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.