Samuel Coming Up out of the Earth

Every human being has weakness. However rich, however powerful, however famous, all people carry the weakness of being human, and so they despair and lose heart. People agonize over how to overcome this suffering. To resolve that agony, some overcome it by their own will, and some go to gods and shift their pain onto them. In this way, because of weak human beings, many gods have arisen in the world.

But human weakness began when people left God. They bow down to gods they have made as they please, asking for the world’s blessings and praying for long life. They go to shamans and fortune-tellers seeking assurance that they will be blessed, and they try to change their lives by borrowing their power. Exploiting wavering human weakness, Satan deceives people with everything from dead ancestors to trees, stones and water, and people live as servants of false gods. When a person with a familiar spirit takes a somewhat forceful stance with a god at their back, people entrust their future to that person and try to hold on to a person rather than to a god.

Watch the news and you will see many people who have been swindled by shamans and made to suffer. This shows how spiritually ignorant human beings are. When people think something can cover their weakness, they cling to it blindly, whether it is a shaman, money or honor. The reason is that human beings, having grown distant from God, have become weak beings who cannot live without clinging to something. In other words, it comes from a spiritual ignorance that does not know the almighty God.

People of the world may sneer that believing in God is also just believing in a god. But God is not a god; he is the Creator. If you, too, believe in God as a god, you are no different from the religions of the world. If we who believe forget that God is the source of all things, we are no different from a shaman who worships Satan. After all, if we give offerings to God in order to get what we want, it is no different from paying a shaman a fee to perform a ritual.

If we believe in God for the blessings of the world, how is that any different from worshiping idols? The gods of the world were made only for living well in the world. For they made their religions so that they would live well in return for believing in the gods. Of course, they too will say there is truth in the religion they believe. But Christ alone is reality, so everything else is illusion. Because we emphasize Christ alone in this way, we are also called narrow-minded; but it is Jesus who created heaven and earth and saved souls, so we cannot help but emphasize him.

What about Christianity today? There are many believers who serve God as Father, but it is also true that there are people who believe in God to get what they want from him. They too worship God and speak of salvation, and they give offerings, serve, and care for the poor according to the rules the church has set. But because what they want lies elsewhere, they do not serve God as Father. If we stop agonizing over how to receive the world’s blessings from God and think instead about the love with which God came to us, we will not reduce God to a god who hands out blessings.

I once saw a news story about an absurd case in which some women were deceived by a shaman who claimed to be able to tell them the first-prize Lotto numbers, and lost 1.4 billion won. They probably did not lose 1.4 billion won all at once. Having lost money to the shaman several times, the women could not easily pull out; deceived by lies and robbed again and again, they would in the end have lost 1.4 billion won, a situation too absurd to laugh at. When you consider that 1.4 billion won turns out to be about as much as a first-prize Lotto jackpot, you see how foolish they were. The case came to light because of the women who lost their money, but if the numbers the shaman gave them had won first prize, the women would not have reported the fortune-teller to the police, and would have served that shaman all the more.

What I want to say is that the greed of those women led the shaman to create a false god, and that god came to exist. Even now, human anxiety and greed are setting up idols everywhere. But if we believe that God is the one who exists by himself, and that the world and humanity were created through his word, human greed will disappear.

A woman with a familiar spirit appears in the account of King Saul calling up the dead Samuel. That is why I have spoken until now about shamans and fortune-tellers, who are servants of Satan, and about those who worship idols. Saul went to the woman with a familiar spirit for his own safety, and the woman said she saw Samuel coming up from within the earth. I have given this long explanation in order to find out whether the Samuel who came up out of the earth was truly the real Samuel, who came because the woman with a familiar spirit called him, or a trick of Satan.

In Hebrews 1:2, God loved the Son and so appointed him heir of all things, and he made the worlds through the word of the Son. God created by his word not only the angels but also heaven and earth, the universe and humanity. But in Jude 6 there were angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, and they corrupted humans, who were made in God’s image. God made human beings to share the glory of heaven with them; he gave them free will and let them come to him of their own accord. Human beings received the special blessing of being able to enjoy God’s glory. Before God created such human beings, an event took place in which a small band of angels fell, opposed God and was cast out. They are Satan, those who did not keep their domain and left their dwelling place. The fallen angels will be cast into the eternal lake of fire on the day of judgment.

