May 16, 2022
First things first. This eclipse is/was a total washout. It rained.
Second thing: Matthew 10:41 speaks about a prophet’s reward that anyone who welcomes a prophet will receive. I wondered, “Well, what is a prophet’s reward?” This morning I heard this scripture.
1 Kings 17:13-14 – Then Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home, and do as you’ve said. But first make a small loaf and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Until the Lord sends rain on the land, the jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always contain oil.”
And then I heard the words whispered, “A Prophet’s Reward.” The truth is, a prophet’s life is not easy. They’re often persecuted (sigh, still feeling it for Jeremiah), they have no honour in their own country (John 4:44). They are mocked, ridiculed and often live in strange places. John lived in the wilderness. So what reward do they have here on earth? Not much, but their reward in heaven is truly worth it.
But I believe that when someone chooses to make things a little easier for a prophet here on earth, Yahweh opens up and allows them to share in the future rewards of the prophet in the now. Even if the prophet himself does not.
Jeremiah 38:7-13 – When Ebed-Melech saved Jeremiah from the cistern.
Jeremiah 39:17 – Yahweh promised to save him because of what he did for Jeremiah.
And I’ll admit that I am slow sometimes, but honestly I was thinking in earthly terms of how a prophet is treated and not necessarily about their heavenly reward. The truth is everything we do is about the heavenly reward and not earthly. But when you help a prophet on earth even if you don’t believe in Yahweh, he will bless you with whatever the prophet is blessed with. (P.s. the widow of Zaraphath did not believe until after her son was brought back to life). And his appeal to Yahweh when the son died, he asked, “Have you brought misery on the widow?” (1 Kings 17:20). It was almost as though he was reminding Yahweh that he was supposed to bless those who helped a prophet not cause misery. And the Lord heard Elijah’s request and the child’s life was returned to him.
So, should we help prophets for the earthly rewards? I am not sure. Using the same incident with the widow, Elijah told her what would happen so she helped. Ebed-Melech wasn’t promised a reward, but he helped. I am not sure where this would lead, but in the end, we should help those who have proven to be prophets. What happens when we don’t help a prophet?
SIDEBAR: And just remembered Obadiah (the soldier, not the prophet), who hid one hundred of the prophets when Ahab was trying to kill them. His reward? He was the one who Elijah revealed himself to when it was time to end the drought.
Right back to helping (or not helping) a prophet. If the prophet asked for help directly and was refused? Be very afraid.
1 Kings 20:36 – The disciple said, “Since you didn’t obey the Lord, a lion will kill you when you leave me.” When the friend left, a lion found him and killed him.
But if there isn’t an opportunity to do so, then there isn’t. Yahweh it’s not going to punish us for what we have no control over. But don’t turn down the opportunity if it arises. It may be minor or major. Definitely help once we are able to.
Yahweh, I pray for your prophets, that the words they speak would be true. That they don’t stray after false gods and lead your people astray. I pray for the spirit of discernment to know a true prophet of you from a fake. Help us to live a life of honesty. Help your prophets to live lives of good character and even if things may not look good in the physical, that their final reward would be epic.
Thank you for your witnesses in my life and through your prophets. Keep us faithful until you return.
Like rainy season start early. It raining fuh so. The clouds covered the eclipse last night and the rain continued this morning. Rain always makes me want to wrap up in bed. It is so cosy.
Omg!! I got mangoes! Yes, I love mangoes and best of all it’s starchy. I love Julie mango, Ice Cream mango, a Little Par (not a fan of long mango), but Starchy? It just tastes so awesome.
So I started listening to a sermon this morning but had to stop it to get lunch ready and go to the vehicle etc. So I started back the message in the car and I was trying to figure out how the pastor went from speaking about provision for today to forgiveness that we needed to give. I kept on listening because there were some good points. After a couple hours at work, I decided to finish the sermon on the computer and was like, “The title changed?!” It’s only then I realised that I had switched to another sermon. Lol. Maybe I needed a reminder.
