A prophet is met with death in the womb or shortly after. It may be a breach, uterine rupture, or strangulation by cord. Either way, some form of difficulty usually occurs before birth or afterward. The prophet is often unloved in the womb, rejected before exiting the ramp. Once the prophet meets his assigned family, he never feels truly a part of it. Although he does love them deeply, he is a misfit.

The prophet, at any time, may abruptly be told to leave his family, homeland, or flee for his life. He is mostly without a mother or father, and even if found to be a goodly child by his mother, he is then hunted by an outside power, whether Pharaoh or Herod or some other demonic force.

“Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” (Matthew 2:13). “If it is a son, then ye shall kill him” (Exodus 1:22).

If the prophet’s father or mother favors him, then his siblings or in-laws are tasked with hating him for his dreams, mantle, or assignment. This starts at a relatively young age. Remember mocking Ishmael, who had to be sent away (Gen. 21:10)? Remember Abel’s blood that cries out? (Luke 11:50-51). Remember Laban and his sons? (Genesis 31:2-3). And who could forget Joseph and David’s journey?

“Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams” (Genesis 37:19-20). Symbolically, the prophet’s first mantle must be torn, coated in blood, and used to pronounce that he no longer lives, although he does. The prophet lives whether fleeing for his life or placed in an ark by the Nile, a pit, a prison, a cave, or the backside of the desert–he lives.