Prophecy refers to those messages which are supposed to be received from God through his prophets. From religious accounts from the olden times prophets have been the messengers of God relaying the mind of God on issues affecting the mortals. Through prophetic messages man has been receiving warnings, admonitions and directions from the Almighty.
Biblical accounts are replete with stories of so many prophets and the various interventionist roles they played in the life of man. One of such account is the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal signifying that there are real and fake prophets. Fortune telling has been there from time immemorial. The traditional religions also have their chief priests who are the prophets that interface between God and his worshippers.
At the beginning of each year like we have now, newspapers are awash with predictions by prophets and seers, notable ones and upcoming ones, who tell us what they ‘hear’ from God. It is not as if God does not talk to us all but it is either they have a sharper listening skill or they are chosen by God as medium to relate to us God’s messages.
We recall portions in the scriptures where it was reported that before a group goes to wage war against another tribe, they would first inquire from their prophets if they are likely to win. Today too people are constantly seeking the face of God before undertaking major projects like marriages. This means they were useful and served a purpose.
One strong charge against these men of God is that they can dimension your issues with accuracy but have no solutions to the problems. Others believe that majority of the family feuds experienced in the society today results from fake prophecies ministered in the churches. Does it then mean that there are no genuine men of God as prophets?
Following the law of duality if something is a counterfeit it means there must be an original of that item. In this lower region we inhabit nothing can exist except in relation to its opposite, thus something can be known only by its counterpart e.g good by bad, day by night, man by woman. It would seem therefore a gross misadventure to give a blanket condemnation of all the prophets as having no relevance to the society simply because of the bad eggs amongst them. It is equivalent to saying we will not eat rice again because there is a plastic Chinese rice in the market.
People have various reasons for rejecting prophetic statements. The more sophisticated persons among us claim that it lacks any scientific basis for acceptance. It cannot be proven they argue. It is a matter of guess work they further argue. The real self we are told is spirit using the body as a vehicle to operate. Prophecy also operates in the realm of spirit. It comes across hypocritical and contradictory that man considered a spirit being objects to spiritual revelations made through prophecy.
When they prophesy impending doom and it comes to pass we label them prophets of doom. They are also accused of seeing only evil, death, calamities and we hardly applaud when they hit the bull’s eye. The gift of prophecy should be appreciated like other endowments of the Creator. Today we celebrate and acknowledge the works of talented footballers, musicians, artists, etc
Some of the advanced nations make use of their psychics, clairvoyants, graphologists, para-psychologists etc in governance but here, we despise them, because they are not so trusted. It cannot be ruled out that these prophets lack relevance in nation building. Some of them have been hitting the bull’s eye with accurate predictions. They may have been ignored to our own peril.
News Echo is of the view that in the same manner individuals find value in the works of prophets and prophecies they may also be value adding in nation building only if we can take pains to evaluate their activities and extract whatever benefits that they can offer. It might sound unintelligible, unscientific, crude, absurd and unheard of that we are engaging this group of people in our national affairs. All we need do is to find their usefulness.
We note that while some of the leaders tap into their usefulness for their own benefits they reject them in supporting the society grow. In the same manner it would be helpful if the prophets can organize themselves and conduct their activities creditably in the manner the larger society can find value in them as medium of God. They should also not allow their gift waste.
