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1 Samuel 28:3-25 – Saul’s Last Supper

If you knew you had one meal left to eat, what would it be? Very few of us get to choose, death row inmates being the most obvious exception to the norm. Their choices are fascinating, ranging from a KFC bucket to steak, including simply just an olive. One photographer has recreated the last meals of some death row inmates and it’s fascinating. As you look at what is served you can’t help but think what it would be like to eat a final meal. No matter how fine the food, surely you cannot escape the looming gloom of your own mortality. Would you even enjoy the food? Would you feel regrets or panic? Maybe you’d be resigned and could enjoy it? Would you feel ready to die? We’ll all eat a last meal, though it’s unlikely we’ll get to chose it, and may not even know it’s our last.

We’ve entered the end game for Saul, David, and the story of 1 Samuel. Their relationship is irreparably broken down. War is looming between the Philistines and the Israelites. David is in exile in Philistia, faced with the prospect of fighting against Israel. This book is going to close with Saul’s death – he will face his last day and eat his last meal. That’s what is recorded in chapter 28 – Saul’s last meal. We could easily miss its significance, overshadowed by who serves it to him. It is a strange chapter and a sad chapter. This week, we want to draw the lessons from Saul’s last night and last supper.

Let it make you think – what would you do if you knew a meal or a day would be your last? Would you have things to experience, people to see, and things to say? Are there relationships you’d want to repair and wrongs to put right? How would you prepare for eternity? What would you do if you knew it was your last day?

Questions

  1. What would you do if you knew it was your last day?
  2. How would you prepare for eternity?

Prayer Points

  1. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help to see the ‘wood’ of this chapter, and not miss it due to the strange ‘trees’.
  2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
  3. Pray for family matters.