THE MISUNDERSTOOD SERVANT 

I KINGS 22:7-18 

          The Hebrew word for prophet is nabi, meaning "to bubble forth" like a fountain; hence the word means ‘one who announces or pours forth the declarations of God’. The English word comes from the Greek prophētēs which means one who speaks for another, especially one who speaks for a god, and so interprets his will to man.  It was part of the prophet’s commission to show the people of God ‘their transgressions’ In Isaiah 58:1 the prophet is told “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.  The prophets were pastors and ministerial monitors of the people of God. It was their duty to admonish and reprove, to denounce prevailing sins, to threaten the people with the terrors of divine judgment, and to call them to repentance. They also brought the message of consolation and pardon.  In Isaiah 40:1-2 the prophet is told to comfort the people by letting them know that their time of trouble was over; that they had received from the Lord’s hand double punishment for their sin. They were the watchmen set upon the walls of Zion to blow the trumpet, and timely warn of approaching danger that would lead the people to sin.

            It wasn't easy being a prophet. Most of the messages they had to give were very unpleasant to hear. They preached of repentance, judgment, impending destruction, sin, and in general, how displeased God was over the behavior of his people. Prophets were not the most popular people in town (unless they were false prophets and said just what the people wanted to hear). But popularity was not the bottom line for true prophets of God - it was obedience to God and faithfully proclaiming his word. Samuel is a good example of a faithful prophet.  The first thing that Samuel had to do after accepting the call on his life was to tell Eli the priest that judgment would be coming to his house because of his wicked sons (1Sam 3:11-14).  He then had to tell the people that they had to give up idol worship (1 Sam. 7:1-4).  When all the people wanted a king Samuel said “Your king will bring you nothing but trouble” (1 Sam 8:10-22).  Later he warned the people that if they continued in sin they would be destroyed by God and told Saul the king that his kingdom would not continue.  The prophet’s job was hard because he had to proclaim whatever God gave him.  God has words for us to proclaim as well. And although his messages are loaded with "good news," there is also "bad news" to give. We, must like true prophets and servants of God, faithfully deliver all God's words, regardless of their popularity or lack of it.  The title of today’s message is “The Misunderstood Servant.”

          Prophets generally shared several key experiences and characteristics. An essential mark of a prophet was a call from God.

MICAH 3:8

          Micah says that he was anointed by the spirit of the Lord to proclaim to Israel their transgressions against God.  Attempting to prophesy without being commissioned and anointed by God is to be a false prophet.

JEREM. 14:14

          When Jeremiah was trying to proclaim the Lord’s displeasure with Judah others who also claimed to be prophets where standing in opposition to Jeremiah proclaiming God’s blessings.  But God here says that these were false prophets.  He never sent them.  They prophesied out of the deceit of their own hearts.

            Distinguishing between false and true prophets is often very difficult, though several tests of authenticity are seen in the OT.  The true prophet must be loyal to the biblical faith directing one to worship God Almighty alone.

DEUT. 13:1-3

          Even if someone prophesies to you and it come to pass, if they are trying to encourage you to follow after anything other than Jesus Christ then you are to not receive prophesy from them.  God says here that it is a test to see if your heart is fully towards him or towards his blessings.

          A second test required that the words of a true prophet be fulfilled

DEUT 18:21-22

          The prophet must be careful to only speak what is commanded by God because the prophet has no power to bring into existence what he has uttered.  Mind you, there are some prophesies that are futuristic and thus the prophet may be dead before the prophesy comes to pass.  However, it appears that most futuristic prophesies related to the Nations of Israel and Judah and not to specific individuals.  

I PETER 1:10-12

          When God sent prophecies of the coming and suffering of Christ, and of the plan of salvation through grace, he revealed to the prophet that the prophesy was for a time to come. 

            When a prophecy given to an individual was to be futuristic, God made it clear that it would be fulfilled in the generations to come.  In his instructions in Deut 18:21-22 Moses tells the people “If that which is spoken does not come to pass, then the Lord has not spoken it.”  This truly must be considered when dealing with individual prophecies. 

              Accurate prediction was not a final test. Other tests included agreement with previous prophets (Jer. 28:8-9), good character (Micah 3:11-12).  Finally the true prophet must be willing to suffer because he will stand faithful behind the Word that God has given to him.

I KINGS 22:27-28

          After Micaiah’s prophesy Ahab demanded that he be arrested until Ahab returned again.  Micaiah’s responds with confidence, “if you return alive then surely God has not spoken through me”.  He did not back down but rather resigned himself to being imprisoned for life.  Likewise when you read the Book of Jeremiah you will see him often imprisoned, left in a dungeon or pit to starve to death because of his prophecies.  Yet he would not and could not cease to proclaim the Word of the Lord.

 I JOHN 4:1

Here we are told to present everything that is prophesied to us to the Spirit of God that we might determine if the prophet is sent from God.  That way we are sure not to be influenced by false prophets.

