Nigerians are waiting, still waiting to hear from the nation’s Nostradamuses who saw the tomorrow that never came. Virtually all of them that claim extra terrestrial eyes said that God told them that he had rejected reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari in the just concluded elections. However, for some uncanny, inexplicable reason, Buhari is back in the saddle. Whether his victory is by fair or foul means is beyond this discourse because if God had decreed otherwise, nothing could have returned him to Aso Rock. Even if he loses at the tribunal to Atiku Abubakar whom the president’s men have accused of hallucination, that would still not validate the ‘prophecies’. Methinks, the Nostradamuses were actually the ones hallucinating and gave Atiku so much false hope, having gauged the mood of the people but instead of saying they were predicting purported to speak for God. The shame is upon them, not the ever faithful God. Before then, let me reproduce excerpts from a ‘prophetic’ article I wrote in January about the impending debacle.
Prophets or profits
It’s another New Year and our preponderance of Nostradamuses are at it again. They have peeped into their crystal balls and making telling revelations about tomorrow. They claim to speak for God but I’m not sure which God.
There is only one true God and all of the prophets claim to speak ‘for Him’. My worry is how come then we have one God yet many dissonant voices, issuing contrary messages from this same one God.
It is also surprising that Nigerian politics and politicians constitute the greater part of these prophecies (or guessing predictions). Why God would confine Himself to that narrow prism remains as confusing as the prophecies.
While some of the prophets saw President Muhammadu Buhari, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, emerging victorious by fair or foul means, others say expressly say that Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will win. Maybe Nigeria is about to have a collegiate presidency? They did not confirm that.
One even described a former governor as natural giver and one is tempted to ask whether what he gives has a way of influencing the vision of prophet.
One other oracle of God has just endorsed a presidential candidate after earlier sending a message across through a dollar-laden governor that his ministry had been neglected since the last outing. No one now knows if the candidate had responded positively and swung the prophecy in his favour against his stingy opponent.
Much as prophecy is a gift of God that must not be scorned, we also know that some prophets are hirelings of Sanballat and Tobiah. Nehemiah 6:12. The problem is in discerning the true prophet from Sanballat’s, especially in our age and time where religion has become a flourishing business enterprise and people afflicted by dependency syndrome they cant seek God directly.
This piece does not intend to impugn on the integrity of faith but to caution believers to be cautious. Prophecy is actually one of the five-fold ministry, according to Ephesians 4:11-12.
So, it is a very good office and we have many prophets like Elijah and Samuel, who really spoke for God and left lasting legacies. There are indeed several genuine men of God in this country. They remain anonymous but are doing great exploits for the kingdom of God.
The problem is the few empty barrels that make the most noise, drawing perishing crowd. However, it is not exactly correct to conclude that fake prophet is a new age fad. Perhaps, it is more rampant now but they were active, even in the early church. Jesus flogged them out of the temple in His time and upturned their tables, accusing them of turning God’s house of prayer into a den of robbers. He warned the faithful about the antics of the faking ministers who would be denied on the last day.
Was not Balaam hired to curse the children of Israel? The prophet knew that they were curseless but yet fell into the temptation of Balak to try but God prevailed against him and compelled him to bless Israel instead.
Fake prophets succeed because of the people who flock around them. They are like robbers and receivers of stolen goods. If there is no ‘market’ for their craft, they would close shop. Unfortunately, that time revealed in 2 Timothy 4: 3-4 has come, “when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” That is why such easy places of entertainment are overly bloated with ‘overflows’. Yet it is true that God is usually not found in winds, earthquakes, fire or but in small still voice 1Kings 19:11-13.
Prophecies are real, no doubt and we must not scoff at it but must covet discerning spirit for 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 says, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.”
So, before you get ensnared again this year, watch out for that profit (sorry, prophet), who cares less about the state of your soul but rather focuses on prosperity of body and burgeoning bank account. Who, for fear of offending the members, glosses over their sins, refusing to call sin by its true name. Who props crowd-pulling comedians upon the pulpits,causing people to laugh and jest with the Holy Spirit. Who teaches you penance instead of repentance, misrepresenting grace as licence to keep sinning. Who teaches you of multiple ways to God whereas we know for sure that there is just one Way, Jesus.Who revels in ‘justified’ immoral living. Who encourages sissies to serenade the congregation, even the altars and duckling sisters stuffing Michelin tyre frames inside suffocating, sparse and tell all outfits, in the name of contemporaneous fashion. Who revels in their crowd of converts gotten by loose sensual messages on polluted altars. Whose singular aim is doing the work of their father, the devil through manipulation and cupidity, making merchandise of the gospel. Who covets God’s glory through mounted billboards and words of self-attestation.
Beware, brethren, lest that prophet whose place is reserved in hell takes you with him. Resist the devil so that he can flee far from you. Refuse to be oxygen for the fakery in the name of God. You keep them in business when you go in quest of miracles sans the miracle worker, Jesus. You need only one miracle for things to fall in pleasant places for you.
Attention NCC
Intellectual thieves are on the increase and the Nigerian Copyright Commission, NCC must up its game to put these rogues in the slammer.
Last Monday, this column published an article, entitled: Imo, History in reverse. The ink wast yet to dry on the publication before one social media ‘rat’ lifted it unto ‘its’ platform, called theflashmedia.online. It removed the name of the column, my byline and even made no reference to The Sun.
I have contacted the rat through its email [email protected] without response yet. So far, this article has generated over 100 views for this rat for doing nothing but steal my work.
I wish NCC steps into the matter, as I believe all the things posted alongside my article might have been similarly stolen.