Witch of Endor really a nobody

In yesterday's news it was revealed that newly discovered 12th-century Latin texts written by St. Augustine (referred to as "lost Christian text hidden for centuries"), and kept in a Polish library, "focus on King Saul's visit to the Witch of Endor, one of the Bible's most mysterious episodes, in which the dead prophet Samuel appears and foretells the king's death," explains the London Daily Mail.

"The story, recorded in 1 Samuel 28, has troubled Jewish and Christian scholars for centuries because it appears to suggest that a medium successfully summoned a dead prophet," explains the publication. "Ultimately, St. Augustine argued (in these sermons) that the Witch of Endor held no power over the dead. If Samuel genuinely appeared, he believed it was because God allowed it, not because the medium had summoned him through magic . . .

"The story has long baffled theologians, raising questions about how a witch could summon the spirit of a prophet. Latin scholars have also asked 'How can an omnipotent God allow this or is he not really omnipotent?'

"For centuries, theologians have debated whether the apparition was a deception created by the witch or a genuine appearance of Samuel permitted by God to warn Saul of his impending death."

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Here's an outtake from a sermon by Alex Kurz on this same matter:

We find Saul doing something that was strictly prohibited in Israel's history; in Israel's national identity. He is going to inquire with a woman who has a familiar spirit. She's not technically called a witch, but she has a "familiar spirit."

What exactly is a familiar spirit? It's an entity that makes a connection; a medium, if you will, that makes contact with the spiritual realms, specifically for the purpose of conjuring up, or calling up, the soul of a dead individual.

The reason people would inquire on those with familiar spirits is they sought to communicate with the dead in order to receive knowledge and revelation.

In Isael's history there was this desire to contact the spiritual realm; the so-called "underworld." The root of the word "familiar" is family and that's kind of interesting.

Israel was strictly prohibited from allowing their children to be sacrificed, for example, to the god Molech, but historically, sadly, Israel had child sacrifice.

In connection with child sacrifice you right away, in various Bible passages, learn about the prohibition against dealing with witches, wizards, sorcerers, necromancers and people with familiar spirits.

So it's not out of the realm of possibility that perhaps you had parents who sought to communicate with the children that they would sacrifice.

By the way, historically there has always been this interest in ancestor worship. The Hittites, for example, maintained an active line of communication with the spiritual realm. They had a deep interest in the quote "underworld."

With that in mind, go to I Samuel 28:13: [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.

She witnessed a phenomenon that she was not supposed to witness. When she saw small "g" gods ascending out of the earth, these were fallen angels.

By the way, I take I Samuel as a literalist. Did this woman (the Witch of Endor) literally see the soul of Samuel?

In the spiritist view on this, they believe what the woman saw was a counterfeit spirit. That it wasn't really Samuel, but it was a fallen angel masquerading as Samuel.

Well, a fallen angel does not have the power to call a soul up from the underworld. They can't call up a soul from the place of torments, nor can they can't call up a soul from Abraham's bosom. The verses demonstrate only God has that ability to do something like that.

A witch deals with the devil himself by cooperating with evil spirits for the purpose of performing some supernatural act.

Why did God prohibit activities such as sorcery and necromancing familiar spirits? Because it IS possible to make contact with the spiritual realm.

This fallen angel masquerades as the departed one. This fallen entity possesses an alter-identity. It's not the real soul but rather, it's the alter-identity, or the alter-personality of the soul that someone is seeking to contact and to conjure up from the dead.

God is not doing anything BY the witch; He's doing something in spite of the witch. I believe that really was Samuel and there's a reason. Why would God literally call up Samuel?

[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.

It's clear the woman saw a supernatural event that terrified her and hence, she screams because she never experienced this before. Her crying loudly, to me, is an indication that this is something extraordinary taking place.

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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.

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

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?

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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.

I Samuel 28: [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.

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"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 disquieted 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.

[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.

Verses 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?