Endor 

Endor was visited by Jesus during his youth and ministry. He clarified misconceptions while there about spirits and the afterlife, teaching that post-Pentecost, spirits cannot interfere with the living, nor can the dead communicate with the living.

Endor
  • Summary

    Endor was a village whose modern-day location is not known for certain. One modern map shows that it may have been south of Nazareth, where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus lived when he was a child. At various times in his youth and ministry, Jesus visited Endor.

    During the first public preaching tour in 28 CE, Jesus spent some time of rest in Endor. It was there that he explained the biblical story of the Witch of Endor to his apostles, clarifying misconceptions about spirits and the afterlife. He reassured them that after Pentecost, such spirits would not be able to interfere with human lives. He also instructed them that human beings do not return to the earth after they die, nor can they communicate with the living after death.

  • Jesus and Endor

    Endor would have likely been close to Nazareth as Joseph did some carpentry or construction work there when Jesus was a child. However, its modern-day location is unknown. When Jesus was nine years old, he and his father frequently traveled together to Endor.

    It was while Joseph was away in Endor that Jesus had his fall down the stairs at age seven. And when Jesus spent his year of solitary wandering, Endor was one of his destinations. In 28 CE, Jesus and his apostles preached and baptized believers in Endor as part of the first public preaching tour.

  • Jesus Explains the Story of the Witch of Endor

    After the incident of the widow’s son of Nain, Jesus retreated to Endor to escape the crowds that were constantly beseeching him for healing. It was during this short time of rest that Jesus told the apostles about the witch of Endor. In this story from Scripture, Saul consults a medium (or witch) who, at Saul's request, proceeds to summon the ghostly figure of Samuel, who was dead, out of the ground.

    Jesus instructed the apostles regarding the beings that were involved in this story of Scripture; beings who had impersonated the supposed spirits of the dead. Such things were fairly commonplace in those days but Jesus assured them that the time was coming when such rebellious spirits would no longer be allowed to interfere with the lives of human beings. And ever since the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of Truth was poured out onto the earth, semi-spirit beings (so-called unclean spirits) can no longer possess or torment people.

  • "Location - Endor" - by Midjourney and Gary Tonge"Location - Endor" - by Midjourney and Gary Tonge
  • The Dead Do Not Communicate with the Living

    Jesus also instructed the apostles that human beings do not return to the earth after they die, nor can they communicate with the living. At some future dispensational age, this might be possible, but he clarified that it would only be in exceptional circumstances and as part of the spiritual administration of the planet.

Suggested Reading from this Essay

Timeline

Related People

Contributors

MaryJo Garascia, Mike Robinson, Gary Tonge

References and Sources

  • 112:3.7 After death, humans cannot communicate with beings on earth or send messages to their loved ones.
  • 123:3.8 Jesus' father Joseph worked in Endor.
  • 123:4.6 Jesus fell down the stone stairs while Joseph was away in Endor.
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