A Ghost Story in the Bible: Saul and the Witch of En Dor
A Ghost Story in the Bible: Saul and the Witch of En Dor (I Samuel 28)
I Samuel 28
Introduction
It was a dark and moonless night when King Saul, cloaked in fear and despair, wandered the desolate wilderness of Mount Gilboa. His once-mighty heart had grown heavy, for the Lord had turned silent—no dreams, no prophets, no answers. His enemies, the Philistines, loomed at his doorstep, and without divine guidance, Saul felt utterly forsaken.
Desperation drove the king to a forbidden path, one he had condemned in years past. He had ordered all the mediums and spiritists to be cast out of Israel, for the Lord forbade such practices. But now, Saul himself sought a medium—a woman who dwelled in the shadowed village of En Dor — known to whisper with the dead.
Did you know the Bible has a ghost story? Saul visits a woman known as a medium or a necromancer. A practice forbidden in Old Testament law, and still to this day. In fact, in the Old Testament, doing this resulted in the death penalty.
You might say, “now ghosts aren’t real. Once you die, you go to heaven or hell. You can’t drop back in and grab a cup of coffee with the living.”
And yet, as you’ll hear in a few minutes, Saul’s plan seems to work, and the ghost of a long-dead prophet is brought up from the grave.
Or is it all a demonic trick?
I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.
Turn to I Samuel 28, and let’s get weird.
[theme music]
The Ghost of En Dor
Welcome to Weird Stuff in the Bible, where we explore scripture passages that are bizarre, perplexing or just plain weird. This is Luke Taylor, and today we’re going to be talking about The Ghost of En Dor. Let’s finish the story we started in the intro…
Disguised in tattered robes, Saul approached the crumbling cottage at the edge of En Dor, accompanied by two trembling servants. The wind howled through the barren trees, and the air hung thick with the scent of smoke and decay. His pulse quickened as they neared the dwelling—was this truly the only way? He had banished these people for a reason.
The woman at En Dor was known for her ability to summon spirits from the beyond. Her face was veiled, and her voice rasped like the dry leaves swirling at her feet. As Saul entered her home, the flickering light of a single candle cast strange shadows on the walls.
“Who are you, and what do you seek here?” she hissed, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“I seek…a woman who speaks with the dead,” Saul replied, keeping his hood low to hide his face. “I need to speak to a man—a prophet.”
The woman hesitated, sensing the gravity of the request. “You know that King Saul has banished us. Why do you risk coming here? Surely you know the penalty.”
Saul’s voice trembled as he whispered, “I swear to you, no harm will come to you. Please, call up the spirit of the prophet Samuel.”
The woman’s eyes widened. She knew now that this was no ordinary visitor. She gathered her tools—bones, incense, and ancient relics—and began to chant in a language Saul could not understand. The air grew colder. A sudden gust extinguished the candle, plunging the room into darkness.
And then, a shadow stirred.
At first, it was faint—a figure emerging from the ground, shrouded in mist and silence. Saul’s heart raced as the apparition took form. It was Samuel, the prophet, his face stern and unyielding, his eyes like burning coals piercing through the veil of death.
The woman shrieked and fell back. “You! You are Saul!” she cried, terror-stricken.
Saul ignored her, his eyes fixed on the spectral figure before him. “Samuel… I have called for you, for the Lord has turned from me and answers me no more. I am lost, and the Philistines are upon us. What should I do?”
Samuel’s voice, hollow and otherworldly, reverberated through the room. “Why do you disturb me, Saul?” he asked, his tone filled with reproach. “The Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy. He has torn the kingdom from your hand and given it to David. Tomorrow, you and your sons shall be with me, and Israel will fall into the hands of the Philistines.”
Saul’s knees buckled as the weight of the words crushed him. The cold finality of the message sent chills down his spine. The vision of Samuel lingered for a moment longer before dissolving into the darkness, leaving behind only the scent of sulfur and despair.
