For many of us, the prophets seem like weird people that are impossible to relate to. They come across almost as “other-worldly” at times and we struggle to imagine having their experiences. Because of this, we never expect to have their kind of experiences and we cut the Holy Spirit off from working in us in the same way that He worked in them.
With this in mind, it’s helpful for us to take a closer look at the small glimpses the Bible gives us of the prophets, because when we look close, these strange people begin to look a little more human.
Take Ezekiel for example. Did you ever realize that some of the prophets were married? He had a wife that God called the delight of Ezekiel’s eyes (Ezek 24:16).
There’s something I love about this simple fact. I don’t know about you, but I have this image in my head of the prophets being these wandering vagabonds who show up amidst the crowds and speak a hard word on behalf of God and everyone hates them for it. Then they scurry back to a cave or something and write God’s new commands down and go back out and do it again. In my mind, they’re lonely, hurting, hated people.
Because of that, normalcy tends to throw me for a loop when I see it in the prophets. Wait—Ezekiel was married? He had a wife that he loved, ate with, conversed with, lived with, and had sex with? You mean he could come home from prophesying and be encouraged by a spouse?
“How was work today? Did they listen to your message?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if I’m really cut out for this job.”
“Of course you are, sweetie. Don’t give up.”
Maybe it’s just me, but I love that image. It makes the prophets more accessible to me and it makes them human again.
Want to continue the conversation? Take the long journey with my book/audiobook, The Rush and the Rest, or take a shorter path with my condensed version, Fantasy IRL.
Jamin Bradley 