I’m reprising old thoughts and then going to where they take me now.
Moses, Miriam, Elijah, Deborah and Isaiah are often considered the five great prophets of the Old Testament. Miriam is treated in the Bible as second only to Moses. Elijah is revered as unequaled in power and scope. Isaiah is regarded as the pre-eminent witness and Deborah as the greatest of the Judges.
They were all insiders. Moses a son of Pharaoh and the leader of Israel. Miriam as the head of the mid-wives and as second to Moses. Elijah as the head of the school of the prophets. Deborah as a judge. Isaiah as a pre-eminent courtier and member of the Court as well as the religious hierarchy.
And then we have Jerimiah.
As was noted in my ward’s Gospel Doctrine last Sunday, Jerimiah was a complete outsider. His confrontations were as much with the religious hierarchy as they were with the government.
Which led several people to ask, how can you tell the difference between a Jerimiah and Nadab and Abihu or similar challenges to the hierarchy?
Since I wasn’t prepared for that question to come up, and was only in the audience, I didn’t have an answer and just listened to the discussion, but it hit me that it combines some of the core of the Old Testament.
But I’ve thought a lot about it since.
As far as authority and challenges to it, the big points of the Old Testament are:
- Generally, when God speaks to prophets, “he said, “Listen to my words: “When there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams” or in riddles and communications hard to understand (Numbers 12:6, 8). A Moses is unusual – even Miriam wasn’t a Moses, nor was Elijah.
- Prophets and the official hierarchy can be fairly out of line. Consider Eli’s sons, followed by Samuel’s sons.
- Usually, rejecting the hierarchy for their wandering isn’t generally as justifiable as you might think. “for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me” (1 Samuel 8:7).
- Yet, every-so-often there is going to be a Jerimiah – but they are rare. God eventually pulls things back.
As far as a Church goes, the Old Testament reflects just how fluid things are as to form. Abraham didn’t have a home teaching companion (and neither do we these days). Sometimes the priesthood is limited to a family or a tribe, other times it spreads more widely.
Which tells me (making use of New Testament citations that are easier to use in some cases):
- We probably do not know as much as we think we know. “In fact, people who think they know so much don’t know anything at all” 1 Cor. 8:2. 1 John 3:2.
- God wants our trust more than our certainty. Luke 13:27. 1 Samuel 15:22. Luke 18:9-14
- Actions, love and caring for others, are more important than profession (statements of orthodoxy or belief). Matthew 7:23. 1 John 2:4. Isaiah 58:10-11
- We see through a glass, darkly, but that is part of free will and agency. . 1 Corinthians 13:12 and
I think we often stumble because we expect a Moses when we have “just” a “regular” prophet. Given that even Moses had his flaws (and Miriam and Aaron did not get very far when they tried to make a point about those flaws), I think that the underlying lesson is that there is a great deal of room for humility and patience.
As for Jerimiah, while I admire him, I also remembered that he spent most of his ministry imprisoned in wet holes in the ground and finished it being stoned to death in Egypt by people who ignored him except to use him as a talisman or express their frustrations with him after a holocaust destroyed the nation he was in.
Anyway, after looking at this from a couple years ago, I found myself thinking, what prophetic voices would I like to hear?
- I would love to hear Elder Dallin Oaks on how he has calculated and paid tithing for the last twenty years. (He has talked a lot about financial stress in his own life).
- I would love to hear President Nelson talk about his experiences in cleaning his ward’s chapel. (There has been a lot about his leading by example).
- I would like to hear Elder Uchtdorf on “not inhaling”. (His seminal talk on that is so powerful).
- I would like to hear Elder Gong on seeing through a glass darkly. (He has been so humble in the stories I have heard).
For our readers.
What would you like to hear church leaders talk about from there experiences and why?
Wheat & Tares 
It is Jeremiah, not Jerimiah.
I really wish Pres. Nelson would talk more about his surgical experiences, at least as much as Uchtdorf talks about aviation. Specifically, I want him to open up about his experiences as a young Army surgeon in the Korean War. He was barely out of med school when he was drafted to serve in a real-life MASH, yet I don’t recall that he has ever publicly talked about that period of his life, and his biographies barely give it a mention. I’m a big fan of the TV show MASH, especially the later episodes when the subject matter got more serious. You can’t go through something like that in real life and not have it affect you profoundly.
I apologize for being blunt… but when the general church membership holds these people on the altar as celebrities it creates more problems for those trying to follow Christ.
If these leaders were more humble, more transparent then their personal stories would hold more weight.
But these church leaders have told us their dishonest stories for the past 60+ years….now more truths are coming out…..deseret book no longer controls the narrative. The narrative of obedience to leaders needs to be abolished. The truth is they make mistakes and sin…we do nor need stories of their dirty laundry….but if told some stories of discipleship.
We do not need more faith promoting stories…..we need stories of how to follow Christ under difficult circumstances. We need stories of following Christ and not the church institution or its leadership.
Great posting!
I’d love to hear any GA talk about specific doctrine and/or practices that they don’t understand and have never made peace with.
I’d love to hear Elder Gong talk about experiencing racism within the church.
I’d love to hear any of them with LGBT family members talk openly about loving those family members, accepting them and making the relationship work.
I’d love a story where it is acknowledged that the right thing for an individual to do was to remove themselves from a toxic church environment (at least temporarily).
Thanks for catching my typo.
And thank you to everyone for comments so far.
I would love to hear them talk about their own mistakes and disagreements with each other. It would be so refreshing to see that kind of humility and openness.
Is our culture more patriarchal now than it was then? I would have thought the opposite. Yet half the prophets the were women, now none?
I honestly would like to hear less of our prophets/leaders generally. I would like to see a general conference, for example, where there s a women’s session (already exists), a youth session, a young adult session, a singles session, a worship session with songs/spoken word/prayer, a primary session, etc. with topics and a format that is relevant to the audience.
Have our general leaders have a session that speaks directly to how the church is responding to global issues rather than just Utah centric issues. Have them practice spiritual gifts such as prophesying, prayer, etc. Have them address issues and feedback offered by a feedback mechanism from the general membership.
I think this would be helpful
I think your sampling of prophets may have skewed your analysis. The list of preeminent prophets are more insiders (they generally have more influence) than the typical prophet. It’s actually very rare for prophets to have any kind of institutional power or influence beyond rhetorical force.
I’d love to hear president Oakes talk more about his experiences when the family proclamation was formed. More than he’s previously shared. I want to hear about how disagreements were settled, compromises made, how many drafts there were, how long it took, what they thought of chieko okazakis feedback. I want to hear a response to Taylor petreys analysis of it.