The Lord sent a prophet because Israel needed more than immediate relief. They need to be cautioned against thinking that by merely crying out to the Lord, they will always get a favourable response. To call upon the Lord is to invoke a relationship, one that lays certain obligations upon Israel, obligations that Israel has not fulfilled (Judges 6:10).1 The Lord was not manipulated by Israel's false cries of repentance. So this time, instead of sending a deliverer, the Lord sent his prophet to accuse Israel of breaking the covenant.2
8 the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery.