Why were prophets in the Old Testament Bible sinners? One was drunk and did incest, one lied to his father, one took his soldier’s wife, etc. Why didn’t God choose good people?

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The first thing to realize is that unless God cares to send an angel, He has to work with what He has. If there aren’t any wonderful family men in the community to make king, He has to make do with a lout. This was what the book of Samuel I was about. David was still a wee lad when Israel clamored for a king. So God had Samuel impress upon Israel that their new king isn’t going to be nice.

Prophecy is a weird career. It’s hard to keep a family and farm and be a member of the community when your job is basically to rail against the evil things that people in power do. If you’re a good farmer and family man, you have a lot to lose if Israel’s kings didn’t see things the way God’s telling you to tell him to see them. God doesn’t want to put your family and farm in the way of your side job.

So prophets tended to live in the mountains away from society. Another bonus gained by having the prophets live away from society is that you know it’s God when that weirdo that lives in the cave 4 days away decides to show up at the gates with preternatural knowledge about what your silly kings have been doing. It’s not like he could just flip on CNN.

A fun take on the inner life of a prophet can be found in the Book of Jonah. Jonah just loathes society and hates the fact that God bothers to show mercy to these silly people. He knows God wouldn’t hang him out to dry so he’s not afraid to defy Him either.

Prophets are basically God’s last line of defense before resorting to fire and brimstone or foreign armies. If Israel’s kings won’t listen to God, God sends a dire warning, so that the whole city can hear. If the city repents then God knows he doesn’t have to enslave the whole lot. God can limit His punishment to just the kings.

The unique job that prophets have to do, and the fact that literally their only job is to deliver the warning, means that they don’t need to be held accountable the same way a family farmer does.