The Sin of Witchcraft

1. SAUL, the king of Israel, had lived in rebellion against God for many years. Because of this, the Lord had left him to himself, and refused to communicate with him either by dreams, or by prophets, or in any other manner. The army of the Philistines had come against him, and in his distress he sought to one having a familiar spirit.

2. Samuel, the prophet of God, was now dead. He had faithfully warned Saul against disobeying the Lord, and in the last warning that he gave to him, he told him that rebellion was as the sin of witchcraft. Now that Samuel is dead, Saul, who had despised his word for many years, and who had lived during this time without any intercourse with God through his prophets, now determined, by the means of witchcraft, which Samuel had warned him against, to have an interview with Samuel.

3. The woman having the familiar spirit, who is commonly called the witch of Endor, practiced her unholy calling in the most secret manner. For Saul, in obedience to the law of God, had put to death all such persons so far as he could find them. This woman stood ready to bring up any dead person that could be named, and to enable the inquirer to converse with that person.

4. The familiar spirit that consorted with this woman was the efficient cause of all the wonders that were wrought. This spirit was able to do one of two things. 1. It could bring up from the dead any person that was called for, or, 2. It could personate or counterfeit the dead man so that those who conversed with the familiar spirit should believe that they were conversing with their dead friend, because every peculiarity of his was perfectly imitated.

The first act of the woman was to ascertain whether Saul really wished to converse with the dead, or whether he feigned this in order to detect her in the practice of witchcraft, and put her to death. But when Saul had sworn to her by a solemn oath that she should not be punished for divining unto him by the familiar spirit, the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up unto thee?" It was her business to bring up any of the dead that might be called for. Her question was precisely that of a spirit medium of the present day, except, indeed, that in these days the dead are brought down from the third Heaven, or from the higher spheres; whereas in those days they were called up from a region below.

Saul said to the woman, "Bring me up Samuel." And thus we have the very words used in seeking unto those who have familiar spirits. The diviner, sorcerer, enchanter, necromancer, wizard, or witch, for these names are all given to those who in some form do this work, asks of the one who seeks knowledge from the dead, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And the inquirer names the dead person with whom he would converse. This shows the exactness of Isaiah's language when he represents the consulting with familiar spirits as seeking "for the living to the dead." Modern spiritualism has furnished the counterpart of this very conversation in innumerable instances.

"Divine unto me by the familiar spirit," said Saul, and "bring me up Samuel." And now the familiar spirit at the bidding of this wicked woman must show what his powers are capable of accomplishing. He must produce Samuel in truth and verity; or, if this is beyond his power, he must imitate him so perfectly that Saul should be made to believe that it was Samuel himself.

The woman invokes her familiar spirit, and the divination proves eminently successful. "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." It is evident that the woman herself was surprised at something; for she cried out in her terror. And from this fact many have concluded that, contrary to the expectation of the woman, Samuel actually came. But it should be observed that if Samuel were indeed present on that occasion, it must have been, 1. Because the familiar spirit had power to bring him up; or, 2. Because the Lord saw fit to send him to meet Saul. But both these views are false and absurd. For, 1. It would be absurd to believe that the familiar spirit has power to control at pleasure not verily the dead in general, but the righteous dead in particular. Who dare assert that the familiar spirits are able, at the bidding of wicked men or women, to bring up from the dead the most eminent servants of God? And, 2. It would not only be absurd, but almost wicked to represent the Lord as sending Samuel to meet Saul on this forbidden ground when he had refused to answer him at all by any prophet, though Saul anxiously sought such answer in a lawful manner before he ventured upon the dreadful expedient of consulting a familiar spirit. And, 3. As it was a wicked thing in Saul to invoke the incantations of this servant of Satan, how can it be shown to be consistent for holy Samuel to come when thus invoked by satanic power?

It was said that the woman was terrified by the actual presence of Samuel. Those who say this do not read the record with proper attention. For it is to be observed that the woman did not cry out in her terror, "Samuel himself has come indeed!" She was not astonished at the sight of the old man with his mantle, for it was the business of her familiar spirit to present a perfect representation of any dead person. Indeed, it does not appear that responses were expected until the person invoked had been raised up. But there was a fact that the woman learned the moment this reputed Samuel appeared, and that fact filled her with terror. The first act of this so-called Samuel was to make known to the woman that her guest was no other than Saul, the king of Israel, the man who had destroyed every such person as herself that he could discover. It was this fact that alarmed her; for in her terror she cries out, "Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul." She was not alarmed that Samuel had come; her only terror was that she found herself in the hands of Saul. This circumstance itself furnishes a convincing proof that this reputed Samuel was no other than her familiar spirit personating him; for the first act of this professed servant of the Most High was to put this wicked woman on her guard by a private hint that he who was her guest was no other than Saul himself. Let us read further in this wonderful record:—

"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."

It is to be observed, 1. That of all the wonderful things seen on this occasion, Saul saw nothing. Witness the expressions, and it will be seen that it was the woman and not Saul who saw what was seen. Thus, "The woman saw Samuel;" the king said, "What sawest thou?" the woman said, "I saw gods ascending out of the earth." Saul inquires, "What form is he of?" The woman answers, "An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived [from the woman's description] that it was Samuel."

It is to be observed, 2. That lest any should say that Saul might have seen all that the woman saw had he not been prostrate upon the ground, the sacred writer tells us that after Saul had asked the woman these questions that "he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself."

It is to be observed, 3. That this wonderful manifestation of either divine or satanic power arose out of the earth. Thus the woman said to Saul, "I saw gods ascending out of the earth;" or as Gesenius gives it in his Hebrew lexicon, "I see a god-like form ascending out of the earth." And when Saul asked, "What form is he of?" she said. "An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle."

It is to be observed, 4. That there are several facts here brought to view hard to be explained if this was the real Samuel, but very easy to understand if this was the familiar spirit personating or counterfeiting him. The first is, that holy Samuel should come in answer to her wicked incantations. The second is, that he should arise out of the earth. The third is, that the woman should see him, while Saul could not see him. The fourth is, that this holy man should first of all communicate private information to this abandoned woman, putting her on her guard against Saul. The fifth is, that the woman was not alarmed at the presence of this old man with his mantle, but only alarmed when he told her that she had Saul in the house.