1 Samuel 28:23
But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.
The Philistines gathered for battle near Shunem while Saul's forces camped near Mount Gilboa, leaving Saul in fear and distress. After God did not answer him, he sought knowledge from the medium at Endor, consulting a familiar spirit rather than Samuel or the Lord. The Samuel who appeared in that encounter was not the real Samuel, who remained at rest in the grave, but a counterfeit impersonation presented by Satan. Through that deception Satan revealed Saul's coming fate and deepened his separation from God, driving him toward ruin rather than repentance.
Weakened by weariness and fasting and overwhelmed by terror and a guilty conscience, Saul at first refused food before yielding to the pleas of the woman and his servants. He then rose from the ground and ate hastily prepared food in the sorceress's cave, sitting in the presence of Satan's messenger to prepare for the coming battle. The scene stands in stark contrast to his calling as Israel's anointed king, finding him at a sorceress's table on the eve of deadly conflict.