Comes the Word of Yahweh in Parables
Prophecy for Today

Comes the Word of Yahweh to Levnavi

Thus comes the Word of Yahweh to Levnavi¹, saying, “Adam-el², Adam-el!” And Levnavi answers Yahweh, saying, “Here am I.”

Then calls Yahweh again to Levnavi, saying, “Adam-el, Adam-el!” And again does Levnavi answer Yahweh as before, saying, “Here am I.”

A third time calls Yahweh to Levnavi, saying, “Adam-el, Adam-el!” And answers Levnavi the Word of Yahweh, saying, “Here am I. Why do you call me so?”

Comes the Word of Yahweh to Levnavi, and speaks to him, saying, “Where are my sheep, the flocks of my pasture?” And Levnavi answers Yahweh, saying, “They follow the shepherds to the pastures to eat their fill and to drink water in abundance.”

Comes the Word of Yahweh to Levnavi, saying, “O seer, where is your sight? O blind one, where is your seeing? Do I not give you eyes to see and ears to hear and a mind to discern the ways of my doings? Raise your head and look after my flocks and tell me where they are gone!”

So Levnavi raises his head and opens his eyes and looks after the sheep, but they are not in the green pastures. And he looks to the folds, and they are bare. And he opens his ears to listen and he hears the sound of bleating, but he cannot find its source. And he looks again and sees the shepherds, and he runs to them to ask of the sheep.

And Levnavi cries out to Yahweh in his distress, for the shepherds cannot answer him. Levnavi cries out, saying, “Why, Lord? What has become of the shepherds? Why are they lying here maimed and bleeding, sore and abused, thirsty for water and fainting for food?”

And comes to Levnavi the voice of Yahweh, saying, “The sheep hear the sounds of dancing and music, of making merry and laughter. They find shepherd for themselves who fill them with cake and with wine. The voice of my shepherds they heed not, but trample them in their haste to eat cake, drink wine, make merry, and join laughter. Do you hear the sound of singing? There you find my flocks.”

So Levnavi arises, girds up his loins and takes his staff and follows the sounds of music and raucous laughter. When he sees the sheep, he kneels down and cries. They are become the laughing-stock of the party. They are drunken with wine—dazed for want of nourishment. Their shepherds parade their shame. They are left cast down, the fallen. The carcasses of the slain are piled in a heap for the flies and the buzzards. The shepherds eat and drink and fill their own bellies and give no care to heal the sick, feed the flock, or tend to the wounded. They prize but their own bellies and tend only to themselves. And Levnavi is rent to the heart. And he cried out to the sheep to follow to the pasture, to be healed and to drink pure running water, but the shepherds throw him out, saying, “Build your own flock and pasture them. These sheep we take for ourselves. We feast upon them and eat their flesh. Be gone with you!” And they cast out Levnavi from their midst.

And Levnavi buries his face and cries. He calls out to Yahweh, saying, “Why do you allow such deeds be done? Why do you not care for the sheep of your fields, the flocks of your pastures?”

And comes to Levnavi the Word of Yahweh, saying, “Do I not ask you the whereabouts of my sheep? And do you not tell me they are in my pastures feeding and cared for in my fields? I leave them in your care, but you close your eyes and do not see that they are without shepherds and nourishment and care!”

And Levnavi bows his head in shame, saying, “O Lord, have mercy on me, for I sin, serving my own belly and forgetting the care of your sheep!”

And the Word of Yahweh comes again to Levnavi, saying, “Sound the call loud and clear! Call my sheep by name. They may yet hear your voice and follow you to the green pastures where there is fresh grass for their hunger and running water for their thirst, and rest for their souls. Only take care to lead them well and trust them not to the hirelings and wolves." So Levnavi arises with a heavy and broken heart and sounds the call.

Thus is the Word of Yahweh come to Levnavi, the seer.

¹ Levnavi: "Heart of the Prophet"

² Ben Adam: "Man of God"

—©Copyright 2005 Christopher B. Harbin