Judged By God

Sorcery and astrology are pagan practices forbidden by God.   ~~~   In 1 Samuel 28:15 we have a conversation between dead Samuel and Saul. Now this scene makes us very curious about side issues, and can very easily take us away from the main focus of this text. But let me just address a few of those side issues to satisfy a bit of your curiosity concerning hearing from the dead. First, this is a forbidden practice for God’s people. God clearly forbids it Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 19:31, 20:6, 27; and Deut. 18:10-11. The use of mediums, sorcerers, necromancer (person who channels the dead) was prevalent in those days. Most pagan people and religions relied on their usage. And God never says that these people are without power. But God forbids them and calls their usage abominable and whoever uses them an abomination to the LORD. So horoscopes, enneagrams, these sorts of things fall into these categories. Why? Because they take your mind and heart and trust off of the LORD and put it on an alternative spiritual option that is less than, that is opposed to the LORD. So how is it then, that Samuel appears? Does this woman really have this power? Well, two things to think about. First, she screams when she sees Samuel, which leads me to believe this was something new to her. Either she was just a fake and was very surprised to have actually called up the dead, or there was something distinct about this appearance because, number 2, God was pushing and pulling the levers in this situation. God was calling the shots. And what does Samuel say to Saul? He pronounces judgment, the same judgment for the same reasons as Samuel has done before, starting back in chapter 13, repeated in chapter 15. Nothing new with Saul, right? We cannot forget that this was a history lesson for that very first audience and for us. It was the people who rejected God as king over them, and wanted a king like the other nations. A king who was, on the outside, everything they desired, but on the inside, turned out to be a scared little man who had no real hope or confidence in the strength and power of God, no spiritual life, and never any repentance in his life. Saul is in no way the King God’s people needed or we need. But here is the lesson for us. We cannot, we have no capacity to choose a fitting King for ourselves. We choose based on outward qualifications, and when we do that, we end up with someone who is fearful, a spiritual disaster, and then judged by God. This is like Eve choosing Cain to be King here. We need God’s choice for King. We need Him to set a King over us! And that is who we have in Jesus! Jesus was not fearful of man! Jesus was perfectly spiritually mature at every turn and event in His life, always hearing from God the Father, and doing the work of God, always obedient, fulfilling all of the Law. But as the story plays, we read that He, too, was judged by God, and entered into the darkness of death, just like it is forebodingly foreshadowed for us about Saul in the last verse of chapter 28. So why was Jesus judged by God? Because that was part of the gospel plan. Jesus was the only One who never should have been judged by the wrath of God, but He was also the only One who could be the perfect payment for sin, and be powerful enough to overcome the sin’s sting of death. You see, Saul was judged and then died for his sin. But Jesus was judged, died for your sin, and then resurrected, overcoming Satan, sin, and death.