False Prophecies & Election 2008

"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word which YAHWEH has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of YAHWEH, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which YAHWEH has not spoken; the prophet has spoken presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:20)

So real is the threat of false prophets in the last days that Christians are entreated in 1 John 1:4 to “believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” The litmus test has also not been difficult. According to the fifth book of Moses, if the prophecy, given in the name of God does not come true, then God has not spoken. Period!

Let's call this the Deuteronomy Principle.

Of course, this simple criterion raises grave implications for the many prophets in the land who took to making prophecies on the electoral fortunes of one presidential candidate or the other. Without searching the scriptures however, it was apparent that false prophecies were in operation in election 2008. For starters, the one true God could never contradict Himself by giving contradictory messages to his prophets. In the event of self acclaimed men of God prophesying a win for either the NDC or the NPP in the 2008 Presidential elections, time and the scriptures would prove inevitably to be the ultimate arbiters.

Take the Reverend T. B Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Nigeria, a man who provided spiritual comfort to then NDC candidate John Mills. Visiting the Lagos Church a week after being sworn in as President, Professor Mills would reveal interesting aspects of the relationship with the “Man of God”. “When we were about to go for the election, I told him that the 7th of December, 2008 was the day. The Man of God simply smiled and said that he did not see things that way at all. He said he saw three elections and the results would be announced in January 2009”.

Now keen watchers of the political scene would appreciate the weight of this statement from Rev. T.B. Joshua. As the President rationalized, even in the event of a run-off on December 28th, we could expect to have the results within 48 hours, but three elections - that was impossible! As God's ways are not our ways, the Electoral Commission would botch the elections in the Tain constituency which would end up as the final decider, our savior, in an election where conceding defeat was as difficult as a camel going through the eye of the needle. Three elections, results finally declared by Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan on the 4th January, 2009. Prophecy fulfilled, no questions asked.

Somewhere around March 2008, something interesting happened in Abetifi Kwahu during an NPP rally. A renowned High-life musician and lately, a self-styled prophet of God called Nana Kwame Ampadu stood up to prophesy. Before proceeding any further, it may be instructive to appreciate the enviable musicianship for which he is better known. In fact a reading of “African Words, African Voices: Critical Practices in Oral History” by Luise White, Stephan Miescher and David William Cohen is akin to a song in poetry. In it Nana Kwame Ampadu, Ghana's famous highlife musician is described in such glowing terms that are at once touching and profound.

“The legitimization of the folk tale as part of the contemporary political process is largely based on the sung tales of Nana Kwame Ampadu that came to public attention in 1967, a year after Nkrumah's overthrow. His African Brothers Band had been formed in 1963. Born on 31 March 1945, Nana Kwame Ampadu has attained preeminence as the single most important folk commentator in Ghana's contemporary history. He was indeed crowned odwontomfoohene (singer-in-chief) in a nationwide competition in 1973.”

Clearly, Odwontomfoohene came into the prophetic business with a lot of musical pedigree. In Abetifi, sporting an NPP cap, a very lively Nana Ampadu declared that “God had sent him with the good tidings that Nana Akufo-Addo has been already declared winner in the spiritual realm and that all are just waiting for December for that to manifest. He urged all Kwahu citizens to support the winning side.”

"Kwahu is my territory and the area harbours a lot of NPP stalwarts. They know I'm a prophet and they adore me. I know they will listen to me. This new revelation came to me last January and I have said it elsewhere already that Nana Akufo-Addo has been ordained to rule this country after December", the 63-year-old Nana Ampadu told Showbiz.

Nana Kwame Ampadu would reinforce the above prophecy in another interview granted The Weekend Statesman. In addition he would introduce new dimensions by pledging to as it were, help the Almighty God to fulfill His word and take on people who in his view “did not understand prophecy.”

“People who do not believe in God will never understand prophecies. If God reveals something to you, you shouldn't keep quiet and sit on it rather, you have to take a step and act on it before it finally comes to its manifestation. God revealed to me during Rawlings' Presidency, and it came to pass; so will my prophecy about Nana also come to pass”, he stated. To this he would add to The Weekend Statesman that “no matter how much some Ghanaians criticize him, he was going to make sure that what God revealed to him about this year's election was fulfilled.” Vehemently denying he was a politician, he would also advise every pastor not to be afraid to speak about the truth because no one can harm them if God is on their side.

As Nana Kwame Ampadu himself would reveal, there is a lot in his prophetic past to celebrate. “For me I will not mention any names whether it is NDC or any other party, but what I will say is, where were all these people when I prophesied in 1992 that JJ would win the election? Are they saying that they weren't born then? In fact, they haven't seen anything yet; I'm now coming to do more and nobody can stop me until Nana himself stops me.” Take note, the Prophet will not stop until the politician, not the Almighty God - the source of the prophecy stops him!

At this point, let it be known that the confirmation of a prophecy is in itself not a guarantee of its Godly source or the Prophet's integrity. It may be due to chance, statistical prediction or the work of the Devil. Of course time, in due course will roundly expose the lies contained in Nana Kwame Ampadu's 2008 prophecies. The Deutoronomy principle is unambiguous - if the prophecy doesn't happen, don't trust the Prophet! In the case of Ampadu, we also know he falsely prophesied in the year 2000 that God had chosen Professor Mills to continue with the good works of former President J.J. Rawlings.

As to the fate of this or any other false prophet, I am unable to pronounce although if the fate of the biblical Hananiah is anything to go by, then it would certainly not be an enviable one. The 28th chapter of the book of Jeremiah will show the Prophet Hananiah “in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people” saying, “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon.”

But far from breaking the yoke, God will rather announce tightening an iron yoke on the neck of all the nations in service to the same Nebuchadnez'zar. God's word and eventual judgement, revealed through the Prophet Jeremiah and premised on Hananiah's ability to make “this people trust in a lie”, was swift.

“Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.”!

Perhaps we must defer to President Mills in his reference to Rev. T.B. Joshua as a “Man of God.” But of course if we did, it would inevitably raise grave questions of how false prophets may be similarly addressed; Man of the Devil or Man of Satan? Now, granted that consensus will converge around the former, I would be interested further in knowing whether this Man of the Devil is an unwilling, unwitting collaborator or a consciously diabolical co-conspirator?

Credit: Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey [[email protected]]