Medium at Endor

Towards the end of his life, Saul faced a crisis when Israel was invaded by the Philistine army. Saul was terrified and uncertain about what to do. When he sought the Lord, he received no answer.

He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets (1 Sam 28:6).

Samuel was dead, so he could not ask him for guidance. In desperation, he entertained a foolish idea to communicate with Samuel through a spiritualist. This proved to be hard, because Saul had removed all spiritists and medums out of the land (1 Sam 28:9). However, Saul’s servants found a medium at Endor, and Saul went to consult with her. During the consultation, a man in a cloak appeared and rebuked Samuel.

And the woman said to Saul, “I see a spirit coming up out of the earth.” He said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe.” And Saul perceived it as Samuel (1 Sam 28:13-14).

Bible interpreters have disagreed about this passage. Many believe that it is not possible for a dead person to return to earth. Others believe that God allowed it in this situation. I agree with the first view. God does not usually allow people who have died to return and speak to those who are living. In experiences of this type, it is usually an evil spirit pretending to be the dead person. This was the situation with Saul and Samuel. An evil spirit appeared to Saul by pretending to be Samuel. There are several reasons why this is the case.

• The woman was filled with fear when the spirit appeared (1 Sam 28:12-13). This is a sign that it was evil. The words that the spirit spoke filled Saul with fear (1 Sam 28:20). God’s words produce peace, not fear. Evil spirits create fear.

• The spirit built up Samuel’s name.
  

  The LORD has done what he predicted through me (1 Sam 28:17).

  If Samuel had gone to paradise, he would not feel the need to say “I told you so”. He would have been honouring God.

• The spirit said that God had taken the kingdom off Saul because he had refused to execute judgement against the Amalekites.
  

  The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. Because you did not obey the LORD and carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today (1 Sam 28:17-18).

  This is not correct. God took the Kingdom out of Saul’s hands when he offered sacrifices to God at Gilgal (1 Sam 13:7-12). This was something that only a descendent of Levi should have done. Samuel warned Saul that this disobedience would cost him the kingdom.
  

  You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command” (1 Sam 13:13-14).

  Saul lost his Kingdom because he offered a sacrifice, when the prophet had told him to wait.

  I have explained in this article that Samuel was obsessed with the Amalekites and went beyond his prophetic role by killing this king. The evil spirit that had prompted him to do this was probably the same one that now appeared to Saul pretending to be Samuel. This spirit had spoken on behalf of Samuel before.

• The spirit declared that Saul and his sons would die. A spirit expressing a death wish is usually not from God. If God intended Saul to be killed, he would most likely have sent a prophet to warn him. He did not, so the evil spirit took the opportunity to tell Saul that he would die.
  

  The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me (1 Sam 13:19).

  Saul accepted the evil spirit's word. When we agree with the word of an evil spirit, we give it permission to do what it has predicted. By accepting the word of the evil spirit, Saul allowed the spiritual powers of evil to fulfil it. The Israelites were defeated by the Philistines, his three sons were killed, and Saul was struck by enemy arrows (1 Sam 31:3). Saul’s time as king may not have been complete, but the powers of evil brought it to an end, because he accepted a word of evil against him.

• Saul took his own life, after he was injured critically be enemy arrows (1 Sam 31:3).
  

  Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and abuse me.” But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it (1 Sam 31:4).

  I doubt that God wanted Saul to die this way. Taking one's own life is contrary to his will. The nature of his death confirms that he was spoken to by an evil spirit.

Christians should not contact the dead by consulting mediums or spiritism. Some people have used the incident with Saul and Samuel to justify these activities. If we understand that this was an evil spirit pretending to be Samuel, then the dangers of this activity are confirmed.