OT Prophets

I am currently reading through Kings and Chronicles and am constantly amazed at the achievements of some of the Old Testament prophets, given that the Holy Spirit still had not been released to move freely on earth. This morning, I read the account in 2 Chronicles 28 of one called Oded. Most Christians will not have heard of his name, but he was an incredible peacemaker.

As so often happened, the Ahaz king of Judah and his people had forgotten about God and worshipped idols. Ahaz even offered one of his children as a sacrifice in accordance with the way of the surrounding nations.

When the King of Aram attacked Judah, the King of Israel joined in and killed 120,000 Judeans in one day. He also took 200,000 Judeans captive and was marching them back to Samaria to be slaves.

The bible does not explain where he came from, but a prophet of Yahweh came out to the returning army and confronted the King of Israel. He explained that Yahweh had allowed them to defeat the Kingdom of Judah, but now they were going over the top and going beyond what Yahweh would allow. Oded said,

With you yourselves there are only liabilities in relation to Yahweh your God, aren’t there? So now listen to me. Give back the captives you've taken from your brothers (2 Chron 28:10-11).

Some of the people of Samaria heard the words of the prophet and pushed back against the army, repeating his words.

You will not bring the captives here, because it will be a liability upon us in relation to Yahweh. You’re saying you’ll add to our wrongdoings and to our liabilities, because our liability is great (2 Chron 28:13).

The armed men received the word and let their captives go. And abandoned their plunder. Designated people came and served the captives from the spoil. They clothed them, gave them boots, and food and drink. They put those who had collapsed onto donkeys and led them. They returned all the captured people to the plain of Jericho, so they could return to their homes. Then they went home.

This is the only event in Oded’s life that is recorded in the Bible, yet it is an amazing achievement. He was able to receive God’s word and declare it boldly to people who needed to hear it. Speaking to people who have been victorious is always risky, but Oded was able to follow the Spirit’s leading and be in the right place at the right time. And because he obeyed God, his word was effective, and changed history.

These days, in the age of the Spirit, many Christians call themselves prophets, but I can't think of many who could do what Oded managed to do for God. Even though God has poured his Spirit out at Pentecost, I can't think of many American prophets who could confront Donald Trump or Benjamin Netanyahu and say, “You are increasing our liability to God. Stop doing harm and put things right”.