" It was, in short,
not only a revelation, but a message.

Hence, one of the most outstanding characteristics of the prophets was
the sense of being ambassadors charged with a communication which they
were bound to deliver. If those to whom they were sent with it
welcomed them, good and well; but, if not, they were not absolved from
their duty. The man who speaks to men for his own ends--to obtain
influence in the management of their affairs or to display his talents
and win a name--will go on speaking as long as they are inclined to
listen; but, if they do not appreciate his efforts or if he wearies of
the employment, he can betake himself to retirement and be heard no
more. But a prophet could not act thus. His message might arouse
bitter opposition, and often did so: "Woe is me, my mother," exclaims
Jeremiah, "that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of
contention to the whole earth." Gladly would he have withdrawn from
the contest, if he could, and sought a lodge in some vast wilderness.
But the sense of being a messenger drove him on: "Then I said, I will
not make mention of Him nor speak any more in His name; but His word
was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I was
weary of forbearing, and I could not stay."

This was what lent the prophets the wonderful courage which
characterized them. They forgot themselves in their message. The fire
of God in their bones would not permit them to hesitate. Whether it
was a frowning king or an infuriated mob the prophet had to brave, he
set his face like a flint. Comfort, reputation, life itself might be
at stake; but he had to speak out all that God had told him, whether
men might bear or whether they might forbear.

2. The other aspect of the prophets' word was that it was a Message to
Men. If, on the one hand, the word of the prophets was a power because
it was the word or thought of God, it depended, on the other hand, for
its effect on becoming a word which those to whom it was communicated
could repeat in their own vocabulary and thereby turn into a thought
of their own; for it was only when men's minds were so modified by the
prophets' words that they began, in their degree, to think the
thoughts of God, that the prophetic message became an influence in
their life. The prophet had, therefore, to stand in a double attitude,
and a double process had to be performed in his mind. He had, in the
first place, to turn himself wholly round to Go