Necromancer who becomes witch

I Samuel 28: [6] And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

[7] Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

"King Saul is rejected; God is done with this guy. In verse 7, Saul's now going to participate with evil," explains Alex Kurz.

Verse 8: [8] And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.

"On Halloween, you have all these kids roaming the neighborhood, extorting everybody's household, wearing disguises. I wonder where the Celts and the Druids got the idea of disguising themselves when you're dealing with somebody with a familiar spirit who's interested in conjuring up the souls of the dead. Personally, I think somebody stole it from I Samuel 28:8.

"Saul put on a costume before he made contact with this witch. As a type, you know what the king of Israel is doing? He's hiding his identity. He's at a horrible point where he's really wickedly insane due to chronic rebellion; his hardheartedness.

"There's a lot of typology (the Lord uses types, shadows and figures in teaching the nation Israel) in verse 8 about the nighttime. He takes off his identity and now he's going to join the unfruitful works of darkness. 

Verse 9: [9] And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

"Historically, God called the Gentiles 'snares.' Kind of interesting. The tables are turned on Saul and he is now taking up this sad identity. He's becoming a substitute for the witch. He's becoming the witch! He's doing everything the pagans did--the witches and the warlocks and so on.

"The Lord's view of Saul is, 'You're the necromancer.' Gentiles were always called snares, thorns and thistles to the nation of Israel, and Saul is a pagan. I'm not going to say he's acting like one, because in chapter 28 he IS a pagan at this juncture.

Verse 10: [10] And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

"The Lord said 'thou shalt not use the Lord's name in vain,' and that's what it means. That means you don't swear an oath using the Lord's name.

"By the way, Saul's a false prophet. We know from I Samuel 18:10 that Saul is a prophet. What he's doing is saying, 'I swear to God.'

"What's fascinating is the witch is not put to death; Saul is. There's a dynamic here. God is communicating something to Saul about who he now is.

Verses 11-12: [11] Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. [12] And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

"I do not believe this witch had any supernatural power to call anyone, let alone Samuel, out from the dead. I Samuel 2:6 says, [6] The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

"No human being has a supernatural capacity to conjure up the souls of the dead. My opinion is a familiar spirit, they do COUNTERFEIT someone's identity, but they don't have the supernatural capacity to call someone out of hell, or for that matter, Samuel who is Abraham's bosom.

"Notice what Samuel says to Saul in verse 15: [15] And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.

"Samuel isn't giving the witch any credit. He's saying, 'You, Saul, you're the necromancer, you're the wizard who has dsquieted me.'

"The Bible view is this woman's really a nobody and Saul is held fully responsible for what's taking place.

"Going back to verse 12, when it says 'the woman cried with a loud voice,' something happened which she never witnessed before. Guess who really is coming up from the dead? It's Samuel.

"She screams in terror. The loud voice is evidence that suggests this was out of the normal; it was extraordinary.

Verse 13: [13] And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

"No indication she was terrified by that. Personally, I wonder if she was used to seeing this. If she is a medium with familiar spirits, she's making contact with fallen angels.

"There are good gods (small g) and there are bad gods (small g). This woman doesn't appear to be terrorized by the gods; she reacts to seeing Samuel. This is a miracle God is performing, not by the witch but in spite of the witch. She's not the issue here.

"It's interesting that she says, 'I saw gods ascending out of the earth.' There are passages in the Bible showing a correlation between the spiritual realm and the physical realm and I take this as she's familiar with seeing these entities coming up out of the earth

"Psalm 83:1-8 lists the 10-nation confederacy the Antichrist will lead against the extermination of God's people, Israel. These 10 nations are under 10 kings (the 10 toes) who are not ordinary human beings. They're actually fallen angels. They're made of iron and they're trying to mix with clay.

Verse 9-10: [9] Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

[10] Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

"Think about that for a second. Here is a prophecy regarding the future 10-nation confederacy under the command and leadership of the Antichrist. When you talk about the gods, you're talking about these fallen entities and what we have is this appeal, 'Destroy them.'

"Why Endor? What happened at Endor?

