Was Samuel really summoned by the medium at Endor (1 Samuel 28)?

from the old testament

• Saul was originally anointed as king of Israel by God (1 Samuel 10:1). However, after doing what he was told not to do, both by not killing all of his enemies (1 Samuel 15:8–9) and by personally sacrificing to God, a role reserved for priests (1 Samuel 13:8–9), God removed that anointing and gave it to David (1 Samuel 16:13). The rest of Saul’s reign was adversely affected. At this point near the end of 1 Samuel, Saul was about to completely unravel. 1 Samuel 28 says that the Philistines had gathered against Israel (1 Samuel 28:1–4) and “[Saul] was afraid and his heart trembled greatly” (1 Samuel 28:5).
• He asked God what to do, but the LORD, who had already rejected him as king, ignored him (1 Samuel 28:6). In his desperation, despite knowing it was against God’s commands (Leviticus 19:31), he found a medium and asked her to summon Samuel (1 Samuel 28:7–11).
• We then read, “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’” (1 Samuel 28:12). The question is whether this was really Samuel or some spiritual deception.
• Some argue that God would never work through a medium since it was occultic and that, since demonic activity was possible, this was not Samuel. While it is impossible to know for certain, at least four points suggest this was really Samuel.
• First: the medium’s reaction upon seeing Samuel was fear. She apparently didn’t really expect to see Samuel, and his appearance was outside her normal experience with the spiritual realm. Additionally, seeing him caused her to identify Saul, who had disguised himself, indicating that she understood that because this was really Samuel, the man with her must be important.
• Second: a literal reading of the Hebrew word for “saw” in 1 Samuel 28:12 means actually to see. If this passage had been about anything other than the spiritual realm, the reader would have assumed the medium actually saw what the text claims she saw.
• Third: Samuel speaks as if aware of his previous conversations with Saul, indicating continuity. He said, “The LORD has done accordingly as He spoke through me; for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David,” where Samuel refers to what he had said to Saul while he was alive (1 Samuel 28:17).
• Fourth: not only does Samuel appear to continue his previous conversations, but he also continues his role as prophet, saying, “Moreover the LORD will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the LORD will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!” (1 Samuel 28:19). What Samuel said came true the next day (1 Samuel 31:1–6), showing that his prophecy was true, strongly indicating that this was the prophet Samuel.
• Note: While all occultic activity was forbidden, it was not because it was a hoax. Rather, it was because it involved trusting something other than God (Isaiah 8:19–20). Scripture does not say that it is impossible either for God to work through mediums or for them to have real, illicit access to the spiritual realm. Thus, denying that this was Samuel cannot be done on the grounds of it being spiritually impossible.

from the new testament

• Samuel being summoned by the witch at Endor is not found in the New Testament.

implications for today

Some questions from Scripture will never be answered to everyone’s satisfaction, and this has been one such question. However, “unanswerable” questions such as this are useful for redirecting us to what’s important because when Scripture doesn’t answer a question a passage raises in our mind, it’s often because we’re asking the wrong question.

In this case, the passage isn’t about the occult but about showing us the depth to which Saul had fallen that he would place his hope in the hands of a medium. There is a very real downward spiral that happens when we disobey God and refuse to repent. Indeed, if we contrast Saul and David, the difference isn’t that one was righteous and the other was not—David also sinned grievously by committing adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11). The difference is that David truly mourned over his sin and repented (Psalm 51), whereas Saul did not.

Likewise, we, too, must be quick to repent when we sin. When we do, “[God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). While the question is interesting, the passage is primarily about whether or not Samuel really appeared. The lesson comes from seeing the end of a man's life who refused to repent and learning from his downfall.