Chapter 67—Ancient and Modern Sorcery
The Scripture account of Saul’s visit to the woman of Endor has
been a source of perplexity to many students of the Bible. There are
some who take the position that Samuel was actually present at the
interview with Saul, but the Bible itself furnishes sufficient ground for
a contrary conclusion. If, as claimed by some, Samuel was in heaven,
he must have been summoned thence, either by the power of God or by
that of Satan. None can believe for a moment that Satan had power to
call the holy prophet of God from heaven to honor the incantations of
an abandoned woman. Nor can we conclude that God summoned him
to the witch’s cave; for the Lord had already refused to communicate
with Saul, by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets.
1 Samuel 28:6
. These
were God’s own appointed mediums of communication, and He did
not pass them by to deliver the message through the agent of Satan.
The message itself is sufficient evidence of its origin. Its object
was not to lead Saul to repentance, but to urge him on to ruin; and
this is not the work of God, but of Satan. Furthermore, the act of Saul
in consulting a sorceress is cited in Scripture as one reason why he
was rejected by God and abandoned to destruction: “Saul died for his
transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the
word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one
that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord:
therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son
of Jesse.”
1 Chronicles 10:13, 14
. Here it is distinctly stated that Saul
inquired of the familiar spirit, not of the Lord. He did not communicate
with Samuel, the prophet of God; but through the sorceress he held
intercourse with Satan. Satan could not present the real Samuel, but
he did present a counterfeit, that served his purpose of deception.
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Nearly all forms of ancient sorcery and witchcraft were founded
upon a belief in communion with the dead. Those who practiced the
arts of necromancy claimed to have intercourse with departed spirits,
and to obtain through them a knowledge of future events. This custom
of consulting the dead is referred to in the prophecy of Isaiah: “When
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