There was only one way for the King of Israel to get God’s attention.
That was through his prophet.
But for Saul, this was a problem.
Why?
Because his prophet Samuel was dead.
So that door had been slammed shut.
Unless he could find a way to get in touch with Samuel’s departed spirit.
However, there was one little problem with that idea.
The Torah forbids any attempts to contact the spirits of the dead.
But as we know, the lawless Saul had a bad habit of ignoring such prohibitions.
His selfish needs and fears were so strong he could’ve cared less about obeying God’s commands.
So he decided to visit a female necromancer, a Ba’alath Ob, who lived in En Dor near Mount Gilboa.
This woman welcomed Saul and his men into her home but it was not a warm welcome.
Although she didn’t recognize Saul initially, his tall stature and aristocratic mannerisms made her very suspicious she may have just received a visit from the king.
And it was obvious the men with him were government officials.
She didn’t let on about her suspicions.
But she was worried about the King’s decree banning all divining or necromancing in Israel.
Saul read her mind and assured her she would not be punished in any way for fulfilling his request.
Saul then asked her to bring up Saul’s spirit from She’ol so he could get some important information from him.
At that instant, an apparition of the Prophet Samuel appeared before them.
The witch screamed in horror at the ghost’s sight.
He was wearing a prophet’s official cloak called a MEIL in Hebrew.
She knew instantly it was Samuel.
The witch also knew the tall man standing before her was Saul because kings and their prophets usually operated together.
Alrighty, so I wanna finish up today’s post with not a takeaway but a question.
So lemme ask you this.
Do you think the spirit the woman brought up was the spirit of Samuel?
Or do you think it was a demonic spirit pretending to be Samuel?
Let me know in the comments.
We’ll dive into this further the next time we meet.
Later!
I think it was a demon impersonating Samuel, the spirit of a giant .
Thanks for your answer Carl. That’s what others said too (on Facebook groups). We’ll see. Stay tuned!
I think it was a demonic spirit. The witch was suspicious of Samuel and his entourage from the get-go. When Saul asked her to call forth Samuel, I think she put two and two together. She probably knew about the animosity between David and Saul and also the latest news. Loose lips sink ships. Saul didn’t see or hear the ghost. The witch spoke about what she saw and heard. The message to Saul was correct. The devil can speak the truth, when necessary, but we should only put our trust in our heavenly Father.
Thanks, William. I’ll be talking about this in detail soon. Stay tuned and be blessed!