In the silence that followed, the woman stood trembling, and Saul staggered to his feet, his mind reeling with the horror of what he had just heard. His death, the death of his sons, the collapse of his kingdom—it was all foretold, and nothing could change the course of events now.
The king of Israel left the house of the witch at En Dor that night, but he carried with him the weight of doom—a doom that would be realized with the rising of the next sun.
[musical interlude]
Real or Fake?
I hope you enjoyed that as much as I had fun making it. And a special thank you to ___, ___ and ___ for supplying the voices for it. That was just kind of a one-year treat. I know I said in my interview a couple of weeks ago that the podcast is a year old. It’s actually this week, though, that we officially hit the one-year anniversary.
And so today is the Bible’s ghost story, and you just heard it. That was a paraphrase, of course, and it included a few details that were added for storytelling purposes.
The real story is found in I Samuel 28. In this story, as you heard, Saul went to visit a woman who was basically what we call in today’s terms a psychic. This is a big no-no for followers of God. The Mosaic law said in
Leviticus 19:31
Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 18:9-11 also say
When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.
So there is no ambiguity about this. And by the way, this is a prohibition on New Testament Christians as well. We should not be going to see psychics or mediums or anything like that. We shouldn’t participate in seances or try to conjure up ghosts.
Now some people say, "what’s the big deal about that? It’s just for fun; it’s all fake anyway.”
But the Bible doesn’t tell us to avoid it because it’s fake. The bible tells us to avoid it because it’s real.
Now, it is probably not actually spirits of the dead who are called up. These are demons, which are messing with people. Deceiving people. Lying about who they are, trying to gain entry into your life.
When I was in college, I had a friend named Dawn who liked to mess around with some of this kind of stuff. She told me about how she and her friends liked to use a oijia board to talk to her spiritual guardian and that he would tell her stuff about her family history and what color her aura was.
Now, I had never heard of this thing called a oijia board before. I was 17, and not only did I have no idea what a oijia board was, it would be a few more years before I knew how to spell oijia board. In fact, I still don’t know how to spell oijia board. But I asked Dawn to describe to me how that worked, and she explained it to me, and I knew right away that she was not talking to a spirit guide or a guardian, as she called it. She was speaking to a demon. I literally spent hours trying to explain to her that she shouldn’t try to mess around with that stuff, and she was happy to talk to me until we were blue in the face, but I didn’t ultimately get anywhere with her.
So the Bible forbids this stuff because it’s real. So Christians shouldn’t be trying to cast spells, talk to ghosts, or try to find out their future from a psychic.
So, there’s your practical application for today. The theological question I’d really like us to analyze is this: is the being that the witch of En Dor calls up actually Samuel himself as a ghost, or is it a demon pretending to be Samuel?
Was it Actually Saul? or a Demon?
And I will say that I have actually been on both sides of this issue myself. I’ll tell you which way I lean, but I’m not going to tell you what you should believe. I’ll give you the facts on both sides of the theory and let you reach whatever conclusion you would like. It’s not something I am dogmatic about.
Most Bible translations present this as if it is Samuel himself who is being called up from the grave.
I Samuel 28:11-14 say
11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.
And from there, Samuel and Saul have their conversation. The Bible says Samuel says this and Samuel says that. So the Bible’s language generally presents this as if it’s actually Samuel.
The reason that for a long time I didn’t think this was actually Samuel is because I grew up on the King James and New King James translations of the Bible. This is how the New King James rendered verse 14.
(I Samuel 28:14 NKJV)
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.
So in most other translations, it says that Saul “knew” it was Samuel. But in the King Jimmies, it said he “perceived” that it was Samuel.
So to me, I took that word “perceived” really really literally. I took it that the Bible was saying that Saul’s perception was that he was looking at Samuel; but of course, our perceptions can be wrong. And it was my thought that ghosts- the spirits of dead people walking the earth- that this doesn’t really happen because you are either in heaven or hell when you die. So I thought Saul’s perception was wrong, but that this actually had to be a demon messing with Saul.
