tell it like it is

(Note:  This article was first published on this date six years ago.)

The Word for today:
1 Samuel 5-6

We think of prophets as persons who are visionary; they can see deep into the future and/or they can see right through the now.

But God does not have such a highfalutin or mystical view of his prophets. In God’s eyes, the essential qualification for a prophet is an ability to tell it exactly like it is.

We prize the ability to slickly manipulate words and their meanings. We were treated to a “Supreme” example of this ability just days ago, when the Chief Justice of the United States decreed that a certain statute is a tax except for when it isn’t a tax; and it isn’t a tax except for when it is!

Which drew this already-classic rebuke from his dissenting colleagues:

"That carries verbal wizardry too far, deep into the forbidden land of the sophists."

The prophet of God does not speak with such sophistry. Unlike one of our recent presidents -- who insisted that the correct interpretation of one of his statements depended upon the proper understanding of "what ‘is’ is" -- the prophet of God uses words to express the truth, not to evade it. The greatest of God’s prophets put it this way:

Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:37)

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While still a boy, Samuel heard God speak:

And the LORD said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family--from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. (1 Samuel 3:11-13)

Then, even though Samuel feared to do it, he delivered God’s rebuke to Eli, who had raised him from childhood:

He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son."
Samuel answered, "Here I am."
"What was it he said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you."
So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. (1 Samuel 3:15-18)

This was one indication that Samuel was a genuine prophet, for false prophets usually delivered only good news.

So, Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be prophets. Train them instead to use words to mean whatever will advance their careers. Then they might grow up to be the next Bill Clinton!  But no one will ever confuse them for Samuel or Jesus. And no one will ever confuse you for Hannah or Mary.

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