The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum 1samuel 28

John,

I think a strong case can be made to support the view that it was the spirit of Samuel that appeared that day in some sort of recognizable garb. However, what also needs to be insisted upon is that this occurrence was an exception, i.e., a miracle wrought by God and not one that happened due to some conjuring of spirits by a human being; the witch as it were. In short, this was God's means of rendering judgment upon a disobedient and unrepentant Saul and the Israelites who were about to be ravished by the Philistines. Again, one cannot take this one-time incident and make a precedent from it that the dead can and do appear to the living. We read of no other similar event in all of Scripture, including Elijah and Moses (Matt 17:3) who appeared to the disciples in a glorified state.

In summary, the appearance of Samuel was due to a sovereign act of God and a one-time event for the purpose of bringing a word of judgment. It was in this sense a miracle brought about for a specific purpose and that only, never to be repeated.

Just a side not on the word "Hades". In the O.T., this word generally means "grave" and not necessarily "Hell" nor especially "Purgatory". <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

In His grace,