Saul and Samuel’s Ghost

Did Saul really have a spiritist call up Samuel’s ghost? We find the story in 1 Samuel 28. Saul goes to a medium to get an answer from the Lord through his old “friend” Samuel since nothing else is working.

Aside: Saul had ignored and deliberately rebelled against the Lord, then expects God to jump to respond when Saul calls. The only prayer that would be effective would be repentance. And his resort to the prohibited practice of consulting the dead merely reaffirms his rebellious heart. Further, he worshiped the image when it appeared. Not a good sign.

But Saul did get a “message.” The question is who or what spoke to Saul? There are several answers but Dr. Rydelnik has a little different take on it. Some say that it was not really Samuel, but a demon who impersonated him. Another was that it really was Samuel, but it was like a “special dispensation” from the Lord since not even a demon possessed person could have “called” him.

Rydelnik noted that there were two possibilities. One the “witch” was really a fake and merely made up responses for her “clients” who requested insight from the spirit world, or that she did have a demon and the demon made up the responses. Neither would be a source that a reasonable person would consult for guidance.

The fact that she was “surprised” (understatement?) when someone appeared would support either interpretation. If she was a fake, any response would be unusual. And if she had a “familiar” spirit, she recognized that this was different.

The Lord may have given Saul a miraculous message. Note that the message, regardless of who delivered it, did not give Saul guidance as to what to do. The message reaffirmed Saul’s disobedience and accurately predicted that both Saul and his sons would die in the next day’s battle. And that was the extent of the message. That’s no help.

But Saul had removed himself from the “path” for which the Lord would have led him. We cannot expect God to change His plans when I refuse “Plan A.” But was it Samuel? Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus and Peter, James, and John. That again was a miraculous encounter. And a much better outcome, one would surmise. (Matthew 17)

God cannot be confined to a “box” in His responses. Recall Balaam? (Numbers 22) God used a donkey to speak to him. It does appear that the message is from the Lord. And it was certainly 100% percent accurate.

Our lesson today should, then, focus on being in the place where God can talk to us instead of attempting to circumvent Him by constructing an alternative. It has been said that God stops leading us when we rebel. And the only way to reopen communication is to return to the place where we left the last legitimate instruction, complete that, and wait.

God does not have a plan B, nor will He bless my inventions. Saul learned the hard way. Be a wise man and learn from other people’s (i.e. Saul) mistakes.

(Ed. Note This medium is usually referred to as the Witch of En-dor. While in graduate school, I was conducting research on a process nicknamed ENDOR. The exact term escapes me, but it had something to do with electron double resonance. My professor made a note on my summary paper and asked whether this had anything to do with the witch of En-dor. My first realization that he was Biblically literate. We had some interesting conversations after that. That was fun.)