7a) The Witch of Endor
In 1 Samuel 38 King Saul was desperate to know the outcome of the pending battle with the Philistines. However, he has not been trusting God in general for some time, so now he is unable to get a message from God. Also, his prophet, Samuel, is dead and cannot intercede for him, even to bring bad news as he had been doing. He decides to consult a witch living in Endor, who is known to consult with familiar spirits (fallen angels). She congers up a spirit appearing in the form of Samuel and accurately forecasts that Saul's kingdom will be taken from him due to his falling away from God, and given to David; and that he and his three sons will die in the battle tomorrow.
Did Samuel actually appear to Saul? The Bible never indicates that God had made any special arrangements for Samuel as He had done for Moses, Enoch, and Jesus. Hence, I must say that this spirit was not the real Samuel. In general, no one who has died can ever appear in a vision, if indeed the dead know nothing and never again participate in this world (Ecc 9:5). So, in my assessment, this spirit (like all of the visions conjured up by mediums, etc.) would have to be an angel masquerading as Samuel. Saul would have had to be deeply involved in a channeling experience to see this apparition.
Was this spirit from God? I say no to this, but surely God could have intervened in this séance in that fashion if He wanted to. God could have put one of His own angels in the vision, but I doubt it. Visions do occur in séances, but those spirit entities are not from God. They are always fallen angels. Paul says that the devil masquerades as an angel of light, so we know how he works and this incident with Saul follows his modis operandi.
Now, if the spirit were from Satan and did accurately predict the future, then my theory that only God can always foretell the future accurately, is in jeopardy. Hence, I would have to hold the position that God chose to intervene in this séance and to influence the spirit by forcing it to speak the words of God. Could this be true, without overriding free will? Yes, if Saul had indeed already made his final decision on who he would be trusting. Does the Bible allow for this scenario? Indeed it does. Saul had just made that decision and it was in favor of listening to the evil spirits rather than asking God for forgiveness and showing a willingness to trust God regardless of the outcomes of the pending battle. So, once that decision had been made, my theory allows that God can intervene and communicate the future events to Saul in terms that Saul is ready to accept.
Alternately, the demons are not stupid. They can sense what is happening and they know that Saul has separated himself from God. They can also see that God has chosen David as his successor from all the events that transpired. They can put these facts together and guess that Saul is on the way out. Nevertheless, they would still be guessing about all the details they related to the upcoming battle. So, in summary, I say God did intervene in that He played with the tools that both Saul and the demons had chosen. But, He demonstrated His ultimate power over all by forcing the situation. Again, He did not force Saul to act on the information. Saul could have had a change of heart, which I believe he did later. My jury is still out on whether or not Saul chose death or life, but he was the one who made the choice.
16 August 2001
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