With less than three weeks for 2019 to run down the mud, we need to remind ourselves of fake prophets with their fake prophecies as usual.

It is either Nigerians don’t learn from the past or some are just being stupid. December 31st every year always have prophecies that are not just false, but evil. Yet people still troll behind such seers. Do we blame them for their stupidity or the humans in the devil’s form who deceive them in the name of God? Come to think of it, none of these seers force these prophecies down the throat of their followers.

Obviously, Islam and Christianity are on different pages as to who a prophet is. For Muslims, the last prophet is Muhammad but for Christians, prophets seem to be endless. Let us first compare who a prophet should be from both faiths.
Prophets in Islam are individuals who Muslims believe were sent by God to various communities in order to serve as examples of ideal human behaviour and to spread God’s message on earth. Some prophets are categorized as messengers, those who transmit divine revelations through the intercession of an angel (Gabriel to be specific). Muslims believe the first prophet was Adam and the last is Muhammad. To believe in all the prophets is a part of the articles of faith, less the faith is incomplete. In Islam, every prophet is believed to preach the same core message – Al-Islam.

Comparing the meaning of prophet in Christianity with that of Islam seems to bring problems. For Christians, a prophet is different. Yes, different from what Islam limit it to. Like Islam, Christians believe prophets are chosen and called by God. But what Christians mean by chosen and called by God seems to be different from the perception of Muslims. A pastor who attended a bible school and later became a preacher can be said to be called by God. We often hear these preachers brag, ‘’if truly I am called by God, so so and so would happen’’. In short, they give prophecies!

More than 133 named prophets were mentioned in the bible. The first named prophet is Abraham in Genesis 20:7, God spoke to Abimelech in dream saying, ‘’ now then, return (Abraham’s) wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you will live’’. But how and why God would wait for such a long time between Adam and Abraham to send a prophet is a topic for another day.

To Christians, a prophet should be able to receive messages from God concerning events that will take place in the future, and convey them to a certain group of persons or sometimes an individual. Meaning a prophet should be a seer. He should be able to foresee and tell future events. He should be able to predict what would happen and when. They simply believe God doesn’t speak directly to individuals.

This is the point everything got messy. Once you are on the alter, you can receive message from God. People now troop into churches to simply receive predictions. December 31st every year is one particular day gullible followers swallow gibberish as prophecies.

By this standard that every person who must see ‘’tomorrow’’ is a prophet has made a lot of people prophets and prophetesses. An Ifa (Oracle) priest who can check what tomorrow holds falls in the same category. A sports analyst who sits and tells who may likely win a game falls in the same category. That makes prophethood a web of uncertainty! Don’t let us also forget witches and wizards, their predictions are even more accurate than most “men of God”, Are they prophets too?

The sad thing is, these people seldom fail in their predictions. One now wonders if it’s their God who failed them or they simply lied to their congregations. December 2018 for example had a lot of prophecies that had gone into garbage; dead without being fulfilled. Do we still regard these liars as prophets? God doesn’t give fake messages.
Let me refresh your memories with these:

1. Prophet Moses Muyideen Kasali, the General Overseer of The Mountain of Mercy (aka Ori-Oke Alaseyori Church) of Moniya area of Ibadan, Oyo state prophesied, ” If President Buhari opts to seek re-election, he would be defeated.”
This didn’t just fail, it did woefully. Muhammad Buhari didn’t just win the election, he also won the court cases up to the supreme level.

2. The general overseer of Voice of Liberty Intercessors Ministry in Delta state, Apostle Joshua Mone says: “I see the nation Atikulated in 2019.”
Probably his God told him about another nation which isn’t Nigeria. A failed prophecy.

3. Rev. Simeon Ononogbu an Ebonyi-based Pastor predicted in an interview that the Falcons would reach the semi-finals of the last Women’s World Cup in France, while the hosts, France would place fifth.
He later blamed a “deceitful” spirit when the prediction failed. What a “marvelous God” revealed a lie unto him.

The list seems endless if I’m to keep updating your memories. I’m not saying these people are fake prophets, I’m only saying their prophecies have failed. Judge them yourself.

These people are businessmen. And one of the strategies that wins customers to their sanctuary is predictions. Especially the bad ones. The rule of the business states that, the more predictions you make, either true or not, the more people are convinced you are called.

Now that the year is winding down, they are obviously preparing for another series of tales to predict. But You all need to know the fact. It is not everyone who “speaks forth” a message is actually a prophet of God. The bible actually warns against false prophets who claim to speak for God but who actually deceive the people they purport to inform.

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

In the New Testament, we have many warnings against false prophets. Jesus taught, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” ( Matthew 7:15 ). He later noted that, in the end times, “false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” ( Matthew 24:24 ).

Revelation speaks of a false prophet who will arise in the Tribulation and deceive people around the world ( Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10 ).

Anyways I have an advice for you prophecy seekers,

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.