As another way of opposing God, Satan tempted people to defy God’s word, and spiritually ignorant human beings fell for the deception and sank into great sin. Because of Adam’s sin of defying God’s word, all his descendants fell into death and were shut up in a darkness they could not escape on their own. Jesus came in the flesh to become the atoning sacrifice for that sin in our place, and he led sinners out of darkness into light. The only way to be forgiven the original sin Adam committed is to believe in Jesus Christ, who is God’s righteousness. Jesus was always humble, even though God had exalted him as the Savior of all people and appointed him Judge.

Look at what is recorded in Philippians 2:6-8: the Son, existing in the form of God, did not take a seat equal with the Father, but took the form of a servant and was obedient even to becoming the atoning sacrifice in the likeness of a sinner. God, who loved the Son who willingly carried the cross, highly exalted him and gave him the name which is above every name. He made those in heaven, those on earth and those under the earth all bow the knee at the name of Jesus, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and so give glory to the Father. Human beings abandoned this God who loves them so much, and their evil nature, craving a dazzling world and plenty, began to produce the gods of the world.

Satan used that heart to make people servants, and set up people with familiar spirits who work in the service of idol worship. Because there are foolish people who believe in the gods of the world, servants of Satan keep arising. So when shamans perform their rituals and call up dead ancestors, it is not the ancestors but Satan’s trickery. That is because, when a person dies, the body returns to dust and the soul goes to one of two places, heaven or hell, so the soul is not something that comes when called. Since it is a fact that people go to one of the two, heaven or hell, whatever shamans now claim to call up in their rituals would all be Satan’s tricks.

In Isaiah 8:19, God told Isaiah that those who have familiar spirits and the wizards are the dead. So those who have familiar spirits — that is, the dead — cannot call up souls that God has already decided upon, souls that have gone, divided, into heaven and hell. Of course, when people see them call up ancestors and tell the past accurately, they will get excited that it really is their ancestor and grow firm in that belief.

But because Satan was at first a spirit God created to do his work, Satan was an angel able to grasp God’s intentions exactly and carry them out. Such an angel fell and became an evil spiritual being, but we must not forget that, as a spirit, Satan has the power to bring down fire from heaven and to perform miracles. Whether it is telling the past exactly or letting people hear the voices of their ancestors, everything is a trap Satan has set to drop souls into the fire of hell, so perhaps even the shamans may be deceived by Satan. People dazzled by hearing their ancestors’ voices will want to hear from the fortune-teller that their ancestors will help their future go well. Such a heart gives Satan an easy opening to drag them to hell, and because of it people are shut even further into darkness.

People made of dust cannot defeat Satan, a spiritual being, so we must know clearly who the Lord of all things is and not be deceived. If we cannot rely on the almighty God and go to fortune-tellers instead, we will be caught in their snare and live a life still farther from the light. Believe that God will lead you through this life and even after death, and keep your faith.

King Saul had experienced God’s work of saving him and his nation until now, and he was a man who had received God’s absolute help. Such a man could not overcome Satan’s temptation, became Satan’s servant, and committed a great sin. He goes to a person with a familiar spirit, whom he himself had driven out, bows his head and wants to hear about the future. With the Philistines attacking and the war turning against him, Saul grew anxious when God did not answer him, by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets. When God does not answer, we must realize that there is sin and repent. Yet rather than repent, Saul went to the woman with a familiar spirit. If it became known that he was the king, he might be attacked by the Philistines, and it would also be awkward if it came out that the king was meeting a person with a familiar spirit, so he disguised himself and met the woman.

I have heard that there are church members who, rather than praying to God and enduring, go to those with familiar spirits when they meet difficulties, wanting to know the future, and kneel before them and listen to the words of the dead. Such behavior is evidence that they do not believe in God, even though they attend church. Even if one never seeks out someone with a familiar spirit, saying and doing things a believer must not, out of a craving for power, is the same as being Saul in disguise.

The woman with the familiar spirit said with a loud voice that she saw a god coming up out of the earth. When she said it was Samuel, Saul bowed with his face to the ground. The Samuel who came up out of the earth rebuked Saul in anger, asking why he had disturbed him, and said that Yahweh had done to Saul as he spoke by Samuel, and had torn the kingdom out of Saul’s hand and given it to his neighbor, even to David. The reason, he said, was that Saul had not obeyed Yahweh’s voice, and so Yahweh had done this thing. Then he prophesied that tomorrow Saul and his sons would be delivered into the hand of the Philistines and would be with him. This prophecy came true, and Saul and his sons died together.

