The Bible in Poetry: The Prophets

 

Extracted from the Bible In Poetry

From Genesis to Revelation

 
Then there were the prophets meant to lead the kings,

Each, the mouthpiece of God to guide in spiritual things;

Often the mighty king would ignore the word they brought,

The consequences were severe the people were distraught.

Samuel was not only a judge but a prophet and a priest,

He was not afraid of kings for God’s word never ceased;

As a priest he was revered, he sought no man’s favour,

It was of God he prophesied, for God he also laboured.

Once after a victorious battle he had to chastise Saul,

For being so disobedient that Samuel was appalled;

God’s instructions were clear which Saul had failed to keep,

Causing Samuel to ask, “What means the bleating sheep?”

Then there was Elijah, a prophet strong and bold,

He was a great reformer known to the men of old;

Elisha, as Elijah disappeared his falling mantle caught,

A double portion of the Spirit’s gift was Elisha’s lot.

Isaiah saw the Lord, “High and lifted up,” said he,

A miraculous encounter that certainly set him free;

He wrote of the Messiah to come at opportune time,

To save both Jew and Gentile from their sinful slime.

Then prophet after prophet had followed on behind,

Jeremiah and Ezekiel, two more that come to mind;

Micaiah is not to be left out or Hosea and Joel,

Amos, Obadiah and Jonah, of them the Holy Bible tell.

Jeremiah the weeping prophet destruction prophesied,

Over the city Jerusalem whose people had God denied,

He served among a people that had become so vile,

That God unleashed His judgment on them for a while.

Ezekiel saw a vision of a valley of bones that were dry,

“O ye dry bones hear God’s word,” to them he prophesied;

“Thus saith the Lord our God, O breathe upon these slain”

And then those dry bones stood and began to live again.

The list is not yet ended, check and you will see,

Nahum, Micah, Habakkuk, another case of three;

There were major prophets; some were minor too,

They all relied on God to prophesy what was true.

Zephaniah then Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi,

These are all the prophets, on God’s word we can rely;

They all were chosen of God to bring His good counsel,

But many refusing to listen preferred instead to rebel.

  

Do you remember Daniel, prepared as the lions’ meal?

God shut up the lions’ mouths on him he placed His seal;

Then there was that time only he understood the dream,

Of the kingdoms’ rise and fall upon the battle scene.

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego also took a stand,

Like Daniel in a foreign land heeding God’s command;

They would not bend and they did not burn,

A fourth man was in the fire, all would later learn.

Jeremiah had prophesied Israel’s coming captivity,

Carried away to Babylon they suffered great indignity;

But a Persian King named Cyrus heard from Nehemiah,

And allowed the Jews to return to the land of Judah.

The law was read again, the walls had been rebuilt,

With a purpose so to work; the people would not quit;

The temple was repaired; they had answered the call,

Ezra read the law while Nehemiah supervised the wall.

During the reign of Ahasuerus, Esther was the Queen,

Wicked Haman devised a plan to cause an ugly scene;

Mordecai would be hanged and many Jews destroyed,

But Esther had a counter plan to foil his wicked ploy.

Scripture recalls her words, she said, “If I perish, I perish,”

She went into the king praying he would honour her wish;

The king in granting her favour acceded to her demand,

“Hang Haman on his gallows,” that was the King’s command.


Stewart Russell © 2013