The Woman Of Endor And Familiar Spirits

In 1978 or 1979, I was told about family members driving to Nashville – I’m from Tennessee – to see a lady because there were things going on in their lives that they didn’t understand. They had been praying but it seemed to them that God was silent. So they went to see this lady, who shared some things with them. Then this lady asked one of my family members, “Who is this person who thinks that he or she cannot be touched by Satan?”

As my mom was recounting that to me, I began to think who the person could be, thinking that it could possibly be me. And I’ll tell you why. When I was in college, at every break between quarters, I’d come home and spend time with my grandfather, a Baptist minister, and talk Bible – for hours. I’d talk about what I was learning, and he’d ask me questions to gauge the depth of my learning.

So, I was kind of feeling full of myself, thinking that maybe I had gotten the enemy’s attention. I was a novice. And you know that scripture says you don’t give any responsibility to a novice. In my mind I think I’m one thing, but in the realm of the spirit, I’m a novice.

Then my mom got the strangest look and she said that she found out that the question was being asked about her. And she said the person had described some things about her that no one else knew about. So, sometime later, I understood that what my mom was describing was a family member who had been involved with a familiar spirit.

You don’t hear much about familiar spirits these days. But don’t let that cause you to believe that they are not active today.

This is my lead into the message today about the woman of Endor from First Samuel 28. First Samuel 28 is the most detailed record of the operation of a familiar spirit in Scripture.

One of the things I think about as I look back on that conversation with my mom is that this record has led us to believe that it’s okay to interact with people like this – who can speak to us in a way other than through God.

Christians will veer outside of Christianity when they are not getting answers to the issues and situations that they face. So they go to other places searching for answers.

Let’s lay some foundation first.

What is a familiar spirit? Simply, a familiar spirit is a devil, some prefer the word demon, impersonating someone who is dead. They know things about the person like where they lived, where they grew up, who the person married, etc.

Why do they know things like this? They watch us with the hope of using the information to deceive another person away from the counsel of God.

Do you remember the movie The Wizard of Oz? Do you remember the scene where Dorothy is with Mr. Marvel? They are sitting at a table, and he is about to tell her what he sees in his crystal ball. But before he does, he has Dorothy close her eyes and he finds a photograph of her aunt in her purse.

As he was telling Dorothy what he was seeing in his crystal, He began to tell her some things that would be familiar to her. For example, seeing a woman and describes her and Dorothy says it was her aunt. He did this to make her think along a certain line of thinking. And, ladies and gentlemen, that is important, and I want you to remember that. Think along or a certain way.

So, he convinced Dorothy, because of what he could see in his crystal, that she needed to get back home because of things going on with her aunt. Do you remember the story? Do you remember the scene? Both are important.

So, a familiar spirit is a devil who knows about you. And I’m telling you guys, they know about all of us. They know about All of us. I’m not trying to scare you. I’m not trying to get you to go home and keep the lights on at night or put garlic on the doors. But what I want you to understand is the evil spirits know you enough that they can use you against you.

Most of the information that a familiar spirit will give, partially all of it is going to be past information. They can only give you what they have observed about you.

What is the purpose of a familiar spirit? The spirit wants you to seek answers from a source other than God. Whenever a person acts on a word from a familiar spirit, masquerading as a word from God, that person will be implementing the plans of the enemy into his life.