Wearisome Messages
Meditation… Wearisome Messages¹
“Blessed are the feet of those who preach the good news.”
How beautiful it is that God sends some of His saints bearing a message of joy to people, just as He sent the two Marys to proclaim to the disciples the Resurrection of the Lord.
However, there are other wearisome messages that the Lord sometimes commands His holy messengers to deliver to people. An example of this is His sending of the prophet Elijah to King Ahab, saying to him: “…IN THE PLACE WHERE DOGS LICKED THE BLOOD OF NABOTH, DOGS SHALL LICK YOUR BLOOD, EVEN YOURS ALSO, BECAUSE YOU HAVE SOLD YOURSELF TO DO EVIL” (1 Kings 21:19–20). Likewise, His sending of the prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah, saying: “SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER, FOR YOU SHALL DIE AND NOT LIVE” (Isaiah 38:1).
There are messages of rebuke and reproof that God sends to people through the mouths of His prophets; they may weary them, may pain them, and they may hate the prophets because of them and harm them. But the men of God are compelled to deliver the word of God and to bear witness to the word of the Lord, no matter how painful it may be.
An example of this is the prophet Jeremiah, who lived in an age dominated by corruption, and he had to rebuke everyone: kings, shepherds, priests, men of the law, and false prophets (Jeremiah 2:8). They rose up against him and stirred up the people, saying, “THIS MAN DESERVES TO DIE…” (Jeremiah 26:11).
How many prophets were stoned and killed for the sake of a word of truth that people found wearisome to them.
Even the Lord rebuked Jerusalem, saying: “O JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM! THE ONE WHO KILLS THE PROPHETS AND STONES THOSE WHO ARE SENT TO HER” (Matthew 23:37).
For this reason the prophet Jeremiah cried out, saying: “WOE IS ME, MY MOTHER, THAT YOU HAVE BORNE ME, A MAN OF STRIFE AND A MAN OF CONTENTION TO THE WHOLE EARTH” (Jeremiah 15:10). Everyone contended with him because he carried to them the rebuke of the Lord and His warnings.
The false prophets whom Jeremiah was fighting were flattering the people, saying, “Peace, peace,” where there is no peace (Jeremiah 8:11). As for the prophet of the Lord, he was delivering the divine message—wearisome, yet beneficial. Thus the prophets of Baal were flattering the wicked Ahab and encouraging him on his sinful path… in contrast to Micaiah the man of God. Therefore Ahab said about him to Jehoshaphat, when he advised him to inquire of the Lord: “THERE IS STILL ONE MAN BY WHOM WE MAY INQUIRE OF THE LORD, BUT I HATE HIM, BECAUSE HE DOES NOT PROPHESY GOOD CONCERNING ME, BUT EVIL—MICAIAH THE SON OF IMLAH” (1 Kings 22:8). Ahab carried out the opinion of the flatterers—not the frank opinion of Micaiah—and so he perished. It would have been better for him had he listened to the wearisome yet beneficial message of Micaiah!!
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Second Year – Eighth and Ninth Issues, October and November 1966.
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