Amazingly, King Saul and the witch of Endor (I Samuel 28) is often overlooked when teaching children. The story refers to Saul having banned all of the mediums in the land. Why did he ban them? Deuteronomy 18:10-11 "...And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead." I thought this was a great opportunity to teach about the danger of Ouija boards, fortune telling, seances, and other things the children might be exposed to.
Why was the witch, or medium, of Endor so shocked when Samuel appeared? The best explanation I have heard is that what she usually brought up was not really the actual person. In fact, if a medium really does talk to someone, it is a demon and not the real deal. Other times nothing happens and the whole thing is faked - kind of like the wizard in the Wizard of Oz. So she freaked out when she actually saw Samuel coming up.
Slide from Sweet Publishing showing Samuel being brought up by the medium. |
I used slides from the Free Bible images. There are two sets available for this Bible story. The set with pictures like the one above is here. A little more cartoon like one by Bible Pathway Adventures is here. The last 10 slides cover 1 Samuel 28. After teaching about God's forbidding us to dabble in the occult and going over this story we got to act it out.
I wrote a fun script, especially for boys. Click here for the script I wrote.
Illustration used to show kids that God was not communicating with Saul at all. |
King Saul and his buddies go to the medium in Endor. |
The medium is shocked when Samuel actually comes up. |
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