Squirrel soup, as seen in “God Made Me Do It” (Sourcebooks).
He indicated to me my fast should be ended, so I asked how I should end it. He told me to drink squirrel soup. After I had taken the squirrel soup, I told Him it didn’t taste good and asked if I could have some milk and bread. The Lord told me I couldn’t have solid food yet as it would kill me.”
– Jackson, on his call from the Lord to end his fifty-two-day fast, 1937.
The forty-five-year-old mountain trapper began his fast at God’s request. This came shortly after the Lord ordered him to sell his pigs and give the money to the poor. The sale certainly facilitated the fast by eliminating any tempting pork from roaming outside the window.
However, Jackson’s fast got off to a rough start: “The day after I started in, I took a little potato soup without grease. That taught me my lesson. I nearly died, it made me so sick. That was just the Lord punishing me for my disobedience.”
God Made Me Do It, by Marc Hartzman.
When permission to sip squirrel soup ended his fast, Jackson expressed his great relief: “I’m mighty happy it’s all over.” But after the Lord told him to eat He had nothing more to say. “The Lord’s divine purpose has not been revealed to me yet, but it will be before long. Maybe he wants me to preach, if He does, I’m ready.”
Jackson lost more than thirty-five pounds during the ordeal.
His story is just one of many presented in my book, God Made Me Do It: True Stories of the Worst Advice the Lord Has Ever Given His Followers (Sourcebooks). You’ll also read about God’s wishes for a giant statue made of toothpicks, His demands for murder and cannibalism, His requests for a woman to direct traffic topless, and more.
Read more about it here, or buy it here.
