The Witch of En-Dor

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people. 00:00:05 Speaker 2: Samuel, Please, I have I have sinned. 00:00:10 Speaker 3: I feared the people, I listened. I listened to them instead of God. 00:00:15 Speaker 4: But it was not my will. 00:00:17 Speaker 3: Please, oh, pardon my pardon my sin. 00:00:20 Speaker 4: Return with me. 00:00:22 Speaker 3: Let me worship before the Lord. 00:00:25 Speaker 1: Saul's hands trembled. He lunged forward, grabbing Samuel's robe, the fabric tor as. 00:00:33 Speaker 4: You have torn my robe. 00:00:35 Speaker 1: So the Lord has torn. 00:00:37 Speaker 4: The kingdom from you. He will give it to another. 00:00:41 Speaker 1: The Lord has already chosen him. 00:00:44 Speaker 4: Here's a man who seeks after. 00:00:46 Speaker 1: The heart of God more than the heart of the people. A wretched cry shattered the silence of the palace halls, a gutter wail of frustration and fury that sent the servants cowering behind doors and tapestries. There was something inside him, something dark, something clawing. He had known anger before, but this this was different. This was like a living thing, a living thing that slithered through his mind, whispering venom into his ears, stoking the fires of his madness. 00:01:31 Speaker 5: Your no king, Samuel said so himself. 00:01:40 Speaker 4: The King never get into him. 00:01:44 Speaker 2: Your time is almost up. 00:01:50 Speaker 4: You're momering will think your legs. He will burn nobody well remember. 00:02:08 Speaker 6: Shello, my friends, from here in the holy Land of Israel. I'm ya l Extein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. Each day we'll hear a dramatic story inspired by the Bible, stories filled with timeless lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through Israel's story, we will find this truth that we are all chosen for something great. So take a moment today to follow the podcast. If you're feeling extra grateful for these stories, we would love it if you left us a review. I read every single one of them, and if you're interested in hearing more about the prophetic, life saving work of the Fellowship, you can visit IFCJ dot org. Let's begin. 00:02:58 Speaker 1: The heavens had forsaken. Saul knelt in the dirt, his hands clawing of the empty air, his voice hoarse from screaming. The stars watched, cold and unfeeling. There was no answer, no whisper, no sign, only silence. The camphires of his army flickered behind him, thousands of men stirring in uneasy sleep, waiting for his command. The Philistines had gathered beyond the valley, more numerous than he had ever faced. Tomorrow he would march against them. Tomorrow he would need the Lord, but the Lord was gone, silent, indifferent to Sauls please. Saul struck his chest with his fist. He had sought the priests, but the Urim and Thummim had given no answer. He had sought the prophets, but they had turned their faces from him. He had cast the lots, prayed, fasted nothing. Yahweh had abandoned him. 00:04:10 Speaker 3: If it weren't. 00:04:11 Speaker 4: For the curse of Samuel, you would still have a favor of God. It's his fault. He's laughing in his grave, knowing that your kingdom. 00:04:32 Speaker 2: Is feeling because of him. 00:04:36 Speaker 1: Saul's hands shook as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Cold wind slashed against his skin, but it was nothing compared to the storm raging. 00:04:46 Speaker 4: In his chest. 00:04:48 Speaker 1: Fear coiled in his belly, an old and unwelcome serpent. His warriors would look to him for courage, but there was none left in him. He was hollow, a man in name only. The thought sickened him. 00:05:05 Speaker 2: Oh, if only I could speak to Samuel, maybe this curse could be after, Maybe I could find favor again, find wisdom. 00:05:20 Speaker 1: Saul turned sharply and called into the night. Daddy, her shadow moved beyond the firelight, stepping forward with cautious steps. Tavy, his faithful servant, wrapped a thick fur around his master's shoulders. 00:05:36 Speaker 3: My King, I need you to seek out a woman for me. 00:05:41 Speaker 5: Ah, a woman at this hour. 00:05:43 Speaker 3: My Lord, not that kind of woman, Taddy, A woman. 00:05:47 Speaker 4: Of the old, always a whisper of spirits. 00:05:51 Speaker 1: Tav stiffened even in the dim firelight, Saul could see the horror on his face. 00:05:57 Speaker 5: My King, you and Samuel cast out such creatures long ago. 00:06:03 Speaker 2: To seek out such a wish would be going against. 00:06:06 Speaker 4: Your own decree. 00:06:08 Speaker 3: If the Lord had not abandoned me, and perhaps I wouldn't need to seek such creatures of sorcery. I sacrifice at the altar, Yet no favor is given. I shout to the stars, but no one speaks. I pray, and I pray for the torment within me to cease. 00:06:26 Speaker 1: What God has that answered, Saul took his spear and swung it at a pot beside him. It shattered into thousands of pieces, flying upward to Saul's cheek. He recoiled and grabbed his face. The bottom of his eyes was stained crimson. 00:06:44 Speaker 4: What I desire? 00:06:47 Speaker 3: I am still the King, Bring me what I desire. 