The Hunger Stone

Some Jeep owners have a playful upside down sign on their windshield. "If you can read this, roll me over." (I want to buy a Jeep-- don't tell my wife.) That sign always makes me chuckle. But there is another upside down sign from centuries ago that has a much darker meaning. Deep in the river bed in the Elbe River in the Czech Republic, near the town of Decin, is a stone engraved in upside down writing--

"Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine."

(When you see me, then weep.)

It can only be read when the water level in the river is extremely low due to severe drought, and marks catastrophic droughts from 1417,1473, 1616, 1707, and 1893. It became visible again in 2022. You can read about it in https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/19/hunger-stones-wrecks-and-bones-europe-drought-brings-past-to-surface. It was a warning that crops were about to fail and famine was coming.

The Bible actually describes a famine ration. In Ezekiel chapter 4, God tells his prophet to do something very difficult, as a sign to the people of the coming siege of Jerusalem:

"Now son of man, take a clay tablet, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams against it. Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

"Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel.

"After you have finished this, lie down again on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.

"Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times. Eat the food as you would a barley cake; bake it in the sight of the people using human excrement for fuel." The LORD said, "In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I drive them."

Then I said, "Not so, Sovereign LORD! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth."

"Very well," he said, "I will let you bake your bread over cow manure instead of human excrement."

Then he said to me: "Son of man, I will cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin."

We modern English speakers are unfamiliar with ancient Hebrew weights and measures, so we ignore the measurements and focus on the prophet being ordered to lie on his side. However, the recorded measurements themselves have meaning that is critical to our understanding of the passage. Twenty shekels is about half a pound of dry goods (0.2 kilograms), and a Hin of water is about 2/3 quart (0.6 liter), according to the translator's notes in my Bible. We usually think of weight in terms of purchase price, but we need to think of weight in terms of calories. Extensive studies by the US military have shown that an adult male requires about 3,200 calories a day during heavy physical exertion to avoid losing muscle mass. (This is why MRE's are so calorie dense.) This translates into two pounds of dry goods-- wheat, corn, oats, rice, or beans, if you like American food. An adult male who is not exerting himself needs about 1,800 calories a day minimum, or just over one pound of these staples. But in this passage, Ezekiel is limited to half a pound of grains-- about 800 calories. Starvation rations. As for the water, humans exerting themselves need to drink a minimum of a gallon of water (3.8 liters) per day, but he was limited to 2/3 quart (0.6 liter), or 16% of what we would call the minimum. These are siege rations, and the quantities themselves are the point of this drama-in-the-round, as much as the symbolism of him being restrained and not allowed to leave. This passage never really resonated with me until I did the calorie math. First God told him what to do, and then God spelled out the meaning:

Then he said to me: "Son of man, I will cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin."

The people would see the prophet himself wasting away from malnutrition, as a living example of what was about to become of the residents of Jerusalem during the coming siege by Nebuchadnezzar.

History lesson aside, why should we care? Well, drought leads to reduced crop yields, and right now 97% of the southeast United States is in drought, as is two thirds of the western US (according to the Google AI), and you can see it in the low water levels in the local ponds here in South Carolina. The Rocky Mountain snow pack is nowhere near what it should be for this time of year, so the western rivers will be low and places like LA and Phoenix could be in real crisis this summer. Add to that a shortage of farmworkers due to ICE raids, and a looming fertilizer shortage. The United States is at war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz is closed, resulting in the cut-off of roughly 20% of the world's oil supply. This pending oil shock is well-publicized, but perhaps the biggest unintended consequence of this war is the impact on fertilizer. Nitrogen based fertilizer comes from natural gas, and 35% to 40% of the world's fertilizer supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Rather, it used to...

So what does that mean? It means famine. Not just in far-off Africa, but reduced farm production and therefore shortages here in America. Farmers in the Midwest are facing much higher fertilizer costs and some have simply decided to apply less fertilizer. Corn is particularly dependent on the application of nitrogen based fertilizer. Farmers on thin margins are faced with the choice of either using less fertilizer or planting less corn. Either way, crop production is going to plummet and food prices in general are projected to go up 40% in the United States over the next 5-6 months. (Europe and Africa are expected to be hit harder.)

In modern America, we don't know what hunger looks like. Not really. Not yet. Grocery stores are fully stocked-- buy as much as you want! But I believe this will change. In Deuteronomy 28, we find blessings and curses laid out-- physical blessings resulting from obedience, and physical hardships-- curses-- resulting from disobedience. Verse 47 gives a dire warning to the Israelites:

"Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you..."

We are not ancient Israel and the United States is not a theocracy, but could God be telling the church in America that because we did not serve Him joyfully during our years of prosperity, now we will experience a season of hardship? A few years ago, God showed me a scene from my family dinner table. A couple of strangers were having dinner with us. I didn't recognize them, but in the vision I knew that they were from my neighborhood. They were scarecrows. I couldn't see what we were eating, just that it was simple food, and they were eating slowly and savoring every bite.

I believe hunger is coming to America, for a season, and that God is warning us so that we can get ready. (Scriptural examples of such warnings can be found in Genesis 41:1 and Acts 11:28.) But what does "getting ready" look like? I think it looks like learning to store food for the winter like it's Little House on the Prairie, and to start producing it-- rather than relying 100% on the grocery store shelves. But more importantly, I think it looks like learning to share. My church participates in a local ministry called "Table of Hope." Volunteers cook a meal and then community members come together to eat and to share God stories. I think it looks a lot like that. I think we as believers are called not to build higher walls, but to set a bigger table. (And to pray for rain!)

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

Hebrews 13:2 (KJV)

Photograph by Anadolu Agency/Getty images, from the Guardian article.