National Issues
Like Ahab like Aso-Rock King and his prophets -By Izuchukwu Okeke
This piece is not intended to prove whether anyone is a true man of God, or dispute whether anyone has heard from God or not. In so far as Nigeria 2015 presidential election has pitched religious leaders prophesying against one other, February 15th will prove those who are the true men of God.
This piece rather is my own attempt the help the discerning to understand the times. It is a season of prophesies. I lend you mine. Now let us read the bible. I Kings 22, reading from verse 1.
For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. But in the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel. The king of Israel had said to his officials, ‘Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?’
So he asked Jehoshaphat, ‘Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?’ Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, ‘I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.’
But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, ‘First seek the counsel of the Lord.’ So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, ‘Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?’ ‘Go,’ they answered, ‘for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.’
But Jehoshaphat asked, ‘Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?’ The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.’
‘The king should not say such a thing,’ Jehoshaphat replied. So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, ‘Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.’
Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.
Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, ‘This is what the Lord says: “With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.”’ All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. ‘Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,’ they said, ‘for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.’
The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, ‘Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.’ But Micaiah said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me.’
When he arrived, the king asked him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?’ ‘Attack and be victorious,’ he answered, ‘for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.’
The king said to him, ‘How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?’
Then Micaiah answered, ‘I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.”’
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?’
Micaiah continued, ‘Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.
‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’ ‘So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.’
Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. ‘Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?’ he asked. Micaiah replied, ‘You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.’
The king of Israel then ordered, ‘Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’
Micaiah declared, ‘If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.’ Then he added, ‘Mark my words, all you people!’
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.’ So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, ‘Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.’ All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died.
As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: ‘Every man to his town. Every man to his land!’
Let us end the story there in verse 36.
Now I say: If all of us are gifted with discerning minds, then it is probably just OK to end this piece here. But surely not many of us understand the import and relationship of this story to the unfolding drama in Aso Rock.
Like the ancient Ahab and his prophets, the history of the world is littered of rulers courting religious men; whether in ancient Samaria or today’s Abuja, rulers of men always court the prophets or visioners; men who (we believe) hear directly from God.
I was still in Abuja, about three years ago, after the 2011 election was won and lost. I was then a young journalist who sometimes gleaned up grapevine from powerful places. So, I was one of them who heard that some Aso Rock prophets had heard from God; that as it was in 2011 so would it be in 2015. And so it was; that these prophets whose words worked like magic in 2011 spoke again. If they were right for 2011 elections, they would surely be right again come 2015.
And so began the silent, Macbethish ambition that distracted Aso Rock from governance. Three and half years were spent plotting this return at the expense of the masses. Whoever could serve to achieve this ambition was given front pedal. If he was corrupt or convicted he was forgiven by presidential fiat. If he was in prison he was released, sent home and celebrated. If he was looting Nigeria’s resources, eyes are closed to it. For this ambition, enemies became friends overnight, friends became enemies. For this ambition presidential fleets land in Israel at least once a year, praying at the tomb of Jesus, with full presence of who matters when God deals with men in the Christian-divide of Nigeria.
In the same vein, those who Aso Rock prophets identified as threats to this ambition are ultimately kicked out of the way. If they held powerful positions, they are thrown out. If they are too vocal, a silencer is applied in their way, and if they are known for integrity, their image is soiled. Every previous agreement not in line with this goal was discarded, including a gentleman’s agreement which a righteous man would, naturally for integrity sake, adhere to. Surely the prophets speak the mind of God, so why pay attention to an agreement not to contest, especially when you managed to outwit them by not signing any documents.
Those who understood the sound of silence then ran helter-skelter to stop the Aso Rock king and his prophets, who though continued their public denials, but were busy planning and perfecting their self-succession strategy. And finally here it is set. The king of Aso Rock and his prophets are testing God; if we go into February 14th shall we get a victory? Yes, of course, the prophets are more vocal now than ever. But did you read the above bible passage with me?
On the day Ahab was marked for destruction, it only takes an angel of lie to touch the mouth of his prophets. 400 of them cannot be wrong. But those who do not have sense of discernment do not ask, these prophets speaking the voice of God, are they really the prophets of God for the people? They are not in the temple praying; no not in the mountain seeking the face of God. They are in the palace dining on the kings table. When last did they really pray, when last did they fast to get that which is in the mind of God? When last did they have a clear vision of the goings on in the court of heaven? When last did they take a walk into the streets to see the daily life of the people they were made prophets over? When last did they really ask God for vision in the direction their nation is headed in the face of near collapse of the economy and decay of infrastructures, poverty, and unemployment? When last did they even have a contact with the poor, the beggars and those for whom the heart of God rents?
They are here on the earth making high sounding declamations. But in the end only a Jehoshaphat understood. These noisy hordes are on their own, they speak not the voice of God. They speak for promotion. They speak for vainglory. Is there no other prophet? One who tarries in the presence of God? One who is praying for Israel and not dining on king’s table. The king knows such one, but he never prophesies good. Oh, yes, prophets of doom are not welcome to king’s table.
Yes, who needs a prophet who will tell you the truth that the last four years of your governance has left multitudes of citizens in desperation of poverty? Who needs a prophet to remind the leaders in Aso Rock that out there in the streets there is anger and disenchantment, the people are disillusioned by a government condoning corruption, whose achievement in five years plus of oil boom is putting all development indices on a reverse? No, they do not need such prophets. Except that there in a Jehoshaphat to insist, and the kings men who are to summon the prophet will surely put words in his mouth. ‘Do not embarrass His Excellency; prophesy what others are prophesying.’
Kings men, they are same everywhere, in all history. So our case is neither odd nor exceptional. Their main characteristic is that they are often charlatans. They speak when God has not spoken and to the people who have no faith, it looks as if God fails His words. These ones do not know when God has abandoned the ship, because in their wantonness they no longer hear from God.
But then here we are. It is election time in Nigeria. And for the first time in Nigeria’s election, religion is becoming a very serious hinge for desperate Aso king’s men who in their looting jamboree long lost touch with their constituencies and are now invoking the agencies of God to earn it back.
You sure trust the ‘king’s men of God’ who must seize moments to shine. And as many of them who have had the privilege of Presidential or Quasi-presidential visit to their places of worship, underlining their importance in the behemoth called Nigeria, it is always a time of prophesy. They avail the crowds they represent the mind of God on the election. They are casting and binding. So, one is not shocked to hear “we shall open the gates of hell for anybody that opposes”, including young people like me who are lost in the chaos of cluelessness and bloodbath and looting siege that became the narrative of five years now, and who genuinely understand that another four years in this direction may end with perfect nihilism.
The prophets of the king are not just men of God. They are very bumptious and egotistic men too. If you prophesy against them, they give you a dirty slap, and put you to where you belong. The king will ride on the confidence they exude to his destruction. ‘Put this fellow in jail until I go and return safely.’ Do I not hear something like that out of Aso Rock?
Anyway, February 14th is the day. I am not a prophet, nor have I claimed to hear from God. I am one of them in this wilderness, but with the same conviction that a loving God would not have willed us to be here. The king he gave us to lead us to the Promised Land abandoned the responsibility of conscientious oversight a long time ago. I am certain a loving God is going to find a leader befitting this journey for us. Come February 14th the whole world will witness who is right.
But in the end, I do not pray for the death of the King. Let him live and see how our journey proceeds without him. But he and his men must give us back what they have stolen from us. And importantly, we shall know indeed whom the Lord speaks to. We or them: we shall know who will hide in inner rooms.
Izuchukwu Okeke is a Master student at the Pukyong National University, Busan South Korea
Twitter handle: @hizuchukwu
