Opinion / Columnist
'Prophets' that see 'vain, foolish things'
16 Aug 2016 at 06:46hrs | Views
recent sporadic protests in Harare brought to the fore a new breed of individuals who have all along been thought of as men of God, but are acting more like men of gold.
While the Church has traditionally been known to play a uniting and pacifying role, quite disturbingly, these men of gold are doing the opposite and blatantly inciting instability, costly economic disruptions and even bordering on encouraging subversion.
The Bible in Jeremiah 14 Verse 14, reads "Then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name, I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them, they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart."
Lamentations 2 verse 14 reads "Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee, and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity, but have seen for thee, false burdens and causes of banishment."
The import of these two Bible verses to this writer is the strong warning they carry against false prophets that would seek to abuse the Lord's name, provide false divination and ascribe false burdens to the people, all in an effort to satisfy the desires of their hearts, which in this case would be the good old dollar.
While ours is not to judge, for we are, but mere mortals, actions of some so-called men of God including Evan Mawarire and Patrcik Mugadza raise doubt as to the motives behind their actions for they act unlike any men of God chronicled in the Bible and others celebrated for their good works worldwide.
Instead of calling for peace and unity, these so-called men of God are urging citizens to confront a democratically elected Government, never mind that scuffles could ensue as a result of the illegal actions and cause injury to limb or even imprisonment. What kind of a spiritual leader would urge his followers to jump into a fire while he is safely away from the danger?
A quick example is that of Evan Mawarire of the #ThisFlag fame, who supposedly leads His Ministries Church, but has abandoned his followers to engage in a campaign against Government. Mawarire is falsely credited with having organised an allegedly successful stay away in July this year and is on record calling for more stay aways and shutdowns of the country.
Now, it is common cause that in the event that a "shutdown" is successful in the country , it would mean a day's loss in various economic sectors, the effects of which would be felt by all Zimbabweans, including those who would have stayed away. Those with strict employers could even lose their jobs or incur costly and needless penalties. It begs the question therefore, for whose benefit would a stay away or shutdown be staged, certainly not the ordinary Zimbabwean. Nowhere in the Constitution of the country is it written that the President or the Governing party can be removed through a stay away.
On the other hand, a stay away would immensely benefit an individual like Mawarire and guarantee him overseas travel and speedy approval of his asylum applications in countries he had always yearned to visit, but faced constraints in doing so.
Is not telling that while some of the people Mawarire encouraged to follow him in his folly of calling for demonstrations and shutdowns are dealing with the legal ramifications and emptying their meagre savings, Mawarire and family are safely and luxuriously domiciled in South Africa, and he was set to travel to Europe. Dream come true for Mawarire! That he could state without batting an eyelid that he was going to the United States to "think about his next move" while his partners in crime are paying for his inspired foolishness, left this writer in considerable shock.
Such action and deviousness that even the devil himself would admire, is more suited to a man of gold rather than a man of God.
Another supposed man of God who recently grabbed headlines is Remnant Church leader, Patrick Mugadza, who recently announced that he was fasting for 40 days for President Robert Mugabe to leave office.
This writer has to confess to lingering doubts on Mugadza's sanity. Nevertheless, it is very worrying, and even frightful when a whole supposed man of God wastes valuable energy and prayer in fasting to have a democratically elected President leave office. How he intends to do this is beyond comprehension, suffice to say, if it was that easy to remove a President elected by the people, then there would be no need to form political parties. Like his counterpart, Mawarire, Mugadza recently sought to evoke the Lord's name in vain, claiming that God had answered his prayers blah blah blah. Is it not God who appoints, protects and ordains national leaders in the first place? One would be forgiven to conclude that Mugadza's frenzied campaign is not driven by any divine message, but either the quest for gold aka donor money, or pure insanity.
Like the false prophets warned against in the Bible, Mawarire, Mugadza, and others all make sure they punctuate their inciteful and destructive messages with God's name.
In stark contrast to the above mentioned fellows' destructive messages and campaigns, the media was over the weekend, awash with reports that the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD) leader, Prophet Walter Magaya and his church, had embarked on a multi-million-dollar housing project which will see the construction of 46 000 houses in four cities in the next seven months.
The project was envisaged to create over 3 000 jobs apart from the provision of employment to Zimbabweans. Magaya indicated that his church would build 20 000 houses in Harare and Mutare, respectively, 3 000 in Midlands Province and another 3 000 in Bulawayo.
On the other hand, a group of church leaders, operating under the banner My Zimbabwe Prayer Campaign held a prayer session in Harare last week, seeking divine intervention to the country's economic and political problems. The group's Spokesperson, Quintine Gwashawanhu, pointed out that violence and protests would not solve the country's problems and urged the Church not to delve in mainstream politics, but instead, pray for its members.
This writer hold no brief for Walter Magaya or Gwashawanhu, but given a choice between individuals who use God's name to call for stay aways that would cripple the economy and lead to more loss of jobs, those who invoke death wishes upon elected leaders and those who call for peace and unity and strive to create employment and provide affordable housing to citizens, the obvious choice would be the latter.
