in his sin to express any grief or pain, either on his own account or because of the predicted fate of his sons or his people. In stolid desperation he went to meet his destiny. This was the terrible end of one whom the Spirit of God had once taken possession of and turned into another man — of one who had been singularly endowed with Divine gifts to enable him to act as the leader of the people of God.” — _O. von Gerlach._...