Replies

As you can see, this only had the effect of driving Saul into utter despair. It made him feel doomed to hell, not once bringing to mind God’s forgiveness if he repented, though forgiveness would not necessarily imply a return of power to the throne. This result (of despair) is probably why you don’t go around speaking with strange spirits in the first place, especially none called from a Demon possessed Witch. They lie, like the witches who entangled Macbeth, speaking lies like truth to ensnare the foolish.

Good point, though I DO think God allowed Samuel to talk to Saul rather than it being a demon posing as Samuel and this is certainly an exception that does not prove the rule. I think it is funny that this Witch of Endor was terrified that Saul came to her, since in I Samuel 28:3 says, " Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land." Saul disguised himself and went to her at night. When he asked her to consult a spirit and call up someone for him, she answered, "Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?".

So Saul reassures her by telling her she won't be put to death for doing this, but she still didn't know it was the king asking for this. She asked him who he wanted brought up and he said, Samuel. It was when she saw Samuel, that she freaked out and recognized that King Saul was there with her. She starts screaming, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” I get the impression that, like most self-professed mediums, palm readers, etc., that she wasn't used to actually having a real spirit come to her. I think she was shocked that it happened at all.

When Saul believed it was Samuel that the witch was seeing - she described him to Saul, though Saul never actually saw him - and Saul laments that God doesn't hear him anymore, he asks Samuel what he should do about the Philistines. Samuel says, "Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.” (I Samuel 28:16-19)

What happened afterward was exactly as Samuel said it would. In I Samuel 31:1-6, we read:

Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically. Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.” But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.

This is why I don't think it was a demon posing as Samuel. The events DID happen as Samuel said they would and no demon has the power to subvert God's plans. Saul had already messed up so bad before the Lord, that he knew there was no coming back. He blew it! And David was to be the new King over Israel.

I think it is unwise to underestimate the theatrics of devils, especially since man is prone to emotionalism. That was why I included Clarke’s commentary, which described both a familiar spirit, the sense of the Hebrew word, and an example from the Aeneid of a woman in a divine ecstasy.

Also keep in mind the very first words out of this “Samuel’s” mouth, which was Who has “disquieted” him from his rest. If it was God, or some angel, don’t you think Samuel would have come up with a prepared message that did not give glory to the supposed powers of darkness?

Matthew Henry makes the same point:

“I. The spectre, or apparition, personating Samuel, asks why he is sent for (1Sa_28:15): Why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up? To us this discovers that it was an evil spirit that personated Samuel; for (as bishop Patrick observes) it is not in the power of witches to disturb the rest of good men and to bring them back into the world when they please; nor would the true Samuel have acknowledged such a power in magical arts: but to Saul this was a proper device of Satan’s, to draw veneration from him, to possess him with an opinion of the power of divination, and so to rivet him in the devil’s interests.”

I forgot to include this, but I also do not think it was beyond the intellect and knowledge of Satan to comprehend that Saul was in immediate danger of judgment. I’ve read some books and testimony from former Occultists, and while their “familiars” (Spirit guides, who always claim to be some dead person, or a god, or sometimes Jesus, hence “familiar”) often gave fraudulent predictions, at other times they spoke true, though probably the devils were lucky, the prediction wasn’t that incredible, or they put it into motion themselves. We should not underestimate the deceptive power of the devils.