In those days ithe Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.” 2 David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
3 Now jSamuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him kin Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put lthe mediums and the necromancers out of the land. 4 The Philistines assembled and came and encamped mat Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped nat Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, othe Lord did not answer him, either pby dreams, or qby Urim, or by prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, r“Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at sEn-dor.”
8 So Saul tdisguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, u“Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.” 9 The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, lhow he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?” 10 But Saul swore to her by the Lord, v“As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped win a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.
15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and xGod has turned away from me and yanswers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” 16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, forzthe Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 aBecause you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you band your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
20 Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. 21 And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you. cI have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me. 22 Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.” 23 He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed.24 Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it, 25 and she put it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.
This makes the narrative in 1 Samuel 28 even more uncomfortable for many. But why should we be afraid of what the Scriptures say? Let's now look at some conclusions that we can draw from this episode (Take from The Supernatural Worldview by Cris Putnam, but with my own added comments)
1). This is a real, historical event. All those gathered see Samuel's ghost, an the text relays Samuel's ghosts in a very real and objective way. This text gives support to the idea that ghosts -even the ghosts of believers- can appear to people. This means that we need to accommodate our worldview to these types of experiences, even if it is uncommon, or even if there are counterfeits.
2). Samuel was recognized by what he wore. This means that when ghosts do appear, they can retain both their physical features and any clothing they are associated with.
3). Though Samuel was in the underworld and was called up from the "ritual pit" (more on this later), he knew what was going on. This means that we must make some sort of allowance that the dead have some knowledge of the living. The book of Hebrews also seems to imply this. After the famous "hall of faith" in chapter 11, the author states, "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1). It seems that the reason the author is encouraging us to run with endurance, is because we are surrounded by such a great number of witnesses. This indicates that those who have died and gone before us have some sort of idea of what is going on down here. Even the martyrs in the book of Revelation seem aware that God has not yet executed vengeance for them yet.
4). Samuel prophesied from the grave. He told Saul that he and his sons would die the next day in battle. This prophecy came to pass. Two explanations are possible. First, it could have been revealed by God. Second, it could be that the afterlife has some sort of atemporal aspect to it, which means spirits may have access to the past. present, and future.
5). Mediums are for real. This account takes them very seriously. There seems to be the belief in the OT that spirits of the dead really can be contacted. Why would God forbid something in His word that can't really be done? In the words of Cris Putnam, "God does not trade in absurdities." Indeed, He doesn't. God's character does not change. The law against using mediums and necromancers was given in the covenantal context. Again, God's character does not change. Contacting the dead is seen by God as unfaithfulness and it is forbidden in very strong terms. The reason God tells us not to do something presupposes that it can be done- do not commit adultery; do not covet; do not bear false witness; do not contact the dead. This means that we must adapt or worldview to allow that there are some mediums today who are not fake, and can really contact the dead, and that the dead can communicate with the living.
6). The medium describes Samuel's ghost as a "god" or "elohim". This has been used to argue that this is proof that Samuel's ghost was a demonic apparition. This is the same word that is used for Yahweh, as well as the divine council members, and other beings in Scripture. How can a ghost be an "elohim"? In a paper presented to the Evangelical Theological Society, Dr. Michael Heiser argued, "The deceased Samuel who appears to Saul is an elohim. While this might seem strange to us, the notion that the departed dead were 'gods' is quite in concert with ancient Canaanite thinking." The Canaanites and the Israelites, while enemies, shared a common vocabulary. Heiser goes on to show that the word "elohim" is used of Yahweh, the divine council, demons, human ghosts, and angels. This means that we need to reconsider the typical rendering of "God" or "gods." Heiser argues that the one thing all these entities have in common is that they "all inhabit the non-human realm. That is, they are by nature not part of the world of humankind, a world of embodiment and nature." What this means is that the term "elohim" is not so much an ontological term as it is a metaphysical one. As Heiser says, it is a "place of residence" term. Samuel's ghost was an elohim because he came from the spirit realm. This understanding seems to make the most sense.
7). The "demonic deception hypothesis" fails. Not only that, but it is proved to be eisegesis. Eisegesis is imposing one's own presupposition on the the text, thus forcing it to say something it never intended. We should strive towards exegesis- seeking for the author's original intent for his original readers. In the case of 1 Samuel 28, Samuel is portrayed as a real human spirit. He is even perturbed that he was conjured up. There is no hint in this text that the spirit is an impostor.
8). The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the OT, preserves for us the ancient Jewish understanding of this text. They understood that it was really Samuel, "Saul died due to his evil acts, in which he had acted wickedly against God, against the word of the Lord, since he had not kept it; for Saul had inquired by the one who speaks from the belly to seek advice, and Samuel the prophet had answered him" (1 Chron. 10:13). Now, unless we want start attributing gross error to the Bible, this text clearly indicates that it really was Samuel the prophet. Wait, there is more. The apocryphal book of Sirach (200-175 BC) also preserves for us this same Jewish understanding. "Even when he lay buried, his guidance was sought; he made known to the king his fate, And from the grave he raised his voice as a prophet, to put an end to wickedness" (Sirach 46:20). Josephus, the famed Jewish historian, also relays the same thing, "To this his sad end did Saul come, according to the prophecy of Samuel." The Jewish understanding has always been that this was the ghost of Samuel.
In the next post, we will turn our attention to the New Testament and see if it has anything to tell us about ghosts.