1 Samuel 28
McGeeCHAPTER 28THEME: Saul consults witch of En-dorSaul’s interview with the witch of En-dor poses and provokes many questions. The primary one relates to Samuel. Did she bring Samuel back from the dead? Several explanations have been forthcoming: (1) Some expositors dismiss it as a fraud, taking the position that the witch was a ventriloquist; (2) others maintain that an overwhelming desire to communicate with dead loved ones makes the bereaved victims of deceit; and (3) a third group believe that the witch actually brought Samuel back from the dead. This is untenable, and it is inconsistent with the rest of Scripture.
1 Samuel 28:1
THE PHILISTINES PLAN AN ATTACK, AND SAUL CONSULTS THE WITCH OF EN-DOROnce again the Philistines were gathering their armies together to fight Israel. David gave no distinct promise that he would help them in their war with the Israeliteshe certainly would avoid it if he could. Saul gathered his troops together at Gilboa.
1 Samuel 28:5
Since God was not speaking to Saul, he turned to Satan in desperation. The witch of En-dor was probably a ventriloquist. I think she was partly phony and partly given over to spiritism. I would like to dwell on the subject of spiritism for a moment. We are living in a day of frills and thrills in religion. One of the avenues which thrill-seekers are exploring is modern spiritism, or ancient necromancy. Of course, the strongest argument they have is the witch of En-dor. They say she brought Samuel back from the dead. The question is, “Did Samuel really come back from the dead and communicate with Saul?” If so, it is the only instance of such a thing in the Scripture. Before answering this question, I want you to look at some important background material. Scripture positively condemns the practice of necromancy. This is what Deu_18:9-14 says about the subject: “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.” We are living in a day when there is a great deal of practice in the areas just mentioned. In Time magazine, several years ago, two fortunetellers were listed. According to the magazine, most of the Hollywood stars consulted them in order to find out what the future held for them. We are seeing a revival of this today, but it has been going on a long time. Back in 1947 The Guardian, a publication of the Church of England, ran this article: “In spite of the large amount of fraud, fake, deceit, and thought-reading, conscious or unconscious, that the investigator of psychic research has to contend with, there remains a nucleus of genuine matter that cannot be explained with our present knowledge except by accepting the hypothesis that human personalities exist through death, and that certain persons have the power and gift of contacting them. Churches have nothing to fear from genuine psychic phenomena.” It is amazing that since then there has been a growing interest in this matter of looking at the stars. The so-called science of ESP has also been growing.
Many people have purchased horoscopes. Millions of dollars are going into the pockets of astrologers annually. May I say to you that the Word of God absolutely condemns this sort of thing, and God has judged nations in the past because of it. He even put His own people out of the land for turning from Him to these different abominations. My friend, these are the dangerous practices of the hour. The Scriptures warn us of the danger and predict that there will be an outbreak of it. You will find in the account of Lazarus, the beggar, and the rich man (Luk_16:19-31) that the rich man was strictly forbidden to return to the living. He was told that he could not. Paul was caught up to heaven and silencedhe could not tell what he had seen (2Co_12:2-4). In 2Th_2:9 Paul says, “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” Paul, writing to a younger preacher, says, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1Ti_4:1). We are seeing an increasing number of churches (they are called churches) where Satan is actually worshiped. This is something that the Word of God says will increase in the last days. Now we find Saul going to the witch of En-dor.
1 Samuel 28:8
Notice that this frightens the old witch. She sees supernatural creatures coming out of the ground.
1 Samuel 28:14
If you read the account carefully, you will realize that Saul did not see Samuel. It was the witch, who may never have seen Samuel alive, who said she saw an old man covered with a mantle. Of course they jumped to the conclusion it was Samuel. When they did, he answered as Samuelbecause demons can impersonate. Saul has laid himself wide open for Satan, and Satan has moved in.
1 Samuel 28:15
Saul is abandoned by God, and he is desperately afraid of the advancing Philistines.
