Dr. Manny Arango (0:00)

Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey family. We used church candy for our new church plant the Garden, and the response blew me and my team away. At our new church Plant the Garden, we ran simple invite ads through none other than church candy, and hundreds of people responded. Seriously. People who had never even heard of us, who had never met me or heard me preach. They saw an ad on Facebook or Instagram. They showed up to a launch party or launch team training. Some of them have joined our team. Here's the best part. A good amount of them have started giving and tithing, which means the ads have paid for themselves. Our church plant is growing, and it's because we chose the right partner. We didn't have to figure out marketing strategies or spend hours tinkering with ad settings. Church candy handled it all, and it worked. You might not be planting a church, but if you're a pastor who wants to see more new faces on Sunday. And by the way, I've never met a pastor who doesn't want to see more new faces on Sunday. It's time to check them out. How about you go to churchcandy.com Manny and book a discovery call? Let their team show you what's possible when the right people hear about your church family. Welcome to day 155. We've got one Samuel, chapters 25, 26, 27, and 28. 8. Okay, we left off yesterday at the end of chapter 24 with King Saul literally saying the words, I know that you shall surely be king. That's chapter 24, verse 20. I know that you're gonna be king. So now the current king has proclaimed, has professed that David is going to be the next king. Okay, I know that you're gonna be the king. Which then prompts the next domino. Okay? And we start now with verse one of chapter 25. And hear the first words. Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. So now the prophet Samuel is going to die. The prophet Samuel can die because the role of the prophet is to anoint the next king and to see that the office of the kingship actually moves forward. And Saul has now declared David is gonna be the next king. I know that you're gonna be the next King, in a spiritual sense, releases Samuel to actually die. Now we're gonna pick back up with this because a little bit later, like in a couple chapters, Saul is gonna go to the witch of Endor, which is gonna be a medium and to summon up the ghost of Samuel because he can't hear from God for himself. And I'm gonna really break down what's going on there because this is one of those passages where, you know, either secular minded people or pagan minded people, or people who really don't understand the Bible will go down. This whole argument of, see, like, you know, there's rocks in the Bible, so therefore we should use chopper stones. And there's, you know, speaking in tongues is just doing incantations. So incantations aren't bad. Like, I don't know if you've ever encountered these people, like maybe on TikTok or maybe a friend who will take passages out of context almost to use biblical content as an excuse to act pagan. So they'll take passages that talk about ancestors and go see. And that's why we communicate with our ancestors. Because the Bible say, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that's why we should smoke weed. Because the Bible says, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you know, chakra stones is okay, because the Bible says blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they will use biblical passages and verses from the Bible to defend lifestyles that are not biblical. The irony of that is absolutely fascinating, but it happens. So we'll kind of get into what's going on with the witch of Endor. Why in the world is this in the Bible, how's this possible, so on and so forth. Let's kind of like get into a couple of nerdy nuggets. So that's all the context that I think we need. Let's get into the nerdy nuggets. Number one, Abigail. Oh, oh, oh, oh, sorry. Last piece of context. Okay. Because of Saul. Because David cut off a corner of the rope and kind of let Saul go. Saul's now acknowledge, hey, I know you're gonna be king. Hey, let's make covenant. Let's. Let's be at peace. Now. David is no longer on the run in the same way. But that respite that peace is only gonna be but for so long. So we're gonna kind of see more of a static David in this next scene. And there's the, the static David is gonna. Right here in verse 2. Chapter 25 of verse 2 says there was a man in Maon whose property was in Carmel. The man was Very rich. He had 3,000 sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal. And the name of his wife was Abigail. The woman was clever and beautiful, but the man was surly and mean. He was a Calebite. Okay, so what happens is David's living near this man's property. He's been living there for a long time. Cause he's no longer on the run. And the man's gonna have a feast. And David sends messengers like, hey, tell Nabal that we, we've been protecting his stuff. Like, no one's stolen anything from him. This is real mob like behavior, by the way. Nobody has stolen anything from you. Like, you know, you should probably share some of your food with us, man. And Nabal's a real, you know, tight wad. He's just very much like, yeah, no, like, I'm not going to share anything with you guys. And Nabal dies, so that's that. But Abigail is actually able to, you know, talk sense into David. And so David has this moment of, wait a second, God can avenge enemies for me? Like, I don't have to actively do anything that's ungodly. Which creates a precedent now for how David is gonna deal with Saul again. Because Saul is going to go back on his word. Chapter 26, verse 2. Saul's back to pursue David. So the rest is now over. Also need you to be keeping track. Okay? Abigail is now going to be a wife of David. So David is going to start collecting wives. All right? So we're going to. We can kind of keep a list going. So chapter 