THE HORSE AND ITS RIDER

1.0 INTRODUCTION

"That we may see the light". Luke 8:16

In the June 1999 issue of the Lampstand Letters-THRONES OF NATIONS – we identified the spirit of the horse and its rider as one of the main powers behind the throne of Nigeria. Likewise in the November 1999 issue of the Lampstand Letters EGBESU, ORO AND ANCESTRAL THRONES – we promised to focus an edition on the Fulani/Jihad spirit, a major spirit threatening the corporate existence of the geographical. The carnage in Kaduna over the sharia has necessitated a biblical analysis of the spirit of the horse and its rider. We want to examine why the spirit is so war-like and aggressive, and how the LORD dealt with the spirit in the scriptures. Our objective is to apply the biblical pattern to deal with the spirit in Nigeria, that He might be glorified. Noting that the horse is the power behind rider, we also want to distinguish between the Islam and the Muslim, and between the Caliphate and the Hausa-Fulani. From historical perspectives we highlight a longstanding Arab and Far East involvement that is more than a hundred year old.

2.0 THE HORSE

The horse is described as a fearless animal which rushes into battle with all its strength fearing noting nor is turned back from the sword (Job 39:19-25, Jer. 6:23, 8:6). Horses are carriers of the enemy invasion from the north. Jeremiah 4:11-13, 8:16 and 50:41-41 describes the cruel and merciless enemy from the North, riding on horses; coming to plunder and devour the lands, causing whole land to tremble at the sound of the horses’ neigh. The strength of Egypt was in her chariots. After God forced Egypt to let go His children by great judgments against the gods of Egypt (Exo 12:12), Pharaoh reached for what he thought could do what the gods of Egypt could not. Harnessed his chariots and chased them with his horse, horsemen and the whole army (Exo 14:6-9, 15:19).

In contemporary times, the victory of the nomadic Fulani over settled villages took place “after the domestication of the horse and the used of cavalry by the savanna nomads” (Oduyoye 1984:70). Haggai 2:22 let us know that just as the throne is the power (strength) behind kingdoms; chariots are the strength of those who ride them; and horses the power of its riders (the plane is the power of its pilot, the car the strength of its riders not horse and the riders. Indicating that the riders were dependent on the horse. Thus when god troubled the army of Egypt taking off the wheels of the chariot the Egyptians knew that God was fighting even though its riders have not yet been dealt with. (Exodus14: 24-25).

Micah 5:9-13 also illustrates this principle: - Once sorcery (witchcraft) is cut off from the land, there will be no soothsayers, once idols and graven images are cut off from the land, there will no longer be their worship. In the same way once horses are cut off and chariots destroyed, the strength of the enemy is dealt with. Once the weapons of battle – arrows of the bow, the shield and the sword of battle are dealt with, then the stout hearted are plundered … none of their mighty men find used of their hands, strength or skill (Ps. 76:1-5). God did not have to bother himself with the riders, all He needed to do was to rebuke both the chariot and the horse and all were cast into deep sleep (Ps. 70:6, Zech. 12:4 & Nahum 2:13). Thus He cuts off the spirit of the princes (Ps. 76:12) by dealing with weapons of war.

Recognition of this divine strategy will help the church in effectively dealing with the problems posed to her by the spirit of the horse and its rider. Most times we have fought (physically and otherwise) the Muslim without fighting (spiritually) the spirit of Islam. We have fought the Hausa-Fulani and left the spirit of the caliphate. We have fought the Ishmaelite and ignored the spirit of the bondwoman. Whereas in all these cases, it should have been the other way round.

3.0 GOD’S COVENANT WITH ISHMEAL

In our zeal to deal with the nuisance and destruction the spirit of the bondwoman have become in our land (Gen. 16:12), we readily/forget that Ishmael, the progenitor of Arabs and the spiritual father of Muslims had a covenant with God, initiated by God himself. Gen. 16: 10 and Gen. 21:12-13 clearly records God’s promise first to Hagar (Ishmael’s mother) and later to Abraham his father. The promise to multiply Israel’s descendants and make a nation out of him was predicated on one fact – Ishmael also is a seed of Abraham Gen. 21:13. Hence God was with the lad (Gen. 21:20) and the Bible listed Ishmael’s genealogy in same passage as Isaac’s (Gen. 25:12-19). Indeed, Paul recognized that both children were products of covenants even if different covenants (Galatians 4:24).

When Sarah told Abraham to cast out the bondwoman and her child, she was not thinking of the covenant or the promise, which God made with Abraham concerning his descendants. Rather, she was thinking carnally only in terms of the property and physical wealth of Abraham. See Gen. 21:10 in the Good News and Living Bible editions). That is probably why God told Abraham to do what Sarah suggested, because God was concerned with the spiritual blessing and inheritance of Abraham’s descendants, not his wealth or property (Gen. 21:12-13). Gen 25:5-6 tells us that Abraham gave all his physical property to Israel as Sarah wanted, but gave gifts to all the others children.

The promise of God to Abraham, which was fulfilled through Isaac, was for God to be a God and Father to Abraham and his descendants, and they to be His worshippers and children (Gen. 17:7 and Roman 9: 7,8). That explains why even though Arabs and Muslims are the seed of Abraham through Ishmael; they dare not call God Father. They see themselves as servants/slaves of God, rather than children. Only the Jews, but particularly the Christian can call God Father, and see themselves as His children. (I John 3:1-2, John 1:12).

4.0 UNDERSTANDING THE FULANI

The same confusion and misplaced aggression, which Christians direct towards the Muslim instead of Islam, is directed towards the (Hausa -Fulani) rather than the Caliphate. To most Nigerians, the Hausa – Fulani are the problem with Nigeria. We care less to make a distinction between the caliphate system and the Fulani as a person. Our generalization is made easy by the fact that it was the Fulani that established the Caliphate system, and the most Fulani are Muslims. Despite the small number of Fulani who are Christians, to most Nigerian the Fulani is a pest who feels he is a “born to rule” especially if he/she is a Muslim. The ancestors of the Fulani have been traced to Eber the same ancestor of Hebrew, Gen. 10:21, 24, 11:14-27 (see Modupe Oduyoye: The Sons of Eber and the Sons of Qayin). According to him, what the Hebrew were in Egypt and Canaan (the land of Ham), the Fulani Abore/Bororo have been all over the West African Savanna in the land of Ham. To him, Abel the first feeder of sheep and goats stands for all nomadic people.

The following lines are Oduyoye’s (1984:69-84):

The godly life is a nomadic life... The best life is the life of the nomadic herdsman. They are the eternal passerby. This is the meaning of –b-r, pass on, passerby in Judges 19:12b, 19:18a and in Ruth 4:1; and of Eber: Abore Bororo; the name of the first Hebrew.

...To be in the world and not in it is to live like a Bororo among the Hausa or among the Bachama... Farmers are in the world and are of it. You do not need to preach to the Bororo that they must live a life of pilgrimage. They naturally live such a life. ... Those who declare themselves Christians today are those who love the settled life. In missionary times, this could not have been so. All missionaries have left home and homeland. When John Wesley observed that the Anglican priesthood in England was full of settlers, he devised in the Wesleyan church, the circuit system which required every Wesleyan minister to be moved from his station after a stay of no more than five years. Is he stayed longer in one station, he would soon become a Fulani ngida, a town Fulani settled and sedentary. If the Hebrews stopped being wandering Arameans long ago, the sons of Eber in Africa (the Fulanis) are still moving on their cattle from Fouta Jallon and Futa Toro in Senegal through every country of West Africa”

5.0 THE ARAB CONNECTION – HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Fulani were among the first people to embrace Islam in Western Sudan. As traders, Pilgrims and pastoralists, they spread the Islamic faith wherever they went. By early Northern Nigeria and established the largest empire in the Caliphate under the leadership of Usman Dan Fodio. Determined on pushing their conquest coastward until they could “dip the Koran in the sea” the Fulani forces marched into the heart of the Yoruba empire of Oyo until they were halted and repulsed by Ibadan in 1840 (Buah 1973: 114). The (Madhist) fundamentalists came into Nigeria through Bornu in 1894 from Sudan through a man named Rabah Jibrella, slave of Suleman the son of the famous slave trader (Zuber Pasher) who was deported from Cairo Egypt to Sudan in 1878. Rahab completely occupied the Bornu Emirate until he was killed in 1900 by the French troops in the battle of Kusseri. The next main courier of fundamentalist Islam was Hayatu Ibn Saheed, great grandson of Usman Dan Fodio whose father moved to Yola when he lost out to the 3rd Sultan Atiku, his cousin. Hayatu became a Madhist and sent a message to Mahdi Mohammed at Omdurman Sudan offering allegiance. The Mahdi assigned Hayatu the whole territory of Adamawa and Mandara Fulani in the present Bornu, Yobe and Adamawa states and neighboring Cameroon.

In 1902, Fulani forces under the fugitive Sultan of Sokoto, Attahiru I were defeated by the British at Burmi near Gombe. Attahiru had left Sokoto before the arrival of the British to avoid being subjected to the “Christian/British infidels”. Consequently large bodies of Fulani migrated from Nigeria to Sudan and settled at Fellata (Takari) on the Blue Nile and as for as Hajer (S. Arabia), Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Ethiopia and Eritrea (where they all are till today). The flight of Sultan Attahiru I from Burmi to Sudan was described as his “Hijera” (Holy flight) after Prophet Mohammed’s flight to Mecca from medina. The battle at Burmi was described as a “Jihad” and the Sultan Attahiru himself as a Mahdi (martyr). Many Princes and Emirs of Northern Nigerian towns including Katagum, Missau, Hadejia, Gombe, Bauchi & Adamawa joined him in the flight and settlement in Sudan. According to legends and prophecies, the caliphate believe that all Fulani will one day unite as a nation at Burmi (near Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria) and march to the Nile valley and Mecca (through Maiduguri?). In 1921, a Fulani migrant in the Sudan Fellata called “Mai Wurno” told the Emir of Kastina that armed with a flag from Mecca, he will lead a jihad to Nigeria to drive the British out. Pilgrim activities (from Nigeria) were another factor that led to the concentration of anti-Christian Fulani/Kanuri propagandist in Egypt, Sudan, on Red Sea, the Hijera and the Takaris/Felletas of these places. The Fulanis and Kanuris are at the arrowhead and believe they will lead a jihad into Nigeria one day. “The political ambition of the Caliphate Fulani to rule is not dead and will not die” thus reported an intelligence report some seventy years ago. Also, the Maguni (old Bornu El-Kanemi kingdom) though scattered since 1810 from Yemen to the Atlantic have never ceased hoping to regain their Bornu kingdom. Thus the Caliphate Fulani and Bornu Kanuri up to date believe they are “born to rule” and draw active support from their kinsmen and supporters from North Africa up to Saudi Arabia. Writing in 1924, the progenitor of the Sanusshi – Tarrika Islamic political propaganda sect, Sidi Ahmed wrote, “our purpose is to obtain the sovereignty of all the land between Egypt and Malawi”. Even though the British defeated the Caliphate in 1902, the colonialists “favoured Islam, often consciously, to the detriment of Christianity” (see Boer 1988). But the Caliphate has controlled every regime in Nigeria except the present one. That is the political aspect of the present situation.

6.0 DEALING WITH THE HORSE AND ITS RIDER

How then do we respond to the matters arising? II Cor. 10:4-5 tells us clearly that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. See also Zechariah 4:6. The following biblical principles constitute strategic warfare in dealing with the horse and its rider: -

1. Evangelism and Missions: the declaration of the Prince of Peace to all men. Zechariah 9:9-10 and Isaiah 9:2-7 link the cutting off of the chariot the horse and battle bow with the declaration of the Prince of Peace.
2. Related to above is continual prophetic prayers declaring the Lordship of Christ over the nations Psalm 2, Psalm 24, Psalm 76, Psalm 110, and Micah Chapter 1, among others are relevant in this regards.
3. The next major strategy is to “contend with the horses” (Jer. 12:5a) in sustained prayers and intercessions to provoke God by His Spirit to rise against the horse and its riders through:
4. Striking every horse with confusion and its riders with madness. Zech. 12:4
5. Dealing with them as He did to Pharaoh’s host Exodus 14:4-9, 24:25, Isaiah 43:17
6. Breaking/Cutting off the battle bow and weapons of war by His rebuke Ps. 46:9, 76:2-6.
7. Shaking Islam like He shook communism by natural and supernatural means Haggai 2:21-22. Amen.

7.0 CONCLUSION

Christians should not see the Muslim or the Fulani as the enemies. However, they should not be surprised that the spirit of the horse described in Job 39:19-25 and of the wild donkey (Gen. 16:12) will turn the Muslim or the Fulani into murdering and destructive arsonist when matters of the faith are involved, as demonstrated in Kaduna last week. While legal and political measures are being taken by government, our response as Christians should be spiritual as we strike the underbelly (weak point) of the horse like Ehud did (Judges 5:21-22). May the feet of clay of the kingdom of Ishmael crumble in Jesus name (Dan. 2:31-35). Amen.

8.0 LET US PRAY

1. Ask that the church in Nigeria will be like Dan: “a serpent by the way, a viper by the path that bites the horse’s heels, so that its rider falls backwards” (Gen. 49:17), as we deal with the horse and its rider in strategic prophetic prayer and evangelism.
2. Commit yourself and the Church to strategically deal with the issue at hand as highlighted in Section 7.0 above.
3. Prophesy that the gates of Northern Nigeria, North Africa, the Middle East and of Islam will lift up their heads so that the King of glory may enter Ps. 24 and Isaiah 19:23-25.

9.0 BENEDICTION

Oh, that Ishmael might live before You (O Lord)!” Gen. 17:18

References

1. Boer J.N. 1988 Christianity and Islam under colonialism in Northern Nigeria. Institute of Church and Society, Box 6485, Jos, Nigeria. 68pp.
2. Buah F.K. 1973. West Africa since AD 1000. Book One, Macmillan Press. P17-22, 111-118
3. Oduyoye M. 1984. The Sons of the Gods and the Daughters of Men. Orbis Books New York. Daystar Press. Ibadan. Nigeria. PP 66-78
4. Tomlinson G.J.T. and Lethan G.J. History of Islamic Political Propaganda in Nigeria. Waterloo & Sons Ltd. 93 pp.

THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The gospel of the kingdom (Matt.24:14) refers to the proclamation and establishment of the reign of Christ over nations, peoples and tribes; and over the kingdoms of men. It involves the spiritual dethroning of Satan and false gods over nations and peoples, and its replacement with the Lordship and worship of Christ Jer.1:10; Matt.11:12. The ultimate objective is for the kingdoms of this world to become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, that He may reign forever and ever Rev.11:15. That will be the fulfillment of the Lord’s prayer - that the Father’s heavenly kingdom comes to bear on earth; that His will is done in earth as it is in heaven (Matt.6:9-10).

Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom (Matt.4:23, 9:35). He sent His disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom (Luke.9:2. Matt.10:7). Paul also preached the gospel of the kingdom (Acts.20:24-25, 28:31), seeing himself as an ambassador of the kingdom Eph.6:19-20. And the Lord stated clearly in Matt.24:14 that until we preach this gospel of this kingdom in the entire world as a witness to all nations, the end cannot come. Thus we are made kings and priests of Him who is the ruler over the Kings of the earth. Rev.1:5-6.

2.0 THE NATURE OF THE KINGDOM

The gospel (good news) of the Kingdom is a proclamation and establishment of salvation and redemption from the rule of Satan. Christ clearly underlined this mission when at the beginning of His ministry at Galilee, He proclaimed His mission in the words of Isaiah “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me... to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke.4:14-21, Isaiah 61:1-3). As Matt.4:17 records: “From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Satan also knew that Christ’s mission was to restore the kingdoms of the earth back to God. First he unsuccessfully attempted to kill the Child-King Jesus (Matt.2:1-3, 13-18). Then he tried to short-circuit Christ’s ministry by offering Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory if He will only worship Him (Matt.4:8-9; Luke.4:5-8). It was only when Christ successfully passed the temptation that He could begin His ministry (Luke.4:13-14, Matt.4:11, 17).

Christ’s primary ministry was threefold (see Matt.4:23, 9:35):-

1. Teaching in their synagogue.
2. Preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
3. Healing every sickness and disease.

Teaching: The only thing that could be taught in synagogues was the law and the prophets. Christ therefore taught at the beginning and the end of His ministry, all the scriptures said about Himself (Luke 24.27,44. Also Matt.4:17). Likewise Paul taught the Jews about Jesus from the law and the prophets (Act.28:23-31).

Preaching: After establishing Himself from the law and the prophets, Christ then began to preach and introduce the concept of the gospel of the kingdom. To the Jews that was a strange concept for their understanding was for a physical king to deliver them from the Romans (Luke.1:68-74; John.6:15). But Christ was not talking of an earthly (physical) kingdom, but a spiritual (John.3:3-6, John.18:36-37). He taught them of a kingdom within the heart (Luke.17:20-21) which can only be entered by being born again and accepting His Lordship in their heart like little children (Luke 18:16-17 and John 3:3-8).

Healing: To prove that He has the ability to set men free and deliver them from the kingdom of Satan (Luke.4:18), Christ healed all those who were oppressed of the devil (Matt.4:23, 9:35, Acts.10:38). He also taught His disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom and heal the sick... (Matt.10:7-8; Luke.10:9). And when he was to leave the earth, He sent the disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom, confirming their words with signs following (Mark.16:15-20; Matt.28:18-20). Amen

3.0 THE LAW, THE PROPHETS AND KINGDOM

John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the gospel of the kingdom. His message was simple “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt.3:1-3). Jesus Christ expansiated and delimitated John’s ministry in Matt.11:1-13; “The Law and the prophets were till John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached and everyone presses to enter by violence!” Luke 16:16.

All that was before John was the Law and the prophets which pointed to Christ and which Christ sought to fulfill. The coming of Jesus Christ heralded the gospel of the kingdom of which John the Baptist was a forerunner. The establishment of the kingdom involves spiritual violence, and only those who have learnt/been taught spiritual confrontation can press into it and possess it by force. The captive of the warriors and the plunder of the fierce are to be taken by force (Isaiah.49:24-25). The city of the mighty and their strongholds are to be taken by the wisdom of God (Pro.21:22, I Cor.1:18-25, 2 Cor.2:6-16).

4.0 THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

The ministry of John the Baptist is like that of strategic prayers. (Jer.1:10) His calling according to Matt.3:3-12, Isaiah.40:3-5 and Malachi.3:1-3 include:

• Preaching repentance
• Preparing men to receive Christ
• Pulling down trees not planted by God
• Dealing with Satanic Mountains, valleys, crooked places and rough places
• Introducing Christ to men
• Introducing men (priests) to the refiner’s fire and launderer’s soap- the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The ministry of John the Baptist is applicable on two fronts — the personal and the corporate. At the personal level, it entails repentance, being born again and forsaking the old ways, cutting off the wild nature and character of the old man (Romans.11:16-24, 6:1-14 and Ephesians.4:17-24) and allowing the Holy Ghost to burn off the thorns and thistles (the carryover from our unbeliever days) in our life; to separate the chaff and stubble (useless works), for burning; and allowing our heart to be circumcised of every defilement (Heb.12:15, Numbers 33:50-55; Jer.4:3-4).

The intent is that we put off the old nature and be clothed with the nature of God, living fruitful, useful and productive lives Matt.3:8, Col.1:10; 2 Peter.1:3-4).

On the corporate level, it entails the church to first root out and pull down, destroy and throw down the works and kingdom of Satan over men, tribes and nations BEFORE building and planting the good news of the kingdom of Christ in them (see Jer.1:10 and Ecc.3:1-8).

In Luke.11:20-22, the Lord highlighted the spiritual processes that accompany the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom and the attendant deliverance of men from the clutches of SATAN. First he taught that the coming of the kingdom entails a casting out of the demonic power (verse.20).

Then He indicates that Satan, the strongman, keeps men in captivity with the force of arms. (Verse 21). Finally he explains that after a spiritual confrontation, SATAN can be overcome, his kingdom overthrown, and his captive delivered to serve Christ (verse 22). It is through the process of Isaiah 40:1-3 and Luke.11:22-23 that the prophesy of Isaiah.61:1-3 can be fulfilled. It is only then that the glory of the Lord can be revealed and all mankind see it (Isaiah 40:5 and
35:2)

5.0 TERRITORIAL CHRISTIANITY

The Lord Jesus linked the proclamation of the gospel with kingdoms and nations (see Matt.24:14, 28:19. Luke.24:47, Mark.13:10 etc.). He liken his ministry to overcoming a strongman in his own palace and dividing his spoils (Luke.11:20-22. Also Luke.4:17-21). He promised his disciples a kingdom that they may sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel Luke.22:29-30

Christianity is about subduing kingdoms of men and Satan that are opposed to Christ. The principal calling of man according to Gen.1:28 is to be fruitful and multiply (replenish) the earth (not heaven!) and subdue it and have dominion over the earth. The earth is our territory (our portion); its nations, people and tribes our inheritance.

In the entry of the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, in their subduing and displacement of the giants (demonic forces) that hitherto occupied the land, and their destruction of the idols, gods and high places of Canaan, is the shadow/model of what the church (the spiritual Israel) is supposed to do. Christ’s commission to us to preach the gospel of the kingdom to all nations, and take these nations by the force of spiritual violence, is a message of territorial Christianity.

It is the responsibility of the church to declare God’s manifold wisdom (Christ) to principalities and powers, might and dominion. (Eph.1:20; 4:10; Col.1:13-16 Etc.) We are to be reckoned among men who through faith subdued kingdoms... and turn to flight the armies of the aliens (Heb.11:33-34).

God’s promise to the children of Israel was to possess the land (territory) of the Canaanites (Deut.1:8; 21, 4:1 etc.). Each tribe was given his portion to possess. There is still much land to possess, still much giants to displace. Every Christian should see him/herself as a missionary Christian, commissioned by Christ to take the gospel the kingdom to all and make disciples of all nations. (Matt.28:19, Mark.16:15, Luke 24:47). For only then shall the end come Matt.24:14.

6.0 LET US PRAY

1. Ask God to open your eyes to your specific part in the preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
2. Ask Him to show you your portion/territory (a tribe, a nation or country) which you will possess by prayers, by giving by going or by supporting those at the battle field. Begin by being a witness and possessing your work place, neighborhood, your extended family and your home town for Christ.
3. Pray that God will turn the heart of the church back to the gospel of the kingdom rather than merely the gospel of prosperity of faith, of holiness etc. which are just segments of the total gospel.

7.0 BENEDICTION

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the entire world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come Amen. Matt.24:14.

A NEW MILLENNIUM

1.0 INTRODUCTION

January 1, 2000 marked the beginning of the journey into a new day, a new week, a new month, a new year, a new decade, a new century and a new millenium - all in one hour. Never before in this generation, and never after shall this seven fold phenomena be experienced. What does this journey portend for us as a Christians? I believe the key to understanding this is found in 2 Peter 3:8.... “that with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years (a millenium) and a thousand years as one day.” In other words, with the Lord, this third millenium is as the third day.

2.0 THE THIRD DAY

The biblical characteristics of the third day (third millenium) includes the following:

1. It shall be a resurrection millenium. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4). Abraham received Isaac “back to life” on the third day of their journey (Gen. 22:4-14), just as Esther received favor unto life on the third day (Esther 5:1). We should expect a great manifestation of the resurrection power in this millenium as never before (Eph. 1:19-23).
2. It shall be a time to complete His works. In Luke 13:32, Christ declares the third day as the day of His perfection (“on the third day I will finish my work” GNB). Indications are that this millenium is most likely to be the last millenium in which the work of Christ will be completed by the church.
3. It shall be the rapture millenium, when the Lord will raise up the church to His presence. Hosea 6:2b declares “On the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.
4. It shall be a millenium for the new wine experience (Acts 2:13). On the third day Jesus provided the new wine John 2:1-10. As He kept the best wine for the end, so shall it be with this millenium. Unusual manifestations and conversions beyond those experienced in the books of Acts during the first millenium, shall characterize this “third day”. Once again with great power, the apostles shall give witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Acts 4:33, also 5:12, 6:8 etc.).

3.0 INSIGHT FROM THE GIBEONITES

If the third millenium is the resurrection millenium, the millenium to complete God Christ’s work, the rapture millenium and the millenium for a new wine experience how do we prepare and make ready for the journey ahead. We can garner insights from the deceptive preparations the Hivite ambassadors from Gibeon did for their three days journey from Gibeon to Gilgal (Joshua 9:1-17). From Joshua 9:4-5 and 11-13, five (5) items are needed for such journey:

1. New sacks (bags).
2. New wineskins.
3. New sandals.
4. New garments.
5. Fresh bread.

4.0 NEW SACKS (BAG)

A bag or sack is a necessary component of a traveller’s journey (see Matt 10:10, Luke 9:3). Bags or sacks are used to store provisions (bread/food) for the journey Joshua 9:4. In Gen. 42:25, the sacks of Joseph’s brothers were filled with grains in addition to restored money and other provisions for the journey. The bag or sack for keeping bread is also called a vessel in I Sam 9:7. In Luke 22:36, the Lord Jesus counseled his disciples to get supplies for the road, including a knapsack, for the impending confrontation with the host of darkness at his death. Our physical bodies are the earthen vessel; the bags/sacks to bear the power/supplies for the millenium journey (see 2 Cor. 4:7). In I King 19:7, the prophet Elijah was told to “arise and eat (feed his body) for the journey is too great”. Paul describes the wear and tear this human sack will face in 2 Cor. 4:8-10. We shall face similar pressures on our bodies in this millenium, some unto death. Like the prophet in 1 King 20:35-42, many will have mortally inflicted wounds to be able to minister effectively. As Christ broke his body to minister, so will broken vessels be needed to release his power and life (2 Cor. 4:11-12).

5.0 FRESH BREAD

According to Psalm 104:15c, bread is given to man to strengthen his heart. Fresh bread was one of the provisions offered by Abraham to the three visitors that they may receive “strength to continue (their) journey” (Gen 18:5 GNB), just as Elijah was told to get up and eat (bread) for his journey was long (1 King 19:5-8 see also 1 King 17:6). Matt 6:11 indicates to us the need to ask for fresh bread daily from God to sustain our life, i.e. we should not feed on stale bread. Jesus Christ, the Word of God, is the bread of life which we must feed on daily (John 1:1, 6:32-35, 48-58). Christ revealed the secret of spiritual life when he declared to Satan “Man shall not live by (physical) bread alone but by every word (spiritual bread) that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matt 4:4, Deut. 8:3). Amidst the contentions of Satan in this rapture millenium, we receive strength, fortification and victory as we daily feed on the word of God (see Ps 119:28, 103, Jer. 15:16)

6.0 NEW WINESKIN

We have stated earlier that this millenium of the third day is for a new wine experience (John 2:1-10, Act 2:13). The Lord Jesus has given very clear instructions about handling new wine - new wine must be put in new wineskin (Mark 2:22, Luke 5:37-38)

We must keep an open heart to help us contain this new wine experience. As a new wine skin is strong and can be stretched, so should our heart be open and sensitive to receive new leading and expressions of the Holy Spirit’s move. We must not think like Elijah that we have seen it all or faint because of the pressures within and pressures without (1 King 19:4-14, 11 Cor. 4:7-18). We must be ready to be stretched to limits, that the grace of God working in our inner man, may abound beyond our human limitations (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

7.0 NEW SANDALS

Another essential item for a long journey is a pair of strong sandals. Even when Lord Jesus Christ commanded the twelve not to take anything for their first outreach on their own, he specifically told them to get good sandals (Mark 6:8-9). God divinely sustained the church in the wilderness by allowing their sandals not to wear out for forty years (Deut. 29:5). These were the same sandals he told them to put unto their feet on the Passover night Exo 12:11. Eph 6:15 tells us that a strategic provision for withstanding the onslaught of the devil in the evil day and stand is to have our feet shod (i.e. sandalled) with the preparation of the gospel of peace (Eph 6:10 -15). Romans 10:15 and Isaiah 52:7 underline out responsibilities to use beautiful feet to preach the gospel of peace. Like the early christians in Acts, we must be mobile christians, not building kingdoms and immovable structures on revelations, theology or miracles, but taking the gospel to the ends of the earth (see Acts 1:8).

If we must do exploits and have records in heaven, we need to look again at the pattern of Paul’s missionary journeys and model our strategies thereafter, instead of remaining in the cities, like Peter and the early apostles Acts 8:1. (It is instructive that nothing was said again of Peter after the earlier chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. Instead of tying sandals to preach the gospel, Peter received angelic visitation to tie his sandals to escape from prison, after which he like Elijah in 1 Kings 19, was “retired” by God Acts 12:1-17. May that not be your portion in Jesus name.)

8.0 NEW GARMENTS

A final component of the items into the journey ahead for the 3rd millenium is new garments. When God called Jacob back to Bethel, Jacob and his household had to put away all the foreign idols they had acquired, purify themselves and change their garments (Gen 35:1-4). In Zechariah 3:1-5, SATAN was opposing the High Priest Joshua (and the whole nation) because of the filthy Babylonic garments they had acquired due to their long exile in Babylon.

God needed to take away the filthy garment, remove their iniquities and clothe him with new garments. Joel 2:13 shows us that it is our heart not our physical garments that need to be changed. We must circumcise our hearts, get rid of the foreign idols in our heart, repent of the sins that have calloused our hearts and be clothed with new hearts and new spirits. We must keep our garments white (Eccl. 9:8) and be found worthy to be clothed in white garments (Rev 3:1-6), being diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless (see I Peter 4:7-8, 2 Peter 3:9-14, 2 Cor. 5:9-11 and Rev 16:15).

