DAY FIVE

In our passage today, Jesus addressed the religious elite with some harsh words of truth. And he chastised them for their murderous treatment of all the prophets that had been sent to Israel in the past. So, what exactly was a prophet? As we read yesterday, the priests were to be the ones mediating the covenant between God and the people and offering sacrifices for the sins of the people. But they were also supposed to be the teachers of the law, instructing the people how to live holy lives and obey God, thereby keeping their end of the covenant. Unfortunately, they often gave in to corruption and turned to worship the gods of the nations around them, leading the Israelites not toward, but away from God’s care and rule.

It was during these times that God’s Spirit would empower a man or woman and have them speak the truth to the people. When the Israelites had forsaken their work of caring for the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized, a prophet would come forth and remind them of the heart of their God. The prophets were tasked with calling the nation to repentance, to turn back and worship God and only God. But when idolatry has a hold of a human heart, the truth can feel like a serrated knife to the bones. Inevitably, the prophets, God’s merciful mouthpieces, were often treated poorly, to say the least. Instead of heeding the call of the prophet to repentance before God enacted judgment upon them, the Israelites sometimes just removed the prophet through any means necessary.

At one point, Elijah himself ran for his life and cried out to God saying “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life” (1 Kings 19:10). It wasn’t a glorious calling, to be a prophet. They were often called into this role out of other jobs. Moses was a shepherd, Deborah was a judge, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were priests, and Huldah was likely a teacher. While they were serving God faithfully in their jobs, they were called to often speak a hard word to God’s people and it was rarely received well.