rictabob,
I would like to point out a couple things about this discussion.
The discussion of this portion of Scripture came about because we were discussing the idea of Soul Sleep. I do not know what your position is on this topic, would you mind telling us?
As we were discussing Soul Sleep, I brought up this portion of Scripture to show that Samuel, although physically dead, was spiritually alive. lmorovan proposed a hypothesis that God made an exception in this case, therefore I put forth the question about where else in Scripture God made an exception.
You then presented some verses where you believe God made an exception regarding Sabbath laws. Now to my points.
The law was not given to mankind to be a burden upon the faithful followers of God. Throughout Scripture it is taught that the Spirit of the law is what is important, not the letter of the law.
Jesus makes this clear in the verses that you presented. David was not guilty because he broke the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law. God did not require his faithful servant, David, to starve a few feet from nourishment and he was found to be blameless. Matthew 12:1-9 shows that this is true. Jesus even says that although the priests work on the Sabbath, they are blameless because they were serving God. Although they broke the letter of the law, they obeyed the Spirit of the law and that was Jesus' point.
Jesus made it even more clear, when he demonstrated that even obeying the letter of the law was insufficient, but that we must obey the Spirit of the law.
Matthew 5:21-28
21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’
22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
25 “Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
26 “Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;
28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Having said this, I believe that the Spirit of the law is what determines a sinful act, not necessarily the letter of the law. This is why David and the priests were held blameless for doing "work" on the Sabbath. Here is another example from Jesus Himself.
Matthew 12:10-12
10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him.
11 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 “How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
We know that our Lord was sinless.
Now, getting back to lmorovan's original hypothesis that God made an exception for Saul to consult a medium and bring up the spirit of Samuel for consultation.
I will say with all of my heart, that you will not find a verse in the Bible where God gives and exception or free pass to sin against Him and that is what would have had to had taken place in the story of Saul, the medium and Samuel. What we find thankfully, is the exact opposite.
1 Chronicles 10:13
13 So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it,
God did not give Saul an exception to sin against Him in this case, not only did he break the letter of the law, he broke the Spirit of the law too.
One last point about Soul Sleep and the passage we discussed. The text clearly says that it was Samuel who was brought up by the medium. If it wasn't, I have no doubt that God's Word would have made that point very clear because it would change the entire meaning and purpose of the event.
Thank you for the discussion.
AI