Do you think this one who came up out of the earth was Samuel? Samuel is in heaven; if the Samuel who came up out of the earth prophesied to Saul that tomorrow Saul would be with him, that would mean Samuel is in hell. Unless we believe that people go to heaven or hell with Christ at the center, even we believers can be confused as we watch what happens in the world. If we look at every event with heaven and hell, and Jesus, at the center, we will be able to see the answer clearly. If we focus on the fact that the words of the one called Samuel, who came up out of the earth when the woman with a familiar spirit called him, came true, our faith will be shaken.

But if we think with God at the center, the answer will come easily. For a human soul has only eternal life or eternal punishment, according to the law God has set. Then the answer is that the Samuel who came up out of the earth was only Satan imitating Samuel, not the real Samuel. That is because God does not send Samuel through a person with a familiar spirit whenever a wicked person like Saul wants it. Of course, when Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration, Elijah and Moses came down from heaven and talked with Jesus about his atonement. But that was a heavenly work God did to help Jesus’ atonement be accomplished perfectly, and it was a work of salvation for Israel. Coming up from under the ground is not God’s way; the earth that exists in the world belongs to the flesh.

Because Satan is God’s creature, Satan is a spirit that obeys God’s command. But God made Satan a spiritual being, powerful enough to oppose God, so when Satan schemes, weak people cannot help being deceived, and when Satan tempts, they cannot help going as far as abandoning God. So to avoid being attacked by Satan, whom God puts to work, we must be in God without fail. Once we step outside God, as King Saul did, from then on we come under Satan’s attack and can only end up seeking out a person with a familiar spirit ourselves. All the prophecies of the Samuel who came up out of the earth came true, but that was God using Satan to rebuke Saul.

Job 1:6

6Now on the day when God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them.

In 1 Kings 22:19-22, Micaiah saw a vision: Yahweh was sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left, and Yahweh asked who would entice King Ahab so that he would die. Then a spirit came forward and said that it would become a lying spirit and make all the prophets lie, and so deceive Ahab to his death. This is how well Satan knows the heart of God. Just as David, moved by the Holy Spirit, prophesied that Saul would die on the battlefield, Satan too could well make this prophecy, because he hears God’s word in God’s presence. Satan will work diligently until the judgment God has set, corrupting souls in order to cast them into hell. Saul, having met the Samuel called up by the woman with a familiar spirit, would have come to have a faith that relies unconditionally on the woman with a familiar spirit.

I hope you will come to understand and know the deep truth of the Word. If we do not know the Word, we waver at even small temptations, and if we have no standard of the Word, we try to handle things with the knowledge and experience we learned in the world, so we cannot help growing distant from God. Satan may tempt with words as sweet as candy, but all Satan has is darkness, so in the end it leads to the second death.

King Saul’s behavior came from an inferiority complex. After all, it came from being unable to let go of the thought that he was unhappy because of David, even though he knew he could not defeat David. You can recognize people with an inferiority complex by their behavior: there is no consistency. Their emotions swing widely, so instead of always doing well consistently, their behavior changes with momentary shifts of feeling. Because of that, you will be able to tell. If Saul had helped David go David’s way and had gone his own way, God would have given rewards to both men, David and Saul.

But like Saul, who as king could have lived a fully happy life, anyone who cannot let go of an inferiority complex will live an unhappy life. An inferiority complex is the inability to embrace anything the other person says or does, regardless of whether the other person is better than oneself or oneself is better. That is why, even though David devoted himself to Saul, Saul disliked everything David said and did, and finally tried to kill him. If Saul had lifted David up and walked with him, Saul’s life would have been peaceful, and he would have had even greater power. And he would not have suffered the misery of his sons’ deaths. The reality that the inferiority complex produced was, for Saul, misery itself. It was the path Saul chose, and an unhappy life.

May you set the truth at the center, never give in to Satan’s temptations, and live a blessed life by God’s grace. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 29:6-11

6Then Achish called David, and said to him, “As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords don’t favor you. 7Therefore now return, and go in peace, that you not displease the lords of the Philistines.” 8David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant so long as I have been before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” 9Achish answered David, “I know that you are good in my sight, as an angel of God. Notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ 10Therefore now rise up early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you; and as soon as you are up early in the morning, and have light, depart.” 11So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.