Q&A: The witch of Endor and Samuel's appearance to Saul (1 Samuel 28) — God sovereignly brought Samuel to rebuke Saul, not to help him

Saul, rejected by God and cut off from prophetic guidance, consults a medium at Endor after Samuel's death. The medium herself is shocked when Samuel actually appears — suggesting she did not have genuine power to summon the dead and her usual practice was likely demonic contact or fraud. God sovereignly caused Samuel to appear, not to help Saul but to rebuke him and announce the end of his reign. The medium's shock is evidence she did not expect genuine spiritual manifestation.