9.0 CONCLUSION

The third millenium will be a period of the greatest spiritual confrontation ever witnessed in the universe, as we approach the day of the Lord. Knowing that his time is short, Satan will unleash all the fury of his wrath against Christ’s church (Rev 12:12). But God’s grace will contend with Satan through the church as He releases the rapture anointing, the resurrection power and the new wine experience to the church.

As individual members of the church, we need to present ourselves as new sacks and new wineskins, daily putting on new garments of righteousness, daily feeding on the bread of life, and wearing strong sandals that will make us mobile Christians carrying the gospel of peace to the ends of the earth.

We should not be like Jonah who had three days to journey through Nineveh with the gospel of peace but sat down under a shade after the first day (Jonah 3 and 4). Rather, like Jesus, we should go about the father’s business all through the 3 days (Luke 2:41-49, John 9:4). In His valedictory charge to His disciples, Jesus counseled them to take the necessary supplies for the road in view of the impending demonic onslaught on them -Luke 22:35-38. We likewise need to take heed to this counsel as we prepare for the journey ahead. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. Amen. Rev. 16:15.

10.0 LET US PRAY

1. Ask for the resurrection power, the rapture anointing, a new wine experience and a right heart for yourself and the church for the journey ahead.
2. Make a commitment to God to be a vessel of glory, flexible in His hand; living daily on the word, a mobile witnessing Christian, living in righteousness.

11.0 BENEDICTION

.....Let your waist be girded, and your lamps burning." Luke 12:35.

12.0 Appreciation and Acknowledgement

Christmas is a time of thanksgiving and appreciation. We wish to give thanks to the Lord and a number of persons who have been partners with us in fuelling this vision and keeping the light burning:

1. Financial supporters in 1999: Sis Ngozi (Abuja), Bro. Sina (Ibadan), Sis Nwando (Ibadan), Bro Allen (Ibadan), Sis Ayo (Ibadan), The Preacher (P-Harcourt) and Sister Foluke (Shaki).
2. The following ministers among others for moral and spiritual encouragement: Mrs Muazu (Kontagora), Rev Kure (Kafanchan), Pastor Ukachi (Lagos) Dr. Adeyeoluwa (Ibadan), Pastor Ezekiel (Ibadan) Rev Ezemadu (Ibadan), Rev. Aransiola (Ibadan), The Preacher (PH) and Bro Isehuwa (Ibadan).
3. Various brethren in Zaria, Maiduguri, Kaduna, Lokoja, Ankpa, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Ogbomosho, Arondizuogu etc. for their letters and encouragement.
4. Brethren in the Christian Missionary Foundation (CMF), Watchman Ministries, Gethsemane Prayer Ministry, Throneroom Trust Ministry, Intercessors for Nigeria and other ministries and individuals for being our audience and helping in circulation.
5. My family, brethren and other friends.

May grace, favor and mercy be yours. Amen.

EGBESU, ORO AND ANCESTRAL THRONES

1.0 INTRODUCTION

All over the world, and particularly in Nigeria, there is an intense spirit of ethnic nationalism, threatening to dismember geographical nations as they are presently existing. In its August 23-39-1999 edition, the BUSINESSWEEK magazine lists the spirit of nationalism as the second of twenty one “spirit of the new millennium” that will shape events in the 21st century, (religion was number 6). Back home in Nigeria, the Vanguard of 3rd December 1999 quoted from international Economic Intelligence Unit (E.I.U) forecast report on Nigeria for 2000, released in November 1999. Inter alia, the E.I.U. report asks Nigerians “To watch (out for) a mix of ethnic, religious and regional tensions (which) have the potentials to destabilize the (Obasanjo) government and bring the army back into play”. (P 14).

Beyond the social, the political and the economic lies a more fundamental spiritual (historical) origin and force behind the resurgence of ancient kingdoms, and its attendant tension and violence. The BUSINESSWEEK report comes close to recognizing an historical and spiritual origin of these ethnic nationalism when it talks of “…ancient loyalties and grievances… which stirs the blood among people whose allegiances are local and tribal”; noting that “too often in 21st century, the birth of nations will be violent” (p 44). In this edition of the Lampstand Letters, the nature of the spiritual forces behind the Izon and Oduduwa nationalism in Nigeria is highlighted. A biblical analysis is made, that the church may pray in the spirit and pray also in understanding (1 Cor. 14:15). As the Lord grants insight and inspiration, a future edition will focus on the Fulani/Jihad spirit, another major spirit threatening the corporate existence of the geographical political entity known as Nigeria.

2.0 BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVES

The Bible is replete with record and visions of the rise and fall of nations. The first war in the bible was a conflict of kings and of nations (Genesis 14). To enter Canaan, the Israelites had to battle against nationalities (Deut, 4:38) remnant of which today are Palestinians still fighting the Israelites.Sumeria/Babylon was the first kingdom ion earth, established by Nimrod the idolater, the world’s first rebel and hunter against God (Gen. 10:8-12). In every generation, the anti-God spirit of Babylon has manifested. In the Guardian of 30-8-99 was report that President Sadaam Hussein of Iraq planned to rebuild the ancient Babylonian City of Ur, ahead of the Pope’s visit scheduled for December 1999. It is only at the end of the age that Babylon will be destroyed never to rise again (Rev. 18:21). The ancient Egypt was another kingdom that has always sought relevance in every age. Jer. 46:25-26 and Eze. 29:8-15 speak of the fall and resurgence of ancient Egypt. Isaiah 14:9-11 talks of the ghosts (spirit) of the dead kings of the earth still stirring in the graves and raising from their thrones (see also Ezekiel 31:17 and 32:17-32). Daniel 4:15, 23, 26 and 36) talk of stumps of kingdoms waiting to be restored back after a while. In every generation, the sons (disciples) of ancient kings” (Isaiah 19:11b KJV, NIV) are always stirred in the spirit wishing to restore the kingdom (Acts 1:6). Daniel, Zerubabbel, Ezra & Nehemiah were at the fore guard of those who restored Israel after seventy years desolation, their spirit being stirred up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah among others (Ezra 5:1-2, 6:14). It is in this light we understand the spirit behind resurgence of ancient kingdoms.

3.0 THRONES ESTABLISHED BY CONVENANT

Every throne (kingdom) is established by covenant. In Leviticus 26:42-45 God made reference to His covenant with the ancestors of Israel to remember their land. Ezekiel 17:11-21 describes the covenant between the king of Babylon and Judah, and the consequences of breaking the covenant between them. Daniel chapter 11 is a story of the intrigues and power play between kingdoms. To date, the covenants which established certain definite kingdoms still speak, and desire to express self once there is a “son (disciple) of an ancient kings” (Isaiah 19:11b) willing to pay the price and make the sacrifices to re-enact the covenants. Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho at the cost of his first born Abiram and its gate with Segub his youngest son (Joshua 6:26, 1 king 16:34). For good or for evil, thrones are established and sustained by covenants.

While all other thrones rise and wane, it is only the throne of David that has God’s covenant of an everlasting dynasty (Psalm 89:28-37, Jer. 33:17-21). Even when Jehoboam usurped the throne of David, David’s descendant Rehoboam still has two tribes “for the sake of David” (! King 11:29-39, 12:20). The real “Son of the Ancient King” reigns over the everlasting dynasty of David. He is the root of Jesse, the Lord Jesus Christ himself (Luke 1:27-23, Daniel 7:9-14, 27).

4.0 THE EGBESU SPIRIT

Over the past couple of years or so, the word Egbesu has become synonymous with the Izon (Ijaw) ethnic uprisings in the oil rich delta region of Nigeria. All along the coast of Nigeria from Bonny to Lagos via Warri and Ilaje, the famed Egbesu spirit is known to be the force behind the boldness and impunity with which the Izon youths attack government forces and their non – Izon neighbors (Itshekiris, Ilaje, Yorubas, etc.). What is the identity of this Egbesu spirit?

According to Alagoa (1972), Egbesu is the national war god of the Izon people. According to him, even when the national god is itself peace loving, a war department is invariably created. Alagoa gave a second meaning of the word Egbesu; Egbesu is an altar for war trophies (human skulls) at Nembe. This same altar is available at Elem Kalabiri where it is known is Egbeka (Ebeka), as well as in Adoni, Bonny and Alabie. According to one account, two thousand (2000) human skulls were once counted at the Alabia shrine of Egbesu, in addition to leopard skulls (Alagoa 1972:126). All Ijaws – whether Central, Western, Eastern or Northern – venerate and worship Egbesu as national god. In other words, the war like and headhunting spirit runs in the vein of every Ijaw Egbesu worshipper. Alagoa noted that Ijaws have developed a sociopolitical system that is dynamic and capable of internal adjustment and response to new challenges and stimuli. Barbot in 1732 describes the Ijaws as a people “who live together on plunder and piracy on the rivers” (p 250) while Lloyd 1963:221 describes them as “Ijoh pirates” who have been a menace for centuries”. In other words, the Ijaw uprising is not a recent phenomenon, which is a fight to redress injustice from oil exploration. Rather, it is an Egbesu inspired Izon national war-spirit seeking political relevance.

The Ijaws have been a migrant tribe for centuries. Legends state that quarrels over the sharing of “wan” (duiker) killed in communal fighting was a common reason for fighting, dispersal and migration. The history of migration dated back to AD 1200. Today, the Izons are neigbours of Itshekiris, Urhobos, Isokos, Kwale and Agbor Ibos in the North; Ahoada, Engenni, Ekpeya, Saka and Abua in the Central; Ikwere, Ogoni and Ndoki in the East and Yorubas (Ilaje and Ikale) and Edo in the West. (Gbaramatu & Ogbe are among its Itshekiris neighbors while Aragbo and Apbi are its Ilaje Ikale neighbors). Wherever they find themselves, the Ijaws venerate and worship Egbesu as national god. Alagoa records that in the coronation of Agadagba of Arogbo (among the Aroogbo Ijaws of Ikale Ilaje, Okitipupa), ceremonies are rounded off at the shrine of Egbesu where the Agadagba is told he derives his power from Egbesu and must serve Egbesu. Conflict with the local gods was thus inevitable, leading to inter-ethnic wars between the Izon and their host. Disputed over the control of the Egbesu shrine and its priesthood (was) common among the Egbema Izon subgroup, whose priest king is Biri-pere, the Lord of the waters (Alagoa 1972:43).

It can now be seen that the Izon uprising is not just a political or socioeconomic uprising, rather a spiritual one being provoked and fuelled by the human-skill loving Egbesu ancestral spirit. Socio-economic and political development of the Niger Delta is a necessary palliative. But for a permanent solution, the ancestral Egbesu spirit must be spiritually dealt with.

5.0 THE ORO SPIRIT

The first major inter-ethnic battle of nationalities during Obasanjo’s regime was the Sagamu riots of July, which was a fall out of this year’s worship of the ancestral Oro cult. A spiritual perspective to that occurrence was highlighted in the July 1999 edition of the Lampstand Letters (Eliakim and the Yemoja spirit) Adesola (1990) and Dennett (1968) have described the religious and political significance of the Oro cult. While Iro, Oro, Egun, Egungun, Eleko and Adamu Orisa are all Orishas (spirit/gods) representing the spirit of ancestors, all others are for social purposes while only Oro is used for political purposes. Adesola list the political aspect of Oro worship to include:

1. Capital punishment of criminals
2. Instrument of banishment
3. Legislation in times of political crisis. The Egbas are the originator of the Oro cult. According to Adesola, Oro worship originated from Orun, a town formerly in the Egba province of Gbagura, 8 miles from Ibadan, between Ijebu and Ibadan (it was evacuated by the Egbas as a result of the Owu war of 1821-1830. Both Dennett and Adesola regard Oro as a deified spirit, the first orisha, the chief of the spirit gods and first father, who caused men to have children and makes populous by stopping the death of children. Adesola states that Oro worship is undeniable spirit-worship.

Each Oro is supposed to be the manes of a departed parent or ancestor to which prayers and sacrifices are offered invocations made. He describes Oro as a secret society founded on the fears of the actions of departed spirits. The Ogboni is a kind of executive council (or senatorial society) which uses Oro as a deterrent, and which has adapted the Oro call cry. According to Adesola (The Nigeria Chronicle, Sept 24, 1909), due to the importance assigned to the worship of this god by the Egbas and other Yoruba tribes, the term Oro has been extended to denote;

1. Any gods, especially those with which private rites and ceremonies are associated.
2. Any secret society.
3. Any secret rite or ceremony
4. Any strong or wicked man
5. Any unpleasant habitual character of a man.
6. An expression of great surprise.

With this background and understanding of the spiritual and political significance of the Oro spirit, it is no surprise that

1. The first inter-ethnic political crisis the Obasanjo regime faced was a fall out of Oro worship in Ogun State.
2. One of the first actions of the governor of Ogun State, Segun Osoba, an Egba, was to legalize Ogboni.
3. Olu Falae accused Obasanjo, an Egba, of belonging to theOgboni cult.

6.0 CONCLUSION

Robert Smith 1969:166, (quoting Argyle 1966:82), have noted that warfare remained a central factor in the maintenance of (Yoruba) political structure and its religion. (Warfare) provides for example the human sacrifices to the ancestors, to which the continuation of the kingdom and its prosperity was held to depend. We have also noted earlier than Egbesu (or Egbeka or Ebeka) refers to the altar for human skull (war tropics) at Nembe & Elem Kalabiri, and is the national war god of the Izons. It is in this spiritual light that the “ethnic nationalism” of the Oodua People Congress and the (Various) Izon Youth Congress must be viewed and tackled. Simply put, both are bloodthirsty provocation of ancient thrones tying to resurge and revive their ancient kingdoms. The OPC and IYC are “sons of ancient kings” trying to reenact these thrones by blood covenants. As Christians Jer. 1:10 tells us: “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down; to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” Let arise above parochial ethnic loyalties and set our faces against the Egress, Oro, Ode and other emergent resurgent ancient spirits. That the kingdoms of these world may become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ; that He alone may reign forever and ever over the everlasting throne of David (Rev. 11:15, Luke 1:31-33). Amen.

7.0 LET US PRAY

1. Set your face daily and root out, pull down, destroy and throw down, every ancient throne, spirit and kingdom causing ethnic strife in Nigeria.
2. Pray specifically against the Egress and Oro ancestral spirits and bind the activities of OPC, IYC and any other emergent ancestral throne.
3. Ask that the Lord will silence the roar and break the teeth of the fierce ethnic lions and their young (Job 4:10).
4. Prophesy that their old (ancient lions will perish (die) for lack of prey, and all their children be scattered (Job 4:11). And that only the Lion of the tribe of Judah prevail and reign over Nigeria and her people Rev. 5:5-14, Gen 49:9-10. Amen.