That is still a possibility; like I said, I’m not dogmatic about this. I’m still totally comfortable with saying it was a demon because that fits with everything I knew- or thought I knew- about spiritual reality. But here are some alternative reasons to think that it was perhaps actually Samuel himself appearing right here.
First of all, everything that Samuel says when he’s brought up right here…is true.
I Samuel 28:15-19
15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” 16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
So everything Samuel said right there- both about the past and about what was to come in the future for Saul- actually happened. Right after this, Saul is going to die in battle against the Philistines. So my first reason that I’d say I think this is really actually Samuel as a ghost in this chapter and not a demon is that everything he says is true.
Second, Samuel in this chapter says the exact same things that he said the last time he talked to Saul. Years before, in I Samuel 15, Samuel had decided to wash his hands of Saul and had nothing to do with him anymore. This was when Saul was given the task of wiping out all the Amalekites, but Saul didn’t do it. Samuel said to him in
I Samuel 15:18-19
18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”
And then Samuel followed up in
Verse 28 with
“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you…”
So the words that Samuel last said to Saul are the same words he repeats to him again in I Samuel 28 when he’s conjured up. Which I think speaks to the futility of trying to see fortune-tellers or necromancers. Saul goes to all this trouble and actually seals his fate over the sin of going to see a medium in chapter 28. He goes to great lengths here to get a new word from the Lord, and yet he learns no new information. He is only repeated the last things God had said to him. He loses his life over nothing.
A third reason I believe this may actually be Samuel is that I learned where Old Testament saints went when they died. They did not actually go to heaven as we know it in the Old Testament. Before Jesus’ death on the cross, they actually went to a waiting place known as Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom. The reason is that until Jesus died on the cross, the Old Testament saints could not have their sins forgiven and be cleansed and made holy, so they had to go to a waiting place called Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom. If you weren’t aware of this, well, we could do a whole episode on this subject if you’d like. Just send me an email to weirdstuffinthebible@gmail.com if you’d like more info on Abraham’s Bosom. I’ll tell you everything I know if you want an episode on that.
Don’t ask me why it’s called Abraham’s Bosom. I have no idea why that’s one of the names they slapped on it, and they never asked me my opinion or I probably would have given them something a lot better.
But that actually helps unlock for me how Samuel could be brought up. If he was in heaven, I actually believe he would not have been disturbed. But Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom was a waiting place in Sheol, or within the earth, in the same region where hell was. Abraham’s Bosom was the good part of Sheol, and it was where Old Testament saints rested until it was time for Jesus to descend into the depths of the earth and set the captives free.
And so perhaps the rules about necromancy are a little bit different prior to Jesus’ death on the cross, and Samuel actually could have been brought up to see Saul.
And that’s it. Those are my main reasons I believe it’s certainly possible that Saul actually did see Samuel come out of the grave for a few moments.
Note that the medium was also a little freaked out by Samuel’s appearance. Perhaps she was used to conjuring demons when she danced her little jig, and that was why she was also caught a little bit off guard when Samuel himself appeared instead of a demon. Others have pondered that perhaps she was a phony, and that she was surprised because this was the first time she’d ever seen something supernatural.
We could speculate all day long about what’s really going on in this story, and you can just take the ideas I’ve thrown out to you today and determine whatever you want. It’s a spooky story, and I’m glad that we could delve into it on today’s episode.
And that concludes the lesson for today. If you are just here for that, God bless you for listening, I was glad to have you here. If you’re new, please consider subscribing so you can get future episodes. In just a moment, I want to give a little bit of a PSA for the election that’s coming up. This is going to pertain to my listeners in Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Maryland, Florida and Missouri. If you don’t live in one of those states and you’re tired of hearing about elections and issues and all that, I get it, and you can shut the podcast off now. But if you do listen a couple more minutes, I’d like to share my heart about some issues on the ballot in those states next week, and then I’ll inform you about where we’ll be next time on the show.
