The Prophet Had No Name (1st Kings 13)
he was called a man of God
sent with God’s Word
to rulers and kings
calling leaders and nations to repentance
faithfully,
courageously declaring
the whole counsel of God with no regard or fear
he had no name for history or scripture to record
or did his mother name him at birth
only to never be
recalled by family, clan, or tribe?
God called him – he obeyed
leaving all, going,
and announcing
but then…
the lure of this world, contrary spirits,
the misleading words
of “religious” prophets
and his own divided
heart
shipwrecked his “ministry”
took him down a wrong
path
losing his way, he
lost his life, lost his name
his ministry over, his name erased, his destiny shattered
why would God record this story?
how often did he record even the names of His enemies
or the enemies of
His people?
maybe, just maybe,
it was God’s grace that we do not know
we do not know his
name, but we know his mission
and we know his
Redeemer and King
he heard and heeded the call
he went, gave the Word
then took a wrong
turn
slain by a lion, finally buried,
no tombstone, no marker,
no name
i believe one day we will see this nameless brother
and a great
multitude of souls forgotten by men
but whose names are ever revered by our Lord
in that place where
sorrow and mourning are no more
where all of us are given a new name
old names discarded, all forgiven, all made
new
where corrective, prophetic words will be unneeded
where the guidance
and communion
of the Holy Spirit
will be complete and clear
where no religious spirit will mislead or distract
until that day i will
remember
the nameless man of God
who made a name for
himself – No Name
and guard my heart
and my path
but i have already taken many wrong turns
trying to make a
name or numbing my fear of man
cognizant that history, highway interchanges
or even street signs,
probably will not record my name
the prophet had no name, but he had a calling
he had a purpose and
a destiny
today, as i gaze through the lens of Scripture
that nameless man of
God looks like me.
mark d. cooke, All Soul’s Day, 11/02/2020