00:06:53 Speaker 1: Tave hesitated, but he did not argue. He turned and disappeared into the dark. Saul stood motionless, listening to the wind tear through the trees. If the Lord would not answer him, then perhaps something else would. The city of Endor was a corpse at midnight, its streets empty but for wandering drunks and the flickering glow of brothels. The air reeked of sweat, burnt fat, and rotting fruit. Saul moved through the shadows, his cloak drawn tight around him. Tarvey followed close behind, hooded and wary. They did not belong here. The city felt wrong, too, still, as if the very stones were holding their breath. At last they came to the alley. It was little more than a jagged gap between two crumbling buildings, filled with refuse and the sickly stench of decay. At the far end, half hidden beneath torn drapery, stood a door of blackened wood. Tarvey stepped forward first and gave two knocks. A pause, then the door creaked open, revealing a room thick with smoke and shadow. The air carried the scent of burnt incense, clawing and bitter shapes hung from the rafters, dried herbs, bones strung together with twine, and the shriveled bodies of dead ravens. And in the center of it all, lounging upon a mound of pillows sewn from the skins of bobcats, was the Witch. She was younger than Saul had expected, though there was nothing soft or innocent about her. Dark markings twisted up her arms and neck, coiling like serpents beneath the loose folds of her robe. Her hair was long and wild, falling entangled knots over her pale shoulders. But it was her eyes that held Saul still, black as ink, depthless and empty yet seductive. Saul didn't know whether to fear her or long for her. He felt repulsed and drawn at the same time. She saw him before he spoke. 00:09:23 Speaker 5: Who comes to me in the hour of the Wolf? 00:09:27 Speaker 1: She stretched like a cat, her limbs slow and deliberate as she crawled over the pillows and towards Saul. Her gown slipped off at the edges of her shoulders, revealing everything underneath. As she leaned forward, Saul tensed. 00:09:45 Speaker 5: You're a man with shadowed hands, a man with blood on his soul. 00:09:52 Speaker 1: Saul kept his hood over him, hiding the fear and intoxication in his eyes. 00:09:58 Speaker 4: I beautiful one. 00:10:01 Speaker 1: The witch tilted her head, watching him with eerie amusement. She slid off her pillows and approached him, moving like smoke, her bare feet silent on the stone floor. 00:10:13 Speaker 5: And what makes you think I can help you? The King's eyes are everywhere. Such divination has been outlawed by Soul the righteous. 00:10:26 Speaker 3: No, no, no punishment will come upon you. 00:10:28 Speaker 4: I must swear it by the Lord. 00:10:34 Speaker 5: You swear by the Lord even as you crawl through the dark, sigawitch. 00:10:40 Speaker 1: The witch drew closer to Saul, running her fingers up his stomach, passed his chest, then to his head. She pressed her thumb against the side of his TEMPLEMM. 00:10:54 Speaker 5: You are a man split in two. 00:10:58 Speaker 1: She drew her lips in close to Saul's air, hissing as she spoke. 00:11:04 Speaker 5: I can hear the other one in there. He's screaming at you day and night. He gets away at your results. It's only a matter of time before he is the only one. Saul flinched, No, don't worry, you are both welcome here tonight. 00:11:29 Speaker 1: The witch swayed backward toward the hearth. Her hips were like a pendulum, back and forth, as her hands trailed down her body. She reached behind her and took a small flask, Its glass smeared with black residue. She pulled the stopper with her teeth and tipped it over the fire. The flame sputtered and flared. The smoke rose with a foul smell, rancid and cloy, thick as tar m Do you see? Saul's throat was dry. 00:12:03 Speaker 4: Samuel, bring me the see her the prophet of Israel. 00:12:12 Speaker 1: The witch drew a deep breath and blew into the smoke. For a moment, she said nothing. Then without warning, she stepped back, her head lolling forward like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Her whisper slid from her lips, a sound like wind through dead trees. Her shoulders trembled, her arms shuddering violently at her sides. The whispers grew louder, faster, words in a language Saul did not know, guttural and wrong. Then she screamed, it was an awful pursing sound, sharp enough to make Tave stumble back and tip over some jars. The woman's body jerked and twisted, her fingers clawing at the air. Her head snapped up. Her eyes were wide, bloodshot, rolling in their sockets. She bore her fangs at Saul, hissing with rage. 00:13:13 Speaker 5: You to see me, you. 00:13:21 Speaker 1: She lurched forward, her hands reaching for his throat. Saul grabbed her hands to keep her at bay. 00:13:28 Speaker 3: Like I promised, No judgment will come to you. 00:13:32 Speaker 4: Now tell me what you see. 00:13:34 Speaker 1: The witch recoiled and looked around the room. Her breath came in ragged gasps. 00:13:45 Speaker 5: Someone is here, someone powerful spirit, a man rising from the earth. 