Source: Sunday Tribune 28/02/2010

The office of a prophet which is one of the five fold ministry is a very sensitive one. Scripturally, prophets are called and not made and their assassignments are special. However, the havoc caused by some of today’s prophets has reached an alarming state, write OLU OSUNDE and MODUPE GEORGE.

TWO years after the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Osaigbovo, the mother-in-law apparently dissatisfied with the son’s wife’s inability to get pregnant as she long desired, Donald being her only son, she came up with mounted pressure that almost ended up the marriage.

So, while the young couple were trying hard to bear the pressure within, it turned out difficult for them to cope with the snide comments of those who lived in the neighbourhood most of which came at a slightest provocation.

To stave off the pressure, Donald during one of his visits to a white garment church where he was invited for an annual programme, got influenced by a prophecy he heard being related to a non-member of the church. The prophecy, he discovered, provoked tears from the recipient sensing that a truth must have been let out.

At home, he convinced the wife about the need to take another step of faith towards resolving the issue of the seeming barrenness. He spoke glowingly well of the church he visited suggesting that they jointly see the apostle who himself a prophet and who might find out spiritually, what the problem was.

The wife with a streak of suppressed disappointment in her face sensing it could lead to a change of their denomination reluctantly accepted to go with him – if that, she said, would reduce the tension and bring lasting joy at the end.

The Apostle, after psyching them and discovering that they were desperate, demanded to be given a certain amount of money for some spiritual materials which he said would be ready in three days for pick by the couple,

At the appointed date, a special oil was applied to the head of Donald who had been under instruction by the Apostle not to eat or drink for the three days the materials stayed in the church in Minna, Niger State.

On getting home, Donald became mentally deranged after about two weeks and the wife had to invite the Pastor.

When the problem got worse, the Apostle secretly enjoined Donald’s wife to bring him to the church with some money saying it was the handiwork of the devil who had planned either to make the wife barren or in alternative destroy Donald. But sensing that the husband may have been hypnotised by the pastor, the wife contacted the family of Donald who promptly swung into action bringing the Apostle to reverse the spell.

At the end, the Apostle prostrating, begged for forgiveness while the couple in annoyance retrieved all the musical instruments they had happily bought for the church saying they could not buy instruments for a devil’s church.

In a similar circumstance, the fear a self acclaimed Prophet of God created in the mind of a young woman Eunice, surname withheld is yet to subside as the lady now lives separately from her husband.

Mrs. Eunice had gone to seek spiritual help from the prophet for an undisclosed ailment when she was told that the husband of about seven years was after her life. Till now, she is still being haunted by that prophecy as she had to run away from the house for her dear life even when the husband really does not mean harm.

“For about eight years now, I live as if I have never had a family or home of my own said an Estate agent, Mr. Fowowe Olorunbe. I have five children and a loving wife who have for no reason than my daughter got healed in a church, abandoned me for the church. At 65, I now cook and draw water from the well myself while my children some of them in higher institution, do not know where I live. Those who have clocked marriageable age amongst them are married out by the pastor of the church who they now see as their father.”

“You can’t believe that in the process of the crisis, my wife built a house without my knowledge and only the pastor now has unrestricted access to the house.

In Nigeria today, many of these fake prophets and prophetesses abound. While many of them are stationed in their mushroom churches they mostly build at back streets most times at the outskirts of a town they live, there are those who officiate in big churches alongside the pastors.

Although one cannot rule out the fact that some of them actually churn out accurate prophecies, there still however exist practical evidence of those who have been discovered to have washed their faces with charms so they can see what ordinary eyes cannot see. “The clear difference between them and those actually empowered by God is usually their inability to pray to avert the danger they may see because the devil, the proponent of the danger uses them,” said Prophetess Agnes Ogunniyi of the Halleluya Church of Christ.

“So, because they are evil, the little gift of God they may have are also polluted. Such people always end up doing evil as they are always concerned with how to trick people to make money, she said.

Apart from the seers who merely deal with individual, there are those whose predictions cover every human life endeavour. They talk about politics, sports, entertainments, economy and some other trivial matters that one would ordinarily never expect that God would talk about. Most times, their prophetic activities do bring to question whether God really care about two football teams playing football as to inform a prophet about who should win or get bothered about two politicians both of them christians contesting for a political position. God however, could in such circumstance, if He is really interested in one of them, tell his prophet if He so desires but would ensure that what He says comes to pass. If He has any reason to change His decision, he will also tell the prophet before the conclusion of the process because, God is not flippant, says Woleader Dele Akande of the Celestial Church of Christ.

A situation where a prophet pronounced God’s intention to the world and later seeks to justify why what he said never happened is usually not of God. In fact, that is how to identify false prophet, he explained.

A false prophet is one who believes that the precise timing of a prophesy can change after previously putting a date on it. They often say that the event will still happen but of course, it never does. In such circumstance, the prophecy could be said to be false says an anonymous commentator on the Christian site on the internet.

Speaking further, the commentator wondered why Christians accept these false teachings as presented, never questioning the prophets they rely on for truth about their lives. “We see Christians opening up schools to teach people how to become prophets” adding that, the founders of these schools and their students claim that prophetic gifts are learned from self efforts and practice. Usually what you hear from these self proclaimed church prophets is flowering speech that speak to the fleshy desires of those who love to hear such.

The scripture says, “by their fruits ye shall know them.” Again 2 Peter 2 : 1 says, but there were also fake prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who brought them, bringing swift distraction on themselves.

Prophets are often thought of as those who predict the future. They are primarily sent to proclaim God’s message and this is often to denounce sins. They also warn against the coming judgment of God with their messages. Jonah was one of the prophets sent by God to the people of Nineveh, to warn them against unrighteous living and weakness. The message resulted into a hundred per cent success because the people repented from their sins.

God sent prophets with warnings because of His love and mercy and He always seeks to provide a way of escaping evil. However, despite the fact that prophets are sent from God and are God’s special vessels, He warned His people in Matt. 7:15 and I John 4 verse 1—6 to beware of false prophets who come in sheep clothings but inwardly are wolves , Behold, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone into the world. By this you know the spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

The truth is, if God Himself came to earth and men accepted Him as such, then there would be no need for faith. God would have proved Himself to exist. We learn by faith and not by sight that God exists. Therefore, prophets are placed on earth so that they can testify of God and His son Jesus Christ. We are supposed to strengthen our faith by their words and by the testimony of the Holy Ghost.

According to Pastor Seyi Faloju, of Grace Point International; from the beginning there was a warning about false prophets. God warned His people to beware of fake prophets who come in sheep clothings while they are wolves inwardly. They are all over the places. Most of these prophets didn’t start out as fake prophets but because of what to eat and the hanker for fame they started invoking and consulting wrong spirits.

Today, most christians are no more spiritual, they are looking for prophets to tell them what the future hold for them.They believe just anything and in anybody.

Moreover, the economic situation in the country has affected many prophets. They are hungry and they need food and money to keep body and soul together, so, they go to any length to decieve people with visions and prophesies that are not true.”

Additional report by Ronke Kassim.