Posted on 01/22/2004 5:43:29 PM PST by DouglasKC
Samuel and the Woman of Endor
In all arguments for the continued life and consciousness of the dead, 1 Sam. 28:3-20 usually holds a conspicuous place. In examining this scripture, we will look at (1) the narrative, (2) the claim that is based upon it, (3) the character of the actors in the incident, (4) the facts to be considered, and (5) the conclusions to be drawn.
1. The Narrative.— Samuel was a prophet of God in Israel from 1112-1058 before Christ. Saul was king of Israel from 1096-1056 before Christ. Samuel anointed [[152]] Saul to his office as king, and from time to time communicated instruction to him from the Lord, as his counselor and adviser. At the time when the incident recorded in I Sam. 28:3-20 occurred, Samuel was dead. There was war between the Israelites and the Philistines. The Philistines pressed hard upon Israel. They gathered their forces together in Shunem, and Saul, assembling all Israel to oppose them, pitched in Gilboa. Dismayed at the mighty array of the Philistine host, Saul’s heart sunk within him, and he was sore afraid. In anxiety and trembling, he cast about him for help. He sought the Lord, but the Lord answered him not. No dream was given; no token by Urim appeared; no prophet had a word from the mouth of the Lord to meet the circumstances of his deep distress. He thought of his old-time friend, the prophet Samuel, to whom he had so often gone, and who had so often directed his steps in times of doubt and danger. But Samuel was dead, and how could he consult him?
There was in the land a class of people who claimed to have power to communicate with the dead. This work, called necromancy (a "pretended communication with the dead." — Webster), had been strictly forbidden by the Lord. Lev. 19:31; 20:27; Deut. 18:9-12, etc. And Saul, in obedience to the command of the Lord (Ex. 22:18), had cut off, so far as they could be found, all persons of that class out of the land. Yet a few still practised, with caution and secrecy, their ghostly orgies.
Whether Saul had ever believed in the reality of this work or not, we are not informed. But it is certain that in his present extremity, his belief gave way to the pretensions of these necromancers, and the evil thought took possession of him that he could consult in this way with [[153]] the prophet Samuel. So he inquired for a woman that had a familiar’ spirit, and was told of one at Endor.
Disguising himself, in order that the woman, knowing Saul’s decree against witchcraft, might not fear to communicate for him, and going secretly by night, he sought the woman. The woman being assured that no evil was intended and no punishment should happen to her, asked whom she should bring up. Saul answered, "Bring me up Samuel." And when she saw the object which her conjuration had evoked, she cried out with fear, and said to her royal guest, "Why hast thou deceived me? For thou art Saul.’’ He told her to fear not, but tell what she saw. She answered, "An old man, . . . covered with a mantle." "And Saul perceived," says the narrative, " that it was Samuel."
Samuel asked Saul why he had disquieted him to bring him up: and Saul answered, that he might make known what he should do; for the Philistines made war upon him, and God was departed from him, and he was sore distressed. Samuel then asked him why he came to him, since God had departed from him, and had become his enemy. Then he proceeded to tell him that the kingdom was rent out of his hand because he had failed to obey the Lord; that the Philistines should triumph in the battle; and that on the morrow he and his sons should die. This was the finishing stroke to the already breaking heart of Saul; and, utterly overwhelmed with his calamities, he fell senseless to the earth.
Such are the essential facts brought to view in the narrative. Let us now look at what is claimed from them.
2. The Claim.— This can be expressed in few words. It is claimed that Samuel actually appeared on this occasion, and that therefore the dead are conscious, or that there is a spirit in man that lives on in consciousness [[154]] when the body dies; and, therefore again, the soul is immortal.
The validity of this claim rests very much on the question whether the transaction here recorded was wrought by the power of God or by the Devil. If by God, then the representation was a true one; if by the Devil, we may look for deception; for he commenced his work I by becoming the father of all the lies in the world, and continues it by assiduously circulating them. We will therefore consider —
3. The Character of the Actors.— These actors were, first, the woman who had a familiar spirit; and familiar spirits are spirits of devils. Compare Num. 25:1-3; Ps. 106:28; and 1 Cor.10:20. This work of dealing with familiar spirits, God had declared to be an "abomination" to him; he had expressly forbidden it, and sentenced to death all who practised it.
