“those that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit” (1 Sam. 28:3, JPS)
We are currently examining the fourteen demonic spirits specifically referred to by name in the Bible. The second spirit is known as a familiar spirit.
This issue has been very controversial across the ages. With the film The Sixth Sense the line “I see dead people”, has become a popular echo of those individuals claiming psychic powers to communicate with the dead. In popular television and radio programmes of John Edwards and James van Praagh, and South African Mariëtta Theunissen, this has become a major industry.
In the teachings of Day 602-605 we had a detailed look at what happens when people die. Let’s briefly refresh your memory. When the born again person dies, his spirit (which he received through the process of becoming born again) returns to God (Ecc. 12:7); his body turns to dust (Gen. 3:19; Ps. 146:4); and his soul goes to the realm of the dead. Ps. 89:48 states, “What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?”. The answer to this is – no one. All souls go to the realm of the dead.
A very important history which concerns this spirit is found in 1 Sam. 28. The prophet Samuel had died and been buried. The king at that point, Saul, had strangely enough removed all the mediums from the country. A medium is someone who, according to the Amplified Bible, is “a medium [between the living and the dead]”. The KJV and some of the other translations refer to it as “those that had familiar spirits”. The JPS-translation calls it “those that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit”.
The Hebrew word for these mediums is ôb, which is used in various instances in the Scripture, of which Isa. 8:19 is perhaps the clearest: “And when they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?” This word ôb thus points to “mumble, that is, a water skin (from its hollow sound)”, according to Strong. Yet interestingly enough the word is derived from the root word âb, which means father! Who would be the father in this case? Obviously Satan! “You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.” (Joh. 8:44, Ampl.) The devil is not only the father of the Pharisees; he is also the father of demonic spirits.
This is a very important key to the handling of what is commonly referred to as human spirits, or ghosts. It is clear that these can never truly be human spirits, but are demons that present themselves as the dead. This is part of Satan’s manifestation as Lie. Thus Brown-Driver-Brigg’s Hebrew Definitions defines it as “ventriloquist, as from a jar”.
The Biblical Encyclopedia (edited by F.W. Grosheide) mentions the strong possibility that the word is derived from the Assyrian word aboeboe, which refers to evil spirits.
Actually it is quite logical – any born again person’s spirit goes to God once he has died (Ecc. 12:7), and can thus not wander around. Non-believers, however, do not have a spirit dimension, and thus they can’t function as ghosts either. It is thus not Biblically verifiable that people who die in traumatic circumstances (whether saved or unsaved) do not rest and need to be sent to the realm of the dead, something I myself believed for many years.
When Jesus approached the disciples, walking on the water during their night vigil in the boat, Matt. 14:26 states that “when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear.” The word that is used as ghost here does not grant the figure any legitimacy, as the Greek translates it as phantasma (“a mere show, a performance” – Strong, or in the words of Thayer: “an appearance”, which means “to cause to appear”, or even better – “passively to appear”).
Back to the story of Saul and the medium. Despite the fact that Saul had gotten rid of all the mediums and occult practitioners in Israel, he goes in search of one who can bring Samuel back from the dead. This discrepancy is especially strange in the light of Lev. 20:27, as this law explicitly stated that “A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.” As king Saul had to ensure that this indeed happens, yet he still decided to give into the cravings of his demonic nature (Rom. 13:14).
Ironically enough this woman was known to Saul’s servants (verse 7), which points to the fact that his corporate spiritual army had already been corrupted by him. It is again ironic that the woman also reminds one of Saul himself, dressed as a woman to visit the medium at night without being caught (verse 9). He even summons God as the Eternal Witness to their meeting!
Saul asks the medium to summon Samuel (verse 11), but then a strange occurrence takes place. Verse 12 begins by saying, “When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”
The narrator here (who is not Saul, but an omniscient narrator who attempts to offer an objective view on the history – see HL Bosman & JA Loader’s Narrators of the Old Testament) then suggests that the medium ‘sees’, and the spiritual being which is called to be present (verse 13) is Samuel, but there is NO proof that this was indeed Samuel.
