Part 2

Bishop _Hall_ remarks on this subject: “Why should God answer that man by dreams, who had resisted him waking? Why should he answer him by Urim, that had slain his Priests? Why should he answer him by Prophets, who hated the Father of Prophets? Unto what mad spirit are men driven by despair!—if you will not answer _Satan_ shall. Could Saul be so ignorant as to think that magic had power over God’s deceased saints, either to raise them up, or call them down from their rest?”

Dr. _Smith_, who published his comment on the Bible in 1735, observes, “Many controversies have been about Samuel’s apparition, but I am entirely of opinion that it was neither in the Devil’s, or the Witch’s power to raise up the true Samuel, to make him appear there; it was nothing but mere deceit and collusion of the Devil, whom God sometimes permits to do strange actions, for the ruin and destruction of those who give credit thereto.”

The truly learned Mr. _Poole_, in his works remarks on the 13th verse of the chapter—“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—or a god, a divine person, glorious, and full of majesty, exceeding not only mortal men, but common ghosts. She useth the plural number, either after the manner of the Hebrew language, which commonly useth that word of one person, or after the language and custom of the heathens; but the whole coherence shews that it was but one, for Saul desired but one; and he enquires for, and the woman answers only of one, as if it came from the place of the dead. The woman pretended, and Saul, upon her suggestion believed indeed, that it was Samuel, and so many Popish and other writers conceived; but that it was _not_ Samuel, is sufficiently evident.” The argument of this good man I have interspersed in a foregoing page.

Mr. _Matthew Henry’s_ opinion may be ascertained from the few remarks extracted from his notes on this chapter.—“Since Saul can discern no comfort, neither in heaven or earth, he resolves to knock at the gates of hell, and see if any there will befriend him and give him advice. Saul (who we may suppose was kept at a distance in the next room) bid her not to be afraid of him, but go on with the operation, and enquired, What she saw? O, saith the woman, _I saw gods ascending out of the earth_; _i.e._ a spirit—angels were called gods, because they were spiritual beings. Poor gods that ascend out of the earth. But she speaks the language of the Heathen, who had their infernal deities, and had them in veneration. Saul came in disguise to Satan, and Satan knew him well. Satan came in disguise to Saul, but Saul could not discern him.—It was cold comfort this evil spirit gave to Saul, and is manifestly intended to drive him to despair and self murder. He upbraided him with three things, tho’ he had been the seducer; and then he foretold his approaching ruin, which any body could have done as well as Satan.”

Bishop _Patrick_ observes, “It is not in the power of witches, to disturb the rest of good men, or bring them back into the world when they please; nor would the true Samuel have acknowledged such a power in magical hearts, but to Saul this was a proper device of Satan, to draw veneration from him, to possess him with an opinion of the divination, and so to rivet him in the Devil’s interests.”

Dr. _Haweis_ also remarks—“It is incredible that the Devil should have any power over the souls of the righteous; nor can we conceive God would, to countenance such an abomination, suffer the holy Prophet to appear: the soul which was in heaven could not come up out of the earth, nor the glorified spirit be troubled as this apparition pretended, much less could Samuel say, Saul should be with him to-morrow, whose impenitent end, gives no hope of his happiness.”

Mr. _Mason_, a very spiritual writer, expresses himself thus concerning Saul’s conduct; “See how a sin-hardened soul acts—not like David, who goes to the Lord with an humbled heart, a broken spirit, a sorrowful cry, _O Lord pardon mine iniquity_, _for it is great_!—But like Saul, who applied to the Devil for relief, for the Lord was departed from him.”

Mr. _Brown_, in his Self-interpreting Bible, says, “And when the woman saw Samuel, that is, the Devil in his likeness. Satan hath no power over the souls of glorified saints. God would never give him any to countenance consulting of Devils. Samuel’s soul had not to come out of the earth, nor would he have said that Saul should be with him to-morrow, for it is not probable the battle was fought on that day”.

The able and learned Dr. _Gill_ observes, on the 15th verse, “And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up? This makes it a clear case that this was not the true Samuel—his soul was at rest in Abraham’s bosom, and it was not in the power of men or devils to disquiet it—nor would he have talked of his being brought up, but rather of his coming down, had it been really he, much less would he have acknowledged that he was brought up by Saul, by means of a Witch, and the help of the Devil.”

The late truly deep-taught scriptorian, Mr. _W. Huntington_, in his Epistles of Faith, acknowledges this history had once puzzled him, as many professors had told him it was really Samuel the Prophet, that the Witch of Endor raised; but adds, For my part I cannot believe it, for God has promised that his people shall be gathered in peace, and that their bodies shall rest in their beds; and I cannot think that it is in the power of the Devil to break the promise of God; for the wicked _cease_ from troubling, and in that state, the weary are at rest. If Satan can bring a soul out of Paradise, who departed in the faith, and raise a body out of the grave, who was once a temple of the Holy Ghost, he is not only the God of this world, but a rifler of the next. However, Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life, and he is too jealous of his honour to give it to an enemy. The woman cried out, _I see gods ascending_, when she saw the Devil come up, as an angel of light—and I do not wonder at it, for I dare say she had never seen her sweet-heart in the rays of an angel, or with the gravity of a Prophet before. Be not offended at the word sweet-heart, God says they sacrificed to devils, and went a whoring after devils. See 37th Deut. and 17th Levit.

One of our best and most evangelical preachers and writers, (I mean the excellent Dr. _Hawker_) in his notes on this chapter, remarks, “The great enemy of souls might be permitted to personate the departed Prophet, as such he appears to Saul’s view like Samuel. That it could not be Samuel himself, is I think, evident from other considerations. Neither Satan nor his instruments can have power over glorified saints; neither could the soul of Samuel be said to come up out of the earth, when we know that the spirits of just men made perfect, are with the Lord. Neither, had it been Samuel, would he have told him of the awful event about to take place, without following it up with advice to repent, instead of driving him to despair, and thereby forming a temptation to self-murder.”

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FINIS.

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Thomas, Printer, Red Lion Street, Boro