[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ne Osagie Ogunbor in the Punch Newspaper of Tuesday, December 6, 2016 tried to rubbish the hard-earned reputation of Prophet T.B. Joshua, basing his arguments on jaundiced premises which belied a clearly negative perception of the cleric.
First, he argued that the man of God relied on polls and media coverage for his famed US-election prediction, a position that clearly shied away from objectivity. He refused, however, to take a look at the impressive prophetic track record of Prophet T.B. Joshua who once prophesied the victory of the late John Atta-Mills of Ghana at the presidential polls as well as the emergence and rise to power of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Nigeria – against all media and public permutations.
While highlighting the tensions that ensued in the aftermath of the historic election, the writer additionally did not point out that in American political history, no candidate has won the popular vote by such a huge margin yet failed to ascend to the seat of power as Hillary Clinton.
The protests that swept across the United States after Trump was announced as winner have given further steam to growing insinuations of electoral malpractice that necessitated the current ongoing recount in certain states – a process Trump’s lawyers are fighting tooth-and-nail to quash.
Even the NSA Director, Admiral Michael Rogers astonishingly admitted that Russia was involved in a hacking scandal that potentially affected the outcome of the elections – causing question marks to still linger over the veracity of the supposedly sacred democratic process.
Aspersions cast by the writer that the social media ‘backlash’ is somehow affecting Joshua’s reputation or spiritual standing show the writer’s clear unfamiliarity with the subject matter. Irrespective of all campaigns of calumny, Prophet T.B. Joshua remains among the most respected Nigerians abroad and The Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) is still West Africa’s most popular religious tourist attraction. Statistics on YouTube show Emmanuel TV as the most viewed Christian channel globally, figures that have actually increased in the wake of the contentious prediction. Indeed, if anything, the election prophecy has served more as a ‘free advert’ for the cleric.
The writer’s additional comments mockingly reminding readers of Joshua’s alleged ‘inability’ to predict the tragic building incident at The SCOAN in September 2014 proves further the write-up was nothing more than a sponsored hate-piece. How can such comparisons even be drawn by someone who is writing on such sensitive, spiritual matters? Do prophecies originate from man? Can a mere mortal choose what and when to speak forth the mind of the Almighty? This is beside the point that Joshua did in fact prophetically warn of the tragic incident several weeks earlier.
Those such as Osagie who have taken to the media to condemn and criticise The SCOAN pastor should have been more liberal in their outbursts, bearing in mind the indubitable fact that prophecies originate from One who can neither be questioned nor queried. Even though the outcome of the elections has gone in favour of the Republican candidate and business mogul, Donald Trump, going by the consistency and accuracy of Joshua’s past prophecies, one thinks it is too early for him to be the subject of such wrath.
Furthermore, there are biblical examples of prophecies that were altered due to the actions of the recipient. In 2 Kings 21:21-29, there is the account of how God sent a message to King Ahab through Prophet Elijah about the impending doom that was to befall him. Upon receiving the prophecy, King Ahab humbled himself and repented. God, in His infinite mercies, saw his sincere repentance and averted the doom that would have befallen him. There is also the case of King Hezekiah whose impending death was prophesied by Prophet Isaiah only to be averted by God after the monarch humbled himself and asked for mercy. God even added fifteen more years to his life (Isaiah 38:1-4). Based on the foregoing, it is only God that has the final say as far as prophecies are concerned. No mortal can be as perfect as the Creator. He is all-knowing.
Whatever the case, there is definitely a shroud of uncertainty hanging over the emergence of Donald Trump as President-Elect, heightened further by his already unorthodox approach to the transition of power. Thus, the media outburst against Prophet T.B. Joshua is more of a baseless reactionary outrage that does not take into consideration the prophet’s intimidating track record in the hallowed field of prophecy – both on a personal and international level. Remember, prophecies are not bound by time. They can even take years to be fulfilled, irrespective of their seeming physical exactitude. The man of God is a global brand that has since attained equity and no contagion of ungodly market forces can diminish this Olympian reputation.
Godwin Ikechukwu is a writer based in Lagos, Nigeria. He can be reached by email HERE.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.