The Fall of King Saul

The Sorceress of En-dor

The Philistines were preparing for war, and Achish told David that he wanted David to be his bodyguard for life. The Philistines gathered their forces at Shunem. Saul gathered all of Israel's troops at Gilboa.

Saul was worried and tried to talk to God, but God was not speaking with him. Samuel was dead already, and all of Israel had mourned for him. Now, by this time, Saul had sent all of the necromancers (people who talk to the dead) and mediums (fortune tellers) out of Israel. However, Saul asked for a medium and was told that there was one at En-dor. Saul disguised himself and went to En-dor to meet with this female sorcerer. When he met her, she wondered if it was a trap since Saul had sent away all of the mediums and necromancers. Saul told her that she would not be punished. He asked her to bring Samuel back to him. She did so, and when she saw Samuel, she cried out to Saul that he had deceived her, and she called Saul by his name. Saul told her not to be afraid. He asked her what she saw. She told him that she saw a god coming out of the earth and that it was an old man wearing a robe. When she described him, Saul knew that it was Samuel. Saul bowed and paid his respects to Samuel.

Samuel asked Saul why Saul was disturbing him by bringing him back. Saul explained that he was worried because the Philistines had gathered, and God would not talk to him. Samuel told Saul that it was because Saul had sinned against God and that Saul and his sons would join Samuel in death the next day. Samuel told Saul that God would give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.

Saul fell to the ground and was filled with terror. The sorceress told Saul that she had done what he had asked. She then asked him to eat with her, and at first, he refused. Then, Saul's servants and the woman convinced him to eat, and he ate with the woman and his servants. They left that night.

By that point, the Philistines were at Aphek, and the Israelites were at Jezreel. When the Philistine commanders saw David, they asked Achish why there were Hebrews there; Achish told them that this was David and that David was his servant since he had deserted the Israelites. The commanders wanted David to be sent away. Achish talked to David, and David protested that he had been a loyal servant to Achish. Achish agreed, but he said that the other Philistine lords wanted David to leave, so David left on the morning of the next day and went back to the land of the Philistines.

Captives

When David arrived at Ziklag, he found nothing but a burned city. All of the people had been taken captive by the Amalekites. This included the wives of David, Abigail and Ahinoam. David's men were so angry that their wives and children had been taken that they wanted to stone David, but David strengthened himself in the trust of God.

David told Abiathar the priest to bring him the ephod, and David asked God if he should go after the band of raiders that had taken the people. God told David to go after them, and that he would succeed. David took four hundred men and pursued the Amalekites that had taken the women and children.

At this time, David's men found an Egyptian man in the open country and brought him to David. The man said that he was an Egyptian and a servant to an Amalekite. David asked the Egyptian to take him to the Amalekite band, and the man said that he would as long as David spared him and did not return him to his master. When David found the Amalekites, he killed all of them except for four hundred that fled on camels. David recovered all of the people that had been taken, including both of his wives. David and his men also took all of the animals of the Amalekites as spoils.

When David and his men returned to the brook named Besor, they reunited with two hundred of David's men that had been exhausted and unable to go. They had stayed behind to guard the baggage. Now some of David's men argued that they should not give anything to the men that had stayed behind other than the safe return of their wives and children. David said that he was not going to do that, and he told his men that everyone would receive an equal share. David also sent some spoils to his friends in Judah and Simeon.

Saul Dies

Meanwhile, the Philistines fought against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. They killed the sons of Saul: Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua. Saul was also wounded badly by Philistine archers. He did not want to be taken captive, so he ordered his armor-bearer to kill him. His armor-bearer would not kill him, so Saul withdrew his sword and fell on it, and Saul died there along with his sons. When Saul's armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he killed himself. When the Israelites saw Saul and his sons dead, they ran away. They abandoned the cities, and the Philistines moved in.

The Philistines found the bodies of Saul and his sons. They cut off Saul's head and took his body and armor. They put his armor in one of their temples and pinned his body to the wall of Beth-shan. Brave men of Jabesh-gilead went that night and took Saul's body and the bodies of his sons down. They burned the bodies at Jabesh and buried their bones under a tree there. These men from Jabesh-gilead fasted for seven days after that.

Summary

Saul was preparing to battle with the Philistines. He tried talking to God, but God would not respond to him or any of the prophets. Saul then went to a sorceress in En-dor. She conjured up the ghost of Samuel, and the spirit of Samuel told Saul that he and his sons would die the next day.

David had joined the Philistines in preparation for the fight with the Israelites, but the other lords of the Philistines told Achish to send David away, and he did. When David returned home, he found that some Amalekites had burned the city and taken his wives and the families of his men captive. David pursued the Amalekites and killed them, saving his wives and the families of his men. He took what the Amalekites had possessed, divided it among his men as the spoils of war, and sent some of the spoils to his friends in Judah and Simeon.

Saul and his sons fought the Philistines, but they all died. Saul killed himself after being shot with arrows and not wanting to fall into the hands of the Philistines. The Philistines moved into the land they had taken and nailed the bodies of Saul and his sons to the wall at Beth-shan. Some brave men from Jabesh-gilead cut down the bodies from the wall, and in an act of kindness and decency, burned them and buried their bones under a tree in Jabesh.