By Rev, Ola Oladejo
"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall di And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' "when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken, the prophet has spoken presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." Deu 18:20-22 (NKJV)
The 2015 presidential election in Nigeria has been won and lost. However, had the election taken place back in the time of Moses in the Bible, some types of prophets who painted the town red with their prophecies would have entered into serious trouble. The outcome of the election had shamefully proved that they never got their boastful pronouncements from God in the first place. While political parties in the election, winners and losers alike can point to their contributions to the deepening of democracy in the country, the hordes of false prophets were completely put to shame. They are nothing but two for penny false prophets.
To refresh our memory, the electioneering period was a time these fake prophets multiplied like swarm of flies. The politicians bent on winning at all cost courted them. Like father, like son, these prophets as true scions of their great grandfather Balaam, that prophet known to prophesy at the smell of filthy lucre, went over themselves to say not what God sent them to say but what their clients were eager to hear. They forgot to learn from the calamity that befell ministries of fake prophets in our recent history.
There was a time in Lagos when one Brother Timothy, a self styled prophet took the community by storm. His prayer meetings were always full as even some believers desert their churches in search of his prophecies. He would publicly pronounce on big and mundane issues and soon became a celebrity.. Gullible devotees did not know Bro Timothy was engaged in permutations, gambling and chance predictions. One day the bubble burst when he prophesied about a match involving the Super Eagles. He declared to the whole world that God had told him Super Eagles would win the match 4-0. He insisted that if the Super Eagles did not win by that margin it meant God did not call him. But to the chagrin of Bro Timothy, the Super Eagles lost woefully. The backlash of Bro Timothy's false prophecy drove him underground from which he is yet to emerge as of today. God is not a liar and He cannot be mocked.
Yet there was a time when some prophets from Ghana invaded Nigeria with a new fangled ministration. They were so good at motivation in their messages geared to get listeners to do what they say. Pastors would do anything to invite them for they pulled crowd not a bit. They operated by getting the audience fired up and then they go for the jugular. They would call a person by name and say God asked the person to bring an amount big enough for the miracle he or she expected. The trend was that they always called on well to do members. Later they would claim Holy Spirit gave them someone's telephone number from whom they demand outrageous amount. They would tell their victims problems which they always claimed were caused by others. After a short reign, truth caught up with them. They disappeared when people began to discover them for who they are, false prophets. It turned out that they first sent their spies ahead to gather vital information about the church and its members and the information they gathered were converted into false prophecy in their ministrations. They did not prophesy because they heard from God but were lying in the name of the Lord.
One would be shocked at the calibre of prominent churches, ministries and Christian leaders who prophesied falsely concerning the presidential election. The list was so intimidating that it is best not to publish their names because that will do no good to God's name. For there is no doubting the incalculable damage to the reputations of genuine spokesmen and women of God the fake prophets did. They were so loud and noisy that the din of their voices drowned those of true prophets. Many are now who would throw away even genuine prophecies because of activities of these false prophets. To despise true prophecies however can be likened to throwing away the baby with the bathwater. Though the existence of fake prophets is a mark of our time, the Bible has outlined how we can identify them and avoid their destructive practices. Three of them will suffice for our discussion.
A true prophet speaks only in the name of the Lord and because it is God's own words, it cannot fail to come to pass. False prophets as we see in the case of the presidential election spoke but what they said in spite of drama that accompanied them did not turn out to be so. Future event should authenticate what prophets claim God tells them.The presidential election results proved otherwise. Our text has warned enough that if a prophet claimed his predictions are from God and the things he said do not come to be, that prophet is a liar. We are warned;
"Thus says the LORD of hosts; Do not listen to the words of the prophets whi prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD." Jer. 23:16
The second test of true prophets is that of revelation and inspiration. These are some of the means God communicates with man. False prophets on the other hands receive their messages from divination, flesh and other Satanic means. The way out is for the believer to know the word of God, hence the mind of God. The unbeliever is totally at loss in this area. So he is strongly advised to give his life to Christ to get out of the ambit of false prophets.
The third test is in the area of the character of the one prophesying. If a prophet does not have good testimony as to his moral character, he is likely to turn out to be a false prophet. The common trait of false prophets is low moral character. Jesus warns in Matthew 7:15-20 that though they are wolves in sheep's clothing; we will know them by their fruits-character. In these days when all most people know about their prophets are based on media, instead of one on one relationship, it should be conceded that most people might not know their prophets intimately enough. I counsel that effort should be made to know the prophets to their homes and where possible peep into their closets
You can starve out of existence if you chose not to accord honour to these fake prophets. Neither seek them nor patronise them. Their rank will reduce since they lie for material gains. I urge these false prophets to repent, because of impending divine judgement. God have mercy
Rev. Ola Oladejo is a Senior Pastor, Hundredfold Covenant Bible Church, 3rd floor, 142 Lawanson Road (OtunOba bus stop) Surulere, Lagos, Tel. 08023148846 Email: ola2dejo@gmail.com
