In I Samuel 28 King Saul goes to a medium and she apparently conjures up the dead Prophet. My question is was this actually Samuel or a demonic spector? It's just a strange chapter.
I believe it was the real Samuel. It was a one time miracle that God allowed in order to pronounce judgment upon Saul. It happened once, never to happen again, nor does it represent the norm of "talking to the dead."<br><br>Fred
"Ah, sitting - the great leveler of men. From the mightest of pharaohs to the lowest of peasants, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" M. Burns
How is it different from talking to the dead? Can it be pared with the parable in Luke but the rich ruler who spoke to Abraham after living a life with no concern for anything but his pleasure?
<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]How is it different from talking to the dead?</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>(fred) I am not completely sure of your question, but the witch was known for being someone who could conjure up the dead. Much like that Edwards fellow on TV. I would believe that the witch's contacts were not the dead at all, but evil spirits. However, in this instance, it was the real Samuel, because the purpose of Samuel's appearing was to pronounce judgment upon Saul. When I write that it is "not the norm for talking with the dead," I do not mean to say that necromancy is a real occurence. In other words, men cannot bring the dead back to ask them question about the after life and so forth. <br><br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]Can it be pared with the parable in Luke but the rich ruler who spoke to Abraham after living a life with no concern for anything but his pleasure?</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>I would say that it is different because all of these individuals were passed from our life to the next. Basically, the rich man was not alive on this earth talking with Abraham, but he was dead, in torments. <br><br>Fred <br><br>
"Ah, sitting - the great leveler of men. From the mightest of pharaohs to the lowest of peasants, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" M. Burns
Not to be the Devil's advocate here but why would God allow this one time miracle? Since Samuel had already told Saul That God was not with him and would not help him. 1 Sam. 15:26-28. Saul knew this, why is this not just again the Devil using his wiles to further harass Saul?
You make a valid point, but 1 Samuel 28:16-19 is Samuel's words to Saul, and nothing in that text suggests that Samuel is there to "help" Saul, but only to affirm the truth of God's original words in 1 Samuel 15.<br>I cannot think of any devil that would pronounce a word from the Lord in this manner. In all instances where there are lying spirits and lying prophets, it was to tell the king that God was with him (see 1 Kings 22, for instance).<br><br>Fred
"Ah, sitting - the great leveler of men. From the mightest of pharaohs to the lowest of peasants, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" M. Burns
I'm at work and don't have my bible with me, but doesn't Saul fall down in worship before Samuel? I think I read in an older thread an explanation that if it were indeed Samuel he would have corrected Saul's error in bowing before him. Just another thought..<br><br>Hannahsmom
Well, the text says that Saul bowed down, but that does not mean that he bowed down to worship. People would always bow down to a respected leader, such as the king. A good for instance is Absalom bowing down to David upon his return to his father after his exile (2 Sam. 14:33). <br><br>Fred
"Ah, sitting - the great leveler of men. From the mightest of pharaohs to the lowest of peasants, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" M. Burns
Personally I am not sure one can be dogmatic about this one. What PrestorJohn said has merit, but from the text we do know that Samuel (whether it was really him or not) told the truth, something that was in line with what God already told Saul.<br><br>Tom
