Donkey Soup

There was almost no food to eat and very little water. The people were suffering so greatly. Things were so bad that only those who had wealth could find anything and what they could find I don’t think that any one of you would have wanted to eat it.

They were paying 80 pieces of silver for the head of a donkey. 80 pieces of silver, just so that they could make donkey hide jerky, donkey ear sandwiches, donkey brain soup, donkey tongue stew, and then they could boil the donkey skull to make a broth. What a prize a donkey’s head would be. Why we could feed the whole family on one donkey’s head for a whole week! Dinner will be served at noon – is anyone hungry for some good old donkey brain soup?

And if you think that eating the donkey head was bad, then think about what the poorer class had to eat. They couldn’t afford the luxury of a donkey head, they had to pay five pieces of silver for a little cup of dove droppings . Is anyone here hungry for a good old cup of dove dropping soup? No, well how about a little bit of dove droppings spread over a piece of molded bread – now there’s a real treat!

Don’t laugh or get too sick thinking about this because I want you to know that there are a whole lot of people who are living in rebellion against God right now, in this very community, and perhaps some in this very church, who are living on worse food than this in a spiritual sense.

In fact some of them haven’t had enough spiritual food to keep a sparrow alive in years and they wonder why their children are being rebellious and the family is falling apart.

The “spiritual food” that they eat is being paid for by their eternal soul and the soul of every member of their family. There is no greater value than your soul and yet we cast it aside and sell out to the devil to get the “spiritual dove droppings” that he allows us to have. Just look around you and you will see worldly people, and even some Christians, who are selling out their souls to the devil and getting nothing in return but garbage and death eternal.

They think that the “food” the devil is giving to them is great.

They get to eat on alcoholism or any other form of drug – trading the destruction of their soul and their life for a moments pleasure.

They “eat” on immorality and perversion – selling their body and soul to the pleasures of sin for a moment – only to receive fatal diseases like AIDS, and a lifetime of guilt and shame followed by an eternity without God.

They “feast” on the desires of the flesh – fulfilling the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life – trading their eternal home for an earthly home, the love of God for the false love of the world, and the temporal things of a life of vanity for the eternal glories of Heaven.

The price that we pay to get the “dove droppings” that devil sells to us is far worse than what the Samaritans were paying, and the things that we so easily accept from the devil are far worse than the donkey’s head that the Samaritans had.

As King Jehoram walked along a woman called out to him for help. He was the King, surely, she thought, he could help me. I know that the king must have some food. I know that he is God’s anointed king and that he will give me justice and righteousness and that he will teach me the way. I know that the King will have the answer I need.