“But when he consulted Adonai, Adonai didn’t answer him — not by dreams, not by urim and not by prophets.”-1 Samuel 28:6
Saul was in a state of desperation and panic.
He needed some assurance and direction if he was to have any chance against this coming battle against the Philistines.
Verse 6 tells us he tried every Biblically approved method to get the Lord to respond to Him.
He tried dreams, the Urim, and the prophets.
The Urim was referring to the Urim and Thummim stones whose use was limited to the High Priest.
Dreams were how God usually communicated through the common folk.
Finally, prophets were specially anointed men who delivered God’s messages to the king.
Since Samuel was dead, Saul no longer had a prophet he could consult.
He couldn’t force a dream upon someone else.
And the High Priest had tried to get the Urim and Thummim to provide an answer but got nothing
So all doors to God had been slammed shut.
Who could Saul turn to for answers?
The devious wheels were turning in his head when an idea came to him that shouldn’t surprise us given what we know about Saul’s character.
Saul thought to himself…
‘Hmm…since Samuel used to be my prophet, why not call him up from the grave using a necromancer?’
Splendid, right?
And also laughable considering that Saul had just expelled from the land those who tell the future by communicating with the dead or a demonic spirit.
But again, we shouldn’t be surprised.
Because pretty much from day one, Saul had a habit of always trying to get around God’s laws and commands.
This leads us to our takeaway.
At times, aren’t we all guilty of ignoring God’s laws and commands and asking the Lord to bless our way of doing things?
We get ourselves into big trouble and then hope the Lord will provide a different and superior answer outside of what’s in Scripture.
Honestly, I think that’s one of the main reasons we fall into idolatry.
We’re always seeking something more thrilling and exciting instead of the plain vanilla but effective solutions provided in Scripture.
Like Saul, we’re always searching around for a loophole and a way to get around God’s established laws and principles thinking there’s another way that will lead us to Him.
Well, I’ve got news for you homies.
There ain’t no other way.
There never has been…
And there never will be.
God ain’t gonna make an exception and suspend His eternal laws, principles, and patterns just for us.
Heck, even the Messiah can’t do that despite what the Christian church mistakenly teaches about Yeshua doing away with the Law.
God’s Torah stands forever.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Don’t think that I have come to abolish
the Torah or the Prophets.
I have come not to abolish
but to complete.”
-Matthew 5:17
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