OLUROTIMI AJIBOWO
It is easy to be deceived by what presents an appearance of relative
peace upon the Nigerian nation. Discerning saints know that, underneath, there
are strong undercurrents and it is good for the wise to pay attention.
The Lord indicated by revelation what is about to happen in
Nigeria using a parallel situation from the Scriptures. If we can read between
the lines and understand the issues, it will give us the key to the major
events that are about to happen and how they will happen. We take our cue from
Isaiah, the prophet:
“The Lord said to me, "Take a large scroll and write on it with an
ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. And
I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable
witnesses for me." Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and
gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, "Name him
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. Before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My
mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off
by the king of Assyria.”
The Lord spoke to me again:
"Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of
Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore the Lord is
about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River — the king of
Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its
banks and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and
reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land,
O Immanuel!" Isa 8:1-7 NIV
The first thing to note is that what is about to happen will
have reverberations around the world as God gives a witness to the world about
His name and His power. The second significant thing to note in the passage
derives from the title or name the Lord gave to what, at that time, was about
to happen, the same name the Lord also commanded the prophet to name his son.
The name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz literally means "Make speed to the spoil, hasten to the prey". The implication of this is that what is about
to happen, except God changes His mind, will see a lot of destructive
persecution at great speed.
The background to this story is that after the reign of King
Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two, the northern territory
comprising eleven tribes had its capital in Damascus and the single tribe of
Judah, had her headquarters in Jerusalem. Do we see North and South playing up?
Judah is a type of the Church for it was in Jerusalem that the temple that
served Israel was built.
At the time of this story, Pekah, the son of Remaliah was
the king of Israel while Rezin was the king of Syria. Ahaz, the son of Jotham,
son of Uzziah was the king of Judah. Pekah, king of Israel entered into
confederacy with a foreign king and the two of them conspired to attack the
kingdom of Judah. In our contemporary situation, those pulling the strings of
the violence, killings and destruction are not working alone. They, and their
foreign collaborators, are particularly not too difficult to discern.
What was the offence of Judah? God reveals it from the
passage under consideration: The Lord spoke to me again: "Because
this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over
Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore the Lord is about to bring against
them the mighty floodwaters of the River — the king of Assyria with all his
pomp" Isaiah 8:6-7 NIV.
The parallel implication of this is that the Church, the
people of God have rejected the precepts and ordinances of God and have gone to
shop in, and brought the standards of the world into the Church. As if that is
not enough, many ministers have made alliances with demonic strongholds; even
to the point that many of them use sorcery, divinations and other occultic
powers to bamboozle as if they were working the gifts of Christ. What is more,
the pursuit of wealth and flambouyant lifestyles which are harvests of the
errors of the gospel in America, have been widely embraced at the expense of
suffering masses of Christians who seek God, faithfully pay tithes and give
offerings. These lifestyles, coupled with the desire to associate with those in
public office, have compromised the Church into an inability to tell the truth,
knowing fully well that these have been the agents of oppression in the nation.
Speaking on the right positioning of the office of a priest,
God says through Malachi: "For the lips of a priest ought to
preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction — because he
is the messenger of the Lord Almighty. But you have turned from the way and by
your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with
Levi," says the Lord Almighty. (Mal
2:7-8 NIV) The result has been that many in the Church are luxuriating in
worldly lifestyles because the language of motivational preaching, success and
achievement, have overtaken the real principles of the Word of God,
particularly the call to discipleship, witnessing and living holy before the
Lord.
With judgment impending, the import of the name revealed by
the Lord is that as the Lord arises in judgment against these ills, He will
cause the enemy to come with great speed and make great spoil. This is why no
one should underestimate the plot against Christianity; for the prophecy under
reference goes on to state: "It will overflow all its channels, run
over all its banks and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through
it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of
your land, O Immanuel!" Isaiah
8:7 NKJV.
Unless we can get the Lord to change His mind through
serious repentance concerning the havoc He wants to allow, what we have seen in
previous persecution, especially in the Middle Belt, pales in comparison to
what is coming; it will cover the entire
country BUT PARTICULARLY THE CHURCH (JUDAH). THEY WILL SUCCEED AGAINST THE
CHURCH, NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE GOOD STRATEGISTS, BUT BECAUSE GOD DECIDES TO ALLOW
IT; UNLESS WE REPENT BEFORE IT HAPPENS!!