8.0 BENEDICTION

“… And behold one like the son of man …came to the Ancient of Days…. To Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. That all peoples nations and languages may serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion…” Daniel 7:13.

9.0 REFERENCES for further reading

1. Adesola… Burial customs in the Yoruba Community. The Nigerian Chronicle. 17th September 1909
2. Adesola… The Nigerian Chronicle. 24th September 1909
3. Alagoa E. J. 1972. A history of the Niger Delta. An historical interpretation of Oral history, Ibadan University Press. 231pp
4. Argyle W. J. 1966. The Fon of Dahomey. Oxford. Cited by Smith 1969. P82
5. Barbot J. 1732. A description of the coasts of North and South Guinea. Paris 1732. P356. Cited by Alagoa 1972.
6. Business Week European Edition. August 23-30, 1999. McGraw. Hill Companies. Highstown W. J. 08520.
7. Eliakim and the Yemoja Spirit. Lampstand Letters No12. July 199. Lampstand Ministries. U.I. P.O. Box 4150 Ibadan. Nigeria.
8. Lloyd P.C. 1963. The Itshekiri in the nineteen-century: An outline of social history. Journal of Nigeria History. Vol. 10. No. 1963. P221. Cited by Alagoa 1972.
9. Smith Robert 1969. Kingdoms of the Yoruba. Studies in African History 2. Methuen and Co. Ltd. II New Fetter Lane. London EC$ 226 pp.
10. The Guardian Newspaper Vol. 16, No 7596. August 30, 1999. P.M.B 1217, Oshodi, Lagos Nigeria.
11. The Throne of David. The Preacher, No. 191. May 1996. 10974 Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
12. The Throne of Jeroboam. The Preacher. No. 194. August 1996 P.O. Box 10974 Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
13. Thrones of Nations. Lampstand Letters No. 11, June 1999, U.I. 4150, Ibadan. Nigeria.
14. The Vanguard Newspapers, Lagos Nigeria. Vol. 15 No 4374 Friday 3-12-99 page 13-16

THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK RACE (2).

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the first part of this topic published in the September 1999, issue of the Lampstand Letters, we began to examine the biblical truth about the black race. In this edition, we highlight the end time destiny of the black race as revealed in the scriptures.

2.0 THE BLACK RACE IN END TIME PROPHESY

Isaiah 19 contains prophecies referring to the black race in these end times. (See also Psalm 68 and Zech. chapter 10). The duo of biblical Egypt   (i.e. Black Africa) and Assyria are linked to Israel as a blessing to the whole world in those days (Isaiah 19:23-25. The following phenomena are prophesied about the black race in these last days (see Isaiah 19 NKJV, GNB, TEV, and NIV):

1. The Lord has a specific message (destiny) for the black race Isaiah 19:1a.
2. The Lord will visit the black race Isaiah 19:1, Eze 30, Ps.68: 1.
3. the idols/gods of the black race will tremble and totter before God’s visitation 1s.19: 1c. Jer.43: 12-13, 46:25, Ezek.30: 13-19
4. Even the black people who boast so much of their black magic will lose courage and confidence is.19: 1d.
5. Civil wars will break up in Africa and among the black people 1s.19: 2 Eze.30
6. He will break the spirit of the black frustrate its rebellion against God and destroy the morale of idolatrous black race 1s.19: 3 Jer.46 Eze 30- to 32.
7. Idolatry, sorcery, necromancy and witchcraft will characterize the black people and its leadership.Is.19: 3
8. Strangers, cruel task masters (IMF, World Bank, Arabs, Indians, Lebanese etc.). will rule over the continent of Africa. Isaiah 19:4.
9. Ecological disasters, famines unemployment and economic disasters will be the hallmark of Africa and black people Is.19: 5-8, Lam. 5:2.
10. the middle class (wage earners, skilled workforce) will be wiped out Is.19: 9-10.
11. there will be failure of political leadership, civil service and academia.Is.19: 11-12
12. there will be perverseness, erroneous national plans, failed programs and budgets Is.19: 13.
13. Staggering nationhood, stunted growth, going round in cycles, slipping on our vomit and a spirit of foolishness on leaders, planners and counselors Is.19: 14.
14. Helplessness in all quarters - rich/poor, intelligentsia/ignorant, noble/commoners, military/civilians. Is. 19:15
15. and awareness of the spiritual origin of its problems will mark the turning point in Africa’s/blacks’ destiny. There will be a fear, trembling, reverence for God and His judgment Is.19: 16-17. 18:1-8
16. There will then be a manifestation of the power of the church (Judah), and a terror of the church by idolatrous black race/Africa Is.19: 17.
17. There will then be the manifestation of the seven fold Spirit of God over Africa Isaiah 11:2-5. Also Isaiah 32:15.
18. Africa will then seek the Lord, call on the true God, speak a pure language (the language of Canaan). Is.19: 18, Zeph.3: 9.
19. Africa will be known for its altars of prayers to God 19:19, 56:7, 60:7
20. Bethels (Houses of God), pillars of covenants will spring up all over Africa/black race as symbol of God’s presence amidst her and her loyalty to God (19:19-20, Gen.28: 18-22, 44-45).
21. Prayer, intercessions, supplications will go up to God from the land of Africa. Envoys, ambassadors & missionaries shall come up from the land of Ham.19: 20. Ps.68: 31, Is.18: 7.
22. God will raise up saviors and deliverers (Eliakims) for the black nations 19:20, 22:20-23, Is. 32:1-8, Zech.10: 3-8.
23. The Lord will reveal himself to Africa and the black race will acknowledge and worship Him (in place of idols, spirits and gods) 19:21
24. Africa will enter into solemn covenants with the Lord, instead of with idols/gods and will keep the terms of their covenant with God 19:21.
25. The Lord will strike and wound Africa but will heal her. Africa will turn to the Lord in repentance, God will hear our prayers and he will heal us. After two days (2000 years). He will revive us, on the third day (3rd millennium); He will raise Africa/black race up, that we may live on His sight. Amen 19:23 Hosea 6:1-3. Also Isaiah 30:15-26. Amen! Hallelujah!
26. A highway of the gospel between Africa and Iraq (Assyria, Babylon, and Persia) will exist that day 19:23 (see below)
27. There will be pilgrimages and spiritual retreats between these two peoples, and they will worship God together 19:23.
28. Africa, together will Israel and Iraq (Persia, Assyria/Babylon) will be a blessing to the entire world 19:24.
29. Africa will receive God’s blessing and be blessed of the Lord. 19:24.
30. Africa will be adopted of the Lord 19:25 Amen!

I am persuaded that so far the black race has fulfilled nos. 1 to 14 of this prophecy for “two days” (up to AD 2000 years). We are set to enter nos. 1 5 to 30 as we enter the “third day” (AD 2000 - 3000) (Hosea 6:1-2). Amen.  

3.0    IDOLATORY AND WATER SPIRITS

A regular feature of the scriptures is the association of the power of nations with the waters of such nations (see Rev. 17:1, 17:15, Isaiah 8:7 etc. This is especially true of Egypt and Assyria. This is to understandable if one remembers that these oldest world civilization developed around rivers (See Gen.2: 10-15). Egypt is also known as the river Nile (Eze. 29:2-10, 32:2 and Jer. 46:7-8 and Isaiah 19:5-8). Assyria is identified as river Euphrates (Isaiah 7:20, 11:15, 27:12 and Jer. 2:13).

In various places, the Lord had to dry off these rivers to make a way for his people to pass over from captivities (Isaiah11: 15-16, 19:22-25, Exo.14: 15-31 Zech. 10:10-11,). The power behind Egypt was variously identified as the reptile sea monster Leviathan (Eze. 29:3-5, 32:1-5) and the insolent. Fierce Rahab (Isaiah 51:9-10, Ps 89: 9-10). Among the Yorubas, who are credited with having the greatest number of idols/gods, the goddess Yemoja is described as the mother of all waters and of all orishas (gods). She boasts of “infusing various water with her sacred energy”. In dealing with the idolatrous spirit of the black race therefore, dealing with water spirits is a major strategy of victory (see Eze. 29:1-10 and 32:1-8). 

4.0    THE GOSPEL HIGHWAY

Various passages in the scriptures speak plainly of a highway of the gospel between Africa and the Middle and Far East (see Isaiah 19:22-25, 18:7, 35:1-10, Zeph.3:10, Zech.10:10). Recently I came across a classified document dating back to the early part of this century. Information there confirm that the gospel highway will start from the coast lands of tropical Africa (see Isaiah 11:11) through the gates of Central Africa,  the Rift and Chad valleys to the far East through the gateway cities in the 10/40 window (Maiduguri, Kano, Cairo, Khartoum, Ndjamena, Tripoli, etc.). Envoys (missionaries, Ambassadors) will come from Egypt, and Ethiopia/Sudan will raise their hands to God Ps. 68:31. The knowledge of the land will cover the earth, including the Islamic strongholds of the 10/40 windows of Northern Africa (Isaiah 11:9) Amen.

Let us then prepare ourselves and pray these things unto reality.

5.0 LET US PRAY

1. Ask that the sevenfold spirit of God (Isaiah 11:2) will come upon Africa.
2. Pray Hosea 6:1-3 for the black race.
3. Ask God to break the head of Leviathan, of Rahab, Yemoja and all water spirits working in the rivers of Africa (Eze. 29:1-10, 32:1-8, Ps. 68:28-30, 74:13, Isaiah 27:1, 51:93).
4. Ask for the altar to the Lord, pillar of covenant and gospel highway be raised in the midst of Africa, that Africa be a blessing to the entire world. Isaiah 19:18-25.
5. Prophesy Isaiah 25 over Africa and the black race.

6.0 BENEDICTION

“....After two days (2000 years A. D.), He will revive us; on the third day (AD 2000 and beyond)
He will raise us (black race) up. That we may live in his sight”. Amen Hosea 6:2.

7.0 REFERENCES for further reading

1. Adeyemo Tokunbo:  Is Africa Cursed? Christian Learning Materials Center (CLMC). P.O. Box 24 345 KAREN / Nairobi Kenya 1997. 139pp
2. Gleason Judith. Orisha: The Gods of Yoruba land. Athenaeum 1971 New York. 122 pp.
3. Lampstand Letters Nos. 4 & 5 December 1998: Healing the waters of Nigeria. U.J.P.O. Box 4150 Ibadan.
4. Lampstand Letters No 11. June 1999. Thrones of Nations U.I. P.O. Box 4150 Ibadan.
5. Lampstand letter No 14 Sept. 1999. The Mystery of the black race (I) U. I. P. O. Box 4150 Ibadan.

THE ECLIPSE, BAAL (Sun-god) and THE ASHTORETHS (Moon-goddess)

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The solar eclipse of 11th August 1999 which streaked over Europe and the Middle East was marked by intense spiritual activities on either side of the divide. While intercessors sent prayer squads to some of the countries affected by the eclipse as others stood in the gap worldwide; Satanists, spiritists, sorceress and the like kept vigil in many countries especially in the covens of Cornwall and Devon (England) where the eclipse first appeared. Countries which experienced the total eclipse include England, France, Germany, Poland, Romania, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Bosnia. Like the eclipse that marked the spiritual battles while Christ was on the cross (Matt. 27:45), this total eclipse also lasted three (3) hours in all.

2.0 ECLIPSES IN THE BIBLE

Several passages in the scriptures describe phenomena which are akin to (or may be called) eclipse. (See Isaiah 13:10, Isaiah 24:21-23, Eze 23:7-8, Joel 2: 31, Amos 8:9 Matt. 24: 29. Matt 27: 45 etc.) These occurrences are in most cases linked with what the Bible calls the day of the Lord  i.e. of his wrath, anger, vengeance, judgment etc. see Isaiah 13: 6-13, Joel  2: 1-11, Joel 3: 1-
17, Amos 5: 1-20, Zephaniah 1, and their  cross - references). Specifically, eclipses in the Bible are linked with God’s proclamation to:

a. Punish Babylon and its gods (idols) Isaiah 13:11-13;
b. Punish Egypt and its gods (idols) Eze 32:17;
c. Judge the nations of the world Joel 3: 1-17, Isaiah 24;
d. Pour out His Spirit on all men Joel 2: 28-23;
e. The gathering of the elect Matt 24:29-32;

Eclipses are also used by God to cut off sorcerers and diviners from tapping the power of the sun and moon to manipulate events and men under the sun. Steve Okitika (personal communication) explained Paul’s proclamation against the sorcerer Bar- Jesus (Acts 13: 4-12) in this light “... And now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately a dark mist fell on him ...” verse 11. This also explains why witches gathered in covens worldwide before the eclipse to maximize their manipulations.

3.0 BAAL AND ASTHEROTHS

The sun and the moon are represented in the Bible by various gods depending on the nations involved. Among the Israelites, they are worshipped together as Baal and Astheroths respectively (see Judges 2: 13, 10: 6, I Samuel 7: 3- 4, 12: 10, 2 King 17: 16, Also Deut. 4: 19 and 2 Kings 23: 4-5), Elijah and Jehu contended with prophets of Baal (I King 18 and 2 King 10: 18-28. While the sun is usually represented as a male sky god, the moon is presented as a female earth goddess of fertility.

Reference to the sun-god and its worship in the scriptures include:

1. Baal (meaning lord, possessor of everything Judges 2: 13, 10: 6, I Sam 7:4 etc.).
2. Jupiter (= Zeus the most brilliant) Acts 14: 8- 15, 19: 35. In idolatrous Lystra, Barnabas was called Jupiter (Zeus) after he and Paul performed the miracle.
3. Deus (= god, heavens, the god who gives light from heaven and fertility on earth);
4. Mark (or Murdoch) A Babylonian god = Jupiter. The great lord, illuminator of the gods) Isaiah 39; 1-8 Jeremiah 50 2).
5. Nimrod: The Assyrians believe Marduk is same god as Nimrod. Nimrod was the 1st rebel on earth in audacity and adulterous wickedness who founded the Assyrian/Babylonian kingdom Gen.10:8
6. Chemosh (the swift, the sun god of the Moabites, Judges 11: 24, 1Kings 11:7, Jer. 48: 7, 13, 28;
7. Milcom (= high god) The sun-god of the Ammonites Also known as Molech (I King 11:5, 7, 33).
8. Nibhaz (=the lord of darkness. An idol of Avites. Also known as Anubis in Egypt (2 King 17:31).

