1 Kingdoms (1 Samuel) 28:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

They argue that, as a result, God permitted the summoning of the Prophet's soul, indicating that Samuel realized he had inaccurately appealed to God for Saul, who was, in fact, the enemy of those demonic practitioners.

Regarding the chasm described in the Gospel, which the patriarch, or rather the Lord of the patriarch, states exists between the wicked and the righteous (Luke 16:26), I cannot accept such interpretations as valid, having been taught that the Gospel is the sole truth. Samuel, as a revered saint, is too great to willingly or unwillingly traverse the perilous divide to the realm of the unrighteous. This crossing would not have occurred involuntarily, as it is impossible for a demon to traverse the abyss and interact with the holy, nor would the demon desire or be allowed to engage with the wicked, since such an abundance of grace would be utterly incompatible with the state of the wicked. Even if a desire existed, the nature of the abyss would not allow passage.

So, how do we reconcile these beliefs? The adversary of mankind is a universal foe, relentlessly scheming to inflict fatal harm upon humanity. What greater harm could there be than willingly rejecting the life-giving God and surrendering oneself to inevitable destruction? Since worldly individuals often seek knowledge of the future to evade hardships or attain their aspirations, the demonic deceivers have devised numerous false methods to glean foreknowledge, including bird divination, reading signs, soothsaying, examining animal entrails, consulting the dead, and other misleading practices. Whenever any form of prescience appears credible due to such deceptions, the seducing demon reinforces these false beliefs in the minds of those ensnared.

Thus, the adversary manipulates circumstances so that the flight of an eagle, movements of the liver, changes in the brain's membranes, and various false signs lead individuals astray, pushing them to abandon God in favor of demonic influence, while mistakenly believing they do so for legitimate reasons. Among these forms of deception is the practice of mediums who falsely believed their sorcery could summon the souls of the dead back into the physical realm. In a moment of desperation faced with the advancing Philistine army, Saul considered that Samuel might provide him with guidance. The medium, being influenced by her familiar spirit, was transformed into shadowy figures, although nothing tangible was visible to Saul.

When she began her incantations, apparitions appeared before her, and the demon ensured the authenticity of these manifestations by first confirming Saul's identity through disguise, impressing the woman that her magical abilities had not failed her. When she claimed, "I see gods coming up out of the earth, and the old man is covered with a mantle" (1 Sam. 28:13-14), how can the advocates of a literal interpretation validate this? If what the medium saw was genuinely Samuel, it logically follows that the other entities she perceived must also be gods, even though Scripture designates demons as deities: "For all the gods of the nations are idols" (Ps. 95:5). Thus, is Samuel's soul truly among the demons? Certainly not! Rather, the demon was obedient to the medium, enlisting other spirits to deceive her, leading Saul astray into believing that the ventriloquists were divine, while the demon merely took on the appearance of the summoned prophet and mimicked his voice, delivering messages that appeared prophetic, leading to the awaited decree which was destined to transpire. However, the demon spoke truthfully when it proclaimed, "Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me" (1 Sam. 28:19). For if the speaker were truly Samuel, how could he have consented to share in Saul's condemnation? It is clear that the entity perceived was no prophet but an evil spirit, which did not deceive when stating that Saul would join him.