In the wake of the decline in the numbers of those who profess Christianity in most European and Northern American countries, there’s, on the other hand, an explosive growth in the Christian witness in African countries. This expansion in the population of Christians in the countries on the African continent, who have been traditionally Christian, goes to reinforce Kenyan theologian John Mbiti’s famous 1969 assertion that “The African is notoriously religious.”
This predisposition of the African to religion makes the ordinary African person of faith easily susceptible to professed men of God who propagate “any wind of doctrine” that may not necessarily be a reflection of the true word of God.
The recent controversy about the unrealised prophecy of a “prophet” about the victory of one particular candidate in the just concluded Presidential Primaries of Ghana’s largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and matters arising, again bring up several issues about who speaks for God to His flock, and the responsiveness or gullibility of the people to such messages.
At the crux of this age-old question is who qualifies to be a true prophet anointed and sent by God, or, otherwise, what could then be the case of the opposite – a false prophet.
Not all ministers of the gospel – rightly called – are prophets. Ephesians 4:11-12 lists the five-fold ministries, of which the office of the prophet is but one: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
So, biblically speaking, not every minister of the gospel is given the office of prophet.
Furthermore, God Himself makes known how He chooses specific people to be His prophets. Speaking to a young Jeremiah upon his call to the prophetic ministry, God says in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born, I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
So from this seminal biblical passage, it is God Himself who predestines, who sanctifies and who ordains His chosen as prophets. This scenario runs through the Old Testament, where God mainly chose and spoke through the prophets.
Thus, the situation where anyone assumes the role of prophet without an evident divine sanctification validated by consistent signs and wonders that follow may only be a recipe for confusion, and God is not an author of confusion.
Most importantly, Amos 3:7 states, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” This verse emphasises that God, in His sovereignty, discloses His plans and intentions to His prophets before executing judgment or action.
Combined with two other verses, namely Psalm 119:89 and Numbers 23:19, the certainty of God’s word spoken to and through His prophets is established without any iota of confusion.
Psalm 119:89, which states, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven”, is a profound declaration of the eternal, unchangeable nature of God’s Word. It signifies that divine truth is established, secure, and permanently fixed, surpassing the limitations of time and the temporary nature of earthly existence or affairs.
Significantly, Numbers 23:19 states that: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”
In essence, any prophet, so-called or worth his salt, cannot claim to have legitimately heard from God, declare that word of prophecy and then turn round to say he made a mistake when the “prophecy” fails. Or worse still, to say “God changed His mind” as in the prophecy to King Hezekiah, as some ministers of the Gospel are saying in brashly and arrogantly holding brief for Prophet Bernard ElBernard Nelson-Eshun, whose recent “prophecy” that one particular candidate in the recently-held NPP Presidential Primaries would win, failed.
The case of Prophet Bernard ElBernard Nelson-Eshun is not isolated. In a culture where many professed Christians cede their personal responsibility in their walk with God to predatory pastors and other “men of God”, many lives have been wrecked and destinies compromised. This is contrary to the exemplary life of personal Christian biblical study firmly established by the Berean Christians in Acts 17:11.
In this end time era, when Satan and his cohorts, knowing that they have but a short time, have the Church of Jesus Christ under all kinds of assault, who’ll defend the Gospel when those who are supposed to be leading God’s flock give His enemies more ammunition to attack the Church?
Christianity, more than being an organised religion, is in essence a personal relationship with God through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Thus, it is high time Christians in Africa, and Ghana in particular, appreciate the true requirements of Christian discipleship and submit first and foremost, not to the questionable activities and pronouncements of predatory pastors and some religious leaders but to the unerring guidance of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit – the Paraclete, the Comforter, the Intercessor and the Advocate.
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