There is no force yet created that can wallop the Church of
the living God; thus, if anything seems to be triumphing, it is because the
Lord allowed it. The real source of the problem of the Church is that she
departed from God’s precepts. What makes our case more critical is that God
wants to use His Church in Nigeria but it cannot be used in this state. To get
our attention, He first allowed Boko Haram to plunder, we didn't budge; then he
recently allowed killer herdsmen, the church is still looking everywhere but
unto the Lord.
Whether we like it or not, all evidence points to the fact
that the machinery for execution is in place. Our current rulers are of the
Fulani stock where the marauding and rampaging herdsmen come from and lame
excuses have been given at different times for the inability of government to contain
the menace; all the people manning the security apparatus of the nation are
strategically Muslims Islamists and the evidence of where their commitment is
can be seen in how they have also turned a blind eye to the murders, killings
and destruction of men, women and children, their farmlands and sources of
livelihood, including the illegal occupation of
homes in Christian communities without arrest or prosecution. In other parts of the country, their footmen
are all over.
The only antidote to what has been planned is genuine
repentance by everyone in the Church, particularly the leaders. The onus
therefore lies on everyone to begin to talk to everyone else under their areas
of influence as parents, friends, educators, managers, and so on, of the need for
wholesale repenting, abandoning the ways that provoke the judgment of God and
taking on His ways. The land in Nigeria is polluted through bloodshed, human
sacrifices, kidnapping, oppression, corruption, abortion, greed, idolatry,
witchcraft, decadence, etc. and God is exacting upon the Christians because
they are the ones to whom He has given the custody of this nation. Under our
watch, we have not only allowed the nation to descend into chaos but have
ourselves become enmeshed in the systemic rot. If we arise at this time to do
the needful and God decides to retaliate on our enemies, it will be the
beginning of the end of the contending religion all over the world, as it is
written: "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman" Gal 4:30 NKJV.
What then do we need to do? We are familiar with the
Scripture in Chronicles: “If My people who are called by My name will
humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”. 2 Chron 7:14 NKJV
In this Scripture, four conditions are required for God's
intervention. The remnant company appears to have fulfilled the first three of
the four conditions. Many people were involved in the different repentance
programmes that held at different times. How do we fulfill the fourth? The
words of John the Baptist come stridently to mind: "But when he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of
vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits
worthy of repentance...” Matthew
3:7-8 NKJV
In our contemporary situation, what would that mean? Change
in the Church that is befitting of repentance. We have participated in
repentance prayers and programmes and yet endorse the lifestyles of our pastors
by looking the other way, notwithstanding our perception that what they are doing
is wrong. We see how some congregations are becoming family hegemonies. We see
other ills and also feign unconcern. We go in and come out of Church feeling, "It's not my business, it's God that
called them". We all need to take a position so that God knows where
we align.
To avert God’s impending drastic judgment, the message has
to go out to all Church leaders we know and all congregational members we can
reach that the Church is sick and is in need of urgent reform. Let us send the
word out that our leaders' posturing is wrong, their lifestyles are wrong, the
exploitation in the Church is wrong and that we must go back to Biblical
standards. Let's endeavour to shake the foundations of the rot in the Church
and offer viable Scriptural alternatives.
This must come out of a realisation that we all are
stakeholders in the Church, the Church is the Church of Jesus Christ; it does
not belong to any pastor, whatever the perceived accomplishments. How do we get
this going? As much as we know, let us begin to decry our evils by judging
ACTIONS AND ACTIVITIES of our men of God, not personalities. We have the power
to judge actions, not personalities. (Matt. 7:1; Luke 6:37; Rom, 2:1; 1 Cor.
2:13-15; 1Cor. 6:2-3). We judge personalities when we pronounce people guilty.
We do not have that power. However, we can declare whether actions are
Scriptural or not and not be judged.
Some people would wonder whether it is right to challenge
our Church leaders. They usually remember the Scripture often cited by Church
leaders to silence their congregation: “Touch not My anointed, and do My prophets
no harm”.1 Chron 16:22; Ps 105:15
AMP. The context of this Scripture in the Bible is significantly different
from the way it is used by Church leaders. Each occurrence of the Scripture
speaks of God’s injunction to unbeliever nations wanting to harm the anointed
people of God. It was not used in respect of relationships between the Jews
and/or their leaders. Similarly, in this New Testament dispensation, everyone
that is called of God and filled with the Holy Spirit, is anointed; it is not
exclusive to the Church leaders and therefore does not apply in this case.
