2 Chronicles 15

“Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle.  ‘Listen to me, Asa!’ he shouted.  ‘Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin!  The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with Him!  Whenever you seek Him, you will find Him. But if you abandon Him, He will abandon you. For a long time, Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the Law to instruct them. But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought Him out, they found Him.  During those dark times, it was not safe to travel.  Problems troubled the people of every land. Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling them with every kind of problem. But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded.’” 2 Chronicles 15:1-7 (NLT)

If you wanted a secure job in the Bible, “prophet” was probably not high on your list.  Prophets are like Navy SEALs.  Nobody calls a Navy SEAL to clean toilets or work in the lunchroom.  When a Navy SEAL gets called, the SEAL team member knows his job will involve a life-or-death scenario.  Prophets carry life-or-death messages.  When God calls a prophet, it always involves taking His Word into a hostile environment.  And so often in the Bible, the recipient of a prophet’s message responds by seeking to kill the prophet.  Jesus reminded Jerusalem of its historical past and unwillingness to receive the prophets’ messages.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!  She who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” Luke 13:33 (HCSB)

Yet, we are called to act as prophets in our generation.  New Testament “prophecy” does not involve “special” or “new” revelation, as if we are writing new books of the Bible in our day.  Prophecy in our day involves seeking God’s Word and sharing what the Spirit reveals to us with the people with whom He wants us to share it.  The Apostle Paul exhorts us to seek that type of prophecy above all things:

“Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” 1 Corinthians 14:1 (HCSB)

In today’s chapter, not only did the prophet boldly proclaim God’s Word at an inconvenient time, but the king received God’s Word!  In our culture of “political correctness,” remember that we follow the God of the great “perhaps.” Perhaps men will seek to kill us, and maybe they will thank us for being forthright.  Still, we should not live in fear of offending men.  We should fear offending God!  

“When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet, he took courage and removed all the detestable idols from the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim.  And he repaired the altar of the Lord, which stood in front of the entry room of the Lord’s Temple.”  2 Chronicles 15:8 (NLT)