Low Success Rate

How successful were the prophets? Only minimally, much to the detriment of those national leaders who rejected them. Note Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 36) to whom the prophet Jeremiah was bidden by God to write out words of condemnation and hope. Baruch, Jeremiah’s editorial assistant, read the message “in the hearing of all the people” (Jeremiah 36:10). The scroll was soon in the hands of court advisers who also were greatly impressed. They urged King Jehoiakim also to read Jeremiah’s message. The king asked Jehudi to read it aloud.MOL 11.7

But, by the time the king’s trusted minister had read only “three or four columns... the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire.... Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments” (Jeremiah 36:23, 24).MOL 11.8

Unfortunately, Jehoiakim was typical of many spiritual leaders, even Christian leaders in our time, who would utterly destroy God’s message and His messengers if they could. Many have tried through the years, whether with a “scribe’s knife” or by “benign neglect,” to nullify a prophet’s effectiveness, but God’s message survives for those who seek to know His will.MOL 11.9

David is another example of an Israelite leader who received a message of reproof from a prophet. But the result was the opposite of Jehoiakim’s experience. After King David had Uriah killed so that he could marry Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, God told the prophet Nathan to confront the king. Without trying to hedge his words with “sympathy” or favor, Nathan pointed his finger at David and delivered God’s word of condemnation: “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7). David accepted the word of the Lord—and capitulated: “I have sinned” (2 Sam. 12:13; see also Psalm 51). David is one of the finest examples of those who have heeded the condemning words of the Lord, thus changing their future for good. His example has been replicated many times in the history of the church.MOL 12.1