The Woman With The Familiar Spirit

Ephesians 6:12

1Ch 5:25: The summation of the children of Israel

·       Deu 31:6; Judges 2:12, Ps 106:37

Ch28:1-4 Samuel is dead. David is living among the Philistines who came once again to fight Israel. Saul was frightened.

V6-7 Saul enquired of the LORD and since, the LORD answered him not Saul’s answer was to seek a woman with a “familiar spirit”. She is not called a witch of Endor,

·       Le 19:31, Deu 18:11; 2Ki 21:6 2Ch 33:6

V9 Saul had cut off {killed} those with familiar spirits - kept God’s commandment. He promised to protect this woman broke -God’s commandment.

V8a Saul disguised himself and went to the woman by night:

{Rulers of darkness Eph 6:12, Pr 4:19}

 V8b and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.

·       To divine, Divination: foretelling future events, or discovering things secret or obscure, by the aid of superior beings, or by other than human means such as casting lots

·       The urim and thummim and casting lots were used to seek God’s divine guidance or answer.

·       It was the spirit whom Saul thought could bring up Samuel.

**Note we do not see her calling upon the spirit. She did not bring Samuel up, her familiar spirit did not bring Samuel up. It was the LORD God who brought Samuel to Saul.

·       This was not a devil who took on the appearance of Samuel

·       It was not just a vision * It was Samuel!

Samuel was not happy to be brought from Abraham’s bosom and he did not understand why Saul would want words from the LORD after all that had come about in his life.

V19 Samuel delivered the words from the LORD.

V20a Saul was afraid of the enemy [V5] he was sore afraid of the words delivered by Samuel. Saul knew he  would die in battle.

Vs20b-25 Saul and his men were fed by the woman.

Familiar: Pertaining to a family

·       Accustomed by frequent converse; well acquainted with; intimate; close; as a familiar friend or companion.

Familiar is seen in 17 verses in the Old Testament. 15 verses it is with spirit or spirits. In Job 19:14 and Psalm 41:9 it is with friends and friend who disappointed Job and David. 

·       This woman had a spirit that she was very close to that was like one of her family. This familiar spirit was not the spirit of God, it was one of Lucifer’s fallen angels (called gods, devils, spirits).

gods: 215 verses [207 verses in O.T.; 8 N.T. verses]

devils: 48 verses [4 O.T verses; 44 N.T. verses; 37 verses in Matthew, Mark and Luke]

·       De 32:17 devils = gods

·       Mt 8:16 devils = spirits

·       Deu 32:17 with Jer 1:16 gods like they wanted

·       Hosea Speaks of Israel as a harlot that sold her worship to these gods. Hosea 2:5 they believed they received some benefit from theses gods. V8 the LORD says it was He

·       The gods of the Old Testament that Israel did not have need to fear and the familiar spirits seen in the Old Testaments are the devils in the New Testament that possessed individuals and tormented them greatly. They are all angels that followed Lucifer when he went against God

Ø    Isa 14:12 with Mat 25:41

·       Mat 17:14; Mark 5:4; Luke 9:42 The spirits that seemed like family and the friendly gods in the O.T. showed their true wicked nature in the N.T.

·       What caused the change in the way they were seen?

·       Luke 1:35, 23:47; 2Tim4:8 – those fallen angels who deceived the Jews into believing they were friendly gods that were worthy to be worshiped were in the presence of the holy, righteous Son of God.

·       When God’s righteousness is in the presence wickedness the wickedness will be made manifest. .

1Sa 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.

·       Deu 32:17, Isa 29:4 Satan’s angels [devils, gods, spirits] ascend from the earth. {Rulers of darkness Eph 6:12}

·       Ge 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it God’s angels descend form heaven.

·       1John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

·       Samuel would have ascended from paradise called Abraham’s bosom [Lu 16:22, 23:43].