Originally posted by sonship
Concerning the experience of Saul, the witch of Endor and Samuel:
Yes, I do believe something came up. Remember, this was a Witch who conjured up something. What it was I do not know. I don't trust witches.
I think that God intervened and permitted the soul of Samuel to come up.
1.) He came up accompanied by what the witch though ...[text shortened]... hat it was I do not know" [/i] is kind of weak reinforcement for you strong positions otherwise.
Saul asked the witch 'What do you see?' 'I see a spirit coming up from the earth,' she answered. 14 'What does it look like?' he asked. 'It’s an old man . . . He is wearing a cloak.' Then Saul knew that it was Samuel . . . (1Samuel 28:13 - 14)
The vision that appeared to Saul through the witch of Endor was NOT really Samuel. The Hebrew word for 'medium,' 'spiritists' and so on are belowb, which means, "possessing a familiar spirit." God spoke about what he thought about such people and warned others not to consult them.
Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead (Leviticus 19:31, see also 20:6)
27 Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; (Leviticus 20:27)
He had Moses tell the children of Israel that it was the practices of the original inhabitants of the land of Canaan, such as human sacrifice, divination, sorcery, witchcraft and consulting the dead, that had caused Him to decide that the Israelites would take their land from them (Deuteronomy 18:9 - 14).
Although the Bible does not say the witch of Endor used the power of Satan to do her "consulting of the dead," we are told that she was possessed with a "familiar spirit", i.e., a demon, and by the scriptures quoted and many others, we know such things DO NOT come from God.
Whatever or whoever it was that Saul saw in the vision conjured by the witch, it certainly was not Samuel for he was dead (1Samuel 28:3). We also know that the dead "know nothing" and have no part "in any thing under the sun" (see Ecclesiastes 9:5 - 6). The vision told him that Israel was going to lose its battle, Saul and his sons would be killed, and the kingdom would be handed over to David. This is only PARTLY true. The enemy did not kill the king. Rather, he killed himself after receiving several wounds from Philistine archers (see 1Samuel 31:1-6; 2Samuel 1-5). God controls all things. Perhaps He controlled the vision that Saul saw, but I think it more likely that the demon in the witch of Endor took delight in taunting the king.
http://www.biblestudy.org/question/why-did-king-saul-use-witch-to-contact-prophet.html