Judges 5:19-20: [19] The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.

[20] They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.

"These are fallen angels. There's some wild, bizarre activity that's taking place in the stars that influences and impacts the battle taking place on the earth.

"I kind of wonder, well, because of the impending battle and potential destruction of the nation of Israel, is there this unseen Satanic activity just as we witness here in Judges 5."

*****

 I Samuel 28:7: [7] Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

"This is a rather sad testimony. It's rather appalling that his servants--how would they know there's a woman in Endor? By the way, Endor is about six miles southeast of Gilboa.

"Those three cities (including Shunem) are in an area Matthew calls 'Galilee of the Gentiles'. Saul is in Gilboa and Endor is three miles behind enemy lines.

"Saul crosses enemy lines to make contact with this spirit. See, that's what apostasy does. What does the apostate do? They align themselves with the satanic policy of evil and begin to participate with it.

"A lot of Christians completely miss what Matthew 4:15-16 is describing: [15] The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

[16] The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

"Most Christian ministries will teach that Jesus is out there preaching to the Gentiles and that is an absolute impossibility. You know why that is. What does Jesus say in Matthew 10? 'Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'

"Jesus is deliberately calling out believing Israel, the 'little flock', from an area historically identified as Galilee of the Gentiles. Why is it called that? This area was filled with tremendous hatred and persecution against the nation of Israel.

"It was inhabited by the Gentiles and the Israelites are in that land, which ultimately belongs to God because it's part of the land of Canaan

"Because the Israelites are now exposed--and sadly become influenced by the Canaanites, the Hittites and Baal worship--they are deeply influenced by the Gentile political system, economic system and culture.

"Israel begins to adopt the pagan religious practices taking place in that area. Hence, it's a land called 'great darkness'; it's the shadow of death.

"The 'shadow of death', by the way, is used to describe these Gentiles who were always harassing and threatening the nation of Israel. This area is a real hotbed of devil activity and, by the way, that's why the witch says, 'I see gods.'

Joshua 17:11: [11] And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries.

"Endor is a word that comes from a Hittite term that means 'primeval gods or ancestor gods.' Just think about that when this witch in Endor says, 'I see gods ascending out of the earth.' Endor is just south of the middle of Galilee of the Gentiles, but it's right in the heart of this Gentile pagan activity.

"Notice verse 12: [12] Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

"That's the problem right there. Israel was given clear instruction: 'You evict the inhabitants of this land.' Why? Because it belongs to God. Unfortunately, the tribe of Manasseh didn't drive out those Canaanites that are dwelling in the Promised Land. 

"What were some of these pagan peoples' religious practices? The Lord warned through Moses of the potential disaster to occur because of the Gentile presence.

Deuteronomy 18: 9-12: [9] 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.

[10] There 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,
[11] Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
[12] For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

"Verse 10 is all about child sacrifice. Read Isaiah 57 for a disturbing account of what Israel did. They began to sacrifice their own children. Where? In this area inhabited by pagans who weren't evicted, which explains why Israel began to adopt those practices.

Psalm 106:33: [33] Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

[34] They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:
[35] But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
[36] And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
[37] Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
[38] And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

"Verse 37 says they sacrificed their children unto devils. There is a direct correlation in Scripture between the small 'g' gods, the idols and the devils. That's why God said, 'You got to kill these people.'

"When God warns against familiar spirits and necromancing, the reason is there are fallen angels who are operating in that region. That's why God had such strict, severe warnings that were issued.

"Did they sacrifice their sons and daughters unto devils or to the idols? Idols are merely a physical representation. They serve as an aid to worship. A devil, which is a fallen angel, are unseen spirits. They need a medium through which humanity can make contact with and worship them.

"You remember when God gave the 10 Commandments? [3] Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

[4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 

"He goes from 'no other gods' to 'no graven image.' There's a direct correlation between the fallen angels, the gods, and idolatry. The idol is nothing more than a memento, a souvenir, but it is a dangerous aid to real fallen-angel devil worship. The Bible doesn't mess around with that kind of stuff."

(new article tomorrow)