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“And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 16:4-5)   

“Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm” has become the tool many false prophets are using to do evil.

Though, the above statement is scriptural and still stands tall, we must not forget that God is a righteous judge. Whether we are anointed or not,(by the way, all God’s children are anointed because Christ lives in us) God shall judge every one of us  according to our deeds. 

Truth be told, it does not matter if we are Prophets, Apostles, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists or church congregation members, God will judge every one of us with the same judgement standard he has established for all. Being anointed will not make a difference. In fact, greater punishment awaits those of us who preach the word if we fail to practise same. It is therefore imperative that we don’t dwell in sin under the cloak of “Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm.” If we do, we deceive ourselves. 

As men of God, men may not qualify to judge us, but God will certainly judge all his creation, including the great men of God who think that they are above the law of God. Having said that, let me address the main topic of this post – “Prophets and prophets.”

In those days, when a prophet enters a King’s place, the King and his people trembled. That was because they knew that a Prophet never leaves God’s house to visit anyone for merry-making. A true Prophet of God has no time to waste on frivolities. Therefore, he does not leave the house of God to visit a place or someone except it is important. That was how it was in the Bible days. 

Even in African traditional religion, in those days, when the chief priest steps out of the shrine into the village, fear gripped the king and his people. They will never have peace until they have heard what the “Eyes of the gods(the Chief Priest) has to say. That is because the Chief Priest never leaves the shrine to visit the King or anyone unless there is a serious matter in hand. If such priests were held in such high esteem by their people, how much more the people of valued His prophets. 

In those days, Prophets were rare. Those who occupied that office lived up to its demands. They were men of integrity, wisdom, humility, patience, love for humanity and obedience to God. Prophets old lived for God and not for man. They feared God and obeyed His word to the latter. In turn, the people feared and respected them as God’s representatives. That was because they carried the power of God with them. 

Today, the story is different. People no longer fear God and His messengers. This is because the majority of men of God no longer carry God’s authority with them. Many so-called Prophets have lost their integrity. They are nothing but liars and deceivers who feed fat on the ignorant and gullible. People have seen their deceitful nature and have lost respect for them. They no longer fear them like they feared the prophets of old. 

Prophets of old carried the presence and power of God with them. When you see them, you will feel the glory of God around. It was not about their dressing or how much money they had. It was about the power and glory of God which they carried. 

In those days, once the presence of the prophet is announced, the King will sit and not relax until he has heard the message the man of God brought. Good or bad news, the presence of a prophet was never one of excitement. The people of old knew that. A good example I would like to cite is what happened when Prophet Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint David, King over Israel. The Bible says the elders of Bethlehem trembled when the man of God entered the city. 

“And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 16:4-5)   

Why did the elders of the city tremble upon sighting Prophet Samuel? It was because they knew that true Prophets of God don’t walk about anyhow. They only moved when it was necessary and based on God’s direction.  That was the case with Samuel and the rest of the old prophets. They stepped out of the temple only when it was necessary, not for fun. 

In those days, men feared God and respected His Prophets. God-fearing Kings like David knew better than disobey a true prophet of God. That was because of how the prophets of old carried themselves. They feared no one and favoured no one. They spoke the mind of God to his people without fear or favour. Those who despised them despised God’s word through them paid dearly for it. 

 Prophets of old had favour with the Lord because, they obeyed Him and walked according to His instructions. When a king went wrong, he sought the help of the prophet for intercession and God did not ignore the cry of his prophets. God honoured the words of the prophets of old more than we see in our day because of their humility and obedience to Him. 

The disobedience, pride and greed, which we see in most of our men of God today was never part of the lifestyle of the Bible prophets. They lived for God and were not moved by material things. Instead of fearing men, men feared them. That was because any disobedience to the prophets was a disobedience to God who sent them. But we hardly see such prophets today. Many so-called prophets in our time speak their mind in the name of God. No wonder, when men challenge them, nothing happens. God will not fight for a disobedient and rebellious servant. 

The prophets of old did not pervert justice or encourage evil because of worldly gains. They were not interested in supporting greedy and wicked leaders who oppressed the people like we see today. When leaders misbehaved, the prophets told them the truth and the consequence of their sins if they failed to repent. They did not use the anointing to extort money from people, as has become the manner of many so-called prophets of today. 

The prophets of old had the heart of God. Their hearts were full of love and compassion for the people of God. But these days, most of the people who call themselves prophets of God are nothing but “Belly prophets” who use the name of God to make money. They are no different from greedy politicians whose main job is to amass wealth for themselves whilst the masses suffer. 

Today, when some so-called prophets go to a politician, it is to beg for money to build their empires which they run in the name of God. They love to hold crusades in the cities where there is money. Rural evangelism is never part of their crusade plans. Their best friends are wealthy people with questionable characters. They and their politician friends use state money that should have been used to build schools, roads, hospitals and factories for the benefit of the masses to sponsor their ostentatious lifestyle at the expense of the suffering masses. 

Truth be told, if a man of God takes money from a politician; money stolen from state coffers, he becomes his accomplice. When issues about corruption is mentioned, he will pretend that it does not exist. That is because he is as guilty as the politician. This is why a lot of men of God have become the mouthpiece of politicians. In lieu of the truth, they prophesy lies to please their political allies in exchange for material gains. 

Politicians do evil against the people every day, yet, the same politicians are great friends of many men of God. They donate handsomely to church programmes from money stolen from the masses. How wicked!

Someone who calls himself a prophet but cannot condemn evil is not a true prophet of God. True prophets hate evil. They are those who are not afraid to stand before bad leaders and tell them that God hates evil. You can call yourself a prophet, however, if you lack the ability to stand against sin and evil doers, you have failed in the sight of God. There are prophets and there are prophets. Where do you belong? 

Source:  “Truth be told (TBT) series” 

Author:    Apostle Frank B. Ogbu
                 Head Pastor/Overseer

                Champion Grace Eternal Ministries

                Ayikai Doblo, Amasaman 

                Accra, Ghana