I COR. 12:4-6

            Throughout the Bible prophets received a word from God through many means, direct declarations, visions, dreams, or an appearance of God. Prophets relayed God’s message by deed as well as by word. They worked symbolic acts that served as dramatic, living parables. God used a variety of methods to get his point across.  He even had Hosea marry a harlot in order that he might help Israel to see how he viewed their relationship to him. Sometimes prophets also performed miracles that confirmed their message. Elijah in I Kings 17 told the Widow of Zarephath that her oil and meal would not run out for as long as there was a drought and over those 3.5 years she and her son had food to eat. As with all of the gifts of God, He uses many different ways to call and impart a gift to one of his children and then among those who are gifted he uses that gift in a variety of ways.

          Prophets are not only called to minister to the people, test the lives of God’s peoples’ and be watchmen for moral compromise. Another equally important task was the role of intercessor—sometimes even for the prophet’s enemy.

I KINGS 13:1-6

          See this is why the people did not like prophets.  You could be minding your own business and the prophet show up and now you are in trouble.  Most of the time they brought bad news.  Jeroboam was just trying to do his daily worship to his favorite idol and here comes the prophet pronouncing doom on the alter and the priest who service it.  In retaliation Jeroboam seeks to capture and punish the prophet which leads to Jeroboam’s hand withering up.  The same prophet that Jeroboam sought to harm must now pray for his healing.

          In the Old Testament prophets were the most misunderstood and hated of all God’s servants.  They appeared to spend most of their energy reproving the wicked among the Children of Israel and exhorting them to repentance.  They even had the task of denouncing the wickedness of Kings.  Remember Samuel with Saul, Nathan with David and Elijah with Ahab.  And God used them repeatedly to predict the downfall of nations.  These were all the things that no one was interested in hearing.  Then you add on top of that that they often spoke in riddles and parables that no one understood.  The prophet did not have a chance of being well liked by all.   For he was a friend only to those who were trying to live as God directed and those who were willing to receive correction when they had strayed from the path set by God.

            In the New Testament as we read the Book of Acts we see that prophets make predictions, announce judgments, act symbolically (Acts 21:10-11), and receive visions (Acts 9:10-11).  Some prophets “preached” lengthy messages (Acts 15:32) and gave long explanations of other scriptural texts (Luke 1:67-79). 

          In the New Testament prophets used phrases such as “the Lord says” or “the Holy Spirit says” to introduce prophetic insight into the future or to give inspired adaptation of an OT text.  However, still in the New Testament we are to evaluate prophesy as it comes forth.

I THESS. 5:20-21

          We are not to run away from, hate or despise prophecies.  But at the same time we are told to prove the prophesy.  Use the Word of God and the Spirit of God as a litmus test for prophesy.  We are to hold on to that which is good and cast away that which is bad.  How will you know if it is bad?  Well if it does not fall in line with the Word of God, Romans 3:4 says “let God be true, but every man a liar.” Second learn to trust the Spirit of God in you.  If you are sincerely seeking to know and follow after God’s will and you get it wrong, He will come back to you again at a time when you can receive it.

          The Gift of Prophecy and the true prophet of God are often still misunderstood and in many cases the gift is abused.  Jesus said prophets could be known by their fruit (Matt. 7:15-20). But often because the prophet of God is outwardly bold and outspoken many have difficulty seeing their fruit.  We must remember that the prophet cannot afford to be overly sensitive, mushy, and tender because often the word they are delivering is a warning or a rebuke.  An overly sensitive prophet will not speak with the voice and urgency of God because they will be too focused on the feeling of the people and on the fear of getting their own feelings hurt. 

Though Prophesy is to be performed in the Church and received by the saints Paul demanded orderly, Christ-honoring, upbuilding prophecy that submits to authority (I Cor. 14: 26 -40).

II CHRONICLES 36:16

            Even when we do not understand the prophet of God we must honor the call on their life.  They like any servant of God can not be mocked and misused.  Here because of how the people had treated God’s servants he said he had no choice but bring the promised destruction.  The prophets influenced almost every institution of Israel, despite the fact that they were often viewed with contempt; they were locked up (Jer. 37), ignored (Isa. 6:9-13), and persecuted (1 Kings 19:1-2).  I believe that the prophet is still a vital part of the church.  It is a highly respected office that must be safeguarded against those who will falsely proclaim themselves to be prophets of God.  The prophet is a misunderstood servant and yet he continues to serve.  Though we are not all called to be prophets, as Children of God we are often misunderstood.  James 5:10 tells us “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.”  In other words as we are being persecuted for sharing the Gospel with a lost world we are to consider the prophets, the most misunderstood of God’s servants.  Though they were imprisoned, hated, threatened and sometimes even killed they continued to proclaim the message given to them by God.  Like the prophet we too will be misunderstood, and persecuted.  In those times will we continue proclaim the message of salvation through Jesus Christ?