This is how God gives someone a calling to represent him:
If you think that God could not call this stranger to
deliver a message for Him, then remember that Samuel the Lamanite came from
outside of the religious Nephites. He
was a stranger to the Nephites. He stood
on the wall for a short time to deliver a message of repentance. You can find Samuel's story in the Book of Mormon.
Consider also the words found in Ezekial Chapter 2 and 3. As
you read Ezekial, notice the following points:
God speaks directly to the person
(verse 1). The person sees the glory of
God (verse 23).
God sends the person to speak to the
rebellious to correct their erring traditions (verse 3).
The person is instructed to speak
in the name of God (verse 4).
The person is sent to the House
of Israel or in other words, to the religious (verse 5).
The person is taught directly by
God and therefore he must teach the people exactly as God has instructed,
otherwise the blood of the people is on his soul (verse 18).
If we recognize the voice of the
Lord as it is delivered through the prophet then we are delivered from our
destruction (verse 21).
From this passage in Ezekial, we
can see that a prophet delivers difficult words to hear and not flatterying speeches
to the rebellious people that the people may repent (verse 18).
The prophet is not sent to lead
the people, but rather to warn the people (verse 24,25).
The people repent by turning to
God and then God will lead the people (verse 21).
The prophet is the messenger
(verse 27), not the leader (verse 26) .
1 And he said unto me, Son
of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me
upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of
Israel, to a rebellious nation that
hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even
unto this very day.
4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do
send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.
5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear,
(for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
6 ¶And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid
of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost
dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their
looks, though they be a rebellious house.
7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear,
or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou
rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give
thee.
9 ¶And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me;
and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and
without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and
woe.
1 Moreover
he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak
unto the house of Israel.
3 And he
said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this
roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as
honey for sweetness.
4 ¶And he
said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with
my words unto them.
5 For
thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard
language, but to the house of
Israel;
6 Not to
many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst
not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto
thee.
7 But the
house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me:
for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
8 Behold,
I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong
against their foreheads.
9 As an
adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be
dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
10 Moreover
he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive
in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
11 And go,
get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak
unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God;
whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
12 Then
the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying,
Blessed be the glory of the Lord
from his place.
13 I heard also
the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and
the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
14 So the
spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of
my spirit; but the hand of the Lord
was strong upon me.
15 ¶Then I
came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar,
and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
17 Son of
man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the
word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
18 When I say unto the
wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to
warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man
shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
19 Yet if
thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked
way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20 Again,
When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit
iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou
hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness
which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at
thine hand.
21 Nevertheless if thou warn
the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he
shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
22 ¶And
the hand of the Lord was there
upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there
talk with thee.
23 Then I
arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold,
the glory of the Lord stood there,
as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.
24 Then
the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and
said unto me, Go, shut thyself within
thine house.
25 But
thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee
with them, and thou shalt not go out
among them:
26 And I
will make thy tongue cleave to the roof
of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover:
for they are a rebellious house.
27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy
mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; He that heareth, let him hear; and
he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
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