RELIGION: WHERE ARE THE PROPHETS?

RELIGION: WHERE ARE THE PROPHETS?

I have watched closely with every sense of concern on the reactions of our so called religious leaders on the recent calls from Biafrans for their freedom. I have also tried to match their reactions with those of Moses, Elijah, Micaiah, Nathan, David, Isaiah, John The Baptist, Jesus Christ, Paul, Martin Luther and Desmond Tutu of South Africa amongst others. What comes to my mind is: Are they using any other book than the Bible? If ‘’Yes’’, let us examine the life of our religious fathers in the Bible and compare with the so-called prophets we have today.

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU AND FATHER EJIKE MBAKA

First is Moses: According to Hebrew 11: 24-28 ‘’By Faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing RATHER TO SUFFER AFFLICTION with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of God greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith, he forsook Egypt, NOT FEARING THE WRATH OF THE KING: for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible’’.
Now the question is, who among the Biafra pastors operates at this level of faith? Which of them can afford to forfeit their private jets, risk the closure of their churches by the federal government, their private universities, their fleet of cars and mansions just for the freedom of God’s people? It might interest you to know that Moses was not supposed to be a common man in Egypt; he was raised as a prince and could sit in Pharaoh’s stead, but he REFUSED TO BE CALLED THE SON OF PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. Maybe, the pastors do not see Biafrans as people of God so finds no reason to suffer affliction with them.

The Man David – In 1 Samuel 17:10, Goliath said ‘’I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together’’
David replied (1 Samual 17:36) ‘’Thy servant slew both lion and bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God’’.
My readers, watch how the spirit goes, the passion in Moses and David was not drawn from what they could get from the situation but to see the people delivered from bondage. Tell me how many pastors/priests/prophets that can risk their lives for the well being of the common man? They only go on the pulpit, preaching fake righteousness they cannot and will never practice.

SHAMELESS "PRIVATE JETS" RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Prophet Nathan: 2 Samuel 12:7-12 ‘’And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of Saul; And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun’’.
This is Prophet Nathan talking to the king; he would have lobbied his way to be a friend with the king than this stern rebuke. Again I ask, where are the prophets? Which of them can rebuke Buhari this way as it regards the detention of Nnamdi Kanu? It is a big shame that it is taking people like the Sultan of Sokoto, Senator Yerima and Femi Fani Kayode to make such utterances. Ours are busy seeking for favours, receiving evil politicians in their assembly, praising them, gathering harvest levies, tithes and gifts.

WHAT UNION HAS LIGHT WITH DARKNESS

Elijah: I Kings 18:17-18 ‘’And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Balaam’’. 
And I ask, which of our prophets does Buhari fear and can ask this kind of question? Now, I can boldly tell you that Nnamdi Kanu has not claimed to be a prophet but he is the one that has fitted the role of Elijah in the condition of our country today. I tell you, just like Elijah stopped rain for three and a half years in Israel, peace will not rain down in Nigeria till Nnamdi Kanu declares so; that is the authority God gives to truthful prophets.

THE FEARLESS PROPHET OF TRUTH, NNAMDI KANU

Micaiah: 1 Kings 22:8 ‘’And the king said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord but I HATE HIM, FOR HE DOTH NOT PROPHESY GOOD CONCERNING ME, BUT EVIL’’. Here we can see the repeat of events, Buhari hates Nnamdi Kanu because he does not prophesy good concerning him, but evil. Hence, Buhari and his wife has resorted to visiting prophets who will prophesy only what they want to hear; prophets who will never tell them the consequences of their atrocities, the likes of Father Mbaka.

THE GREATEST SABOTEUR OF BIAFRA STRUGGLE-MBAKA 

Isaiah: The whole book of Isaiah and his mission was about the blindness of Israel, which led to their captivity, the to the restoration which transcends to the Glory of Israel. The climax of it is in Isaiah 61:1-4 where he declared ‘’The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to BIND UP THE BROKEN HEARTED, to PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES and the OPENING OF PRISON to them that are BOUND, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of VENGEANCE of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that MOURN in Zion, to give them BEAUTY FOR THEIR ASHES, THE OIL OF JOY FOR MOURNING, THE GARMENT OF PRAISE FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS; that they might be called TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified’’.
My readers, the text above is the purpose of the spirit of the Lord; it is always about the people and their freedom… that is the whole essence of God’s relationship with man. Godliness is not just avoiding fornication and stealing but in fact, is targeted first, towards the well being of the body and mind, the soul. Again I ask, do we really have anointed prophets that works to fulfill this or self acclaimed prophets whose interests is only how to enrich themselves through collection of offerings and tithes?

