# 1 Samuel Chapter 28
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## Summary
The Philistines gather forces to war against Israel and Saul comes out to meet them and is afraid of the Philistine army. He enquires of the Lord what the outcome of the upcoming battle will be but the Lord does not respond. Saul then seeks a medium to enquire of her what the outcome will be. However following the death of Samuel Saul had put out of the land the mediums and necromancers and so it is necessary for him to deceive the woman to meet with her.

Saul has the medium raise up Samuel who points out that the Lord has turned against Saul just as he had prophesied. Samuel goes on to point out that Saul and his sons will join Samuel in the grave by the following day. Saul falls to the floor is filled with fear. He is tended to by the medium who kills the fattened calf and makes food for Saul and his servants who eat before leaving that night. 

## Meditatio
What struck me about this passage is twofold. Firstly the ways and means by which the Lord communicated with the Kings, but also just how all encompassing the Lords rejection of Saul is. Firstly it's important to understand how the Lord communicated with his people during this time. This is helpfully outlined in verse 6 [^1].

We discover three main methods, specifically by (a) dreams, or (b) by Urim, or (c) by prophets. Considering each of these methods symbolically we can see how the Lords rejection of Saul is total and definitive.

Dreams are a personal experience and denote the Lords revelation to the individual directly. We can therefore conclude that the Lord will not offer any personal revelation of himself or his plans to Saul. There is to be no personal dimension to their relationship or further direct communications from the Lord.

The Urim were essentially ways in which the high priest could ask the Lord yes / no questions to seek divine guidance. The high priest being the symbolic representation of the institution of the priesthood. There is a corporate dimension to this particular symbolic image of rejection which is a rejection by the instituted mediation and corporate divination.

Finally Saul is given no prophetic direction. The prophets represent the voice from the interior of the fringe and traditionally held the nation to course correct. Prophets are situated such that they are part of a tradition but sufficient close to the periphery that they might provide commentary and spiritual direction on this tradition. There will therefore be no external course correction for Saul or redirection.

So unable to find direction or assurance from the living God Saul seeks it amongst the dead, the consequences of which are to further invite his own death.

[^1]: See [1 Samuel 28:6](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+28%3A6&version=ESV)
[^2]: I explore the Urim and Thummin in a little detail [here](http://tilde.club/~chortle/log.php?type=faith&year=part3#1-samuel-chapter-14-part-1)