YOU MAY NEED THE PERSON YOU PUT AWAY

PROCLAMATION

“… And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. … Then said Saul unto his servants, ‘Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her.'  …”  1 Samuel 28:3-7 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God after the death of the prophet Samuel by Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer.  Once again the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel. (1 Samuel 28:1)  When Saul gathered all of Israel together to fight against the Philistines, he saw that he was greatly outnumbered and he was afraid and terrified. (1 Samuel 28:4-5)  Saul called upon The Lord but The Lord did not answer him.  Then he sent for a medium who could speak to the spirits. (1 Samuel 28:6-7)  There were none in the city because earlier, after Samuel had died, Saul had expelled all of the mediums and spiritists from the land. (1 Samuel 28:3)  However, there was one in the town of Endor and Saul disguised himself and went to see her.  When he got there he had to promise her that no harm would come to her for helping him. (1 Samuel 28:7-10)  Saul asked her to contact the prophet Samuel, and when she did she realized who Saul was and she knew that the king had deceived her. (1 Samuel 28:11-12)  Again Saul told her that no harm would come to her.  Then Saul told Samuel why he had contacted him; and Samuel told Saul that his kingdom would be given to David, that he and Israel would be captured by the Philistines, and that he and his sons would die the next day. (1 Samuel 28:13-19)  Saul was devastated by Samuel’s words and he fell on the ground.  His strength was gone.  The woman offered him food but he initially refused to eat.  The men who came with him convinced him to eat, and after they ate, they left. (1 Samuel 28:20-25)

 

APPLICATION

There is an old saying, “You never miss the water until the well runs dry.” (Author unknown)  Only when someone or something is gone do we truly appreciate them or it.  Some people are in our life for a reason.  We need to be very careful about putting someone out of our life.  Sometimes we burn a bridge that we may later need to cross.  The person that we put down in our youth, may be the very person that we need in our old age.  The Lord God made all of us, so we should be careful how we treat God’s people.