Prophets do not predict the future.  A prophet is a social commentator who points out coming events, problems or difficulties by analyzing current trends.

As such, the Old Testament prophets we read about in scripture informed the Israelite kings about things that might happen based on their observations of the present. Unfortunately, the Israelite kings seldom paid attention to the prophets. They usually complained about the prophets, banned them from their sight, referred to them as prophets of doom and troublers of Israel and sometimes even had them killed. Most of us, if we read the Bible, know the story.

We know what happens if prophets are ignored.  

One noted prophet of today is the teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg. 

Yet, our president, like the Israelite kings, choses to make fun of her and refer to her as a “prophet of doom.” He even has his court prophets who, like the court prophets of the Israelite kings, assure him that everything is and will be fine.

The lesson from the Old Testament is that if we ignore our prophets, we place ourselves in peril. Our president as a committed Christian certainly knows the story and therefore should know what can happen if prophets are ignored.

Roger Hull

China Grove