Of Kings and Prophets

Of Kings and Prophets

Introduction

Once upon a time there was a king.  Reading the Old Testament historical books can feel like the opening line of a fairy tale or old story.  Strangely named people going through miraculous events sounds odd compared to everyday life.  Most of us don’t have an instant relatable connection to someone with absolute power and great wealth like ancient kings.  Nor do we connect with ancient prophets that devoted their lives to passing along messages received in various ways from God.

But we do relate to people who face trials and hardships.  We know the desire for wealth and influence and how it affects us.  We know that God speaks to us in the Bible.  Maybe the differences between kings, prophets, and us aren’t as vast as it seems when first reading scripture.  We just need to ignore the clothing styles and stone walls and ponder what was really happening when prophets had conversations with kings.

Prophecy is a word that is often associated with future predictions or revelations of events that will never happen in the lifetime of the prophet.  The Old Testament prophets had their share of written messages about events hundreds of years in the future, especially as it concerned the coming messiah. But a reading of any of the prophetical books also reveals messages specific to the time and place of their utterance.  Quite often the foretelling of the future was subtly mixed in with a discussion of current issues.  Their primary audience was not readers in far off centuries but people who needed specific messages vital to their own lives at the time.

While prophets passed along God’s messages, kings ruled the land that God set aside for his people.  Yet, like us, the ruler’s expression of faith, or lack of it, impacted their personal and professional lives.  How much of Old Testament prophecy was directed to the kings?  How much was impacted by the conduct of the kings?  What personal interaction was there between prophet and king? 

This study looks for answers and for a better appreciation of how God reached out to his people as the ruling class sank further into unbelief and idolatry.  We want to pay close attention to those moments when the prophet walked into the palace to talk to the most powerful person in the city.  It was one person talking to another.  Their perspectives and attitudes didn’t always line up.  There was often a crisis at hand and decisions to be made.  There was no guarantee that either would be happy at the end of the conversation.

As we consider the conversations between prophets and kings, we also want to think about any personal relationships between them and how it affected the message and its delivery.  Such observations are not vital or necessary to faith but may help us better understand the interaction of any believer with earthly authority. 

Looking back may also trigger questions about our own lives.  How does God reach out to us today?  What timeless messages were spoken then that still apply to our modern lives?  What messages specific to kings and countrymen would God re-issue to us today?  If God were to send someone into our lives to remind us of his truth, would they need to tailor the message differently?  Would our relationship with someone else change the way we talk to them about Christ?  “Indeed, whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we would have hope.” Romans 15:4. May this review help us move forward with hope and a better understanding of the world around us.

Before we start, we must define the scope and definition of kings and prophets.  God has been speaking through human messengers since the beginning and God’s people have had several forms of authoritative leadership.  So where do we begin and end?

Regarding prophetic messages, prior to the flood Enoch warned the public of the day when the Lord would come with his angels to destroy the wicked.  Noah warned of the impending global flood.  Joseph was given dreams and interpretation to make known God’s will.  The patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the acting authority as the Israelite tribes expanded and they also were the means of passing down the truth of God.  It’s during the days of Samuel that we read about groups of prophets and thereafter the historical record consistently had prophets who had dedicated their lives to God’s word both past and present. 

Regarding the kingship there was none for God’s people until the time of Samuel.  Even when God determined to make his presence in the world constantly and publicly known by creating the nation of Israel, he did not give it a king to rule.  He was to be their ruler.  He designated Moses as both leader and prophet and God’s messages to him and through him were unique as Israel got its formal start in nationhood.  Moses and subsequent judges were appointed as leaders, acting both militarily and spiritually on behalf of the people but no family line of succession was formed.  Only when the people insisted on a formal kingship did God give them what they asked for and the reign of kings began.  The span of anointed kings in Israel lasted roughly five hundred years and after that the land was led by governors or priests.

For the purpose of this study, we will start with the first of Israel’s kings, King Saul, and continue to the last of Israel’s prophets, Malachi, who ministered during a time when Israel was not permitted to have a recognized king.  Though the final recorded prophets had no king to address, they were part of the mechanism of Old Testament prophecy and the returning captives of their day had other specific leaders governing them.  There are only a small number of prophetic books that are difficult to trace to a specific time and ruler.  We’ll look at the purpose of those messages for the people of their day as well as their usefulness to us. 

Just as kings were responsible for the public welfare, many of us also serve in government jobs and need to determine how faith is properly applied to our work.  Like the prophets, we all are called to serve God first, as well as to serve the government officials.  The governments of our day are not always friendly to believers just as the past kings were often at odds with the prophets.  There should be much we can learn from those days before the life of Christ that we can use as we await his return.