The Witch of Endor
1Sam. 28:7 Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath
a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants
said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit(1) at Endor.
(1) This was Saul’s first big mistake, this would accomplish nothing but to defile him,
(Lev.19:31), and cause God to cut him off, even more than he had already (Lev.
20:6).
God would never allow His faithful servant Samuel to be called up from the dead by this
woman whom He considers an abomination, (2Kings 23:24).
1Sam. 28:8 And Saul disguised himself(2), and put on other raiment, and
he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and
he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him
up, whom I shall name unto thee.
(2) Ironically, the need for this disguise is because Saul himself had banned all people
who were doing such practices in his land(1Sam. 28:3, 9).
1Sam. 28:9 And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what
Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the
wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to
cause me to die?
1Sam. 28:10 And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD
liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing(3).
(3) This was Saul’s second big mistake, he was assuring her on behalf of the Lord no punishment for what she was about to do.
This would be giving himself divine authority, which he did not have, and such action is
called blasphemous, (Mat. 9:2-3, Mark 2:7, Luke 5:21, John 10:33)
1Sam. 28:11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And
he said, Bring me up Samuel(4).
(4) There is no way that this apparition could possibly be the true Samuel, it would be in
direct violation to God’s word which tells us that the dead have no more dealings with
anything of the physical world, (Ecc. 9:5,6).
The only way that a person who was dead can have any interaction with the living, is for
them to be resurrected to life themselves.
The true Samuels spirit, (breath), is in the hand of God, as is all those who died, (Psa 31:5, Ecc 12:7, Job 12:10, Dan. 5:23, Luke 23:46).
1Sam. 28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud
voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me?
for thou art Saul.
1Sam. 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest
thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods(5) ascending out of the
earth.
(5) Here we see the woman identify it as “gods ascending”.
Samuel was not a “god” nor an angel, and his body could not have ascended out of the
earth for that would have made this a resurrection.
The spirit of Samuel is in the hand of God, and no defiling diviner of Satan’s could pluck
this faithful servant out of the hand of God, (John 10:28, 29).
Scripture tell us that “the gods of the people are idols”, (Psa. 96:5 NKJV).
The word “idols”, from the reference above, Strongs indicates it also meaning “false
gods”.
Simply put; “the gods of the people are false gods”.
1Sam. 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(6). And Saul perceived
that it was Samuel(7), and he stooped with his face to the ground, and
bowed himself(8).
(6) Many conclude that this reference to the robe that this apparition was wearing is the
white robe of righteousness given to the saints, yet there is no such indication of this.
Matter of fact this is the same Hebrew word used for robes that Saul himself wears
(1Sam.24:4).
(7) She had described it to him and he “perceived” that it was Samuel, based only on her
description.
Nowhere does it actually say that Saul saw this vision!
(8) ...He stooped to bow....
Sounds a little redundant, doesn’t it?
It’s real simple, the Hebrew word for “stooped” simply reads to “bow down“, the
majority of times it was translated.
And, the Hebrew word for “bowed himself” was primarily translated as “worship”.
This may have been more accurately translated with the context taken into consideration,
and read as; ..he bowed down to worship., now that makes much more sense, especially
considering that this woman just told him that these were “god’s”.
This again paints a very unscriptural picture, and if Saul did this, then that would
have been his third big mistake.
We know that men are not to worship men!! Or even angels!!(Rev. 22:8,9)
1Sam. 28:15 And Samuel said to Saul(9), Why hast thou disquieted me, to
bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines
make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no
more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that
thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
(9) Here we see,(also in v.16), the inspired writer recording that “Samuel” spoke.
If this is not literally Samuel then why would he have done such a thing?
This answer lies in other examples of Satan’s deceptions.
Eve, while in the garden, spoke to a serpent, (Gen. 3:1-4).
Real serpents don’t have the vocal ability to speak, this was but a deception of Satan.
Yet, the writer recorded it as it appeared, that an actual serpent was talking, he did not
say that is was Satan appearing as a serpent.
Again, we have Moses while confronting the Pharaoh’s sorcerers, (Exo. 7:9-12).
The sorcerers had rods that they threw down and became serpents.
We know that Satan doesn’t have the power to create life where there was none, yet the
writer records it as it appeared.
These were either serpents all along that somehow appeared as rods, or they were never
really turned to serpents but just appeared that they did by some sort of trickery.
Simply put; the writers recorded Satan’s tricks as they appeared, and since this
apparition “appeared” to be Samuel, that is exactly how he recorded it.
1Sam. 28:16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me,
seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
1Sam. 28:17 And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the
LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy
neighbour, even to David:
1Sam. 28:18 Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor
executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done
this thing unto thee this day.
1Sam. 28:19 Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me(10): the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.
(10) This apparition told Saul that he and his sons would be killed in battle the next day, which did happen.
How was a false spirit, that did not come from God, able to forecast the future?
Well, the hint is in v.15 and 16, which tells us that God was not dealing with Saul anymore.
He had disobeyed God and had lost his favor and blessings, and was replaced by an evil spirit, (1Sam. 16:14, 1Sam. 28:6).
We should all know what is able to happen when God departs from ones life, and His blessings and protection is removed, Satan is then able to plague that person with his own evils, (Job 1-2).
Satan is even able to kill that person, in the case of Job the deal was for Satan not to kill him, (Job 2:6), but God made no such deal for Saul.
This evil spirit did not make a prophecy from God, he simply told Saul that which he would do to him the next day, and without God’s protection this was a simple task.
God had long before departed from Saul, so Saul’s prior disobedience combined with this visit to this defiling woman and evil apparition was cause for God to allow this penalty to be imposed upon him, (1Chron. 10:13-14).