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. 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.
And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by
dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. 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.” 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.” 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?” And Saul swore to her
by the LORD, saying, “As the
LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 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 [ אֱלֹהִים – ELOHIM ] ascending
out of the earth.” 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. 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.” Then Samuel said: “So why do
you ask me, seeing the LORD has departed from you and has become your enemy?
And the LORD has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the LORD
has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.
Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD nor execute His fierce wrath
upon Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. Moreover
the LORD will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines.
And tomorrow you and your sons will be
with me. The LORD will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the
Philistines.” Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was
dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in
him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night. (1st Samuel 28:3-20)
Samuel is dead (v3; 25:1). What other options exist
that would explain his post-death conversation with Saul than that his soul/spirit
lived on?
I had formerly accepted the option that this was a
‘familiar spirit’ imitating Samuel. The setting could easily lead us down the
road of assuming that the foul play of necromancy was the reason for Samuel’s
appearance. I therefore believed it to be a demon and not Samuel. Closer
inspection suggests not.
It is also necessary to explain why I cannot see this
as an immaterial appearance of Samuel either. Several things are noteworthy.
First of all, the witch saw ‘a spirit
ascending out of the earth’ (v13). If it is God’s intention to let us know
that ‘spirit’ here means the
immaterial immortal component of man, then why would He contradict it in the
verse below?
Then the
dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who
gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
How could ‘spirits’ ascend to God at death but
Samuel’s remain under the earth? In fact, since this Ecclesiastes reference is
used to teach that our immaterial spirit returns to God in Heaven at death,
this calls into question the doctrine of Abraham’s
Bosom. It is an Old Testament reference, hence Heaven is where even
Samuel’s ‘spirit’ would have gone. Surely those who subscribe then to the
doctrine of Abraham’s Bosom should
agree that Ecclesiastes 12:7 should have been translated as ‘breath’ not ‘spirit’ – otherwise it creates a problem with Samuel.
Note also that I have added into the text the Hebrew
word that is translated as ‘spirit’: אֱלֹהִים (ELOHIM). It is a familiar
word even to many who do not understand Hebrew, for it is a name given to God
(e.g. Genesis 1:1). The scope of the word goes beyond the name of the Creator
(e.g. Psalm 82:6) but it is notable that Strong’s does not include ‘spirit’ as one of the possible
translations. Whatever the witch saw, it was not ‘a spirit’. What she did see potentially, going by the scope of ELOHIM, was ‘a judge’. This not only describes Samuel accurately (1st
Samuel 7:6, 15), it also suits the context where Samuel pronounces a final judgement on Saul (28:16-19). In essence,
the witch was claiming that she was seeing the
judge of Israel ‘ascending out of the
earth’.
Taking what has been stated so far, I
must first correct my own prior understanding before challenging the common
understanding also. The witch did not ‘conjure a spirit’ who mimicked Samuel.
It is clearly Samuel who is talking to Saul (vv15-16). The use of the pronoun ‘you’ proves that a direct one-to-one
conversation is occurring, with no mediation role performed by the witch.
Neither did she perform any act of divination to ‘disturb’ Samuel in the first
place. A woman seasoned in sorcery is not likely to cry out ‘with a loud voice’ (v12) if all she met were
a ‘familiar spirit’ of Samuel. I would assume that Saul’s asking to contact
Samuel (v11) was not particularly disturbing to the witch, until the outcome
proved to be something unexpected (vv12-13). She was evidently disturbed. Would
a ‘spirit’, whether ‘familiar’ or ‘real’, have unsettled the witch?
The problem of interpreting ELOHIM as ‘spirit’, added to the location of the ‘spirit’ according to Ecclesiastes 12:7, should also suggest that
the witch was shocked as to how her
‘contact’ appeared, not just who he
was – it was not a ‘spirit’.
“An old man is coming up, and he is covered
with a mantle” (v14)
This undoubtedly physical language
should cause us to seriously consider: was this a resurrected Samuel? Such an
understanding would explain the shock of the witch who saw a judge ‘ascending out of the earth’ and
the direct conversation with Saul.
Those who have difficulty with such an interpretation
may ask how Samuel returned to the grave. Did he die a second time? I would
assume he did. If ‘double-death’ was experienced by the son of the widow of
Zarephath (1st Kings 17), the son of the Shunammite woman (2nd Kings 4), the
son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7), and Lazarus (John 11), why would
‘double-death’ be reason to reject the idea of Samuel rising again?
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