In what other ways can we get this going? Those who are
elderly and could be termed elders, owe it a duty, to speak up. A good
beginning is to decry and get leaders and congregations to repent of hosting
and giving the altar to known cultists, flesh eaters, and blood drinkers. What
of known embezzlers, corrupt politicians, etc? Should the Church not show them
the way to the covens and diviners from whom they got power and made satanic
alliances instead of coming for Thanksgiving for their nefarious evils
achievements in the Church? Only the truth will heal!
Should this happen, much bloodshed in God bringing the
Church to her knees in judgment may be avoided and it might jumpstart the
revival God wants to see. Most of the Church leaders have remained adamant
because the people are sheepishly coming and following without asking sound,
Bible-based questions. The begging question is: "IS THE CHURCH 'MAN ENOUGH' TO GO THIS WAY TO REDEEM HERSELF?”
In certain denominations, the Church has been converted to
human empires where things are run like a monarchial system. The pattern
adopted in such denominations have no Biblical precedent as, even in the Old
Testament, until God promised David everlasting rulership of his descendants
(if they continued to obey Him), God raised the leaders for Israel; it was not
based on family succession. Again, after David, whenever a king was on the
throne, there were also priests and prophets to balance power and ensure the
king ruled according to God’s precepts.
The lord and master that many pastors have become within
their denominations run contrary to the reason Jesus came and died. Jesus did
not die so as to set a human intermediary between the people and God, rather it
was to repair the wall of partition so that people would have direct fellowship
with God.
What are the other physical things that can be done for
salvaging the mess? Where we can, we may
meet church leaders. Where protocol or bureaucracy makes this difficult, maybe
we could consider text or WhatsApp messages. Where the results are the same, we
should then consider working on individual or mass exodus from certain
churches. That will force them to consider what is being said. If we need to
start abandoning churches that refuse to change, the leaders would understand
that something is happening and check themselves.
Failure to arise may be catastrophic: David numbered Israel
but when the Lord struck, thousands of ordinary people paid with their lives.
This is the latent danger we all face. If the Lord comes to strike some pastors
whom He considers are erring, it is not unlikely that many lives will go with
them in the imminent scourge. However, if we lend our voice to righteousness,
were the enemy to attempt to strike, we have an assurance: “The Lord knows how to deliver
the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the
day of judgment” 2 Peter 2:9 NKJV.
Where our congregations are purged before His coming judgment, God is able to
arise for congregational defense but where leaders are adamant, He knows how to
save the righteous few therein.
We also find this pattern in Ezekiel when God set out to
destroy the corrupt people in the midst of Jerusalem: “And He called to the man clothed
with linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side; and the Lord said to him, "Go through
the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the
foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done
within it."
To the others He said in my hearing, "Go after him through the
city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly slay old
and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near
anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." So they began with
the elders who were before the temple. Ezek 9:3-6 NKJV
When we attempt to x-ray the denominations, it is
unbelievable how much God is spurned in His Church! The tragedy is that unless
it is dealt with, they (the denominations) will persecute any new thing God
sets in motion.
The Church has not been, and is still not proactive as she
ought to be, even with grave issues of persecution, ethnic cleansing, stealth
jihad and other sundry issues from which we ought to have learnt. Every leader
of a denomination, group or fellowship has transmuted into a general of his
group. They only align with what suits them, not what God is saying. There is a
sense of superiority: each busy with what they refer to as their “own mandates”
from the Lord. Unfortunately, leaders in many non-Church ministries behave like
they do in the denominations.
Look at us: since the election, have we articulated what God
is saying? Also worrying is that we seem to enjoy battling the symptoms rather
than treating the malaise. What do I mean?
Elections have come and gone and all one sees is the Church
reacting in different ways. The sad pity is the sheer number of those who are
figuring the developments in the country with their minds and intellect. Sadder
still is that the little successes in national matters give the impression we
are winning. May our reasoning not lead us astray. While some are hinging hopes
that were initially dashed after the release of the presidential election
results on the possibility of Atiku reclaiming 'his mandate', others are
working through contacts, report writing, advocacy, etc in the hope that these
will provide a reprieve. Given what the Lord wants to achieve, these cannot go
far either way. ADDRESSING THE ROOT
CAUSE OF OUR AFFLICTION IS THE ONLY PROTECTION ANYONE HAS FROM THE SCOURGE TO
COME.