The same Bible that the men of gold are seeking to hide their self-enriching campaigns under, warns in Psalms 35 verse 20 that "for they speak not peace, but they devise deceitful matters against those that are quiet in the land."
While the Church has traditionally been known to play a uniting and pacifying role, quite disturbingly, these men of gold are doing the opposite and blatantly inciting instability, costly economic disruptions and even bordering on encouraging subversion.
The Bible in Jeremiah 14 Verse 14, reads "Then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name, I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them, they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart."
Lamentations 2 verse 14 reads "Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee, and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity, but have seen for thee, false burdens and causes of banishment."
The import of these two Bible verses to this writer is the strong warning they carry against false prophets that would seek to abuse the Lord's name, provide false divination and ascribe false burdens to the people, all in an effort to satisfy the desires of their hearts, which in this case would be the good old dollar.
While ours is not to judge, for we are, but mere mortals, actions of some so-called men of God including Evan Mawarire and Patrcik Mugadza raise doubt as to the motives behind their actions for they act unlike any men of God chronicled in the Bible and others celebrated for their good works worldwide.
Instead of calling for peace and unity, these so-called men of God are urging citizens to confront a democratically elected Government, never mind that scuffles could ensue as a result of the illegal actions and cause injury to limb or even imprisonment. What kind of a spiritual leader would urge his followers to jump into a fire while he is safely away from the danger?
A quick example is that of Evan Mawarire of the #ThisFlag fame, who supposedly leads His Ministries Church, but has abandoned his followers to engage in a campaign against Government. Mawarire is falsely credited with having organised an allegedly successful stay away in July this year and is on record calling for more stay aways and shutdowns of the country.
Now, it is common cause that in the event that a "shutdown" is successful in the country , it would mean a day's loss in various economic sectors, the effects of which would be felt by all Zimbabweans, including those who would have stayed away. Those with strict employers could even lose their jobs or incur costly and needless penalties. It begs the question therefore, for whose benefit would a stay away or shutdown be staged, certainly not the ordinary Zimbabwean. Nowhere in the Constitution of the country is it written that the President or the Governing party can be removed through a stay away.
On the other hand, a stay away would immensely benefit an individual like Mawarire and guarantee him overseas travel and speedy approval of his asylum applications in countries he had always yearned to visit, but faced constraints in doing so.
Is not telling that while some of the people Mawarire encouraged to follow him in his folly of calling for demonstrations and shutdowns are dealing with the legal ramifications and emptying their meagre savings, Mawarire and family are safely and luxuriously domiciled in South Africa, and he was set to travel to Europe. Dream come true for Mawarire! That he could state without batting an eyelid that he was going to the United States to "think about his next move" while his partners in crime are paying for his inspired foolishness, left this writer in considerable shock.
Such action and deviousness that even the devil himself would admire, is more suited to a man of gold rather than a man of God.
Another supposed man of God who recently grabbed headlines is Remnant Church leader, Patrick Mugadza, who recently announced that he was fasting for 40 days for President Robert Mugabe to leave office.
This writer has to confess to lingering doubts on Mugadza's sanity. Nevertheless, it is very worrying, and even frightful when a whole supposed man of God wastes valuable energy and prayer in fasting to have a democratically elected President leave office. How he intends to do this is beyond comprehension, suffice to say, if it was that easy to remove a President elected by the people, then there would be no need to form political parties. Like his counterpart, Mawarire, Mugadza recently sought to evoke the Lord's name in vain, claiming that God had answered his prayers blah blah blah. Is it not God who appoints, protects and ordains national leaders in the first place? One would be forgiven to conclude that Mugadza's frenzied campaign is not driven by any divine message, but either the quest for gold aka donor money, or pure insanity.
Like the false prophets warned against in the Bible, Mawarire, Mugadza, and others all make sure they punctuate their inciteful and destructive messages with God's name.
In stark contrast to the above mentioned fellows' destructive messages and campaigns, the media was over the weekend, awash with reports that the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD) leader, Prophet Walter Magaya and his church, had embarked on a multi-million-dollar housing project which will see the construction of 46 000 houses in four cities in the next seven months.
The project was envisaged to create over 3 000 jobs apart from the provision of employment to Zimbabweans. Magaya indicated that his church would build 20 000 houses in Harare and Mutare, respectively, 3 000 in Midlands Province and another 3 000 in Bulawayo.
On the other hand, a group of church leaders, operating under the banner My Zimbabwe Prayer Campaign held a prayer session in Harare last week, seeking divine intervention to the country's economic and political problems. The group's Spokesperson, Quintine Gwashawanhu, pointed out that violence and protests would not solve the country's problems and urged the Church not to delve in mainstream politics, but instead, pray for its members.
This writer hold no brief for Walter Magaya or Gwashawanhu, but given a choice between individuals who use God's name to call for stay aways that would cripple the economy and lead to more loss of jobs, those who invoke death wishes upon elected leaders and those who call for peace and unity and strive to create employment and provide affordable housing to citizens, the obvious choice would be the latter.
The same Bible that the men of gold are seeking to hide their self-enriching campaigns under, warns in Psalms 35 verse 20 that "for they speak not peace, but they devise deceitful matters against those that are quiet in the land."
Source - Nicole Hondo
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