1st Samuel 28:3-20 Saul And The Witch Of Endor

1st Samuel 28:3-20 SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR 4-20-13

Was the spirit that was supposedly summoned up by the witch of Endor really the deceased Prophet Samuel, or was it a demon? There are many different opinions on the matter; my personal opinion is that it was a demon.

To begin with, God would not call Samuel up--Saul makes it clear that God was no longer speaking to him.

There are many scriptures that speak out against such an abominable practice therefore it's inconceivable that God would grant credibility to it in order to communicate with a man, especially since God had already taken the position of not communicating with King Saul.

So did Samuel really come back from the dead and communicate with Saul?"

Are we really supposed to believe that Samuel, a servant of God, would favor those that God no longer communicates with? -- And why would a person think that a dead prophet could do more for him than the living ones?

There are a lot of well schooled Bible believers who say that the witch of Endor actually called up Samuel from the dead, but to me, only God can call back the dead.

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>>1 Chronicles 10:13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; --

God condemned the thing that Saul did and He would never bless such as this, also God said in;

>>Leviticus 20: 27A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.

= God would never put His stamp of approval on any such demonic activity.

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Even in our day and time there are tarot cards, palm readers, horoscopes and Ouija Boards, all these are modern forms of spiritism. They are dangerous links to the demonic, even if undertaken in a spirit of fun; people should stay clear of such, as we would a rattle snake.

These so called mediums have what is called a "séance" where gullible people give a lot of money to be deceived into believing that their hearing from a dead person, and often the so called mediums themselves believe the messages they receive are from spirits of the dead.

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>>Deut.18: 9-12 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.* 12For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD:

>> Lev. 20:6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring * (spiritual adultery) after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

= To me it is outside the realm of reason to even consider God allowing this witch to call up His Prophet Samuel, so I'll have to stand with the minority and say that the witch of Endor called up a demon pretending to be Samuel.

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* As we get into our text today here in 1st Sam.28: I believe we'll have to agree that Saul's experience with the witch at Endor was purely Satanic.

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* Listen as I read from 1st Samuel 28: as to what happened.

3Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

= In Saul's earlier day's he was influenced by Samuel's leadership, and he obeyed the commands in the Mosaic Law, he cast out those who practiced occultic arts. But later he begin to go away from God, he became high-minded and rebellious.

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4And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.

5And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.

= remember, the HOLY SPIRIT had departed from Saul; he felt alone, he was afraid.

>>1 Samuel 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

= After the death of Samuel (the only man to have much spiritual influence on Saul) his courage seems completely gone.