00:13:55 Speaker 2: He's old, bloked. 00:13:58 Speaker 3: What comes, Samo, Samuel. 00:14:04 Speaker 1: The fire flared once more, the shadows twisted. The witch keeled over in pain, her neck vibrating as her shrieks continued. Her eyes darted up and she pointed at Sore. Something was different in her voice, the presence of another. Her great wind blew in from the single window in the witch's hovel, extinguishing the fire, and every candle that lit the room. All went dark. Everything was black, silent, save for the ragged breaths of the witch. Her low groans fed the sense of dread in Soul's stomach. Tarvi desperately reached for a flint to reignite the hearth. When he did, they saw the witch standing beside the flame, with her shoulders backward and chin up. Her lips parted, and when she spoke, it was not her voice that left them. 00:15:08 Speaker 4: Why have you inter stared me? 00:15:11 Speaker 1: Saul recoiled, his pulse, hammering in his skulls. 00:15:16 Speaker 3: Sam Sam Samuel. I am in greatest stress that the Philistines gathered against me, in numbers beyond beyond counting. My army is afraid. My heart trembles, trembles within me. 00:15:33 Speaker 1: Saul bowed before the woman and whatever spirit possessed her. 00:15:38 Speaker 3: There is no prophet, no priest, no dream that will answer me. And so I have called upon you so that you might tell me what to do. 00:15:49 Speaker 1: Silence you will do that, leave me to. 00:15:58 Speaker 4: My own thought. 00:16:00 Speaker 3: I need you words, I need your guidance. I have sought the Lord, but he's been silent. 00:16:14 Speaker 1: Then the spirit woke, and with each word the room grew colder. 00:16:20 Speaker 4: The Lord spends is his answer, soul. 00:16:24 Speaker 1: Soul's hands trembled why. 00:16:27 Speaker 4: Do you upon me? Everything I have prophesied to you has come and will controverse? Who the one let your gods? David? 00:16:48 Speaker 1: Soul's face drained of all color? 00:16:52 Speaker 4: What right? 00:16:53 Speaker 2: So the Lord is inevitable? 00:16:58 Speaker 4: No, no, no, I have not. I'm come to speak of David. 00:17:02 Speaker 3: I have come to see quisdom on how to defeat my enemies. 00:17:06 Speaker 2: I am as will as like a hoss the. 00:17:12 Speaker 4: River, because she into her hands of feast. 00:17:26 Speaker 1: Saul's breath came fast and shallow. It was the woman's face who spoke, But Saul could hear the anguish in Samuel's voice. 00:17:36 Speaker 5: Tomorrow and of songs showing me. 00:17:42 Speaker 1: The fire gutted and spun with the wind. Then, just as quickly as they had been snuffed by the wind, all the light from the candles returned. The chamber was silent. The witch blinked, her body twitched once, then twice. Her deep, shuddering breath rattled from her lips, and she sat up with a gasp herself once more. Saul still lay upon the ground, motionless. 00:18:12 Speaker 5: These words exact a heavy toll. You should eat something warm, find your strength to leave here and walk towards your fate. 00:18:24 Speaker 1: For a long moment, Saul did not respond. Then finally his voice rasped from the shadows. 00:18:32 Speaker 4: No, I walried, what's the point? 00:18:42 Speaker 1: Slowly he forced himself upright. His limbs felt like lead, his body empty, as if his soul had already begun to leave it. He turned to Tavi, who had been silent in the corner, watching with wide, fearful eyes. 00:19:00 Speaker 4: We are leaving. 00:19:02 Speaker 1: The witch stepped back, though there was no triumph in her expression. 00:19:07 Speaker 5: If you are to fight tomorrow, then you should eat. You will need your strength. 00:19:15 Speaker 1: Saul did not look at her. Tave hesitated, then placed a hand on his king's arm. My lord, please, Saul exhaled slowly. He did not want food, he did not want warmth. He wanted nothing at all. Yet still he sat still, he ate, and as he stared into the dying fire, Samuel's words burned within him. 00:19:45 Speaker 5: Tomorrow, on your songs. 00:19:51 Speaker 1: There was no escaping it. Tomorrow Saul would march, and tomorrow Saul would die. 00:20:04 Speaker 6: If your faith has been kindled by this podcast and it has affected your life, we'd love it if you left her review. We read them, and me personally, I cherish them. As you venture forth boldly and faithfully, I leave you with the biblical blessing from numbers six Iva Hashem vishmerechra Yeah Heir hashempanave ele y sa hachempanavelera. 00:20:33 Speaker 1: Shaloon. 00:20:34 Speaker 6: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you. May he be gracious to you. Made the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. 00:20:45 Speaker 5: Amen. 00:20:47 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle Eckstein add free by downloading and subscribing to the Pray dot Com app today. This prey dot com production is only made possible by Aunt Detikos team of creative talents. Steve Gattina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yiele Eckstein, edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Gotten, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paulinier, Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.