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Opinions of Sunday, 6 January 2019

Columnist: Rockson Adofo

Has anyone the right to assault a Ghanaian prophet for his deemed charlatanry?

The genuineness and credibility of men of God and prophecies have been questioned in recent times The genuineness and credibility of men of God and prophecies have been questioned in recent times

In the beginning of January 2019, some irate Muslim youths who felt violated by a prophecy by Rev. Isaac Owusu Bempah attacked his Odorkor Branch of the Glorious Word Power Ministries International Church. Among his allegedly numerous prophetic revelations on 31 December 2018 watch night, he prophesied that the nearly centenarian Islamic leader or Head Imam of Ghana Muslims may die if intercessory prayers were not made for him.

This particular death prophecy about the Imam annoyed some Muslim youths. Subsequently, they took the law into their hands with intent to administer instant mob justice to Reverend Owusu Bempah. In the event, they destroyed some church properties when they entered his church. Only God knows what may have become his fate if they had found him in his church.

I am in two minds about the medium used to communicating the prophecy and the attack. I am not in favour of any of them. It was totally wrong and very unchristian for Rev. Owusu Bempah to have revealed that conditional prophecy about a well-known individual at church service or in public. Why could he not approach him in private to communicate the prophecy to him? Was it to court public fame and church members’ submission to him that he made that particular prophecy and many such others in public?

In Isaiah 38: 1-5, it says, “1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.”

And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city”.

When the revelation about the impending death of Hezekiah came, prophet Isaiah did not go public with it but rather approached the individual concerned. Additionally, the prophecy was not conditional as it is the case with the numerous so-called prophets and Men and Women of God in Ghana. By their conditional prophecies, they stand to claim credit whichever way it goes. So and so person will die if we don’t pray for him. If the person lives, it means he was prayed for. If he dies, it means we did not pray for him. What type of inaccurate or nonsensical prophecy is this?

For Reverend Owusu Bempah failing to approach the Imam in private to tell him about the prophecy, he stands condemnable. It has become the character of Ghanaian pastors and so-called prophets to seek cheap popularity and quick buck by their thoughtless prophesying of deaths and accidents all of the time. It is becoming unbecoming of our lazy, but money-seeking Ghanaian prophets and pastors.

There must be a radical means taken to stop them from their progress-retarding and fears-inducing useless prophecies.

The Muslim youths had no right to take the laws into their hands with intent to punish Rev. Owusu Bempah for showing such a great disrespect for the age and position of the Imam. Naturally, he is closer to his grave than he is farther away from it when one considers his advanced old age. Therefore, no one will be surprised to hear of his death today or tomorrow. Subsequently, the prophecy could not be credible. The medium of its communication unlike that of Isaiah was not in line with the wishes of God.

I am sure those Ghanaian prophets, charlatans of course, will learn a lesson from what nearly befell Rev. Owusu Bempah to stop their doom prophecies henceforth. They never prophesy anything good but doom and false political predictions. Shame on them. Next time, people will use more robust and radical methods to deal with the false Ghanaian prophets and pastors.

There are a few genuine ones. These ones never go public but do communicate privately with those the prophecies are intended for. They do not collect money from anyone same as did the biblical prophets. They do not seek public fame by going public with secret revelations to them by God. They discreetly pass on their revelations to whom they are intended for. Such are the true prophets of God but not the frenzy-airwaves ones of whom Rev. Owusu Bempah and many others in Ghana belong.

To conclude, I shall advise Ghanaian so-called prophets to cease their on air and other public venues prophetic revelations about individuals. Such behaviours are all vanities, if not ill-advised! The quack prophets and pastors are major contributors to the underdevelopment of Ghana. Why are they encouraging people to attend church services 24hrs/7? How can Ghana develop with such nonsense in abundance? When will people have time to go about their jobs? People claim they have no jobs and money, yet they spend all their time in churches praying, fasting and listening to the prophetic crap spewed by these so-called prophets who are indeed thieves and/or charlatans in angelic cloaks.

How I wish President Paul Kagame of Rwandan or President John Joseph Magufuli of Tanzania was the president of Ghana! They would have stopped the religious and political corruption in Ghana within a year. Nonetheless, the day will come that either President Nana Akufo-Addo will have the balls to stop the religious and institutional corruption in Ghana or civil uprisings as minimally resorted to by the Muslim youths will do the trick.

This publication is for the attention of all Ghanaians, especially, the “Hye nkom, me hye nkom” prophets frequenting television and the radio stations clogging the airwaves with their mostly never or semi fulfilled spurious conditional prophecies. If I had my own way, I would recommend that we arrest and cane them in public. They are a disgrace to God and the womb that conceived them!