Did Saul bow down to a false god (demon) from the Earth and assume it was Samuel?

Question

That's what it practically says

1 Samuel 28

13. 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.

14. 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.

Answer 1

I personally think that usually it is demons that pose as the dead to people that go to seek them, but in this case, I think it probably really was Samuel. The woman was afraid, because it was different than usual, it wasn't the usual charade.

Samuel also repeated the words of the Lord, and the judgments of God that would come over Saul and his children, which I don't think that a demon would be really willing to do. I've never heard of a demon that was willing to give glory to God.

Answer 2

Did Saul bow down to a false god (demon)? No, because it turned out to be Samuel. Did Saul assume it was Samuel? No, Saul had to ask first, but then he knew it was Samuel.

A "familar spirit" is a false god, a demon. That is why necromancy is forbidden. The woman talk and spoke to demons, as far as anyone knew, she called up one of them and they took on the form of Samuel.

Saul knew and understood this, because he had destroyed wizards and others with familiar spirits for this very reason and only she was left that he could find. Saul wanted God's word (as in a divine revelation from God) on a matter, and God would not speak to him. So Saul went and got advice from the false gods.

Now the punishment for this crime is death. And the spirit, whether it was Samuel, or a demon, predicted his, and his sons' deaths, along with Israel's loss of the upcoming battle. Whether or not it was Samuel is kind of irrelevant because, as far as Saul knew, it would be a demon. Not only did the witch say plainly that she saw the demons, but also Saul asked what form it took which meant that he was very much aware that it could take various forms, or that they might have called up a demon.

Now many people believe that Saul called up a demon, and that God allowed Samuel to show up instead (or that it was some angel appearing on his behalf). Since the spirit warned Saul about disobeying God, repeated correctly Samuel's warning that he had received from God, correctly predicted the future, and spoke the truth, then we can assume (as apparently Saul did by this time), that this was indeed Samuel's spirit.

God considered Samuel along the lines of Moses (see Jer 15:1, Ps 99:6), and Moses (and Elijah) was allowed to come to earth to talk with Jesus (see Matt 17:3-4). So we do have an example of where this is allowed.

Therefore, I believe that God interfered, Samuel was allowed to show up, that Saul did not know whether he would get Samuel or a demon. When Samuel showed up, Saul knew then that it was indeed Samuel. Maybe this is what Saul expected to happen, but surely Saul knew that this would make God extremely angry, so why did he do it?

Answer 3

Yes. from what the witch of Endor described, Saul thought he was talking to Samuel. But it could not have been Samuel because Samuel had died. The Bible says at Eccl. 9:5: "The dead know nothing at all."

Before Samuel's death, he had refused to speak with Saul anymore. So how could the witch of Endor force him to speak to Saul now?

Saul was actually addressing a demon posing as the departed Samuel.