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Samuel's Ghost and the Witch of Endor
15 Now Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul answered, "I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do." Saul claims that God had departed from him. That is not nor will it ever be true. God says He will never leave us or forsake us. It was not God who had left Saul, but Saul who had left God. Saul never listened to Samuel when he was alive. This illustrates how desperate Saul was to continue living that he would try to seek the spirit of a now-dead prophet. If this had truly been the spirit of Samuel, what do you think he would have told Saul? Since Samuel spoke for God, he would probably have instructed Saul to make peace with the Supreme Being of the universe by asking for His forgiveness. I think he would have told Saul that God said that all who practiced the black arts would have to be put to death. He would havetold Saul to execute the witch of Endor. Finally, Samuel would have told Saul to free David from the banishment he had imposed upon him. David was to be the king of Israel and Saul should accept that fact graciously. We see the true nature of the spirit who imitated Samuel by the answers he gave Saul. 16 Then Samuel said: "Why then do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? 17 And the Lord has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." The first thing a demonic spirit strives to do is take away a person's hope. He stated that the Lord had left Saul which is a lie. The Lord never leaves anyone. They choose to leave the Lord. When a person's hope is taken away, then feelings of depression set in. These feelings lead to suicidal thoughts and that is what the evil spirit wants to happen. The demonic spirit humiliated Saul by mentioning the fact that David was to be crowned king. Saul had tried to kill David but failed. David had a chance to kill Saul but refused because he dared not harm the one God placed on the throne of Israel. The spirit prophesied the death of Saul. Only God decides who lives and who dies. We know from scripture that there is a death angel. Perhaps the beings that inhabit the spirit world know who is about to join them. The bottom line here is that everything that "Samuel's Ghost" said was designed to destroy the character of Saul leaving him a man with no hope. God does not do that. The rest of the story has the Witch of Endor feeding Saul his last meal before he goes out into battle the next day and dies, along with his sons, at the hand of the Philistines. If Saul had listened to God and his prophet Samuel, things would have turned out much better for Saul Samuel's Ghost and the Witch of Endor Page 1 Samuel's Ghost and the Witch of Endor Page 2
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