Abuse of Prophets

You don't have to believe in big bluffs just because they are big.

Try to sniff uneducated and swaggering uses of prophets, for that is something humans can do better than tamed animals. Some who are taken in by fakers, are made fools for it.

"The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness. [Jeremiah 23:5,6]

But the "righteous Branch" soon proved to be unrighteous, and fell apart.

Still, the Jew-born and raised Jesus used to draw on the prophets, claiming that they prophesised about him, and that prophet words were to be fulfilled though him. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish . . . the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them." [Matthew 5:17. Cf. Matthew 1:22; 2:17; 4:14 for examples of prop use of prophets].

Shall we study his demagoguery? Did he fulfil all of the recorded prophet sayings? Absolutely not. Actually, just a handful or so of all the prophet sayings in the Old Testament are made use of to serve the claims of Jesus in the gospels. Paul adds some more, but the words of the Old Testament that are taken to refer to Jesus are about as a couple of drops in a heavy rain shower. By looking up the use of prophets in the gospel, you can see it for yourself. If you work your way through the Old Testament you may end up with an even more pessimistic comparison. The main point is: There are extremely few references in the prophets to anyone like Jesus. If the hat fits, wear it: Jesus and followers abused prophet authority to seemingly legitimise himself and his "business". A decent guy will try to refrain from misuse or abuse of others, won't he?

Some delicate prophet words go completely against the mission of Jesus: In "fulfilling prophets", Jesus did not talk of prophet words that said Israel was destroyed, never to rise again. And what is more, "the lost sheep of Israel [Matthew 13;24]" did not want him either. The sheep did not actually listen to the shepherd's voice, but said "Execute him!" The hat fits -

Even more interesting to some, the Old Testament tells God had already crushed and killed them all, and they were never to rise again. That Jews did not welcome Jesus, should come as no surprise then.

Study the facts first, before you put any faith in anything. That could be very wise. After all, a true Spirit of truth does not want anyone to live a series of lies, or what?

One sees from prophets that gospels refer to, that those "lost sheep of Israel" that he wanted to save [Matthew 10:6; 15:24] could not be God's people, for God had killed them off long ago according to the two prophets Hosea and Amos - That is the long overlooked point if you take key words of prophets seriously, and the "fulfiller words" of Jesus (above) less seriously because they obviously do not fit all prophet sayings - such as:

"I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel." [Hosea 1:4] "I will crush you". [Amos 2:13] "Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again". [Amos 5:2].

"You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against me, against your helper. (. . .) In my anger I gave you a king". [Hosea 13:9,11]

"Fallen and destroyed" . . . so many disregard this; it is written in the Bible. But according to those prophet words Jesus never had a chance to save them. Dear words by Hosea and Amos show there never were any God's people to reach out to for Jesus where the kingdom of Israel had been. The history is full of mistakes, of course.

Amos and Hosea are not the only key prophets to study in this. The whole hardened and obstinate house of Israel [Ezek 3:7] would be killed, said the prophet Ezekiel:

"I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. [Ezek 21:4]". Such indiscriminate slaughter is great injustice to the righteous. But the main thing comes next: "Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its scabbard; it will not return again." [Ezek 21:5] "You will be fuel for the fire, your blood will be shed in your land, you will be remembered no more." [Ezek 21:32, emphasis added]. Interestingly, the bible itself counteracts that by recounting these stories. Ai-ai-ai.

Jesus has nowhere fulfilled those prophet words and the safety words of Jeremiah, for one prophet saying contradicts another. We do not find that Israel was saved in the days of Jesus, or in safety, as Jeremiah had prophesised for the Righteous King [Jer 23:5,6]. Did he allow robbery, slavery, and killing of innocents? Has someone got no shame? That is putting it very, very gently. The main point is to go against untrue demagoguery as you come across it. Be mentally prepared. There is no good match between main prophet words and Jesus.

• Jesus misuses prophets and really abuses Scripture authority.
• Blatant prophets misuse appears to be "Hades practice".
• You can do better than being taken in by unfit, untrue statements and wild exaggerations.
• Not all hitting prophet words are taken into account as they should be. "Turn their insults back on their own heads", is the thing to do, according to Nehemiah 4:4.

Moral: Watch out for empty, boastful talk.

Some More Prophet Sayings for the Fun of It

The house of Israel . . . are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate . . . a rebellious house." [Ezek 3:7-9]

If this prophet saying should apply to Jesus, his forehead should be harder than flint, the passage tells. In that case he would not be human.

"This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite . . . on the day you were born you were despised. [Ezek 16:3-5, passim]

Jerusalem (Salem) was not built by Jews; the town was there before them. And Jesus was not despised when he was born in humble circumstances. Angels sang, shepherds came to see him, and travellers brought him presents, a gospel tells.

"I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with none to rescue them." [Hos 5:14]

Jesus tried to rescue Jews against such prophet sayings, so how could he fulfill them?

❖ Facts before hearsay.