1 Samuel 28:16
It is interesting to note that nothing new is added. Saul does not get any new information. Samuel, before his death, had already pronounced the death, the destruction, and the rejection of Saul. Certainly Saul did not gain any comfort, any direction, or any new information from his excursion into the spirit world. This reminds me of an account related by one of the friends of Job. By the way he introduces it, you would think that he had been given some tremendous revelation. Listen to him: “Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof. In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: it stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?” (Job_4:12-17). After this man had this tremendous experience and went through these gyrations, what came out of it that was new?
Nothing! “Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?” That is a self-evident truth. The spirit revealed nothing new! It is obvious from the account of the witch of En-dor that God was not in it. To begin with, God would not call Samuel upSaul makes it clear that God was no longer speaking to him. Was Satan able to call up Samuel? That, of course, is the question. In Scripture we need to understand that only Christ ever communicated with the dead. He alone can speak to the dead. This man Saul had been abandoned by God. As far as he is concerned, heaven is silent. And so Saul turns to hell. Now did Samuel appear to Saul? Several explanations have been offered. There are those who dismiss the entire incident as a fraud. They do not believe anything about it was genuine. They say the witch was a ventriloquist and put on the whole show. I think she was a fraud, too, but because she was as frightened as Saul at what happened, we can’t rule out the supernatural. Houdini, in his day, said he could duplicate 95 percent of the so-called supernatural things that spiritualism claimed it could and did do. Granted that 99 percent of it is fraud, what about the rest of it? I believe that what happened at En-dor was supernatural, but I do not believe God had a thing to do with it. There is, of course, another explanation for what happened and that is the desire of loved ones to communicate with those that have gone before. Both Sir Oliver Lodge and Sir Conan Doyle lost sons in war and wanted to see them. I believe even these men were taken in by spiritualism. Also, many others are deceived because of their strong desire to see their loved ones who are dead. Kipling wrote a poem that I think is the answer to this. The road to En-dor is easy to tread For Mother or yearning Wife. There, it is sure, we shall meet our Dead As they were even in life. Earth has not dreamed of the blessing in store For desolate hearts on the road to En-dor. Whispers shall comfort us out of the dark Handsah, God!that we knew! Visions and voiceslook and hark! Shall prove that our tale is true, And that those who have passed to the further shore May be hailedat a priceon the road to En-dor…. Oh, the road to En-dor is the oldest road And the craziest road of all! Straight it runs to the Witch’s abode, As it did in the days of Saul, And nothing is changed of the sorrow in store For such as go down the road to En-dor! Rudyard Kipling There are those who say that the witch actually brought Samuel from the dead. I say to you that such an explanation is neither tenable nor consistent with the rest of Scripture. We are told in 1Ch_10:13, “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it.” God condemned the thing that Saul did. There are those who use 1Sa_28:12 to prove that God caused Samuel to appear. “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.” I do not hold with this theory. I believe it was an impersonation by a false spirit rather than Samuel who appeared. God no longer spoke to Saul. Worse still, Saul no longer spoke to God. The dead cannot communicate with the living. This was satanic from beginning to end. When I say that the dead cannot communicate with the living, there is one exception. Do you want to hear a voice from the dead? Well, listen to this: “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev_1:17-18). It is the Lord Jesus Christ who holds the keys of the grave and of death. He has come back from the dead. I have a question for you: Why do you want to traffic with a witch or a spirit who you think can give you inside information? If that one is actually in touch with the spirit world, the information comes from hell, not from heavenfor hell is speaking to this earth as well as heaven. Any communication coming that route which looks supernatural (and it may be supernatural) comes from the pit of hell. Why not listen to the Man who went down through the doorway of death and came back? He is the only One who made a two-way thoroughfare of it. He says, “I was dead.
I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of the grave.” If you want any information, go to Him. If you want help, go to Him. If you want salvation, go to Him. He went down through the portal of death for you and for me, and He came out in mighty power which He makes available to His own.