The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

III. Impersonating Demon Deceived King Saul at Endor

The episode of King Saul and the medium of Endor is constantly put forth as evidence of the reappearance, or materialization, of the immortal soul of the prophet Samuel. But let us candidly examine the facts, for the evidence belies such a contention. Note the circumstances. CFF2 1160.1

1. INQUIRED OF WOMAN HAVING “FAMILIAR SPIRIT.”

Saul had “put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land” (1 Samuel 28:3). He had ordered this evil craft to be banished, for it was an abomination before the Lord, and its practice carried with it the death penalty (Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:27). However, the gathering hosts of Philistines brought terror to Saul, who had drifted away from God. And by this time “the Lord answered him not” when he “enquired” (1 Samuel 28:6), because of his apostasy. In desperation for guidance Saul said to his servants, “Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her” (1 Samuel 28:7). And they told him, “Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor.” CFF2 1160.2

So King Saul came to this woman by night in disguise, and requested, “Divine unto me by the familiar spirit” (1 Samuel 28:8), and “bring me up [not down, or forth] Samuel” (1 Samuel 28:11). She was apprehensive. Saul assured the medium that she would not be betrayed or harmed for complying, and the record is that “the woman [not Saul] saw” the materialization of a “spirit” seeming to be Samuel. But observe particularly that first of all the medium was made aware of the identity of her distinguished visitor in disguise, for the first thing the alleged “Samuel” did was to put this forbidden practitioner on her guard. Surely it is but pertinent to ask, Would the true, real Samuel have done that, and then proceed to aid her in her unholy practice of divination? The answer is obvious. CFF2 1160.3

2. IMPERSONATING SPIRIT ANSWERS ILLICIT INQUIRY

In the darkness of the night Saul asked, “What sawest thou?” She responded with this description: “An old man [not a spirit] cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle” (1 Samuel 28:14). Now, this mantle was obviously the robe commonly worn by the prophet. CFF2 1160.4

A second question may properly be interjected at this point, Does an immortal soul, or spirit, still wear a mantle? However, the record simply states that “Saul perceived” (yada’, “to perceive with the mind, to be made aware of”)-that is, he understood from what the medium stated that it was Samu el who supposedly had appeared. Saul saw nothing. He had to ask the medium, “What sawest thou?” (1 Samuel 28:13). And she answered, “I saw gods ascending out of the earth” (1 Samuel 28:13). CFF2 1161.1

The apparition was clearly a satanic spirit impersonating Samuel. The Lord had “departed” from Saul, hence his illicit inquiry. He was clearly on Satan’s territory, and the message imparted had its origin with Satan or his agents, not with God. God would surely not answer in a form that He had expressly forbidden-and Samuel had been dead two years. Nor was the demon’s message meant to reform Saul, but to goad him to despair and ruin. Saul was now at the devil’s mercy. And soon after this clandestine episode Saul took his own life (1 Samuel 31:4)-a suicide who died for his transgression-because he asked counsel of one who had a “familiar spirit” rather than of the God of heaven. That was the cause of his death (1 Chronicles 10:13, 14). CFF2 1162.1

3. A WHOLE SERIES OF INCONSISTENCIES

But let us press the inquiry a bit further: Why did the pretended “Samuel” come “up”—out of the earth? Do immortal souls dwell in the earth? On the other hand, if it were actually a bodily resurrection from the earth then the conscious—soul theory has to be abandoned. It cannot be both. Moreover, if it had been the resurrected Samuel, Saul himself would have seen him, just as with Lazarus in the New Testament. CFF2 1162.2

Again, if Samuel had really been resurrected, how could he have come up out of the earth at Endor, near the sea of Galilee, when he was buried in distant Ramah (1 Samuel 25:1), near Jerusalem? Moreover, if Samuel were raised, it must have been either by the act of God or the act of the devil. But Satan cannot raise the dead. And it is inconceivable that God would have raised him in response to an evil agency that He had forbidden under pain of death, in order to talk with Saul on the devil’s own ground, where the scene, or seance, assuredly took place. CFF2 1162.3

Moreover, it is incredible that Samuel himself, who held witchcraft to be a heinous sin (1 Samuel 15:23), would hold converse with this abandoned woman in the midst of her incantations, and alert her before delivering his message. Nevertheless, she supposed the apparition to be Samuel. And Saul likewise supposed it to be Samuel-on the basis of appearance, despite all its incongruities and inconsistencies. Both were deceived. CFF2 1162.4

4. CLEARLY A DECEPTION PUT ON BY THE DEVIL

The conclusion must be sound that this was unquestionably a manifestation induced by necromancy, sorcery, witchcraft-the work of a “familiar spirit,” or in other words, spiritism. And “familiar spirits” are the spirits of “devils.” (See 1 Corinthians 10:20, 21; cf. Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28.) The witch of Endor episode was a deception put on by the devil, who pretended to bring Samuel up from the ground. An evil angel clearly played the role of Samuel. Let no one be duped by the episode of Endor. CFF2 1163.1