Recipe for Mashed Potatoes

Years ago, my late husband Barry and I were treated to a long overdue honeymoon. We were ecstatic at the idea of a week of surf, sand and the rarest commodity known to parents – solitude. We issued a very stern, “Do not Disturb” order to the younger children before we left, leaving our eldest son in charge. With that, we boarded the plane and giggled the entire flight like the newlyweds we totally weren’t.

Arriving at our destination, we were greeted to a spacious ninth story oceanfront condominium. Every surface sparkled with southern sun, there were more bedrooms than we needed, and the balcony was palatial. Unused to being so spoiled, it took us a few days to acclimate to the peace and quiet. We had just fallen into a gentle rhythm when….

An urgent text message from home arrived from one of the younger children.*

They were asking for the recipe for mashed potatoes.

I could hear Barry’s blood pressure rising from across the room.

“What part of, ‘Do not Disturb’ was unclear? Why are they messaging for something so trivial?”

Short answer – the absence of their mother, the presence of their brother, and a ‘perceived’ silence of their father. Probably combined with having to do things at home they simply didn’t want to do, because our plans weren’t part of their plans. Their desperation to have things their own comfortable way led to disobedience – as well as snatching us out of the peaceful paradise we were settled into.

( *Name omitted to protect the not-so-innocent.)

This ‘mashed potato’ memory of our honeymoon returned to me when I recently re-read about King Saul disobeying God for similar reasons, and also badgering someone who had been given their eternal rest.

Before we dig deeper into King Saul’s recipe for disaster, I need to share something for context. God’s holy word tells us we are NEVER to consult with the occult in order to speak with the dead.

“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.” Deuteronomy 18:10.

Anthony Delgado explains – “The Bible is clear and consistent in forbidding attempts to contact the dead, seek hidden knowledge through supernatural means, or participate in occult practices. From Old Testament prohibitions to New Testament warnings, Scripture presents psychics and similar spiritual intermediaries as dangerous, deceptive, and incompatible with faith in God. For believers, the question is not simply whether psychics can reveal information—it is whether the source of that information honors or opposes the Lord.”

So this makes what King Saul was about to do not only an abomination to God, it also cemented Saul’s death. The verses that follow are contained in 1st Samuel, chapter 28.

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums and magicians from the land.  The Philistines assembled; they came and camped at Shunem. Saul mustered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.  When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was absolutely terrified.  So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him—not by dreams nor by Urim nor by the prophets.  So Saul instructed his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him, “There is a woman who is a medium in Endor.”

My translation – The story starts with the absence of Samuel, who was a prophet. King Saul knew Samuel before he died. Previously Samuel and Saul were on good terms, but that disintegrated as King Saul became more of a powerful jerk. Next, in an attempt of too little too late, we see Saul obeying the Lord and booting out the mediums and magicians. Then there is the presence of the Philistines – which rightly scares the daylights out of Saul because their army is there to serve up death on a platter. God is using the Philistine army to punish Saul for previous disobedience to God. Saul is hoping that God will tell him what to do, because in Saul’s mind, God is ‘ghosting’ him. Finally we have the absence of God’s voice.

Saul doesn’t hear from God in his dreams. Saul doesn’t hear God via the Urim ( pronounced ‘oo-rim’) – which were stones on a priest’s garments that could divine answers to yes/ no questions. It makes me think of the Magic 8 ball toy I played with as a kid, but the Urim were holy, not hokum. Lastly, Saul wasn’t hearing ‘through the prophets.’ Samuel was a prophet – but Samuel was dead.

Saul is desperate – so he decides to disobey God’s instructions and asks his servants to fetch a medium. Notice that Saul had kicked out ‘all’ the mediums and magicians, but the servants were conveniently able to fetch one as easily as you can get a pizza delivered. Go figure. Check out what happens next.

 So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing and left, accompanied by two of his men. They came to the woman at night and said, “Use your ritual pit to conjure up for me the one I tell you.”

But the woman said to him, “Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed the mediums and magicians from the land! Why are you trapping me so you can put me to death?” But Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not incur guilt in this matter!”  The woman replied, “Who is it that I should bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up for me Samuel.”

 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly. The woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”  The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! But what have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen a divine being coming up from the ground!”  He said to her, “What about his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up! He is wrapped in a robe!”

Riches to rags for a disguise, King Saul sneaks out at night to disobey God – as if darkness could hide his sin. The medium reacts with suspicion – I picture her like this – she has big hair and she’s snapping her chewing gum, saying, “This is a crime, you know. You a cop? Is this entrapment? Am I gonna get the death penalty?” She’s no fool. Saul has the audacity to swear by the Lord he is currently disobeying that the woman won’t get punished. Saul is bluffing.

