What is the meaning of 1 Samuel 28:5? When Saul saw • Saul’s response begins with what he allowed his eyes to fix on. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” By choosing sight over trust, Saul repeated Israel’s earlier error in Numbers 13:33, where the spies “seemed like grasshoppers” in their own eyes. • Leadership is responsible to look first to God, not circumstances. Moses urged Joshua to do this in Deuteronomy 31:8, “The LORD Himself goes before you… do not be afraid.” the Philistine army • Scripture portrays the Philistines as a formidable human force: 1 Samuel 13:5 records “soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore.” • Yet past victories proved God’s supremacy over this same enemy. David testified in 1 Samuel 17:45, “I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty.” • Jehoshaphat heard a similar reassurance in 2 Chronicles 20:15, “The battle is not yours, but God’s,” reminding us that size of an army is irrelevant when the Lord fights for His people. he was afraid • Fear entered because Saul no longer stood in right fellowship with God. After Saul’s rebellion, Samuel declared in 1 Samuel 15:26, “The LORD has rejected you as king.” • Fear contrasts sharply with God’s call: Joshua 1:9 commands, “Do not be afraid… the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” • Proverbs 29:25 warns, “The fear of man is a snare,” while 1 John 4:18 teaches, “Perfect love drives out fear.” Saul’s fear signals distance from that perfect love. and trembled violently • Physical shaking often accompanies profound spiritual alarm. Daniel 5:6 describes Belshazzar: “His hip joints shook and his knees knocked together.” • Habakkuk felt similar trembling in Habakkuk 3:16, yet he chose faith. Saul’s trembling reveals terror with no accompanying trust. • Acts 16:29 shows the Philippian jailer “fell trembling,” but he soon believed. Saul’s trembling leads not to repentance but deeper desperation—he will seek a medium rather than the Lord. summary Saul fixed on what he saw instead of on the God who had repeatedly delivered Israel. The massive Philistine army rekindled past traumas, and because his relationship with the Lord was fractured, natural fear escalated into paralyzing terror. His violent trembling dramatizes the cost of disobedience and unbelief: once divine favor is forfeited, human strength collapses. 1 Samuel 28:5 therefore stands as a solemn warning to keep our eyes on the Lord, rest in His covenant faithfulness, and reject fear by walking in obedience and trust. |
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