26. Saul's back to pursue David. And David is going to pass the exact same test again. The same test that he passed yesterday. He's going to have an opportunity to kill Saul. He's not going to kill Saul. And I want you to think about this. If God killed Nabal, then Yahweh will deal with Saul. Okay? And so now chapter 26, verse 25, David gets respite again and Saul stops pursuing him again. Chapter 27, David is scared and goes to Achish and the Philistines for protection. And this is not good. This is bad. Okay? Yahweh should be the one who David trusts to protect him. David is 100% lying to Achish. And David's life gets better in some ways, but it also gets worse because he is living a double life. Okay? So this is when you start to go. This is where you start to see the gray, where you're like, I just don't think David should be doing this. Like the Lord's with him. On one hand, he's not killing Saul, but then on the other hand, it's like you're trusting Philistines for protection. You're taking wives like you're just a complicated character. Now the story is reaching a climax. Okay, so Saul is trying to inquire of the Lord. Cannot inquire of the Lord. He really needs Samuel. So, Samuel, this is now. Pretty sure this should be chapter 27. No, maybe it's 28. Oh, yeah. Okay. Chapter 28 is the witch of Endor. Okay, so let's talk about the Witch of Endor. So for those of you who don't know or who didn't do the reading yet, by the way, you gotta do the reading before you watch or listen to these episodes. What happens is that Saul cannot inquire of the Lord for himself. God is not speaking to him. And the person that Saul has always gone to to inquire of the Lord or to hear the voice of the Lord has been Samuel, the prophet. I mean, that's his job. It's the prophet's job. But as we know, in chapter 25, the very, very beginning of chapter 25, what happens. I read to you exactly what happens now. Samuel died. So Samuel, the person who Saul has been dependent on to hear from God, is dead. So Saul has a brilliant idea. Let's go find a medium. Let's go find a witch. And I don't know if anybody's ever seen I Dream of Jeannie, but in the show I Dream of Jeannie, the main witch, her name is Endora Andorra, based on this character, the Witch of Endor. Okay, Hollywood does this a lot, by the way. They take biblical names or ideas. Anyway, that. That's a nerdy nugget. That. That's like a. Yeah, it's a random nerdy nugget. 1. In my notes, just remembered to tell you, family, the wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a Books a million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is gonna be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. So goes down to this witch who's living in a little town called Endor. And here's what happens. So Saul disguised himself. This is verse 8 of chapter 28. So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes and went there. He and his two men with him, they came to the woman by night. And he said, consult a spirit from me and bring up for me the one whom I named to you. The woman said to him, surely you know what Saul has done, not realizing that she's talking to Saul. Saul, he has cut off the mediums and the wizards from the land. Why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death? But Saul swore to her by the Lord. The irony of swearing to her by the Lord. As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing. Then the woman said, whom shall I bring up for you? He answered, bring up Samuel for me. When the Lord saw Samuel. Get this. When the woman saw Samuel. So this is the witch of endorphins. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, why have you deceived me? You are Saul. The king said to her, have no fear. What do you see? The woman said to Saul, I see a divine being coming up out of the ground. He said to her, what is his appearance? An old man is coming up. He is wrapped in a robe. So Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground. And verse 15, Samuel said to Saul, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? Okay, now get this. Okay, so let's break this down. What in the world's going on? All right. This is how a witch is able to bring up a spirit. Okay, I'll explain this to you. Typically, someone who's a witch or medium has made a covenant with a demonic being. They've made a covenant with a demon, and it's actually a charade. So what happens is, let's say, you know, a guy named Andrew walks into the witch's office and is like, hey, bring up, you know, my Aunt Kim. Well, what the witch then does is tells the demon to pretend to be Kim. So the demon is able to appear as Kim. And then, let's say, a guy by the name of Elijah walks in and says, hey, I need you to, you know, pretend to be my Uncle Jim, okay? The witch who's in covenant with the demon says, hey, go ahead and be Jim. And the demon appears to be Jim. So the witch is not actually accessing Kim or Jim. What the witch is doing is the witch is only accessing a familiar demonic spirit that she is in covenant with and bringing up that demonic spirit, and that demon is then presenting as Kim or presenting as Jim or presenting as anybody. Which is why a medium is able to bring up a dead person for anyone who walks into their office. I don't know if witches have offices. I have. I don't know because I've. I've never gone to see a witch. Because they're witches, okay? But, you know, I don't. I don't know if you've heard about all these people on TikTok that are like, oh, there's good witchcraft and bad witchcraft. No, witches are witches. All witches are bad. There are no good witches. There's no good good magic and bad magic. There's a bunch of crap, okay? If you're practicing dark arts, if you're practicing magic, if you're a medium, you are in a covenant with a demonic power that is essentially fooling people to believe that they're talking to their loved one. They're not talking to their loved one. They're talking to a demon. So get this. The woman, the medium here, just goes to do what she's always done. She contacts her familiar spirit and, like, all right, pretend to be Samuel, and then what happens? Okay, verse 12 of chapter 28. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, why have you deceived me? Okay, why is she scared? If she sees dead people all the time, why is she scared? She's scared because it's the first time that it's actually worked. She's scared because she's never seen dead people. She's only ever seen one demon who keeps pretending to be different dead people, but this time, she actually freaking sees Samuel. This is the only time or the first time that a actual dead person has appeared, and she immediately knows I've been deceived. What the heck is going on? Okay? This woman is not ready for an encounter with an actual dead person. Okay? So if you have opened the door to the occult, please know you've been getting bamboozled, okay? You've been getting freaking fooled, okay? If somebody is telling you, yeah, I can help you to communicate with your Dead aunt. They're not. You're not communicating with your freaking dead aunt. You're communicating with a demon, you dummy. Okay, now the woman is freaking out. She's like, yeah, man. Every other time I've done this, I've just been contacted this demon who's been acting like he's a dead person, but this time, it's really a freaking dead person. So what happens? Samuel is like, what the heck, man? Like, what? Why'd you bother me? And again, Saul says, I'm in great distress, for the Philistines are warning, warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. So I summoned you to tell me what I should do. Samuel said, why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done to you just as he spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek. Moreover, the Lord will give Israel along with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow, you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines. Immediately, Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And then what happens? He's gonna die. Okay, so. And then, literally, he dies the next day. And then get that. This is just how lost and just how deeply lost Saul is. He's then gonna have a covenant meal with this witch. Okay? So verse 20. No strength, for he hadn't eaten all day, all night. Verse 21. The woman came to Saul, and when he saw that he was terrified, she said to him, your servant has listened to you. I've taken my life in my hand, and I listened to what you have said to me. Now, therefore, you also listen to your servant, and let me set a morsel of bread before you eat so that you may have strength when you go on your way. He refused and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with a woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. He got up from the ground and sat on the bed. Now, the woman had a fattened calf in the house, quickly slaughtered it, took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened cakes. And she put them before Saul and his servants, and they ate, and they rose and went away. That night, they have a covenant meal with a witch. It's terrible. It's absolutely terrible. Okay, so think about this. She has a fattened calf. So you know how long it takes to kill a cow and, and make. And make a meal out of a. Out of a. An animal that's alive? And then. And then knead. She has to knead. She has to take flour and she has to knead it and then bake bread. He's there for hours. This is a covenant meal. It's a covenant meal with a witch. This is. This is absolutely ungodly. This is terrible. The reality is that the next day, Saul is going to die. So my Thomas truth here is that the reason that we know that the Bible is true is because the Bible gives us embarrassing testimony about its heroes. Okay? If anyone, any other book would not provide the shameful, embarrassing content of leaders. This is why the Bible is not a book of, like, moral examples. Saul is not living a moral life. This is degenerate. This is terrible. This content is shameful and utterly embarrassing and therefore, most likely true. This is traitor content. This is not the kind of content that you put in your history books. But this is proof that the Bible is not a fabrication. The Bible is true. And the Bible is so embarrassing in terms of. If it was being fabricated by people in power, they would omit this stuff. But the fact that this stuff is in here, it actually means that the Bible can be trusted. That's a timeless truth. You're gonna see passages like that, verses like that, examples like that, over and over and over and over and over. And I'll try my best to drive home the point. Hey, you see this? This is embarrassing. No holy book would talk about. It's kings this way. None. Every other holy book uses kings and priests and heroes as moral figures, as people who we should model our lives after. The Bible's the only book where leaders were actually given the full picture. The good, the bad, and the ugly. So this is terrible. The night before Saul's gonna die, he has a covenant meal with a witch and sees and uses that witch to call up a dead man named Samuel, which freaks out the witch because she ain't never called up no dead person before. And that's that. That's. That's. I try to give you as much context clues and nerdy nuggets as I could. Obviously, I left you with the timeless truth. I'll see you right here for tomorrow. For Tomorrow's passage, it's 1st Samuel, chapter 29, 30, and 31. We got three chapters tomorrow, and we are going to end the book of First Samuel. So if you're on a streak, just keep the streak going. If you're not on a streak, I invite you to get on a streak. Let's go. You know what's better than a Snapchat streak? A dang on Bible streak. So let's go. Let's get it. I'm proud of you. I love you. I'll see you right here tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.