In addition to the above names of the sun-god, various biblical cities and towns were named after the sun-god or were noted for the worship of the sun-god. They include:

• Ur (of Chaldeans) ( = the great light i.e. the sun) Gen 11: 28 to 12: 1, Neh. 9:7 It was from this city that the patriarch Abraham was called out .Ur is the modern day Tell- Mugheir in Iraq.
• Thebes (also known as No or No-Amon Egypt (= City of the god Jupiter) Jer., 46: 25, Eze 30: 14, Nah 3:8-10 God declared Judgment on this idolatrous city.
• Rameses (Egypt): City of the sun-god Ra. The children of Israel started the Exodus from this point. Gen 47: 11, Exodus 12: 37.
• Athens of Greece (meaning “fountain of fire” i.e., of the sun).This was the city in Acts 17:16-34 where Paul was greatly upset when he noticed it was full of idols. One of those divinely touched by his massage was Dionysius (Acts 17: 34) whose name translated means the bright god i.e. the sun.
• Heliopolis (Ancient On, Also known as Beth-shemesh) of Egypt: meaning City (House) of the sun Jer. 43: 13. Potipherah, priest of the sun-god was the father of Asenath who Pharaoh gave to Joseph as wife Gen, 41:45.  Modern day Alexandria.
• Gaza (Azzah) Philistine town meaning heat, fire, sun-worshippers Jer. 47,
• Cretes = “belonging to the sun’; an island of sun worshippers Titus was left behind at Cretans “to set in order the things lacking ... (Titus 1:5) because the “Cretens are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons’’ (Titus 1:12) (Just as Timothy was left at Ephesus, the city of the moon for same purpose; I Tim. 1: 3-4.
• Province of Lycaonia = Country sacred to the sun, country of the god of light. Acts 14:6-18. It was in Lystra, a city of Lycaonia that Barnabas was venerated as Jupiter.

References to the moon god and its worship - they include:

1. Diana: The great mother, nourisher, luminous, perfect. Acts 19:24-28. Just as shrines were made to Diana in Ephesus, shrines are still made to her today by Roman Catholics in the name of Virgin Mary.
2. Artemis: the same as Diana above. Also known as Artemas = gift of Diana. Artemis had a temple in Sardis (Rev. 3:1-6).
3. Astheroths (or Asharaoth or Astartes): a collective name for various moon/fertility goddess among the Canaanites (Judges 2:13, 10:6; 1 Sam. 7:3- 4 etc.). Saul’s armor was fastened in the temple of Astheroth at his death (I Sam. 31:10).
4. Queen of Heaven: another name for Astheroth/Diana. Jer. 7:18, Jer. 44:17-25. Today she is venerated as Virgin Mary among Roman Catholics.
5. Tartak: the moon-goddess among the Avites (2 King 17:29-31). Worshipped simultaneously with the sun-god Nibhaz.

Just as there were cities named for the sun-god and its worship so also are biblical towns for the moon-goddess and her worship. They include:

1. Ephesus = city of the moon, sacred to Artermis. Acts 19:17-35. It is the modern-day Asalook in Turkey which has same meaning. The riot instigated by Demetrus, smith of the shrine of Diana was in Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41). Paul recorded that he fought with ‘beasts’ at Ephesus (I Cor. 15:32, 16: 8-9, 2 Cor. 1:8, Acts 19:21-28). Paul specifically left Timothy at Ephesus to
   correct false doctrine (I Tim. 3: 1-4), just as he left Titus in Cretes (city of the sun) for the same purpose (Titus 1:5). It was in Ephesus that the church lost its saltiness Rev 2: 1-7, when Christianity became a state during Constantinople’s reign.
2. Macedonia: of Greece; = motherland of the moon. Paul was given a specific vision of God to come over to Macedonia to set the captives free Acts 16:9-10. Greece was the 1st evangelized European country.
3. Asia = land of fire (sun?). The province of Asia contained the towns Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum and Troas - all of which were notorious for Diana (moon) worship and other forms of idolatry Acts 19:27, 2 Cor. 1:8, Rev. 2:8-9, Rev. 2:12-16).
4. Ur of the Chaldeans: Gen 11:28 to 12:1 Contains the great temple tower of ziggurat called ‘The mountain of Heaven ‘. Cuneiform tablets discovered records a prayer to Nannar, the moon-god by King Nabodius (556-536 BC) (Thompson Chain Reference Bible).

4.0 THE PATH OF THE ECLIPSE

Another observation of spiritual significance of the 11th August 1999 was the careful divine selection of the countries which the eclipse passes over. There are countries/cities which historically are strongholds of sun and moon-worship, of Islam and of Roman Catholicism. They also had been part of the ancient idolatrous Sumerian (Assyrian/Babylonian), and Egyptian civilization - the world’s oldest civilization - the world’s oldest civilization - and their successor Greek/Roman Empires. Some of the countries and cities are:

1. Turkey: Asalook (modern Ephesus = city of moon), Tsarus (where the Gentile missionary Paul came from), Antioch (where followers of Christ were first called Christians, Smyra (now called Izmit,) Lystra, Derbe, Constantinople (Istanbul) and Iconuim are some cities of biblical importance located in Turkey.
2. Greece: 1st European country to be evangelize (Acts 16:10). Contains Athens, Macedonia, Thessalonica, Corinth and Berea. The Greek Alexandra the Great conquered ancient Egypt in 350 BC and inherited its idolatrous heritage
3. Yugoslavia (Bosnia): Illycum Roman 15:19.
4. Italy: Rome. Headquarters of Roman Catholic Church
5. France: prides itself as being the first daughter of the Roman Catholic Church. Exerts spiritual, cultural, economic and social influence on the Francophone countries of the world.
6. Iraq: site of ancient Sumerian (Assyrian/Babylonian) kingdom. Ancient Ur and Nineveh, part of modern Iraq. Stop Press; The Guardian of 30\8\99 report Iraq plans to develop Ur before the Pope’s visit in Dec 1999.
7. Egypt: capital of ancient Egyptian civilization which seeks a spiritual rebirth by its 7th millennium at end of this century when it will be 7000 years old. Thebes, Rameses and Heliopolis (modern day Alexandria) part of Egypt.
8. England: motherland of Protestantism. Became part of Ancient Roman Kingdom of Julius Caesar in 30 BC. Cornwall in England where the eclipse first reached the land has an ancient Christian background but is now more famous for its witches’ coven.
9. Spain: once a World Power. Exported Roman Catholism to many parts of the world.
10. India: Part of Persian Kingdom at the time of Esther (Esther 1:1). Contains the world’s greatest concentration and number of gods.

All the other countries could fit into at least one of the categories mentioned earlier i.e. ancient and modern anti-Christian strongholds.

5.0 THE DAY OF THE LORD

Obvious from the foregoing is that the spirit of the Lord has always had a running battle against all forms of idolatry including the worship of the sun and moon - whether among the Canaanites (Deut. 4:19, in Egypt (Jer. 46; 25, Eze 30: 14-16) in Babylon (Jer. 50:2) among the Avites (2 King 17:29-31) or even among his people Israel (Judges 2:13, 2 King 17:16). When God decided to judge idolatry on the day of the Lord, eclipses are physical manifestation (Isaiah 13: 9-13, Eze 32: 1-8, Joel 2:30-31, 3:17-18, Matt. 24:29-31, 27: 45 etc.

God was literally shaking the heavens and the earth (Haggai 2: 6-9, Joel 3:15-16) to punish on high the host of exalted ones and on the earth the kings of the earth (Isaiah 24:21). He is also pouring His spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28) to lift up a standard against the resurgence and rebirth of the spirit of idolatry.  Such resurgence is typified by the advertisement on CNN on the rebirth of Egypt at its seventh millennium, the rebuilding of Ur in Iraq and the various “cultural revivals” and “tourists attraction”.

6.0 THE EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY

Perhaps what confirms that the eclipse of 11th August was a divine judgment against the countries concerned was the earthquake that struck Turkey barely a week after the eclipse. Earthquakes are manifestation of Gods divine punishment (see Isaiah 29:6, Zech. 14:2-4, Matt. 24:7, Rev. 6:12-17 (see the article Mountains, Strongholds and Earthquakes. Lampstand Letters, April 1999).
The earthquake was reported to be the worst in the century with more 12,000 dead and 30,000 unaccounted for. A number of historically and spiritual factors probably made the Lord to start his judgment with Turkey

1. According to “Operation World”. It is the largest unreached nation in the world.
2. It straddles between the two continents of Europe and Asia.
3. Paul concentrated a lot of his effort at making the country turn from Diana worship to worship of Christ. Paul was from Tarsus (in Turkey), Antioch where he started his 1st missionary trip to Gentiles, and where believers were first called Christians), Ephesus (modern Asalook) the city of moon, and Smyrna (modern Izmit) are all located in Turkey (Izmit was the epicenter of this earthquake and accounted for about 50% of all deaths). To whom much is given, much is expected.
4. It was also in Turkey that the church lost its saltiness when the church and state became one during the reign of Constantinople
5. For centuries, the Turkish Ottoman Empire was the guardian of all the Holy places of Islam; and its chief protagonists.

Of course Turkey (and the Turks) are not necessarily worse sinners than others (see Luke 13:2-5). Neither can we talk of “innocent people” being involved because none is “innocent” before God (Isaiah 64:6). God’s punishment of Turkey is only a parable to other nations especially Iraq, that except they repent they will likewise perish (Luke 13:5).

7.0 CONCLUSION

The Lord is lifting the Spirit of judgment against the resurgence of ancient idolatry, so that the mountain of the Lord will be highest above all mountains that all nations flow into it (Isaiah.2:1-3) Our responsibility as intercessors is to “go into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in the day of battle’ (Eze.13:5, 22:30-31). It is the time for judgment against the nations that stand against the knowledge of Christ (Joel.3, Amos.1-2 etc.) But judgment usually begins in the house of the Lord. (Eze.9:6) God is going to judge all idolatry in the land, starting from the idolatry in the temple (Eze.8:1-9:11). So let’s stand in the gap for the church Eze.22:30-31 and watch over the nations. Amen.

8.0 LET US PRAY

1. Watch and Pray against the resurgence of ancient Egyptian and Babylonic idolatry. Set your face particularly against the rebirth the Spirit of Egypt and planned development of ancient Ur of Chaldeans, Iraq.
2. Watch and Pray especially against ancient idolatry masquerading as traditional religion (Oro, Egungun, Ekpe etc.), cultural revival or tourist attraction in your locality.
3. Ask God to judge the spirit of the Queen of heaven in its various manifestations especially the worship of “Virgin Mary”
4. Ask for judgment against Islamic strongholds of the world as God did against communism.
5. Ask God to abundantly pour our His Spirit on men to raise a standard against the millennium onslaught of ancient idolatry.
6. Pray to be among those marked apart before the day of judgment (Eze. 9:1-6)

9.0 BENEDCITION

...I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty. Haggai.2:7

10.0 REFERENCES for further reading

1. Cruden’s Complete Concordance of the Bible:
2. Johnstone P.J. Operation World 4th Edition STL. Books WEC Publications.
3. Mountains, Strongholds and Earthquake: Lampstand Letters, No.9 April, 1999, U.I. P.O. Box 4150 Ibadan, Nigeria.
4. The Bible in Today’s English Version (TEV).
5. The Guardian. Vol. 16, No. 7596 August 30 1999.
6. The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV)
7. The Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV)
8. Thompson Chain Reference Bible.

ELIAKIM AND THE YEMOJA SPIRIT

1.0   INTRODUCTION

In God’s comprehensive agenda to deliver Nigeria from the forces that are perverting God’s destiny and purposes for her, the church corporate in certain locations will be called upon to embark on certain specific spiritual warfare and prophetic actions to break the power and authority of ancestral strongholds, curses and covenants on the land. The Lampstand Letters will play its part in revealing certain information to the church in these locations as the Lord grant insight. This second of the letter to the churches was originally addressed to the church in Abeokuta (the first being addressed to the church in Maiduguri). However subsequent events shortly after it was forwarded to Abeokuta, particularly the Sagamu riots which was a fall out of this year’s worship of the ancestral Oro cult, the spill over to Kano and the present danger it portends to spread nationwide, necessitates a wider circulation.

The spiritual significance of Abeokuta, the home of three Nigerian Presidents, including General Obasanjo, the Eliakim (Isaiah 22:20-25) of our time, and of Abeokuta as the seat of the Yemoja and Omonide ancestral spirits are discussed in this letter. The probable effects of the spiritual characteristics of the Egbas in pulling down the peg that is Eliakim (Isaiah 22:25) are highlighted in the light of certain prophecies  and revelations. What the church in Abeokuta (and Yoruba land) needs to do to prevent the likely calamitous consequences of the pulling down of Eliakim from the throne of Nigeria is stressed.  

2.0 ELIAKIM AND HIS FATHER’S HOUSE

Eliakim (meaning “God will set up”) the son of Hilkiah was a man who the Lord himself set up in Judah to serve a specific purpose in the days of Hezekiah and Manasseh. God gave him a designation (robe), a title (belt) and authority (key) over the house of Judah (Isaiah 22:21). He also gave him responsibilities/functions to be like a father to the people of the land; to exercise authority which none will be able to stop or stand against, to be a peg, load carrier who will confront many problems and move seemingly immovable mountains, and to be a source of pride and honor to his kinsmen. (Isaiah 22:21-23). God promised to secure his throne so then no man could overthrow him. But his kinsmen will become a burden to him. They will load him with so much burdens and requests that he who the Lord has firmly fastened secure upon his throne, which no man could overthrow, will be pulled loose by the burden of his kinsmen, and fall from his secure position. When this happens, not only will Eliakim will fail from the throne, that will be the end (extermination) of his kinsmen and everything that was hanging on him (Isaiah 22:25).

General Olusegun Obasanjo is Nigeria’s Eliakim of this moment. The Yorubas and specifically the Egbas of Abeokuta are his Kinsmen....

3.0 A HISTORY OF ABEOKUTA/EGBAS

According to history Oodua (Oduduwa) the progenitor of the Yoruba race had a wife whose name was Omonide through who he had six sons and one daughter (the eldest). The daughter was the mother of Olowu the founder and King of Owu, from which the Owu quarters (one of the four) in Abeokuta descended. (General Obasanjo is of Owu Abeokuta descent). The other quarters are Ake, Oke-Ona and Gbagura. Of greater spiritual significance is the record that Omonide, the wife of Oodua and mother of Yoruba race lived, died and was buried at the Abeokuta. Thus, every Yoruba King, and especially the Alaafin, is required to send gifts to the Alake, the custodian/guardian of the Omonide ancestral spirit, to invoke her blessing.

4.0 SPIRITUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EGBAS

The Egbas are historically characterized by a spirit of antipathy, division, and selfishness, of treachery, betrayal, vengeance and of forgetfulness. According to Mabogunje and Omer-Cooper, the Egbas are characterized by “deep... traditional local particularism”. Till date, intense rivalry and betrayal exists between the four (4) quarters of Abeokuta. This explains why an Ernest Shonekan (Alake Egba) can take up an office won by a M.K.O. Abiola (Gbagura Egba) or why an Obasanjo (Owu Egba) can declare amidst the June 12 crisis that Abiola (Gbagura Egba) is not the messiah we need. It was the selfishness of Ojoko, King of Keshi and his betrayal by his wife that led other Egba tribes to destroy Keshi, capture and kill Ojoko in her early years. In 1821, the Owu Egba people were left to themselves when besieged by the Ijebu-Oyo-Ife allied forces after the incidence of Apomu Market. The other Egbas were indifferent, treacherous and betrayed their kinsmen. After conquering the Owu Egbas, the allied forces conquered the other Egba towns.