The other chief actor in this scene was Saul. And what was his condition at this time? — He had so long hived in violation of divine instruction that God had departed from him, and answered him no more by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets, which were the ways he had himself appointed to communicate with his people.
Query: Would the Lord refuse to communicate with him in ways of his own appointing, and then come to him by the means the use of which he had expressly forbidden?
We see, then, that neither of the actors in this scene were persons through whom, or for whom, we should expect the Lord to work. We will therefore notice further—
4. The Facts to be Considered.
a. The wonders wrought on this occasion were all accomplished by the familiar spirit with whom this woman consorted. There were two things for this spirit to do: (1) Either to bring up in reality the dead person that was [[155]] called for, or (2) to counterfeit the dead man so perfectly that those who were conversing with the familiar spirit would believe that they were conversing with their dead friend.
b. That it was not Samuel, but the familiar spirit personating Samuel, that appeared, is evident from the fact that this supposed Samuel, before holding any communication with Saul, put the woman on her guard, telling her that her guest was none other than Saul himself. This is shown by the fact that the woman, as soon as she saw him, cried out with fear, not because Samuel really appeared, contrary to her expectations, as some have supposed; for she did not cry out, "Samuel has come, indeed!" but because of what the appearance told her; for she immediately turned to Saul, and said, "Why hast thou deceived me? For thou art Saul." This would not be the work of the real Samuel, to put the woman on her guard, to aid her in her unholy work of incantation.
c. According to the claim based on this transaction, it was Samuel’s immortal soul that appeared on this occasion; but its appearance was, according to the description of the woman, an old man covered with a mantle. Do immortal souls go about in this way, in the form of old men covered with mantles? This renders it still more evident that it was the familiar spirit, imitating Samuel as he appeared while here upon earth.
d. Saul did not see Samuel at all. But does it not read that "Saul perceived that it was Samuel"? — Yes; but perceived how? — Not by the sight of the eyes, but from the woman’s description. The words "saw," as applied to the woman, verse 12, and "perceive," as applied to Saul, verse 14, are from two words in the Hebrew. The first is räah, which signifies "to look, see, view; " the second is from yäda which [[156]] means "to become informed, to be made aware of." The Septuagint maintains the same distinction. The woman actually saw the appearance before her; and here the word eido is used, which signifies, according to Liddell and Scott, "to see, behold, look at;" but when it is said that Saul ‘‘perceived," the word is gignosko, which signifies, according to the same authority, "to know, perceive, gain knowledge of, observe, mark, be aware of, see into, understand," by an operation of the mind. In harmony with this view, is Saul’s language to the woman: "What sawest thou?" and "What form is he of?" If any should say that Saul might have seen all that the woman saw if he had not been prostrate upon the ground, it is sufficient to reply that it was not till after he asked these questions that he "stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself." Verse 14. If Samuel had actually been present, Saul could have seen him as well as the woman. How completely had Saul now fallen into the snare! He was willing this abandoned woman should be for him both eyes and ears in matters of the greatest moment.
e. The appearance which the woman saw, came up out of the earth. Was that Samuel’s immortal soul? Are these souls in the earth? We supposed —that is, are we not told?—that they are in the heavenly glories of the world above.
f. Is it said that, as the form came up out of the earth, Samuel had a resurrection? Then the conscious-soul theory is abandoned. But if this was a resurrection of Samuel, how could he come up out of the ground here at Endor, near the sea of Galilee, when he was buried in distant Ramah (verse 3), near Jerusalem? And if the old man was raised from the dead, what became of him? Did he go through the pains of a second dissolution, and [[157]] enter the grave again? If so, well might he complain to Saul for disquieting him to bring him up!
g. This pretended Samuel told Saul that he and his sons would be with him the following day. Verse 19. If he was an immortal spirit in glory, how could Saul, whom God had rejected because of his sins, go to be with him there?
h. Another sacred writer mentions this event in Saul’s life, and assigns it as one of the two reasons why he was given up by the Lord to die. 1 Chron. 10:13.