[music bed]
Vote
My five-year-old son has been taking speech lessons to work on his F and TH sounds. My heart skipped a beat a few days ago when he got home from speech class and proudly told me that he learned “so many F-words” from his speech teacher that day.
The dirtiest word I know does not start with an F. It is not a four-letter word. The dirtiest word I know is abortion. It’s a word I wish did not exist. I wish no one had ever invented it. I wish it was never thought of. I feel sick every time it comes out of my mouth. I wish I could say it was unfathomable. But regrettably- shockingly- disturbingly, it’s fathomed more than 2,500 times a day, nearly a million times a year in the U.S.
It is always wrong to kill an innocent, individual human being. It still shocks me that it even needs to be said. I’ve seen the statistics a hundred times and yet they still surprise me every time I look at them. People will come up with all kinds of logic to avoid admitting the truth of what happens. But at the end of the day, no matter what euphemisms are slapped on it, no matter how normalized it has become, it is always wrong to kill an innocent, individual human being.
Abortion is going to be on the ballot in all of those states I mentioned earlier, and I’ll mention them again in a moment. And that means life is going to be on the ballot. I’m asking you to make sure you get to the polls and vote these abortion amendments down if you live in one of those states.
I know a lot of Christians can get downright idolatrous about politics at this time of year. And they start making up all of these rules about how you must vote or you’re in sin, and I get a little bit uncomfortable with that because the Bible doesn’t tell us any rules about voting. But let me tell you what is in the Bible.
James 4:17
to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
I know picking between two candidates is not always easy. I’m not asking you to do that today. If you don’t like Trump, I’m not asking you to put on a MAGA hat. If you don’t like Republicans, I’m not asking you to join a party. I’m not asking you to pick between a lesser of two evils. I’m asking you to do something good.
If abortion is on the ballot in your state, I’m asking you to go out on election day and vote it down.
If you’re a citizen of Montana, please vote NO on Constitutional Initiative 128.
If you’re a citizen of Nebraska, please vote NO on Measure 439 and YES on Measure 434
If you’re a citizen of Arizona, please vote NO on Proposition 139.
If you’re a citizen of Colorado, please vote NO on Amendment 79
If you’re a citizen of Maryland, please vote NO on Question 1.
If you’re a citizen of Nevada, please vote NO on Question 6.
If you’re a citizen of South Dakota, please vote NO on Amendment 6.
If you’re a citizen of Florida, please vote NO on Amendment 4
And if you’re a fellow Missourian, please join me in voting NO on Amendment 3 this November. And thank you for your votes for life.
I mentioned that I have a five-year-old. I have it on good authority that every little boy likes to pretend he has superpowers and save people. If I had a superpower, I’d probably want to fly like Superman. I know that’s kind of generic, but I don’t have much use for crawling on walls or talking to fish.
Unfortunately for my gas budget, I can’t fly. I don’t have any superpowers. The only power I have is a vote; but incredibly, the power to vote CAN save lives- if you’ll use it.
If you listen next week, I’m going to do an episode about Daniel 10 called “Can Demons Disrupt Our Prayers?” This is actually going to be a repeat of an episode I did a year ago on the podcast when it was brand new.
But I have three reasons to repeat this episode: One, since next week’s Wednesday is the day after a major election, and I’m concerned that a lot of people will be in such a political headspace that I hate to try to go into something new that day. Two, my listenership is literally more than 10 times higher now than it was back then, so for most of you listening, it’ll probably be new information for you anyway. And three, it fits perfectly with the spiritual warfare topic I’ve been expanding on the past few weeks, and I want you to see that everything we’re facing right now is a spiritual battle.
So pray about everything going on in our country over the next week, read Daniel 10 and let it encourage you to pray some more, and we’ll see you next time on Weird Stuff in the Bible.