The medium falls for Saul’s false promise and asks him, “Well, who do you wanna see?” Saul requests Samuel, the recently dead prophet. He gets what he wants and the medium FREAKS OUT. The Bible doesn’t say if she was able to actually ‘bring up’ spirits before, or if she was just a really good con woman who was just as shocked at her sudden ‘ability.’ The Bible doesn’t say how it happens or why God allows it in this one isolated instance – but the consequences will be deadly.

Then Saul realized it was Samuel, and he bowed his face toward the ground and kneeled down.  Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul replied, “I am terribly troubled! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me anymore—not by the prophets nor by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do.”

 Samuel said, “Why are you asking me, now that the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy?  The Lord has done exactly as I prophesied! The Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David!  Since you did not obey the Lord and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this thing to you today. The Lord will hand you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow both you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also hand the army of Israel over to the Philistines!”

Samuel the prophet is ripped from his heavenly rest. In Revelations 14:13, the Bible promises that those who die in the Lord are blessed and will rest from their labors. Just like when our naughty child called for the recipe for mashed potatoes while we were on our honeymoon, Saul bypassed the ‘do not disturb’ sign between heaven and earth. Samuel makes it known to Saul that he HAS been disturbed and wants to know why.

Saul whines to Samuel that he’s scared, the Philistine army is about to bring his world crashing down and God has gone silent – no prophets or dreams. Saul conveniently leaves out the Urim part from earlier because he had the priests killed. What a PR nightmare.

My sarcastic nature really wishes that Samuel had said -“Look you big baby, you’re bugging me for heavenly intel because God doesn’t like you anymore? Too bad, so sad. I told you so. You disobeyed God by not slaughtering the Amalekites like you were told and now you, your sons, and your army are toast. It’s game over, bro. You’re going to be with me tomorrow. DEAD.” In my version, Samuel would have then ran a finger across his throat to signal death was coming.

The story concludes like this.

Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words. He was completely drained of energy, having not eaten anything all that day and night. When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, “Your maidservant has done what you asked. I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me. Now it’s your turn to listen to your maidservant! Let me set before you a bit of bread so that you can eat. When you regain your strength, you can go on your way.”

 But he refused, saying, “I won’t eat!” Both his servants and the woman urged him to eat, so he gave in. He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed. Now the woman had a well-fed calf at her home that she quickly slaughtered. Taking some flour, she kneaded it and baked bread without leaven. She brought it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and left that same night.

Saul knows that his last minute Hail Mary pass has failed. He’s terrified, exhausted, and starving. In this pitiful picture, the woman who illegally practices the occult risks her life for a duplicitous king. In my mental picture, she morphs into a kindly Italian grandmother type, saying, “You need to eat. Boys, tell him to eat.” She knows she’s feeding Saul his last meal, so the medium kills her fatted calf and makes fresh bread. But after the delicious steak dinner – she’s rolling up her welcome mat. King or no King – get lost, buddy boy.

As predicted, Saul dies the next day. Three of his sons are brought down first. Philistine archers wound Saul severely. Saul begs his armor-bearer to run him through with a sword before the Philistines get a hold of him and torture him to death. The armor-bearer is too scared to do it, so Saul does it to himself.

“So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance.” 1st Chronicles 10:13

The absence of the prophet Samuel, the presence of the Philistine army, and a ‘perceived’ silence of Saul’s heavenly Father drove a king to desperate, disobedient actions. Being told to do things Saul simply didn’t want to do, because his plans weren’t part of God’s plans. Saul didn’t want to slaughter the Amalekites, because Saul was only looking at the short term and his tiny corner of of the map. God commanded Saul to slaughter the Amalekites because they were violently trying to circumvent God’s long term plan – to bring about the birth of Jesus through the nation of Israel, which would bring about the salvation of the world.

This year I have had to do things I have not wanted to do. My plans were not God’s plans. Has that ever happened to you, dear reader? King Saul’s desperation to cling to his plans didn’t seem so different to mine. Being widowed was not on my agenda. The sudden absence of my husband, the stifling presence of grief, and a sporadically perceived silence of God. That’s been my perception, it has never been my reality.

Because of God’s promises, I don’t need to consult a medium to look for the ‘ghost of Christmas past.’ I can accept that the world is filled with bittersweet reminders of my husband, rather than looking for ‘signs’ of him. God may bring certain things to my attention as a sort of divine comfort, and for that I am thankful.

I hold on to the promise of Revelation 14:13. I know Barry is in heaven. I know he is blessed and at rest. I will not disobey God’s word in an attempt to breach the “Do Not Disturb” sign to pester Barry for answers while he is resting in paradise.

When our plans don’t align with God’s plans, dear reader, know that His plan is far better than ours. We have short term comfort in mind, God plays the long game.

My husband is just lucky I already know the recipe for mashed potatoes. =)