So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, about 400 of them, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-Gilead, or should I hold back?”
They all replied, “Yes, go right ahead! The Lord will give the king victory.”
7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not also a prophet of the Lord here? We should ask him the same question.”
8 The king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “There is one more man who could consult the Lord for us, but I hate him. He never prophesies anything but trouble for me! His name is Micaiah son of Imlah.” 1 King 22:6-8
The election in Nigeria was about electing good leaders to deliver to our nation the dividends of democracy and herald good governance. However, it has exposed a section of the body of Christ to ridicule and shame in the name of prophets, prophecies and prophesying.
The question I ask myself is must you prophesy? Is it by force you must tell the people what you saw or did not see? What is the purpose of these so-called prophesies where prophets are struggling to tell the people who will be president or not? Are the people forcing you? How come the prophesies are only about who will become president and who will not be? What of governors, senators, and members of House of Representatives are they not leaders?
To tell the truth, whether your prophecy came to pass about the president-elect of Nigeria or not, the so-called prophets brought shame to the nation.
People who said if this one does not win, “I will no more worship God”, people who said “I will cut off my arm if someone does not win”, who are you out to impress? I see prophets doing political analysis, and permutations like any other person and calling it prophecy. People calling their thoughts, wishes and desires prophecies. I saw pastors projecting their biases as prophecy to hoodwink members to vote for particular candidates. Is prophecy to honour you or honour God? Is prophecy a route to make a name for yourself to be celebrated on social media or mainstream media? Do you control events of the world? It was the same charade we witnessed during the World Cup. Are prophets trying to outshine themselves on predicting who will win the World Cup? As if God is the one that decides who will win World Cup. The Bible says we prophecy in part. Even after their prophecies did not come to pass, some pastors are leading their congregation to pray to annul the election so that their candidate can be sworn in as president. What a mess!
What is prophecy? What is the purpose of prophecy? Prophecy has two components- foretelling and forth telling. The former is predicting, revealing or telling the future- what is yet to happen. A Major prophet like Isaiah told us about the coming of the Messiah (Jesus) about 750 years before it happened. (Isaiah 9:6). The latter which is forth-telling is about warning people about sin and bad behaviour and the consequences. Jeremiah was a champion in that area. Jer 25.Daniel 9:1-2.
Besides the definition above, how do we know genuine prophets?
But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him Deut 18 : 20-22
In the above narrative, Jehoshaphat tried to help us understand the purpose of prophecy and help Ahab decide whether he should go to war or not. To help him make the right decision to know the mind of God.
This experience revealed genuine and fake prophets. The false prophets who do not hear from God but who want to be in the good books of the kings resort to telling lies. In fact, the Bible says God wanted to kill Ahab: “And the Lord said, ‘Who can entice Ahab to go into battle against Ramoth-Gilead so he can be killed?’ “And the spirit replied, ‘I will go out and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.’ 1 Kg 22:20,22.
Is that not what we witnessed during the last election? Lying spirit prophesying to politicians to aid them to their destruction!
Another thing we learnt is that amidst the cacophony of false prophets, there are still genuine prophets. “But Micaiah replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, I will say only what the Lord tells me to say.” 2 Kg 22: 14.
Ahab hated Micaiah -for always telling the truth! But that did not stop Micaiah.
Brethren let us use prophecy for what it is meant for guidance and correction. If 18 people are contesting for a position, only one of them will win, whoever is best should emerge. Let us use prophecy to help the unbelievers to come to Christ. Let us use prophecy to warn politicians to do what is right. How beautiful would it have been if all the pastors realize that a Nigerian will become president and that he will need the prayer of the church to do well? Let us use prophecy and the pulpit to fight insecurity, and kidnapping. Let us warn the politicians, the civil servants to stop stealing. Warn your members to fear God and live well. Stop telling your members who to vote for. Politician A has sponsored a girl to school, she is in your church but you don’t like the politician and you tell that girl to vote for politician B who is your candidate. At best share with them the manifestoes of the politicians and let the people choose.
Prophets and pastors should stop making themselves pawns on the political chessboard of our dishonest- Ahab-like politicians! Don’t be on the payroll of any politician. Politicians will use you and dump you. Be warned!
Conclusion: Listen you false prophets, if you need to make ends meet it is natural, go and look for jobs! Stop politicizing, polluting, and desecrating the spiritual space of Nigeria with fake self-styled prophesies. Stop using the pulpit to drive your personal agenda. Stop acting God. Stop behaving as if you have a monopoly of God. As for the Ahab-like politicians who are feeding 400 lying prophets, stop it. Look for Micaiah that will tell you the truth. For the Micaiah, spirit-filled prophets in Nigeria, don’t let the Zedekiahs force you to keep quiet. Keep telling the truth to the powers that be.
Jesus says “him who has ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church”. It is better for you to be guided and take right decisions than to be oppressing genuine prophets of God. I pray that there will always be Jehoshaphat; politicians, leaders who are interested in hearing the true prophets, who are interested in ensuring the Word of God is used to move Nigeria forward. Shalom!