5. Conclusions. — What conclusions are inevitable from the foregoing facts? It is first of all evident that Samuel was not present on that occasion, either as an immortal spirit from the third heaven, or as one resurrected from the dead. For—
a. It is not consistent to suppose that God, having refused to answer Saul’s petitions when presented in any legitimate way, would have respect to them when presented through this forbidden channel.
b. It is not consistent to suppose that an immortal soul from glory would come up out of the earth, as did the form which the woman evoked with her forbidden incantations.
c. It is inconsistent to suppose that Samuel was resurrected bodily here in Endor, when he was buried in Ramah.
d. If he was raised, it must have been by God or the Devil. But the Devil cannot raise the dead, and it is evident that God would not, at least in answer to these agencies, the use of which he had forbidden under pain of death. God would not thus raise up his servant to talk with Saul on the Devil’s own round.
e. It is incredible that such a man as Samuel, who held witchcraft as such a heinous sin (1 Sam. 15:23), [[158]] should first hold friendly converse with this abandoned woman in the midst of her incantations, and put her on her guard, before delivering his message to Saul. It is the boldest assumption to suppose that any one, through this agency of the Devil, would have power to summon at will any immortal soul from glory, or to raise any one from the dead, or that this woman, through her diabolical incantations, would have power to behold the holy Samuel, while Saul could see nothing.
But is it not said that the woman saw Samuel? — Yes; and here is the only seeming difficulty in all the narrative. We find these four expressions: "The woman saw Samuel," verse 12; "and Samuel said to Saul," verse 15; "then said Samuel," verse 16; and, "because of the words of Samuel," verse 20. And how could it be so written, it is asked, if Samuel was not there, and the woman did not see him, and he did not say the things here recorded?
Answer: This is easily explained by a very common law of language. Consider the circumstances. The woman stood ready to bring up any one that might be called for. She believed, of course, that the one called for came, just as mediums nowadays believe the forms they see are those of their departed friends. Samuel was called for, and this mantled old man appeared. The woman supposed it was Samuel; and Saul supposed it was Samuel; and then, according to the general law of the language of appearance, the narrative proceeds according to their supposition. When it says Samuel, it only means that form that appeared, which theysupposed to be Samuel.
Secondly, the conclusion is apparent that this was only a manifestation of ancient necromancy, sorcery, witchcraft, or Spiritualism; a wholesale deception palmed off [[159]] upon his dupes by the Devil in disguise. Between the ancient and modern manifestations there is this difference: Then the Devil had to pretend to bring up the dead from the ground; for the people then believed that the dead were in the lower regions of the earth; now he pretends to bring them down from the upper spheres; for the prevailing belief now is that those regions are populous with the conscious spirits of the departed.
Let no one then appeal to the workings of the witch of Endor to prove the immortality of the soul, unless he is prepared to claim openly that the Bible is a fiction; that ancient necromancy was a divine practise; and that modern Spiritualism, with all its blasphemies and corruptions, is the only reliable oracle of truth and purity.
The article actually addresses all of these points. Why would God communicate with Saul through a medium that he detests and is an abomination to him?
The Bible asserts that this being was Samuel. You can't read into it any other way...well one could but one runs the risk of adding to or subtracting from God's word.
I don't agree that the bible asserts this. The fact that God punished Saul for using a medium an indication that God had nothing to do with this. If this truly was Samuel, and not a demon pretending to be Samuel, then there are problems. Isn't God the only one with the power to raise the dead? Can Satan really raise the dead? If Satan can raise the dead, doesn't this cause difficulties?
The point I found inriguing was the Saul never saw Samuel. He was depending on the seer to describe and communicate.
1Sa 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
Saul asks the seer what she saw...
1Sa 28:14 And he said unto her, What form [is] he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he [is] covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it [was] Samuel, and he stooped with [his] face to the ground, and bowed himself.
Saul then asks what it looks like. The entomology of the word "perceived" is explained in the article.
