Talking to the Dead?

This post is part of my Of Kings and Men series.

The Philistines Gather For War

Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.”

So David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.”

And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.”
- 1 Samuel 28:1-2 NKJV

I mentioned how David had joined the Philistines in my post No Quick Fixes. Here we see that David gives an ambiguous answer regarding fighting against Israel which Achish interprets favorably.

Prologue?

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.
- 1 Samuel 28:3 NKJV

At first glance, this piece of information seems out of place. We first learn about Samuel’s death in chapter 1 Samuel 25 (covered in my post Blessed are the Peacemakers) but why mention it again now? Just keep this piece of information in mind, it will come in handy soon.

King Saul finds himself in a precarious situation.

Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa.
- 1 Samuel 28:4 NKJV

The Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem, and Gilboa. These two towns lie on the opposite sides of the valley of Jezreel.

Locate Mount Gilboa, where Saul was. Then notice Shunem where the Philistines were. Also look at where en-Dor is located.

I mention the Valley of Jezreel because that is where Gideon and his 300 men defeated a vast Philistine army (Judges 6:33). If Gideon and 300 men could have victory, why is Saul so afraid? Saul has a large army, he is king, he has experience fighting wars, so why is he afraid?

Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.
- 1 Samuel 28:4-5 NKJV

I believe one of the reasons Saul was afraid is that he was aware that David had allied himself with the Philistines (1 Samuel 27 mentioned in my post No Quick Fixes). Nobody wanted to face David and his men in battle. It was Saul’s jealousy and pride that led him to repeatedly seek to destroy David, this not only cost precious resources but also drove David from Israel. In essence, Saul had caused the conditions that now left Israel vulnerable to an attack from the Philistines. I also believe that once the Philistines found out that David would not be fighting for Saul they were emboldened in their desire to attack Israel.

A great difference between Saul facing the Philistines from when Gideon faced the Philistines is that Gideon did so with the assurance that God was with him (Judges 7:15). Saul on the other hand probably feels all alone.

Saul had repeatedly rejected the counsel of Samuel, God’s prophet (Obedience During Emergencies, Mostly Obedient), he also exiled David, arguably the best military leader in the land (The Battle Belongs to the LORD, Behaving Wisely, Persecuted, Persecuted yet Invincible, Mercy on Your Enemies), and Saul had also slain the priests of the Lord (1 Samuel 22:6-19).

Troubles with Communication

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.
- 1 Samuel 28:6 NKJV

Saul is afraid and now he seeks to communicate with God. However, God is not answering Saul. Saul had cut off the channels of communication that God had established. Through his rebellion, Saul had hardened his heart against the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. And now Saul expected God to give him visions, dreams, and revelations? Saul was not turning to God with humility and repentance. Saul was not seeking reconciliation with God, Saul sought deliverance from his enemies, and was not interested in a personal conversion experience.

It was Saul’s own rebellion and stubbornness that got him into that situation, and only humility and repentance could save him, but he was too proud.

Making Matters Worse

Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.”

And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.”
- 1 Samuel 28:7 NKJV

According to Joshua 17:11-13, En-Dor might have been a place that remained under Philistine rule. This would also explain why this woman found refuge there.

Saul had full knowledge that necromancy had been expressly forbidden by God under the penalty of death.

‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.
- Leviticus 20:6 NKJV

Saul cut himself off from the Lord through personal disobedience as well as his abuse of both priestly and prophetic institutions in Israel and now he was turning to the occult for guidance. While Samuel was alive, Saul had commanded that all mediums and spiritists be put to death (1 Samuel 28:9). Now Saul intentionally sought a medium to consult the dead.

If God was not answering Saul, do you think that anything that comes from Saul’s encounter with this “spirit” could possibly come from God?

So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”
- 1 Samuel 28:8 NKJV

Saul was encamped at Mt. Gilboa, the Philistine army was encamped at Shunem, and Endor was north of Shunem.

In order to go to En-Dor saul would have to go through or around Shunem, which is where the Philistine army had encamped. So Saul put on a disguise not only to fool the witch but also to slip by the Philistines undetected. Saul placed himself at great risk of being caught by seeking out the medium at En-Dor. To make matters even worse, by seeking out the witch Saul was intentionally exposing himself to demonic powers. Saul had already a history of struggling with evil spirits (1 Samuel 16:14-23; 18:10; 19:9), and now he was willingly exposing himself to someone who worked with the occult, placing himself in the territory of Satan.

