RELUCTANT PROPHETS AND CLUELESS DISCIPLES
1. Jacob (Israel), was God’s chosen instrument to represent Him, so he lied to and deceived his father and tried to steal the birthright. Later God told him to go to Bethel (the house of God), but he went to Shechem (the house of evil), with disastrous consequences.
2. Moses was called by God to be the deliverer of Israel, but he declined and begged God to send someone else. God gave him the ability to do miracles and Aaron as a spokesperson; nevertheless after Pharoah dismissed him he cried out to God, “Why did you ever send me?”
3. Elijah was called by God to speak for Him against Jezebel, but Elijah was holed up in a cave muttering woe is me. When God asked him what he was doing, Elijah replied, “I alone am left”. There is no one but me, and they are going to kill me.
4. Isaiah, called as a prophet, was given a vision of God, but responded, “Woe is me for I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips.”
5. Jeremiah was called by God to prophesy, but he said, “I do not know how to speak”, and I am way too young.
6. Simon Peter was called by Jesus to be His disciple when Jesus was baptized at the very beginning of His ministry, yet Peter went home, and Jesus had to do an awesome miraculous catch of fish in Luke 5 to have him “leave everything and follow Jesus”.
7. At the Upper Room Discourse during the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples He was leaving them, and they would all betray Him. The disciples were fearful and greatly distressed. Jesus comforted them and reassured them with five commands and promises.
8. Saul of Tarsus was a persecutor of the church until Jesus personally struck him down on the road to Damascus. Saul’s response was “Who are you?”
9. John was a fisherman of Galilee who was called to be a disciple of Christ, but he spent three years arguing with the other disciples about “who was the greatest”.
10. Two disciples left Jerusalem after the crucifixion of Jesus walking back to the town of Emmaus. They were disappointed and clueless about what had happened to Jesus because “we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.”