Quoting from the scriptures, Ajisafe Ajayi described the Egba situation as “every Kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against itself will not stand”. As noted by Mabogunje and Omer-Cooper “The problem of return to anarchy was always so real in Abeokuta”.

One other piece of historical information about Owu Egbas is relevant here. Mabogunje and Omer-Cooper commented of the Owu Egba they “Owu remain hardy, brave and courageous, participating fully in the life of new communities they find themselves and occasionally throwing up from among its members a capable leader for the whole community” (Olusegun Obasanjo). The anti-tax uprising of 1918 was started by the Owu Egba. From another angle, among members of Owu Community that settled in Abeokuta in 1830 was a Fulani Mallam who was reputed to have played a major part in the conversion of many Egba leaders to Islam.

5.0 THE YEMOJA SPIRIT

Judith Gleason in her book “Orishas: The Gods of Yoruba land” described Yemoja as the “mother of the waters and of all Orisha”, “the ancient mother of fishes, the moist earth, wife to Aganju...the owner of the dry uncivilized land to the north.’ Her first son was Orungan “the tall one who fills the space between earth and sky...strong as the air we breathe”.

One day when Aganju was away hunting Orangun seized Yemoja and did “a forbidden thing”. When he wanted to repeat “his misdeed” Yemoja ran “among the reeds trying to escape his advances”. But still he pursued and would have her again. As his hands reached to grasp Yemoja’s waist, she fainted, striking her head against a stone. From her breast gushed streams.

Then her “generous belly burst open to release sixteen orishas” -- Olokun (the ocean), Osha (the lagoon), Shango and his wives Oya (R. Niger), Osun and Oba River, Ogun, Oke (mountain), Oko (farm) Aje (wealth), the sun, the moon and the dread Obaluaiye. Interpreting the traditional myth above in the light of the scriptures, the following facts can be adduced: Oragun was a fallen angel (“Son of God”) who took Yemoja (“a daughter of man”) and gave birth to sixteen orishas “men of renown, heroes of old” imbued with demon spirit. (See Gen. 6:1-4). Waters (the sea and rivers) are symbolic in the bible as abode/domain of evil spirits (see Ps. 74:13-14, Isaiah 27:1, Ezekiel 27:1-4, 28:1-2;  29:1-6; 32:1-7 and Rev. 13:1-7 and 17:1 to 18:6). Fishes are symbolic of smaller powers given authorities over parts of a country (see Eze. 29:3-5 and Exodus 7:13-21. Also the Lampstand Letters “Healing the waters of Nigeria” and “Thrones of Nations”). So when Yemoja describes herself as “mother of the waters, and of all orisha (and) the ancient mother of fishes...” she is stating her role as progenitor of a kingdom of fallen men-spirit described as Orisha by the Yorubas.

6.0 ABEOKUTA AND THE YEMOJA SPIRIT

In a continuation of her description above, Yemoja is quoted as saying “Listen, at the place where my body through violence gave birth to the world, the grand fathers of men created a holy city called Ife, meaning distention. But my spirit fled west again in the direction of Abeokuta. Here and there all over Yoruba land I have infused various waters with my sacred energy, but it is at Abeokuta that I flow most freely beneath the bridges past the great rocks down rapids and continuously out to sea”.

This was Yemoja the mother of all Yoruba Orishas talking! In other words, the spirit of Yemoja, the mother of all Orisha including Shango, Ogun, Oya, Obaluaiye etc., is strongest and most at home in Abeokuta!! If you add this to the historical fact that Omonide, the wife of Oodua, and mother of all Yorubas died and was buried in Abeokuta where Alake is the guardian of her spirit, then one would easily appreciate the spiritual significance of Abeokuta to the Yoruba race.

However, glory be to God who in his wisdom also ensured the Christianity settled in Yoruba land first in Abeokuta. Indeed history record that Ifa had claimed in 1930 that a nation from over the seas (a power behind the sea) i.e. British missionaries would come and raise the Egba nation.

7.0 CONCLUSION

In his New Year message at an all-night in Kafanchan on 1st January 1999, Pastor Nuhu Kure peeped into the year 2000 and indicated that as a result of the problems the civilian president will have with the south-west, there might be a change in power. In the prophetic publication ALARM VOL. 2 NO. 2 April to June 1999, is an article titled “Beware Yoruba Nation”. The following is quoted from the prophesy “Beware the Yoruba nation”.

The spirit expressly calls for the church in Yoruba land to take up lamentation against the spirit of violence emanating from ancestral worship in the land. That by inspiration, the entire Yorubas nation is about to commit a racial suicide. If the program being hatched by the ancestral spirit materializes, the church in Yoruba land will suffer. The nation will have as national religion, voodism in place of Christianity and the church in the land will suffer terrible persecution. The church should use and take a lamentation against the spirit and save the nation and entire nation of Yoruba from calamity.

From the foundation of the earth have I purposed to use this diversity (of the tribes of Nigeria) to shame the wise and the homogenous. My people relent not, stand upon your watch. I shall frustrate the tokens of liars and those who have covenanted with the dead to bring this evil act to pass shall not see the glory which to have purposed concerning your nation.

Take note that I am passing through this diversity to bring my counsel to pass. After that I shall also visit the leviathan and the octopus. For it is a program of humbling that the entire polity may fear me, live in unity and fulfill my purpose of the union. I am God. I change not, My glory I cannot share with any man. “The devil is about inciting the (Yoruba) race against their son. They will commit a heinous crime against his family. He will be forced to use the machinery of the state against them. The result will be an intra-ethnic rivalry leading to the wasting of the tribe. Arise O Yoruba Women, wail and lament before your children are wasted on your streets, before your husbands are destroyed, for evil has been determined against your race. Hell has let loose against you. Weep, I say weep that the Lord may intervene on your behalf.

In the mouth of 2 or 3 witness every word shall be established. Let the church in Yoruba land, especially the church in Abeokuta take arms against the ancestral Yemoja Spirit and her children. May the Lord kill her and her children with death. May the Lord kill her and her children with death. Amen.

8.0 LET US PRAY

1. Wail, fast and pray to God against the ancestral Yemoja Spirit and each of her sixteen (16) children (Orishas) that want to divide Nigeria and pitch the Yorubas (especially Egbas) against one another. Set your face against the idols of Yoruba land according to Isaiah 19:1, Jer. 43:12-13; 46:25 and Ezek. 30:13.
2. Stand firmly against the spirits of selfishness, antipathy, indifference, treachery, betrayal, vengeance and forgetfulness that have characterized the Egbas.
3. Pray that history will not repeat itself, that the Egbas (and Yorubas) will not commit a heinous crime against President Obasanjo, and he will not be forced to use state machinery against them.
4. The Ogun State Governor, Segun Osoba has been quoted to have said he has legalised (formalized) the Ogboni and other traditional cults. Stand against these cults (Egungun, Oro etc.) and against their human agents like Segun Osoba.
5. Ask for a spirit of repentance and reconciliation among the four quarters of Egba, and in Yoruba land. Pray that Christians will take a lead in this respect.
6. Take a prophetic stand against the spirit of the rivers of Yoruba land and declare they will no longer harbor or deify demon - spirits. Pray specifically against the spirits of Oya, Oba, Oshun, Olokun, Osha, and Yemoja. In Egbaland, pray against the war spirit residing in Rivers Ogun, Oba, Osun, Yewa, Ona, Owiwi and Arekonga stream where battles have been fought in Egba history.
7. STOP PREE:  Writing in The Guardian, Friday 30th July 1999 (page 30), Ajunmeze Henry made the following interesting  observation “....Afrobeat, per se, is an offshoot of Fela’s cultic engagements in which symbolic codes of Yee paripa  had variously manifested in  different songs and expressions. Fela’s music is a translation of the Oro cultic symbol into universal language...” It is no surprise that Fela Anikulapo Kuti was also Egba. In the light of the Sagamu communal riot due to the Oro festival, pray according to Isaiah 24:8 and Ezek. 26:13 that God will put an end to the sound of the Oro and other cultic songs in the land.

9.0 BENEDICTION

I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am the Lord who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works Rev. 2:23.

10.0 REFERENCES for further reading

• Ajisafe Kolawole Ajayi, History of Abeokuta. Kash and Clare Bookshop 3, Kakawa Street P.O. Box 756 Lagos, Nigeria.
• Gleason Judith; Orisha: The Gods of Yoruba land. Athenneun. 1971, New York. 122 pp.
• Healing the waters of Nigeria. Lampstand Letters Vol. 1 Nos. 4 & 5, December 1998. U.I. P.O Box 4150 Ibadan.
• Mabogunje A.L and Omer-Cooper J. Owu in Yoruba history. Ibadan University Press 1971, 123 pp. v. The Alarm, Vol. 2 No 2, April to June 1999.

Please circulate this edition to Christians in Yoruba land especially Egba Christian/Christians in Abeokuta.

THRONES OF NATIONS

1.0 INTRODUCTION.

According to Cruden's Complete Concordance, the throne is the seat on which the king sits on ceremonial occasions (see 2Chron .9:17-18). More relevant to our topic is its definition of a throne as symbol of sovereignty, power and dignity (Gen.41: 40) the throne is an altar, meeting point between the spiritual and the physical, drawing down the power of God (or gods) to the ruler sitting on the throne. The power behind nations, kingdoms, kings and rulers is the power of the throne. Haggia2: 20-22 gives an insight into the relationship between thrones and kingdoms: ‘’I will shake the heavens and the earth, I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of foreign kingdoms, I will overthrow chariots and the drivers, Horses and the riders. ‘’ Obvious from this prophetic revelation is the fact that as the heavens are the power behind the earth, thrones are the power behind kingdoms, chariots the power of drivers and horses the power of its riders (See also Isaiah 66:1, Isaiah 24:21, 2 Kings 18:23 and Exodus 14:24 –28).

2.0    THE SPIRIT BEHIND THRONES.

Thrones are symbolic physical altars of ruling powers, authorities and dominions. But behind every physical throne is a spirit (or god). One spirit (god) or the other controls every throne. The strife of Lucifer with God and the angels was over a throne (Isa.14: 13). His ambition to exalt his throne above all angels and preside like the Most High led him to be cast down. Cast out of heaven with his (fallen) angels, he creates kingdoms on the earth and in the sea (Rev12: 7-12), with his fallen angel as gods (spirit) behind the thrones of nations See2 Kings 18:33-35, Isaiah 14:9,Jer. 46: 25,Dan.10: 20-21). Satan tempted Christ with the kingdoms of this world (Luke 4:5-6). We understand from Dan .13, 20-21 that every/kingdom has a prince over seeing it (Living Bible ‘Mighty evil spirit who overrules the kingdom ‘.) Deut. 32:8 tells us God assigns each nation a supervising angel (Living Bible). This Satan imitates and perverts by assigning evil spirit (princes) to rule over thrones of nations to prevent God’s cause Isaiah 14.9 suggests even in death, the ghosts of departed rulers watch over thrones and the occupants (to ensure they fulfill covenant). But as Dan.1031, 21 indicate there are always two of God’s angels to one of Satan’s fallen angels (Rev.12: 4).

3.0 THE IDENTITY OF PHARAOH

Pharaoh was the physical   occupant of the throne. But behind the physical occupant was a spirit (or god). Ezekiel 29:3 and 32:2 refers to Pharaoh as the great monster who lies in the midst of its rivers. In other words there was a god (or spirit) resident in the River Nile which was the main power behind the throne of Egypt. In dealing with physical Pharaoh, God also dealt with the gods of Egypt (Exo. 12; 12, Number 33: 4). God first punishes the power of God heaven above before the King on earth below (Isaiah 24:21).

He dealt first the chariots of Egypt before overthrowing the riders (Exo.14: 24-28). Understanding Eph.6: 12 in this light, we must learn to deal first with the power (gods/spirit) behind the throne and the physical occupant of throne if we are to have victory. In dealing with the physical principality known as Pharaoh, God had to make Moses a god unto Pharaoh (Gen. 7:1), since the power behind the throne of Pharaoh was a god (spirit). It takes a god to fight a god. By drawing out the great monster with its small fishes (demon spirits given dominion over smaller parts of Egypt) out of the rivers into the wilderness, God dethroned the physical Pharaoh (Eze. 29:1-5, 32:1-10). God sometimes will have to dry rivers and seas to starve their gods and release his people from their oppression (Isaiah 19:5-8, 51:9-15, Jer. 50:38, 51:36, Ps. 78:13).

4.0 THRONES IN THE WATERS.

Apart from the princes and power of the air controlling the occupations of thrones on earth, spirits exist in the seas and rivers that exert influence on occupants of physical thrones.  Rev. 12:12 tell us that the earth and the sea received Satan and his host after they were cast down. In the December 1998 edition of the Lampstand Letters, the features and spiritual significance of rivers and sea were highlighted. The sea is considered a domain of evil (See Ps 74:13, Isaiah 27:1 and Rev 13:1-7). Ezekiel 27:1-4, 28:1-2 and 29:1 indicate that the kingdoms of Tyre, and Pharaoh King of Egypt derived their power from the seas and River Nile Rev. 17:1-18:6 describes the spiritual principality represented by the woman Babylon, as sitting upon many waters and ruling over the kings of the earth. According to “The Preacher”, Osiris was the Egyptian god of the Nile. The Nile itself was revered as the “Father of Life” or the “Father of the gods”.  The Almighty God was judging the chief god of the Egyptian when he turned the water of the Nile into blood.

The revulsion of the Egyptians from the blood and consequently from the Nile, became a revulsion from their god.  The god of the Nile was thus starved of worship and starved, “the old lion (perished) for lack of prey and the stout lion’s whelps (were) scattered abroad (Job 4:11)”. This observation of ‘The Preacher’ is consistent with Eze. 29:1-5.

Judith Gleason in her book “Orisha: The Gods of Yoruba land” describes the goddess Yemoja as the “mother of all waters and all orishas (gods”) (compare to Osiris above). Among the 16 gods she mothered were Oya (River Nile), Oshun, Olokun, Ogun and Shango. In a citation, Yemoja is quoted as declaring “Here and there, I have infused various waters with my sacred energy, but it is at Abeokuta I flow most freely!” Oya (River Niger) is described as Shango’s favorite wife, a northerner and cousin of Olokun, the head of the sea kingdom. She is recorded to have once enlisted the help of Eshu (Satan the great confuser) to defeat Shango when she had a disagreement with him. It appears very strongly from the foregoing that dealing with the spirits operating from our seas and rivers is a major strategy in dealing with the powers behind the thrones of kingdoms. This is the strategy God used against Pharaoh as recorded in Ezekiel 29:1-10 and 32:1-8. This strategy is especially relevant to us in Nigeria which is named after the River Niger (=Oya in Yoruba, Kwara in Nupe, Kogi in Hausa etc.) and which has more than two-thirds of her states named after one river or the other.

