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Samuel's Ghost and The Witch of Endor Part II
28:10 10 And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, "As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing." Since Saul was king he had it within his power to see that the woman came to no harm but Saul cannot control God and if God wanted the land rid of witches and sorceresses, then there was nothing Saul could have done to stop it. 28:11 - 1311 Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" And he said, "Bring up Samuel for me." 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!" 13 And the king said to her, "Do not be afraid. What did you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth."14 So he said to her, "What is his form?" And she said, "An old man is coming 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 down. There are some points to be made here. Point #1 - Samuel was dead and with God in heaven. Paul says in 2nd Corithians Chapter 5 that if we are absent from the body then we are present with the Lord. The only way to be absent from the body is to die. We can deduce from this that Samuel's grave nor in a place of torment but a place of comfort. No one who practices an art that is specifically forbidden by God and considered by God to be an abomination, will have the power to call souls in and out of heaven as they please. God would not allow that to happen. It is much more likely that this was a demonic spirit imitating Samuel. The very same thing happens today. There used to be a show on the Sci-Fi Channel called Crossing Over with Jonathan Edwards. This Mr. Edwards would claim to be in contact with souls who had departed this earthly life. It is much more likely that he was in contact with demonic spirits who were imitating people. The primary weapon of a demonic spirit is deception and these rebellious spirits know us far better than we know them. Point #2 - The first thing this "spirit" did was reveal to the witch of Endor who Saul was. Saul never actually saw the spirit. He had to take the word of the witch that it was indeed the ghost of Samuel. Saul asked the witch, "What did you see?" Interestingly, she replied that she saw a spirit come up from the earth. Some believe that the scriptures imply that the abode of the damned is in the bowels of the earth. If this had truly been the spirit or ghost of Samuel, he would have descended from above not come up from below. When Saul asked the witch of Endor what the form of the spirit was, it was only then that the witch described the garb that a prophet commonly wore in those days. Saul never saw the spirit but he assumed it was Samuel by the witch of Endor's description of the spirit. Samuel's Ghost and the Witch of Endor Page 3
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