God inspired several prophets to speak to the hard-headed and rebellious Israelites. These men were persecuted, ridiculed, defamed and demeaned, yet they preached, taught and wrote what God wanted said.

Their messages were absolute truth and the timing and content of their presentations to their fellow Israelites was under the full direction of the wisdom of God. In spite of all of this, they had very few converts.

Jeremiah lamented that he wanted to stop preaching because the word brought such derision on him, even among God’s people! He said the word was like a fire in his bones, however, and that he grew weary of holding it in, according to 20:7-9.

Hosea married an unfaithful and promiscuous woman at God’s instruction so that Israel could see in their relationship how faithless they had been, 1:2-3 & 3:1-3. Talk about the negative aspects of an arranged marriage!

Micah decried the lack of character of his countrymen saying, "The godly person has perished from the land, and there is no upright person among men”, 7:2. It seems to me that he felt very much alone.

I have often wondered if these men may have been tempted to believe that their work was in vain when so few were turned back to God. As humans we are often negatively affected by rejection whether we want to be or not.

These men, however, were the very ones whom Jesus quoted during his ministry. His life fulfilled their prophecies, just as he proclaimed, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets;I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill”, Matthew 5:17.

Imagine the vindication of these men and their work when the very Son of God uses their words to bring salvation to all the world!

Never allow even widespread rejection of the word of God to discourage you. Stay faithful. Keep telling others of the gospel of Jesus and the love of God. Just like the prophets, you will someday be vindicated as well.