You Know What Saul did right?

Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”
- 1 Samuel 28:9 NKJV

While Samuel was alive Saul had all the mediums and spiritists killed in an effort to rid Israel of all banned revelatory practices (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6, 27; Deuteronomy 18:10-11). The woman reminds Saul of what he had done, this should have caused him to think twice about what he was about to do. He was just reminded how God had prohibited anyone from attempting to communicate with the dead. Why would anyone search for truth in sources prohibited by God?

Stubbornly Saul presses on.

And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”
- 1 Samuel 28:10 NKJV

This shocked me. Saul swears in the name of God, in essence calling God as a witness, to his disobedience of God’s will. Saul is invoking God to grant immunity to one who is breaking God’s command. Saul is turning God against Himself. This oath is not only foolish, it is actually blasphemy! (Bergen, Robert D. The New American Commentary. Broadman & Holman, 1996. (p266))

Samuel is that you?

Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”

And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?”

And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.”
- 1 Samuel 28:11-13 NKJV

Verse 13, the word the NKJV translates as “spirit” is the Hebrew word אֱלֹהִים or 'ĕlōhîm (el-o-heem') according to Strongs Definition “gods in the ordinary sense.”

Literal Standard Version translates 1 Samuel 28:13 as:
And the king says to her, “Do not fear; for what have you seen?” And the woman says to Saul, “I have seen gods coming up out of the earth.”

You can see more translations of this passage side by side here.

This description matches the pagan belief that the dead become gods and that mediums and spiritists had the power to conjure these gods and you could make your request to them. Notice how often you read the phrase “bring up”

So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”
- 1 Samuel 28:8 NKJV (bold mine)

Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

- 1 Samuel 28:11 NKJV (bold mine)

So he said to her, “What is his form?”

And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.
- 1 Samuel 28:14 NKJV (bold mine)

Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
- 1 Samuel 28:15a NKJV (bold mine)

I know that many want to understand this encounter as Saul talking to the spirit of Samuel. Yet the description of the encounter favors the understanding that Samuel is being brought up from the grave, not brought down from heaven. This repeated description of Samuel coming up does not fit an understanding of him coming down from heaven, from the presence of God. My understanding is that the description found in the biblical text favors the worldview of the pagan religions that God had warned Israel about. The description of this encounter favors the pagan view that Samuel, who had died, became a god and can be brought up from the grave by a medium.

If you hold to the view that the moment someone dies they either go up to heaven or down to hell, would the description found in 1 Samuel 28 mean that Samuel went to hell and not heaven?

Are there other options?

If not Samuel then who?

The Bible describes spirits that work wonders. It does not mean that these are spirits of people who have died, but rather spiritual beings. For example, we have the story found in Acts 16:16-19.

Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days.

But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
- Acts 16:16-19 NKJV

This story describes a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit. Even though what the girl was saying is true it was not part of God’s plan. the evidence for this is that Paul cast out the spirit in the name of Jesus. If the spirit had been doing the will of God would Paul have cast it out?

Jesus met a demon-possessed man in the country of the Gadarenes and the unclean spirits also spoke truth concerning Jesus, even though these were not spirits that were doing the will of God.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”
- Luke 8:28 NKJV

These two accounts give us a glimpse of the invisible world that exists around us. There are spirits at work and they are not necessarily working on God’s behalf, rather they seem to be against God. Jesus warns about this especially concerning the last days.

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
- Matthew 24:24 NKJV

I am not aware of a clear description of who are these spirits and where they came from. But I believe that Revelation 12:9 gives us a good idea of one possibility.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
- Revelation 12:9 NKJV

Based on this text, my understanding is that there are fallen angels that work on the earth as evil spirits and they speak truth and lies and use their power to deceive God’s people. This fits with all the warnings that God gave Israel regarding mediums and spiritists. God does not want His children to contact the spirit world because it is filled with demons (fallen angels). We can talk directly to God through prayer, God speaks to us through the Bible and the Holy Spirit and prophets, we have no need to try to contact spirits or ghosts or the dead because in so doing we open ourselves to be deceived by demonic forces.

