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village of Shunem (the "twain rest"). Behind and to the north of Little Hermon runs
another narrow branch of the plain. On its other side is the mountain where Endor
lay amidst most desolate scenery; and in one of its many limestone caves was the
scene of Saul's last interview with Samuel. Nor is it void of significance to us that
Endor was but a few miles from Nazareth; for it is the close contiguity of these
contrasting scenes which often sheds such lurid light upon events.
From his camp on the slopes of Gilboa and by the spring of Jezreel, Saul had
anxiously watched the gathering hosts of Philistia on the opposite side at Shunem,
and his heart had utterly failed him. Where was now the Lord God of Israel?
Certainly not with Saul. And where was there now a David to meet another Goliath?
Saul had successively "inquired of Jehovah" by all the well-known means, from the
less to the more spiritual,^229 but without answer. That alone should have been
sufficient, had Saul possessed spiritual understanding to perceive its meaning. Had
his been real inquiry of the Lord,^230 he would have felt his desertion, and even now
returned to Him in humble penitence; just as Judas, if his repentance had been
genuine and true, would have gone out to seek pardon like Peter, instead of rushing
in despair to self-destruction.
As the event proved, Saul did not really inquire of the Lord, in the sense of seeking
direction from Him, and of being willing to be guided by it. Rather did he, if we may
so express it, wish to use the Lord as the means by which to obtain his object. But
that was essentially the heathen view, and differed only in detail, not in principle,
from the inquiry of a familiar spirit, to which he afterwards resorted. Accordingly
the latter must be regarded as explaining his former "inquiry," and determining its
character. In this sense the notice in 1 Chronicles 10:14 affords a true and spiritual
insight into the transaction. Already the utter darkness of despair had gathered
around Saul. He was condemned: he knew it, felt it, and his conscience assented to
it. What was to happen on the morrow? To that question he must have an answer, be
it what it may. If he could not have it from God, he must get it somewhere else. To
whom should he turn in his extremity? Only one person, sufficiently powerful with
God and man, occurred to his mind. It was Samuel, - the very incarnation to him of
Divine power, the undoubted messenger of God, the one man who had ever
confronted and overawed him. It seems like fate which drives him to the very man
who had so sternly, unrelentingly, and in the hour of his triumph, told him his
downfall. But how was he to meet Samuel? By necromancy - that is, by devilry! The
Divine through the anti-Divine, communication from on high by means of
witchcraft: terrible contrasts these - combined, alas! in the life of Saul, and strangely
connecting its beginning with its ending. But no matter; if it be at all possible, he
must see Samuel, however he had parted from him in life. Samuel had announced his
elevation, let him now come to tell him his fate; he had pushed him to the brow of
the hill, let him show what was beneath. And yet who could say what might happen,
(^)