Are we saying we should not react to national issues and
pray about them as we have been doing? No! Those so motivated to pursue post
election positions should please go ahead for the little reprieve it may bring
What is dangerous is to be doing this and neglecting what God is saying in the
false belief that our efforts will deliver Nigeria and Christianity. Anything
embarked upon should not be at the expense of going back to repair our
foundations.
Firstly, Jesus said to Saul on the way to Damascus, "It
is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" Acts 9:5 KJV. What this means is that if God has allowed, and is
still allowing Christianity to be plundered to get us to tow His line and we
have failed to submit, no advocacy or concerted efforts we make will change the
narrative. No one can fight a programme God has allowed. We had better get
back.
Secondly, we are missing the message we ought to be getting
from developments in the North. To face facts, the quality of Christianity in
the north cannot be compared to what obtains in the South. In the North, if
their Church buildings are burnt today, they are congregating on the ashes
tomorrow. Yet God has allowed them to be plundered and we have not realized it
is for the sake of Southern Christians. How and why?
As Jesus was going to His crucifixion, He met the women of
Jerusalem crying for Him. What did He say to them? “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not
weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they
will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which
never nursed!' Then they will begin 'to
say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ' For if they do these things in the green
wood, what will be done in the dry?” Luke 23:28-31 NKJV.
The import really is that we need to begin to weep for
ourselves because Jesus said, "For if they do these things in the
green wood, what will be done in the dry?” Meaning, if God allowed
Northern Christians, who deserve persecution less, to face the kind of
persecution they have faced, what do we imagine will happen in our case?
Imagine the swaths of people that will be involved!!!
Thirdly and finally, in the little victories we seem to be
getting, God is at the same time allowing them to give us time to repent.
Suppose Atiku were to become President today, does anyone imagine that
Christian persecution will stop? Do we imagine that the Islamist agenda against
the South will stop? If we think so, we have no understanding of issues at all.
Besides, Jesus says, "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
Please ponder on this for a while. Jesus has given a picture similar to the
type of wrath to come to the South in His response to the women of Jerusalem.
Will we listen?
Let us consider further explanation from Paul: “But
we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who
practice such things. Or do you despise the riches of His goodness,
forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you
to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart
you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his
deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for
glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness— indignation and wrath, tribulation
and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of
the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. Romans 2:2, 4-11 NKJV.
The Scriptures are consistent: God will cleanse the nation
but He will judge His house first. (1 Peter 4:17) One comes before the other.
The judgment is inevitable because, as has been said, God wants to use Nigeria
in a special way and she cannot be used in this state, but we can minimize
collateral damage if we do the needful. He who has ears to hear, let them hear
what the Spirit is saying or seek God for themselves for whatever the Lord will
tell them. Jesus said clearly, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,
and they follow Me” John 10:27
NKJV.
There are truly many who are concerned for Nigeria88888888888 and her
well-being, who sincerely look forward to a Nigeria that works. This remnant
company have been involved in prayers for months, prevailing on God to move in
this land.
Are these options do-able? The answer that comes forth is,
"Suppose Martin Luther had refused to do anything: where would the
Protestant Church have emerged from?" If God sees the sincerity of our
hearts, sees us trying to "bring forth fruits worthy of repentance”, He
may yet change His mind and give power to our efforts. Maybe, just maybe, as we
launch out, He may raise a powerful voice and movement for the achievement of
His purpose.
Suppose some people do not believe? No one needs a prophet
to know that Nigeria is currently in a lockdown in the grip of evil forces.
Except God delivers, there is no other hope. For those therefore who may not
believe, the words in the letter to the Hebrews offers some counsel:
Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who
sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that
they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because
of unbelief. Heb 3:17-19 NKJV
Anyone who has a revelation of the coming scourge cannot
wish it on his enemies. Therefore, people of God, let us arise: what have we
got to lose if we do not seek ourselves but God's cause? There is a reason we
all are in the Church at such a time as this; let us find it and move in
obedience to God.
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