5.0 LEVIATHAN AND RAHAB

Two demonic powers residing in rivers explicitly described in the Bible are Leviathan and Rahab.

• The Leviathan Spirit: (see Job 4:1, Ps. 74:13-14, Ps. 104: 25-29, Isa. 27:1, Eze. 29:3-5 and 32:1-6. described as a serpent, dragon, reptile (monster) in the sea, symbol of nations oppressing Israel (GNB). Egypt is compared to it. It is only God that subdue it and God deals with it by his sword (Isa. 27:1), by withdrawing His spirit from it (Ps. 104:26-29), by putting hooks in its jaws and drawing it out in the wilderness (Eze. 29:3-5) and by drawing it up in His net and leaving it on land (Eze. 32. 1-5)
• Rahabic spirit (See Ps. 87:4, 89:9-10, Isaiah 30:7, 51:9-10 GNB, NIV, KJV): Rahab is another name for Egypt and according to Cruden's, Rehab means “Insolence, fierceness”. Rahab was also the name of the harlot, who like Ishmael was not originally meant to be partaker of the Promise, came into the promise (Heb. 11:31, Gen. 17:18-21). Like Ishmael (Gel 4:23-31)(Egypt) persecuted and oppressed the Israel of promise until God bare his hands cut Rahab apart (Isaiah 51:9), broke it into pieces as one slain (Ps. 89:10) and dried up the sea to allow his redeemed to pass (Isa. 51:10, Exo. 14:26-28). By the time God finished dealing with the insolent Egyptian river spirit Rahab, it became known as Rahab-Hem-Shebeth, Meaning “Rahab sits idle”, “Rahab-do-nothing” or the “Harmless dragon!” (Isa. 30:7, NKJV, GNB, NIV)

6.0 JOSEPH ON THE THRONE?

An interesting scenario is described in Gen. 41:40-43, which gives insight on the power behind thrones. Pharaoh exalted Joseph to be in charge of the whole land of Egypt but firmly declared “Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you”. In other words even though an Israelite, “a Christian”, a wise and discreet person, a righteous man was on the throne, the real power behind the throne still belonged to Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt.  As pointed out by “The Preacher” the throne of Pharaoh remained dormant for a season until “a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph” rose again in full force to persecute and oppress God’s people. That a “Christian” or a good man is on the throne does not guarantee that the throne will be established in righteousness and justice. Except the gods (spirits) behind the throne are effectively dealt with, the powers will continue to negatively influence and eventually consume or overthrow the “godly president”.  The good president will only be there in transition in the interim while the forces behind the thrones recharged and re-assert their power and authority.  As “the Preacher” warned, what is happening on the throne should not distract us from what should happen to the gods behind the throne and to the throne itself.

7.0 DEALING WITH THRONES OF NATIONS.

Deductible from the foregoing, the following steps are essential in dealing effectively with thrones of nations so that the kingdoms of this world may become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.

1. We need to identify by God’s Spirit the powers behind the throne Eph. 6:12
2. We need to constantly cry out to God about our oppression and suffering to provoke Him to intervene in our situation. Exo. 3:7, Isa. 62:1-7, Daniel Chapter 9, Psalm 74.
3. As we do (b) above, God will bare his mighty arms (Isa. 52:1), open his armory (Jer. 50:25) and deal with the powers behind the throne (Exo. 12:12, Num. 33:4,Isa. 19:1). He will pull out the wheels of the chariots, and overthrow Pharaoh, his horses, the riders, the drivers & whole army (Exo. 14:24-28.
4. We will deploy the weapons of our warfare (2 Cor. 10:45) to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow the physical and spiritual thrones of nations and kingdoms (Jer. 1:10)
5. We can then build and plant and establish a new throne, the throne of God (Jer. 1:10c).

As recommended by “The Preacher”, we should take note and deal with thrones ancient and throne modern, thrones defunct and thrones extinct, thrones physical and thrones spiritual; thrones as apparently innocuous and inconsequential as those of administrative offices or positions on the job.

8.0  THE THRONES OF NBIGERIA.

Two demonic spirits can be identified as the main powers behind the thrones of Nigeria, which the Church must deal with, for Nigeria to fulfill God’s purpose for her:

• The spirit of the horse and its rider – the spirit of the caliphate.
• The spirit of Rahab and Leviathan

The spirit of the horse and its rider is the spirit of Egypt, the spirit of persecution and oppression, the spirit of the bond woman, the caliphate spirit. In Ps.74 which the Good News Bible titles “A Prayer for Nation Deliverance,” and the New King James Version titles “A plea for relief from oppressors”, the Bible talks of the oppressors setting up their standard (banners, flags) as signs.  The following standards of the spirit of the horse and the rider bestride our nation psyche:-

• The historically documented return of the scepter of the Caliphate by the British at eve of independence.
• The colors of the national flag (Green & White) which Nigeria shares with Islamic countries such as Libya, Saudi Arabia Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria.
• The name of our currency – Naira which is an Arabic (Egyptian) name.
• The Arabic inscriptions on the naira
• The Federal Capital named after the Caliphate rule of the old Abuja (now Suleja).
• The horses (symbol of war/strength of caliphate) on our coats of arms.
• The dome at top of new National Assembly

The spirits of Rahab and Leviathan have earlier been described (See section 5). They are the man spirit operating in the rivers of Nigeria to control the thrones of Nigeria, the states and tribes named after these rivers. We need to provoke God to deal with these spirits as highlighted in section 5. It must be stressed that the battle for the thrones of Nigeria is not carnal, nor is our warfare by using human weapons, or by politics. We are not called to fight or hate out non-Christian neighbors but to love them. The battle is spiritual, that the kingdom of this world may become the kingdoms of our LORD and his Christ (See Psalm 2, Psalm 110, II Cor. 10:4-5, Eph. 1:19-21, Phil. 9-11 & Col 1:16

9.0 LET US PRAY

1. Continually intercede that the LORD bare his arm in Nigeria as he did in Egypt, and unleash his armory against the horse and the riders of Nigeria; and against Rahab and Leviathan of its various waters.  Ask God to shake Nigeria according to Haggai 2:22.
2. Pray Isaiah 62 for the church and yourself. Ask Him to make you one of his watchmen who will give Him no rest until he makes Nigeria praise on earth.
3. Ask God to open his books that the church understands the times. As God to raise Daniels and Issachars in Nigeria (Dan. 9:1, 1Chro. 12:32).
4. Interceded that the throne of Nigeria will not consume the incumbent President.

10.0 BENEDICTION

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there was voice in heaven saying” The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever! Amen. Rev. 11:5

“O house of Jacob, Come and lest us walk in the light of the Lord” Isaiah 2:5

11.0 REFERENCES for further reading

1. Abati Reuben. The color is Islam. The Guardian on Sunday April 4, 1999.  Page 14
2. Gleason Judith. Orisha: The gods of Yoruba land. Atheneun 1971. New York 122pp
3. Healing the waters of Nigeria. Lampstand Letters Vol. 1 Nos. 4 & 5. December 1998 U.I. 4150 Ibadan
4. The throne of David. The Preacher No. 191 May 1996. 10974 Port-Harcourt
5. Thrones. The Preacher No. 192 June 1996 10974 Port Harcourt
6. The throne of Jeroboam. The preacher No. 194 August 1996 P.O. Box 10974 Port Harcourt Nigeria

GOD’S WISDOM AND ARMOURY

1.0   INTRODUCTION

Strategic planning to gain pre-battle positional advantage; and tactical deployment of armaments during the real battle are two established components of any warfare.  In this edition of the Lampstand Letters, we examine God’s strategic wisdom manifested in placing Christ in a position that is above all rule, authority, power and dominion, name and title (Eph. 1:19-21).  We also examine God’s armory as revealed to job, highlighting some of the lesser known/used armaments available to the church in spiritual warfare.

God is recruiting “a great army” “like the arm of God”, “made up of men expert in war with all weapons of war” to turn the kingdom of this world to become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. (I Chro. 12:22-28; Rev. 11:15).  It is therefore essential for us to know the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe).  Eph. 1:17-23).

2.0 WISDOM IN WARFARE

One of the most profound scripture is recorded in Prov. 21:22.  “A wise man attacks the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust”.  In the April 199 edition of the Lampstand Letters, the subject of strongholds and dealing with strongholds were treated.  Our commission as the church is to ultimately bring all strongholds, thrones, dominion, rule and power under the control of Christ.  God’s purpose is to reconcile and bring the universe back to himself through the Lordship of Christ (Col. 1: 15-20).  The Apostle Paul refers to this as the mystery of God’s will... which he purposed in Christ... to bring all things in heaven together under Christ (Eph. 1:9-10).  The purpose of this mystery according to Eph. 3:1-11 is that the “manifold wisdom of God - might be made known... to principalities and powers...

We need the wisdom of God to do the works of God.  Our weapons of warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). Men of God in the Old Testament manifested God’s wisdom to subdue satanic strongholds.  Joshua’s was manifested in subduing the stronghold of Jericho through spiritual walks.  (Joshua 5:13- 6:27).  God’s wisdom was recognized by the Egyptians as the “finger of God” during Moses time (Exo. 8:19 and 14:24-25). For Gideon, it was manifested through a dream, trumpets, jars and torches (Judges 7:9-25).

In Jehosaphat’s case it was through praise (2 Chronicles 20). Paul prayed for spiritual wisdom for the church, that we might know the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe (Eph. 1:15-23) He talked of revelations which in other ages was not made known to sons of men, as it is now been revealed (Ephesians 3:5).  In this article, attention is drawn to some of the weapons of warfare which God in his wisdom deploys in His warfare.  Attention will be focused on the Book of Job Chapter 38 to 41, with cross references to other verses where the use of these weapons of warfare is mentioned.

3.0 THE NATURE OF WISDOM

The totality of God’s wisdom is manifested in bringing all things in heaven and on earth (including men) in obedience to God’s statues, laws and decrees (see Deut. 4:5-6).  When the bible says the fear of God is the beginning (or basis) of wisdom, it talks of a man whose lifestyle is based on bringing God’s will to pass in all.

Wisdom is a way (Job 20:23), a journey to a destination, the fear of God being just the beginning (or basis).  It is a lifestyle, a virtue God himself is the source and the giver of (Ezra 7:25).  Since God is a Spirit, wisdom is a spirit, and flows from the heart (Eph. 1:17; Col. 1:9; Isa. 11:2; Prov. 2:10).  It is an intuition, a spiritual insight.  There is the wisdom of God, and the wisdom of the world (l Cor. 1:20, 2:5-7).  The contrasting characteristics of both are highlighted in James 3:13-17.  God’s wisdom is a secret (l Cor. 2:7; Job 28) and is manifested in skill, discernment, insight and discretion to those He gives (Exodus 31:3, 6 and 36:1; I King 3:9, 12). Although wisdom is a secret and is hidden it can be got either through the free grace of God, or by finding (seeking) out (Prov.2:2-6, 3:13).  In the physical and spiritual battles of life, the benefits of wisdom include protection, victory, long life, favor, riches; honor, glory, pleasantness, peace, straight paths etc. (see Proverbs chap. 2 to 4).

4.0 CHRIST, THE WISDOM OF GOD

Christ is the greatest mystery of God to Satan, his host and to the world.  The birth of Christ was a mystery to Satan and Herod, his physical principality (Matthew chap. 2). His life on earth was a mystery to Satan and the people (John chapters 6 to 9).  His death on the cross is still a great puzzle to the rulers of this age (1 Cor. 2:7-8).  His present ministry and imminent return remains a mystery which will be accomplished in the days when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet (Rev. 10:7). Jesus Christ is God’s trump card.  He is the wisdom and power of God. In his origin, his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, his present intercessory ministry and his imminent return he is all the fullness of God’s wisdom and power (see I Cor. 1:18-28, Eph. 1:17-23: Col. 1:15-20).  
Indeed Christ is God mystery, the key that opens all the hidden treasure of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:2-3).

The clue to the mystery of Christ being God’s power and wisdom can be garner from Col. 1:15-20:

1. He is the exact likeness of the invisible omnipotent, omnipresent God.
2. He is the first born son existed before God made anything at all” (Col. 1:15 GNB) see Prov. 8:22-31.
3. He is superior to all created things.
4. He is the creator of all things (including angels, Satan, demons, beasts, animals, birds, reptiles, the earth, wind, rain - all physical and spiritual kings, kingdoms and creation).
5. All/every created being/thing was created through Christ and for Christ.
6. He existed before all things.
7. It is through His power (active, permissive or otherwise) that all things are held together in their proper place.  It is by His power and will that all things are what they.
8. He has the church has the most potent army in the world with him as the Commander.
9. As the firstborn, he is heir and inheritor of all things that are and exist.
10. Because he resurrected, he had the full right to preeminence, the first place, the supreme position, in all things.
11. It is God’s pleasure and decision that all attributes that makes God supreme will reside in Christ.
12. It is God’s master plan to Christ will reconcile all things that Satan has turned against God, back to God.

5.0   CREATION AS WEAPONS OF WARFARE

The implication of the foregoing is that it  is only that thing/being that is not created by God, that can withstand or refuse to obey Christ’s cause or command - whether they be demons, powers, rulers, living or non-living being.  They all constitute God’s armory Col. l: 15:18; Heb. 2:10-15; Rev. 4:11.  As his army, the church has the right to deploy any and every of these things as arsenal in battle, as led by His spirit. Herein lies the ignorance of the church, for while Satan and his physical agents have learnt the secret of deploying and controlling created things (e.g. the rain, the wind, river spirits, bees, snakes, thunder, lightning, beasts etc.) to serve the cause of Satan, the church walks in ignorance of these principles.  Indeed God’s people perish for lack of knowledge.

6.0.    GOD’s REVELATION TO JOB

The chapters 38 to 41 records for us God’s revelation of himself, his counsel, wisdom and power to man job. Job. (In Chapter 37, Elihu by inspiration has also spoken of God).  Two points need to be borne in mind as we expound on these revelations. First, the book of Job is described by Bible scholars as the oldest book (revelation) of the Bible. Hence it is not strange that we now know the answers to some of the questions which Job had no answer to (e.g. Gestations of goats Job 48:1-2 or the taming of wild ox 48:9-12). Secondly the Bible stated that some revelations are reserved for our own age (Rom. 16:25-26, 1Cor2:6-12, Eph 3:5, 9, 1Pet 1:12). Accordingly, it is to be expected that God will give to the church in this generation to know more fully the secret of these mysteries (1Cor. 2:12, Deut. 29:29, Prov 25:2). God’s controversy with Job were based on Job’s ignorance of his wisdom, his knowledge and sovereignty (Job 38:2, 40:2, 42:1-5, Clear from his conservation was that God revealed more of himself to Job. It is God’s will that we understand by His spirit the things freely given to us (1 Cor. 2:12). He challenge us to listen to, apply our heart to, call out for, cry aloud for, look for and search for wisdom, understanding  wisdom (the fear of the Lord), and find His knowledge (Prov. 2:2-6). Every act, principle and precept of the Scriptures is for our understanding and application.

