Biblical Trivia

While I hesitate to use the word "trivia" to speak of some things written in the Bible, it is a word which seems appropriate when we run into surprising little details which are a part of the major story being told in unfolding story of the Word of God.  In recent readings in Jeremiah, I came across a record of the Lord saying to the prophet, "You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons and daughters." (Jeremiah 16:1)  Of course, this personal aspect of Jeremiah's life was a part of God's prophetic message through him.  As is often the case, one things leads to another.  

I wondered about the personal life of other prophets.  Isaiah 7:3 speaks of the prophet's son accompanying him and Isaiah 8:3 says of Isaiah, "I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son."  Hosea's marital situation is a major part of what God was saying through him.  "...the Lord said to Hosea, 'Go take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom.'"  (Hosea 1:2). When she left him, Hosea found her and bought her back from a life of prostitution. (Hosea 3:1-2).  Ezekiel's marriage story is the strangest.  "The Word of the Lord came to me: 'Mortal, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes; yet, you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down...' So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died." (Ezekiel 24:15-18.  

As we read the personal details of these prophets, we do so in the context of the the ministry and the message of the prophet.  God had a word He wanted to say to His people and He used not only the prophets voice, but often used the personal lives of the prophets as well as visible enactments to speak that word and message.  It is not always easy to understand.  When we read, we can only shake our heads in wonder at why God did what He did.  What we often discover is that what we might call Biblical trivia is an integral part of what God was doing through Israel's prophets.