COWARD RELIGIOUS LEADERS WHO CANNOT CONDEMN EVIL

John The Baptist: Matthew 14:1-5 ‘’At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, it is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet’’.

BECAUSE OF THIS CROWD NNAMDI KANU'S LIFE WAS SAVED

Don’t be marveled, events just repeat itself. Buhari would have long put Nnamdi Kanu to death if not of the multitude that have counted Nnamdi Kanu to be a prophet of their time. Nnamdi Kanu’s crime was that he spoke the TRUTH, called out the evil in Nigeria and condemned it, just as John The Baptist did. Though some acclaimed prophets pretend to do the same; they never call it out and condemn it to the weight of the atrocities in the land. They rather sit at the fence and paint words; because once they out rightly condemn evil, they will find themselves in prison which is the last place they will want to be. They fear the wrath of the government and never endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

Jesus Christ: I can write a whole book on how Christ’s life is about the freedom of man, but I will only take us to one passage of the bible on this.
Isaiah 53:4-6 ‘’Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all’’.
The above text is again, the life of a prophet and a leader. He carries the whole burden of his people, corrects them in love and suffers the affliction of them all. Where are the prophets that will rather die for Biafrans than to be friend with the Nigeria government? Who is that prophet that is out to be bruised for our iniquities? Who will bear the chastisement of our peace? Where are the prophets? Where are the prophets?

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU

I can go on and on but coming down to our age, South Africa faced the same challenge we are facing today just before their independence. The question is: How did the churches in South Africa react to this? What was the role of their prophets, priests and pastors? It will interest you to know that the church in South Africa went radical about it, contrary to the cold, dead, and starched-up Christianity we have in Biafra land. Independence was preached in their local churches; evangelism became all about the freedom of the people. Known by all is Desmond Tutu, a South African Anglican cleric, who is known for his role in the opposition to apartheid during the 1980’s. He became the first black person to be appointed the Anglican Dean of Johannesburg in 1975; but rather than use his office to acquire friendship with the whites, this was what he has to say in one of his speeches: ‘’I realize that I have been given a platform that was not readily available to many blacks and most of our leaders are either now in chains or in exile. And I say, I’m going to use this to seek to try to articulate our aspirations and the anguishes of our people’’. He did not only say it, rather, he worked on it and at the end, South Africa became free from every oppression of the whites.
Finally, I ask: If Moses was to be here today, will he prefer to suffer affliction with Biafrans or make friends with Nigerian politicians? What will Moses do if he sees Nigerian police torturing a peaceful Biafran protester? What will David say to Buhari that has sworn to crush peaceful protesters? How will Nathan approach Buhari? Will John The Baptist chide from the situation of Biafra agitators today? Are there still prophets like these men? Or has God changed? The pastors/priests of today have all decided to put deaf ears on these calls for freedom but they will never escape the judgement of God; for judgement will start in the house of God. Jesus said Mark 8:35 ‘’For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

MY FEW WORDS TO OHANEZE: Exodus 23:8 ‘’And thou shall take no gift: for gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous’’
MY WORDS TO BIAFRA FAITHFULS: Isaiah 51:1-3 ‘’For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Harken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make judgement to rest for a light of the people. My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust’’. 

So fellow Biafrans, lets fight on, lets continue protesting, lets continue making our voices heard to the ends of the earth that in the end freedom shall be ours. Our leader Nnamdi Kanu is still incarcerated in the enemy camp. We must continue to agitate and press for his freedom until he finally regains his freedom. Because He stands for truth, because He stands for honesty, victory will surely be ours at the end of the day. 
May Chukwu Okike Abiama bless and keep us all. Isee! Isee!! Isee!!!   

Written By  Chinedu Ewulu.
Edited By  Ikechukwu Nwaorisa
By   BIAFRA WRITERS