The Problem with Deuteronomy 18:11 & Saul and the Witch of Endor

Deuteronomy 18:11b is very explicit in its restriction of contacting anyone who has died, no matter the circumstances, “…or one who inquires of the dead”. We cannot approach the dead for anything. Now, someone will tell me, “What about Jesus?” They forget that Jesus is resurrected. He is the firstborn of the dead. Colossians 1:18, speaking of Jesus, “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” Only one person who ever died was permanently resurrected. So, when you approach him, you are not approaching the dead but the living.

Calling on the Dead

I have been going through some radical changes in my spiritual life. Recently, I believe the LORD led me to reexamine the section of the Bible where Saul seeks advice from Samuel, who had died (1 Samuel 28). Saul approaches a medium, a woman in Endor who had the reputation of being a medium. Saul disguised himself and waited until nightfall to go and visit the woman. He tells her to use her “ritual” to conjure up the one he tells her to. She is afraid because Saul has been killing the mediums and magicians. He swears an oath to protect her and asks her to call up Samuel. When she sees Samuel appear, she cries out in fear. I don’t think she expected it to work.

Several things happen here:

1. Samuel does appear. So you can call upon the dead. However, the witch fearfully expresses surprise at his appearance. In his dialogue with Samuel, the prophet tells Saul what he already knows. God has rejected him for David since Saul was disobedient and failed to deal with Amalek as God instructed. Saul and his army spared Agag, the Amalekite king, the best sheep and cattle, and anything Saul saw as reasonable. Because of this, God rejected Saul as king and appointed David as the future king.
2. Samuel prophesies and tells Saul that the Philistines will destroy him, his sons, and the army of Israel. They will all die tomorrow.
3. God’s judgment falls on Saul for what he has done, and he dies the next day.

God’s Judgment

So, biblically, we should not call upon the dead for any reason. We risk the judgment of God, whether almost immediately, like Saul, or in the future. Either way, it will serve us no good since even though Saul got to inquire of Samuel, it ended in his ruin and was no help to him. As Paul says in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death…”

As a result of this insight, I had to reexamine my previous conduct as a Roman Catholic. I used to ask both the saints and Mary to intercede for me. God explicitly condemns consulting/contacting the dead. Even worse, praying to a saint for intercession is a double anathema since we only pray to God.

One area I am still working on is a circumstance like asking the Archangel Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host, to intercede for us. I think there is an issue with that, even though many people do it, since Michael does not act of his own volition but at the command of God the Father. We see this when Michael goes to Daniel to support him, where he tells Daniel, “I have now been sent to you.” Daniel 10:11. So, if you want to ask for his assistance, I would ask the Father to send Michael or whomever he wants to defend us and not break the chain of command by asking directly.

While you may not even think of approaching a medium, that is not the real issue. You need to reconsider any contact with the Christian dead seriously. Especially the temptation to “talk” to family or friends who have died in Christ. This dangerous ground God explicitly condemns..