Samuel called up from Paradise

1 Samuel 28:7-19: Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. 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. 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? And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. 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. 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. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh 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 himself. 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. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Saul was Israel’s first king who through disobedience had the kingdom rent away from him. As Saul declined spiritually, God would no longer speak to him via the Urim Thummim, nor by dreams or prophets (1 Samuel 28:6). Because the Philistines had gathered to fight against Israel, Saul decided to visit a clairvoyant in an attempt to receive some guidance in what he should do. In visiting the witch at Endor, Saul requested that she would summon up the spirit of the prophet Samuel who had already died.

The woman that Saul visited is said to have had a familiar spirit, which simply put, is a demon that she had regular interactions with, and which would impersonate or pretend to be the spirit of the deceased person summoned. In making her preparations to contact this familiar spirit, the woman suddenly shrieked in fright and terror when the spirit of Samuel appeared before her. Now if this woman was actually able to contact the dead, then she would not have been alarmed by the spirit of the dead appearing before her; thus her shock to see Samuel rather than the demon proves the fraudulent nature of spiritism, because no spiritualist can summon the dead nor has ever summoned the dead.

What happened at Endor is the only case in the Bible where a deceased saint came back to this world to deliver a specific message to the living. Samuel was in Paradise along with all the other Old Testament saints before Calvary. Paradise was a section of the fifth dimension (the Underworld), so that when the witch saw Samuel approach, she said that she saw gods ascending out of the earth (not descending from above). She called this supernatural visitation “gods” (plural), because she was a heathen who believed in many gods and because her vision was not clear due to the shock of what was happening.

Samuel was in his theophany in Paradise. He was now a young man in the bloom of youth, but when he stepped out of Paradise and appeared to Saul at Endor, Samuel had changed form and assumed the appearance of an old man, like he was before he died. The theophany body is a tremendous and highly capable body that can change form, even as Jesus in His glorified body after Calvary changed form according to Mark 16:12: After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. This was indeed Samuel himself that had appeared to Saul because the conversation that followed was only between Samuel and Saul. The witch and her familiar spirit had no further part in the proceedings.

Having appeared to Saul, Samuel demonstrated that he had not lost his prophetic gifting and was still very aware of what was happening in this world. Samuel knew about the war with the Philistines and the future outcome of the battle, that Israel would be defeated and that Saul and his sons would die and join Samuel in Paradise the next day. This level of communication between individuals in two separate worlds is not as mysterious and unbelievable as may be first thought, for the witch herself had communications with the familiar spirit during her prior seances, the rich man in Hell spoke to Abraham in Paradise (Luke chapter 16), Moses and Elijah came from Paradise and spoke to Jesus at His transfiguration, and the Old Testament saints appeared in their glorified bodies to the living saints after Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew chapter 27).