After that there is a conversation, but just like in seances today, the demon (I refuse to concede that it was Samuel :-)) spoke through the witch.
Like I said, I find it hard to believe that God would use a method he detests and abhors to bring Samuel back to life. He would be giving credence to those whom he said don't give credence to.
There is a strong presumption in Holy Tradition that purported communications with the dead are really communication with demons. The sole exceptions are the rare instances in which the saints, sanctified by the Holy Spirit and participating in the Uncreated Energies, have manifested themselves after death.
This leaves open the possibility that it was indeed Samuel (since even before Christ's coming, the prophets were filled with the Holy Spirit). However, the vision as a demonic apparition is also possible.
The one point on which I would criticize the author is his notion that the spirit (whether Samuel's immortal soul or a demon) rising from the earth is proof of the demonic origin of the vision. Until Christ's coming, the souls, even of the righteous, were confined in hell, paradise being still shut. Whether or not hell or sheol is in some material sense "beneath the earth", it is the uniform experience of those still in the material and sensual life of this world who have been granted visions involving it, and the uniform testimony (whether literal or poetic) of Scripture and the Church's hymnography that hell (or sheol or hades) is seen or depicted as beneath the earth. Thus, this detail does not contribute to the case on either side.
My NASB version says:
“….And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage.” I Samuel 28:14
Some versions use the word “knew” and other versions use the word “perceived”. While it’s a semantic difference if Saul “knew” it was Samuel there would be no doubt. If Saul “perceived” it was Samuel than Saul may have been deceived unless the English version has a different meaning than the Hebrew intent.
I did a word search on the word “perceived” in the Amplified Bible and below are some other places where the word is used. The Amplified version usually uses the same English word for the same Hebrew/Greek word. I assume the Hebrew is the same word although this was not verified.
As you can see from some of the examples in the Bible where “perceived” is used the word is used in the Hebrew context as acknowledgement or “knew”. I’m not a Hebrew scholar (or a Hebrew anything for that matter) so these examples don’t conclusively proof that the author’s theory is wrong.
Exodus 20:18
Now all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the smoking mountain, and as [they] looked they trembled with fear and fell back and stood afar off.
Judges 6:22
And when Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face!
1 Samuel 3:8
And the Lord called Samuel the third time. And he went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you did call me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.
2 Samuel 12:19
But when David saw that his servants whispered, he perceived that the child was dead. So he said to them, Is the child dead? And they said, He is.
I'm not sure about the amplified, but I have a NASB with Strongs reference and a King James with Strong reference on my puter. The word translasted as "perceived" in the King James appears 974 times in a the old testament. It's used in a wide variety of ways. I think the point the author was making was that Saul didn't "perceive" Samuel because of what he "saw", he perceived Samuel based on who the woman told him it was.
I understand what you're saying, but the author makes the point that language is assumption that both parties are so cleverly deceived that they think it's Samuel and the narrative goes forth from there.
The point I find intriguing is the medium's reaction to the event. Something happened that left her completely undone, something that she had never experienced before, something that allowed her to see thru Saul's disguise and allowed her to know Saul's true identity.
I think it was because the demon told her that it was really the king Saul, not a stranger. This of course would astonish her since the king had previously made his displeasure of fortune tellers known:
1Sa 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
Here's the king, showing up in disguise to someone who was not supposed to be doing what she was doing. The demon tells her it's the king and WHOA she must be thinking...what are YOU doing here, trying to trap me? It's like the President issuing decree that fortune tellers are to be kicked out of the countr and then secretly hunting up and going to a fortune teller.
A couple of points: The devil sometimes tells a bit of the truth to further the deception. Case in point:
Jer 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that [be] in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. Jer 29:9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Then later:
Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Satan told the truth, he just didn't tell the whole truth.
And as far as being from God:
Jer 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that [be] in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Jer 29:9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
As stated previously, I think it's unlikely that God would use a diviner. He states that they are an abomination and that he has not sent them.
I don't think that's the authors position on the transfiguration. I'm a little confused as to what his position was on that.
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