The reasons for this are obvious – Samuel the father of our faith (Heb. 11:32), one of the two Old Testament witnesses that are called by name (Jer. 15:1; also see Ps. 99:6), will not be summoned from the realm of the dead by some demonically driven heathen! It is absolutely ridiculous to think that a witch of Endor could have that much authority over a man of God who stands under Yahweh’s jurisdiction. Added to this is the fact that Matt. 22:32 classifies Samuel as living (not dead!) – “‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
The witch of Endor was asked to summon Samuel, and when the supernatural being arose she immediately announces that it is Samuel. As both her and Saul are focused on the idea of summoning Samuel (remember, Saul can’t personally see Samuel), thus he asks the medium in verse 14: “So he said to her, ‘What is his form?’ And she said, ‘An old man is coming 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 down.” The key word here is perceived – based on her description Saul makes the mental jump that this is indeed Samuel.
In verse 15 this demonic spirit which speaks through the witch of Endor impersonates Samuel: “Now Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?’ And Saul answered, ‘I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.’”
“Samuel” then answers: “Then Samuel said: ‘So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? And the Lord has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day.’” This is not new information, but already known in the demonic realm. Therefore Satan – who allows the witch to see a specific profile – specifies that Samuel is wearing a “mantle” (verse 14: “an old man … covered with a mantle”).
In 1 Sam. 15:27-29 we are told of Samuel’s mantle that had torn off, and what role it had played in Saul’s life: “And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, ‘The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.’”
But the so called ‘spirit of dead’, we know from Biblical examples, is also a fortune telling spirit, and can predict future events. This is then what is made clear in verse 19 – the death of Saul and his sons, which becomes the logical result of a demonic premonition: “Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”
Herein lies the greatest key that this was indeed a demonic visit, when “Samuel” then says to Saul: “and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me”. Read the sections of Days 578 to 580 about the realm of the dead and who are sent there, and how the “paradise” or “bosom of Abraham” correlates (both part of the realm of the dead, but a different state of rest), BUT ALSO DIFFER. There is no chance that Samuel (who had fulfilled his calling and purpose) and Saul (who had lost his calling and purpose) can have the same heritage in death! It thus CANNOT be Samuel who is speaking, but as Rev. 16:14 calls it, the “spirits of demons”.
Biblical theorists who wish to argue that Saul did indeed summon the true spirit of Samuel, often uses 1 Sam. 15:35 to support their view – “And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death.” But strictly speaking this is not true, as we read in 1 Sam. 19:22-24 that they did indeed see one another again. The use of the word see does not necessarily refer to the act of actually seeing someone with your eyes, but could also mean in Hebrew (according to Strong), “consider”, “respect”, and then especially “approveth”!
Another element which can be taken from this narrative as a strong Biblical guideline for communication with the dead, is that the witch of Endor offers Saul a last meal. One should remember that Saul’s anointing as king was also secured by a ritual meal (1 Sam. 9:22-24; 2 Sam. 1:1). We who are part of the New Testament are warned in 1 Cor. 5:11 that we should not be spiritually intimate with those who serve idols, one should not even eat with them. During this last meal Saul’s fate is sealed, and he inherits death through “breaking bread” with the kingdom of darkness (1 Cor. 11:30).
A last element – Endor means fountain of dwelling, or then fountain of the generation/age. Considering that the witch was instrumental in Saul’s loss of his calling and purpose (= fountain), it also points out how, in a corporate sense, this familiar spirit cancels and destroys your calling in Christ.
- Selah: Do you perhaps have this spirit? Deal with it.
- Read: 10-13; James 1-5
- Examine the OT-typology: How has Heb. 12:23 been manifested in this teaching?
- For a deeper understanding: Read Tron Rhodes’ book The Truth Behind Ghosts, Mediums, and Psychic Phenomena