Prophets

"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven- things which angels desire to look into."   1 Pet. 1:10-12
When I read the verses above the other day, I couldn't help but consider the prophets of God.
As I consider the prophets of scripture, I wonder what it was like to see and hear by the Spirit of Prophecy, which is the living Word, the person of Jesus. Though He was not yet born in the flesh, Jesus showed the prophets things concerning Himself that caused the prophets to search and search, trying to see more deeply into what they were being shown. They searched the words of the prophets who had come before them to find out more. They were shown such an awesome mystery, that even the angels didn't know the details, though they desired to know.
Among other things, they were shown a suffering savior, who through the sufferings of His own body and soul, provided salvation, atonement, healing, redemption, restoration and resurrection to all men who would accept Him. Death itself would be defeated by the Savior. Not all who read these prophecies, including kings and religious leaders, accepted them, and that sad fact continues today. 
The prophets saw that the resulting glory of the Savior's victory would be so great, that even new heavens and a new earth would be generated from it. These prophets were told and saw incredible things by the Lord. With being shown all of these amazing things, according to the verse from 1 Peter above, they were also shown that they would not see the manifestation of these things in their own lifetime, but were to prophesy them for the sake of some generation to come, not knowing how long that might be. They saw the miracle of salvation, but it was not to be for them at that time. It could only be for them in hope and faith. Can we even imagine how the prophets felt about that? And yet the  prophets prophesied it for our sakes. When we desire something, we want to know from the Lord, "When, God, when?" How would we feel if we knew that what we were praying for, what we deeply needed and desired, would surely manifest, but not for generations to come? Would that knowledge change the enthusiasm and hope in our prayers?
We who believe God want as many eyes and ears as possible to see and hear the message we bring. One person recently told me that they knew how it felt to prophesy, but no one would hear or believe. It could be that this person spoke from a place of frustration. It's true that human ears need to hear what the prophet is saying, but the prophets were at their greatest when it was just them and God.
The prophets of scripture not only prophesied to both hearing and unhearing human ears, but were called to prophesy when there were no ears at all to hear. They prophesied from caves (1 Sam. 24:10, 1 Ki. 18:4, 1 Ki. 19:9, 13, Ps. 142:1, Jn. 11:38), from a valley of dry bones (Ez. 37:1), from pits (Jer. 18:18, 20), from inside the belly of a great fish (Jonah 1:17, 2:1), from a den of lions (Dan. 16:16), from an island of exile (Rev. 1:9), from a prison cell (Gen. 39:20, Isa. 53:8, Acts 16:23-24, 1 Pet. 3:19), from a wilderness (Mt. 4:1, 11:7), from a sheepfold (Amos 1:1), from a battle (Judges 4:8-9). They were commanded to prophesy through horrible marriages (Hos. 1:2), through the children they conceived (Isa. 8:3-4, 1 Sam. 4:20-22), through the dung they cooked over (Ez. 4:12, 15), by what side of their body they lay upon (Ez. 4:3-8), by the clothes they wore, or didn't wear (Isa. 20:2-4, Mt. 3:4), by wearing animal yokes (Jer. 27:1-2), by the strange food they ate (Mk. 1:6). Yet they continued to prophesy for our sake. I received my salvation from the words of the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 53) spoken 750 years before the birth of Christ. Isaiah saw Him, and described Him to me in the words of his book.
Has the Church ignored, neglected and misused this precious spiritual gift of the prophet who has been sent today to equip us, and edify us with the knowledge of Jesus Christ? What about the other gifts set among us for the Lord's purpose: apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph. 4:11-13)? Have we had a lack of understanding regarding their divine purpose to us, the Church? It's very possible that we have consumed them on our flesh, with our fleshly needs and demands, rather than to have understood that the purpose and goal of the Lord was for us to grow in the unity of faith, and into the perfect man, with the stature of the fullness of Christ. As a result, we have become a Church of stunted growth, and disunity.
As I read the verses in 1 Pet. 1:10-12, it gave me a lot of food for thought.

Our Father has sent us prophets.

"Prophesy"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG7SVAWNyg0

"Song of Ezekiel"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi3R3Ork7VM

"Days of Elijah"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjxNhMV9yg8