The Witch at Endor - 1 Samuel 28

1 Samuel 28:3-25

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.

⁴ And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.

⁵ And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.

⁶ And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

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 at Endor.

⁸ And Saul disguised himself, 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.

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?

¹⁰ And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

¹¹ Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

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.

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.

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.

¹⁵ And Samuel said to Saul, 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.

¹⁶ Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?

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:

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.

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: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

²⁰ Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

²¹ And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.

²² Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.

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.

²⁴ And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof:

²⁵ And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.

Here are some points to consider when reading this biblical account:

1. Saul was in a place of fear. The Spirit of the Lord had departed from him and he was completely under the influence of the dark forces of Satan.

2. King Saul's continuous rebellion caused him to be forced to turn deeper into the darkness to the point where he had no peace of mind and was governed by fear. He sought out communion with the dead as a form of comfort and as a desperate attempt to recapture the peace of mind he once had.

3. Saul knew what he was doing was wrong. He knew it! We always know deep down when we are committing a sin. Some persons are just better at silencing that soft still voice than others. The Holy Spirit pricks each and every one of us. He came to her at night under the cloak of darkness. Evil dwells in darkness not light. Sin thrives in the darkness not the light.

4. Saul also wore a disguise which once again reinforces the fact that he knew what he was doing was wrong and that it was not a fitting activity for someone of his status in Israel to engage in. Also, the fact that he saw it fit to wear a disguise meant that the knowledge of the truth was still in him and pricked him.

5. Good does not compromise. Good does not compromise! It is not in the nature of good to compromise. It is always a clear distinction between right and wrong, light and darkness, good and evil. Evil compromises. Darkness compromises because it is its nature because it accepts all truths in an attempt to disclaim the singular real truth.

6. The moment a source of good starts to compromise only demise, doom and detriment can follow.

7. The evil spirit looking like Samuel revealed to her that it was King Saul in disguise and she was correct. Remember, accuracy does not equate to true and holy inspiration. Saul was already on the devil's playground for years so of course Satan knew everything.

8. Verse 16 contains a major loop hole that exposes the fake Samuel as a fake. God is never our "enemy" the Devil is. Satan loves to twist the truth. King Saul through his rebellion made himself the enemy of God. God's hand of mercy was always there for him but he kept rebelling and he became spiritually asleep and enshrouded by darkness and the sad part is Saul did not even realize it.

9. Therefore, the Samuel Saul is speaking to is demon since he is not speaking in accordance to the Word.

10. Now the spirit of "Samuel" predicts that Saul and his sons will die in battle the next day. Obviously, it would come to fruition. The Devil is brilliant and intelligent. He used to be the Son of the morning and he was one of the highest angels. He knows exactly how he intends to seek, kill and destroy every single human being on Earth so it is no surprise that he will know exactly how he plans to destroy you.

11. Remember, accuracy does not mean that it comes from the true God. Once they speak not in accordance to this Word- the Bible- there is no light in them.

12.

Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 King James Version (KJV)

⁵ For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

⁶ Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.