Does the Testimony of a Prophet Change?
By Stephen N. Haskell
The more we study the nature and character of the prophets, the more we shall see that they are mortal men like all other members of the human family, and they themselves are not infallible, but the voice of God spoken through them is infallible. Elijah was a prophet of God, but he “was a man subject to like passions as we are.” He represents all other prophets. Notwithstanding this, “The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The Spirit of God controls men, but men do not control the Spirit of God. God meets men where they are, and when they turn to seek him, their attitude toward God determines God’s attitude toward them. The Jews brought upon themselves swift destruction by rejecting Christ and treating him as an enemy. Their attitude was that Christ was an enemy, and that if they let him alone, the Romans would come and take away their city. To Ahab God said, “Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. . . . It came to pass, when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.” 1 Kings 21:24-29. If the humbling of the heart of Ahab postponed this awful calamity on the king, it would have done the same for his sons. God’s threatenings are conditional upon the repentance of the individual who is in the wrong. It was the same with Zedekiah. A prophet went out to meet Asa, “and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” Asa had a great victory when he cried unto the Lord in his weakness. But afterward he relied upon his own wisdom and united with his enemies. Through prosperity he became lifted up. For this the Lord reproved him, and said: “From henceforth thou shalt have wars. Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison-house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.” Then it was that God forsook him. Repentance always moves the arm of God. Threatenings come because of departures from God. In this sense the testimonies may be said to change, but it is because men change. God always deals in mercy, and meets men where they are. The Lord lays down one principle of his government that should never be forgotten: “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak unto a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” Jer. 18:7-10. God always works on this principle. He is not arbitrary in his requirements. Men are free moral agents. His prophets reprove for deep-seated wrongs in the hearts of his people. Circumstances always appear to make the case perplexing. All this is permitted of the Lord, as stubbornness exists in the9heart. Satan is on hand to blind the mind. If we were only reproved for what we know, then it would be no reproof. But if it is what we do not know, then it is trying because we do not know. Satan in the heart will never bear reproof. He defies God. He did this in heaven, and was cast out. And in proportion as the heart is blinded, and comes under his power, so it will defy reproof; and the Spirit of prophecy never can compromise, if it emanates from God. “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” O that men could learn and see God’s dealing with the children of men! God ever deals first in the greatest tenderness with his own people; but when he begins to reprove men for their sins by his prophets, it revives the same old controversy that Satan began in heaven. If a persistent and stubborn course of revolt is carried on, it will end in destruction, for God will vindicate himself.