1 Samuel 28:7, commentary and pictures

Forsaken and afraid before the Philistine army at Gilboa with no answer from God, Saul asked his servants to find a woman with a familiar spirit for him to inquire of, and they told him of such a woman at Endor. He knew such necromancy was forbidden and had himself ordered its practitioners put to death, yet in desperation he turned to the very practice he had condemned. The woman was in league with Satan and yielded to his control, and no dead Samuel returned or spoke, for God did not permit Satan to disturb Samuel's rest, but Satan used his knowledge of Samuel to present a counterfeit in form and speech and to announce the fate of Saul and his sons. That consulting was Saul's last act, cutting his last tie to his Maker and sealing his willful separation from God, making a covenant with death and hell, placing himself fully under demonic power and filling the cup of his iniquity. To inquire at Endor was to seek counsel from Satan through evil spirits rather than from the Lord, not communion with the dead, for the dead know nothing and hold no communion with the living, and it is the same deception now appearing as modern Spiritualism in mediums, clairvoyants, fortune-tellers and seances. It is cursed and forbidden ground that leads away from God toward ruin, to be shunned in favor of trust in the living God rather than anxiously seeking hidden knowledge that has not been revealed.

Saul Seeks Forbidden Counsel

Saul stands before the Philistine army near Mount Gilboa, afraid and feeling forsaken by God. After God gave him no answer, he asked his servants to find a woman with a familiar spirit so that he could go to her and inquire of her, and they told him such a woman was at Endor. He knew necromancy was forbidden and had previously ordered its practitioners put to death, yet in desperation he turned to the very practice he had condemned. The woman at Endor was in league with Satan, covenanted with him and yielded to his control, and he used her to perform wonders and reveal secret things.

The dead Samuel did not appear or speak, for God did not permit Satan to disturb Samuel's rest in the grave or to resurrect him. Satan's angels can imitate dead people in form, speech, and actions. Satan used his knowledge of Samuel to present a counterfeit Samuel through the sorceress, so that Saul sought counsel from a familiar spirit rather than from the Lord, and to give an accurate announcement of the fate of Saul and his sons, using that deception to deepen ruin and draw Israel away from God.

This consulting of the woman was Saul's last act, cutting his last tie and last shred that held him to his Maker and sealing his willful separation from God as final. By it he made an agreement with death and a covenant with hell, placed himself fully under the demonic power that had long influenced him, and filled the cup of his iniquity. He knew what he had done in thus severing his last link to God by willing submission to this course. It illustrates the terrible bondage that follows persistent resistance to God's Spirit and rejection of trust and obedience.

Necromancy Exposed and Shunned

To inquire at Endor was to seek counsel not from the Lord but from Satan through the sorceress, by a heathen oracle through communication with evil spirits. Saul did not commune with Samuel the prophet of God, but through the woman with a counterfeit Samuel presented by Satan. Even the true announcement of his fate given through her was turned to deepen his ruin, and his willing submission to that course led him away from God and severed his last link to Him.

The mystic voice that spoke at Endor spoke lying words to mislead men, the art of the prince of darkness working to gain control of minds. Its disclosures were deceptive messages of evil spirits, not communion with the dead, for the dead know nothing, their thoughts and love and hatred have perished, and they hold no communion with the living. Satan gains access to minds by presenting himself under the guise of departed friends, and seeking such counsel is a dangerous sorcery that draws men away from God.

Endor belongs to the same deceptive practice as the oracle at Ekron and the ancient system of magic, which is in reality the same as what is now called modern Spiritualism. The heathen oracles have their counterpart today in spiritualistic mediums, clairvoyants, fortune-tellers, secret associations, seances, obscurities, wonders, and sorcerers, with seances replacing the mysteries of heathen worship. It is the same power only appearing under a new guise, still misleading thousands who refuse light from God's word and His Spirit, who speak with scorn of the magicians of old while yielding to the same arts under a different form. The claim to cure disease by electricity, magnetism, or so-called sympathetic remedies is the magnetic power of Satan's sorcery, by which he casts his spell over the bodies and souls of men.

The path to Endor is cursed and forbidden ground of witchcraft and reliance on spiritualist powers instead of trust in the living God. Feet that venture upon it will stumble and fall, for to go there is to put trust in witchcraft and to dishonor the God of Israel. It must be shunned in favor of faith in the living God, with whom is deliverance for all that are oppressed, and His professed followers must abide in the faith received from the beginning and shun profane and vain babblings, for righteousness is the habitation of His throne. Saul's choice stands as an example of turning to forbidden sources for hidden knowledge when anxious about what has not been revealed, instead of trusting God and waiting for His help, bringing only knowledge of evil and warning against seeking such knowledge rather than finding comfort through prayer and going to Jesus.