And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
- Isaiah 8:19-20 NKJV

(I have spoken about what happens to humans after death in more detail previously and you can find the audio of that message here. I also touch on it on here)

Was God speaking to Saul?

Here are a few more details that caught my attention in this passage.

Only the woman seems to be able to see the “god” that comes up out of the ground.

So he said to her, “What is his form?”

And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.
- 1 Samuel 28:14 NKJV

Saul is the one who decides that this being is Samuel based on the woman’s description. The biblical text refers to this being as Samuel but I believe this to be merely a storytelling device. They have to refer to the apparition in some way, and Saul identified it as Samuel so the text reflects that. For example, in Joshua 5:13-15, the text describes a man standing with his sword drawn. Later we find out this is indeed God in the form of a man interacting with Joshua, but the biblical text first describes him as a man, since that is what Joshua perceived him to be at first.

The fact that Saul stoops with his face to the ground and bows down also bothers me because this seems to me like worship. In the book of Revelation, we find two occasions where John is about to worship a heavenly being and the being stops him from doing so, reminding him to worship only God (Revelation 19:10, 22:8-9).

So this being that came out of the ground would either be God, or a being that desires to be worshiped as God.

Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”
- 1 Samuel 28:15 NKJV (bold mine)

Clearly, God is not talking to Saul, as we read earlier in verse 6. God’s silence is the reason why Saul sought the medium in the first place. Since we know God is not talking to Samuel, and we also established that the text does not describe Samuel coming down from heaven but rather coming up, the two remaining options seem to be either Samuel’s spirit was in hell or this is not Samuel after all. The idea that Samuel is in hell is problematic since he was a faithful servant of God, also, if he was in fiery torment would he have said “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” The language used by this being pretending to be Samuel indicates that he was not suffering in the flames of hell.

Once again, I believe that the textual evidence points to a supernatural being that is opposed to God. You could call this being a fallen angel or a demon, but definitely not the spirit of Samuel or anything coming from God.

You can read the entire interaction between Saul and “Samuel” in 1 Samuel 28:16-19.

Pagan Worship?

One last thing I would like to point out is a detail that is easy to miss. At the end of the encounter, the medium makes a meal.

Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she hastened to kill it. And she took flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it.
- 1 Samuel 28:24 NKJV

The word here translated as “kill” is the Hebrew word זָבַח (zāḇaḥ) which means to slaughter an animal (usually in sacrifice). Back in 1 Samuel 25:11 the word used for “kill” is טָבַח (ṭāḇaḥ) which means to slaughter. I mention this to point out that the medium was not simply killing an animal to eat it (tabah) but rather she sacrificed (zabah) an animal. She sacrifices an animal, likely in honor of “Samuel“ who she referred to as “gods” in verse 13. Essentially, this is a description of pagan worship of the spirit that came out of the ground, and Saul and his servants ate, thus participating in pagan worship.

This behavior reminds us of some of the dark periods in Israel’s history.

They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices made to the dead.
- Psalm 106:28 NKJV

Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.
- Numbers 25:1-3 NKJV

The story ends with Saul and his servants taking part in witchcraft. This brings to mind the words Samuel spoke to Saul while he was still alive.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”
- 1 Samuel 15:23 NKJV

Takeaway

You will never find the solution to your problems outside of God’s will for you.

Saul should have humbly come to God instead of turning to resources that God had strictly and repeatedly prohibited. Saul did not truly seek God, Saul sought only to use God for his own means. Saul never repented and continued on his rebellious path.

Likewise, we can fall into a similar trap of trying to manipulate God as we continue to live a life of rebellion against Him. When we are not truly seeking God, it should not surprise us that He is not communicating with us. But our response should not be to turn to other sources as Saul did. The occult and paganism are not viable options. Saul’s encounter with the spirit did not go well, and ultimately Saul did lose his life. But God had warned that those who sought mediums and spiritists would not fare well. Saul continued in his path of rebellion until his death, may his life choices serve as a warning for us.

You will never find the solution to your problems outside of God’s will for you.