7.0    GOD’S ARMOURY

God has an armory.  In Jer. 50:25, the Lord declared “I have opened the place (arsenal -NIV; armory NKJV) where my weapons are stored, and in my anger I have taken them out, because I, the sovereign Lord Almighty, have work to do in Babylonia! (TEV). Amen. In the conversation with Job, the Lord reveals some living and non-living weapons of war which can “take orders” (job 38:12) “shake the wicked out of the earth” (38:13) are reserved for times of trouble and days of war and battle” (38:23). “Can be sent on their way” (38:35) “and cannot stand still when the trumpet (of war) are sounded” (39:24). He talks of the laws of heavens and setting up God’s dominion over the earth” (38:33). Let us now attempt to highlight some of the weapons of war with other relevant scriptures (few other relevant scriptures (Read Job Chapter 38-40 Also Psalm 104 and 148).

1. The whirlwind: vehicle of God’s physical presence and intervention (Job 38:1, Isa 66:15, Jer.4:13, Nahum 1:3-6, Zech. 9:14)
2. His creature power in laying the foundations pillars, dimension and cornerstone of the earth (Job 38:4-6, Ps. 104:3-5)
3. The stars (sons of God) (Job 38:7, Judges 5:20 Isa. 40:26 (TEV)
4. The angels(sons of God) Job 38:7; Hebrews 1:14; Judges 5:23, 2 Kings 19:35, 2Chro.32:20-21)
5. The gates, womb, boundary and waves of the sea. (Job38:8-11, 16; Judges 5:21; Ps 89:9-10; Ps 93:4, 104:6-9, Matt. 8:26).
6. The clouds (Job 38:9, 34; 37; Exodus 13:21; Job 3:5, Ps. 68:34, 78:23, 78:23; Isa. 5:6)
7. Light and darkness (Job 38:8 15; 19-21; 18:5-6, 74-16, Exodus 10:21-23, Rev. 6:12, Eze. 22:7-
8. The morning (Job. 38:12-13, Gen. 19:15-27, Exo. 10:13, 14:27; Isa. 17:14; Jer. 21:12; Ps. 101:8)
9. The deep (Job 38:16,Gen 7:11,Is 51:10)
10. Death and the gates (shadows) of death (Job 38:17,Ps 55:15,Ezekiel 28:1-10,Rev. 2:23, 6:8)
11. The earth and Earthquake (Job 38:18,Exo. 15:12,Judges 5:4 -5,2 Sam 22:8,Is 29:6)
12. The treasures of snow and of  hail (Job 38:22 -23,Ps. 147:15 -18; Is 30:30;Exo. 9:18 -26;Jos10:11; Ezek.13:11-13;Rev 16:21)
13. The East wind (Job 38:24,Ps 148:8;Gen 41:6,23;Exo.10:13-21;Isa.27:8;Ezek. 27:26-27)
14. Lightning and thunder (Job 38:25,35;Ps. 18:14;Ps. 29;Job 37:1-4)
15. Rain(Job 38:25-28;Ps.147:8;Jer. 14:22;Ezek. 38:22)
16. Ice and frost (Job 38:29-30;Ps. 78:47;147:15-18)
17. The stars Pleiades, Orion and the constellations(twelve signs) (Job 9:9;Judges 5:20;Amos 5:8) The ordinances (laws) of the heaven (the skies) (Job 38:33; Jer. 31:35-36; 33:25; Ps. 104:19-23;148:6; Prov.3:19). Apart from these natural and supernatural features and weapons of war, animals, beasts, birds and reptiles are mentioned as God’s weaponry. They include:
    
    1. Lions (Job 38:39, 1 Kings 13:24; 2 Kings 17:25-26; Isa. 15:9)
    2. Ravens (Job 38:41, 1 King 17:4-6; Prov. 30:17).
    3. The (wild) goat (Job 39:1-4, Lev. 16; Prov. 30:17).
    4. Wild donkey (Job 39:5-8, Numbers 22:23-33, Judges 15:15-17, Matt. 21:2-7).
    5. Wild ox (unicorn) Job 39:99-12; Ps. 22:21, 92:10; Duet 33:17)
    6. Ostrich (Job. 39:13-18; Isa 13:20-22)
    7. Horses (Job 39:19-25, Zech. 1:8-11; 6:2-8, Rev. 6:1-8) Horses are particularly symbolic of war and battle.
    8. Hawks Job 39:26).
    9. Eagle (Job 39:27-30).
    10. Behemoth (Job 40, 15-24)
    11. Leviathan (Job 41; Ps 74:14, 104:26; Isa. 27:1).

Whether figuration or actual the most important principle from all the above is that God can does use any (and everything) created (living or non-living) for his purpose to subdue his enemies.  This fact is acceptable to us today in these last days. God will, through the prayers and prophetic actions of the church, unleash all the weaponry of his armory against Satan and his hordes. This is a truth represented by the opening of the seventh seals and the sounding of the seven trumpets in Revelation Chapter 8 onwards.

8.0    CONLUSION

I Chronicles from chapter 11 to 12 lists the mighty men who together with all Israel, strengthen themselves with David to make him king according to the word of the Lord (I Chro. 11:10). They were described as mighty men of valor, trained to battle, able to handle the shield and spear (1 Chro. 12:8). The word of the Lord has spoken of Christ waiting in heaven till the church brings him back as King of kings and Lord of Lords(Ps. 110:1-3, 1Cor. 15:23-28: 1Thess. 4:16-17, Matt Chapters 24-25 Rev. 19:1-21) for he must reign till all his enemies are made his footstool.

The days of the sounding of the 7th angel when the mystery of God will be finished is at hand. (Rev. 10:7). God is choosing and preparing volunteers, and conscripts who will turn the kingdom of this world over from Satan to Christ (Ps. 110:3, 1 Chro. 12:23, Rev 11:15). They will be men “armed for battle, designated by name to come and make Jesus King, experienced by name to come and make Jesus King, experienced soldiers prepared for battle with every type of weapon

9.0 LET US PRAY

1. Pray Eph. 1:17-23 regularly for yourself and the church
2. Ask God to teach you His wisdom and teach you to handle every weapon of war in His armory relevant to you, your ministry and your situation.

10.0 BENEDICTION

How many are your work o Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” Ps. 104:25.

MOUNTAINS, STRONGHOLDS AND EARTHQUAKES

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Towards the end of last year, I had a leading to do a number of articles on the spiritual significance of natural features such as rivers, the sea, mountains, valleys and the desert.  The first of such article was the well-received December 1998 issue of Lampstand Letters titled “Healing the Waters of Nigeria”.

In February 1999, a Cameroonian sister who came to Nigeria for her university education had a thanksgiving service at the Chapel of Missions, Oke-Ado, Ibadan.  Towards the end of her university education, she had been exposed to missions and decided to attend the CMF School of Missions Idere Oyo State, graduating in December 1998.  As she was being prayed for at the thanksgiving/commissioning service, the Lord gave me the following prophesy about Cameroon:

"There shall be an eruption on the mountains of Cameroon.  The powers that hold the peoples in captivity shall be broken.  The covering of darkness that watch over the land shall be removed... At that time shall there be an opportunity for the gospel in the and as never before...”

As I received and passed the prophesy to the Pastor who read it out at the service, I had a leading to do an issue of the Lampstand Letters on mountains and strongholds for either April or May 1999.

2.  MOUNT CAMEROON IN THE NEWS

On Saturday March 28 1999, I tuned to the BBC African Service and a news item caught my attention - there had indeed being an earthquake on Mount Cameroon!  The news item was confirmed by the Voice of America (VOA) bulletin thirty minutes later. Subsequent radio and newspaper reports including the Vanguard of 5th April 1999 gave details of the eruption.

The eruption occurred earlier in the day on the 28th and coincided with the death of the local chief of the Buya people of Cameroon, just as the last eruption 17 years ago (in 1982) did. According to the local people of the Bakweri, ethnic group, the death of local traditional chief Monono Otto provoked the eruption of the scared mountains which they refer to as the “chariots of the gods”.

The eruption was accompanied by average tremors seismic activity, lava flow, ash, gas and smoke emission.  “Fountain as fire” was seen from a distance the next day.  Although the Mount Cameroon has erupted seventeen (17) times in the past two centuries (the last ones in 1982 and 1977), this was the first time its eruption was accompanied by an earthquake.  The lava was slowly moving and just 4 kilometers from the villages of Batoke and Bakingile.  The whole Cameroon landscape includes Lake Nyos, which erupted in the 80’s, and the Bakassi oil fields were at risk.

3.0   MOUNTAINS

A study of the eternal scriptures shows that mountain is symbolic of some three main phenomena.

1. Mountains are altars, holy sacred places of fellowship, retreat and meeting with God; where God speaks.  Answers are got to prayers, blessing s and curses invoked.  Abraham (Gen. 22), Moses (Exodus. 3 & 34), Israelites (Exodus 19 etc.), Elijah (I King s 19:11-12 and 2 Kings 2:16) and Christ and his disciples Matt 14:23, Luke 21:37, 22:39 etc.) were among those who found mountains as alters of fellowship with God.  The Garden of Eden where God started fellowship with man was a holy mountain (Ezekiel 28:13-14) David’s national temple was situated on a mountain (2 Chronicles. 3:1), while Christ was transfigured and ascended into heaven on a mountain (Luke 9:28:36, Acts 1:9-12).  Although mountains are still symbolic as retreats and sacred altars where men can meet with God, Christ’s teaching to the Samaritan woman in John 4:20-24 tells us that God is a Spirit, Omnipresent, who o desires worship everywhere and anywhere, as long as the worship is in “spirit and in truth” (2 Corinthians. 3:17).
2. Mountains are strongholds of Satan and enemies.  The Promised Land was to be got by displacing the giants of the land (Deut. 1:19-20, Josh. 14:12). Mountains are symbolic as mighty nations used by Satan against God’s purposes (Jeremiah. 51:25, Dan 2:31-45, Zech. 4:7). They are also thrones for principalities and powers (Rev. 17:9).  The throne of God is also describes as a mountain (Isaiah 14:13) while Satan took Christ to “a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdom of the world in their greatness” which were in Satan’s power (Matt. 4:8-10).  Mountains are also places where demonic altars are built (see 4.0 below).
3. Mountains are places for spiritual warfare where God displays his power, and judges his enemies (see Psalm 76).  Moses won the victory over the Amalekites and his men on the hill (Exodus 17:8-16) a Caleb drove out the Amalekites from their hill country (Josh. 14:12). Mountains were places where the Israelites deployed troops and started attacks (Judges4: 6, 7:1-3 and 9:48).  Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Ball was on mount Carmel I Kings 18. When Elisha prayed for the opening of his servant’s eyes, he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round (2 King 6:17). Isaiah 13 describes a noise on the mountains when God masses together his army for war (verse 3-4). On mount Perazim, the Lord broke out against David’s enemies (Isaiah 28:21,I Chronicles. 14:11). In many scriptures, mountains are described as “quaking” “gushing”,” trembling”, “smoking”, “shaking and “melting” when the Lord comes down and intervene in the affairs of nations (Judges 5:5,Ps 97,104:32,Ps 114:5-6, Isaiah 64:1-3, Micah 1:3-4).  The scriptures are not talking just of the physical trembling or smoking as recently happened on mount Cameroon, but the shakings, displacement or destruction of the powers and thrones residing on the mountain (Isaiah 13,14:13-15, Haggai 2:21-23, Zech. 4:7). Mountains are meant to be conquered (Isaiah 40:4, 4l: 14-16, Jeremiah. 5l: 25-26 and Matt 21:21), to the intent that the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be the highest one of all, towering above all his (Isaiah 2:2).

4.0 STRONGHOLDS

1. Strongholds are fortified territory under the control of one king or dominion or the other.  The land of Canaan was a stronghold of spiritual giants and Moses commissioned a spiritual mapping to find out the strength and condition of the giants (Numbers 13:17-20, 27-33).  Jerusalem was a stronghold of the Jebusites before David and his men conquered it and made it his capital (2 Samuel 5:6-9).  Strongholds fall before the Babylonian army of Habakkuk 1:1-10, while 2 Corinthians 1:4 gives us the ministry of demolishing strongholds.
2. Mountains are symbolic as strongholds.  In biblical days, mountains were notorious as sites of demonic altars before and after the Israelites conquered the land.  As they possessed the land, God gave them specific instructions to completely destroy such places (Deut. 12:1-3), but more often than not such places not only remained, but the Israelites adopted their worship, thus stirring up God’s jealousy (I Kings 14:22-24, 2 Kings 16:3-4, Isaiah 65:7,Jer. 17:1-2).  In many parts of Africa today, demonic altars are built on mountains to serve Satan, re-enforce his hold on the peoples by annual sacrifices and renewed a covenants.
3. Villages, towns and cities, which such mountains overlook, are under the influence and control of the gods, which have altars on the mountains.  It was this principle that Balak wanted to exploit when he consequectively led Balaam to high mountains, built altars on them and offered costly sacrifices to be able to influence and control the Israelites downhill (see Numbers 22:39-41, 23:1-3, 13-15,28-29).  Until such strongholds are demolished, the altars cast down, the sacrifices stopped and covenants annulled; such places will continue to be under the stronghold of Satan, in spite of any missionary or evangelical activity.  Our ministry as intercessors and prayers is to demolish every stronghold, and open up the people to the true knowledge of God (2 Corinthians. 10:4).  Sometimes, God takes the initiative to start the destruction of such mountains and strongholds, leaving his people to do the mopping up physical possession.  Such an opportunity now avail itself in the Cameroons where God is destroying the powers that have held that land in bondage, that his true light and gospel may spread to the land.

5.0 EARTHQUAKES

The Bible repeatedly indicated that earthquakes occur when God is angry with his enemies and decides to intervene in the affair of the earth (Job 9:5-6, Psalm 18:7-15,104:32, Ps 114, Nahum 1:1-10, Habakkuk 3:3-6, Rev. 16:17-20).  In Jeremiah 51:25-29, Babylon was likened to a mountain that destroys the earth” (TEV) and that “I, the Lord am you enemy... to level it the ground and leave it in ashes” (verse 25).  Verse 29 tells us the earth shakes and trembles because God is carrying out his plans against Babylonia.  In Ezekiel 38, Gog is described as an instrument of God but when he invaded Israel, God became angry and furious, sending an earthquake, causing molten lava to emit from the mountains of Israel against Gog (Verse 18-23). From Isaiah 29:5-7, the bible lists earthquakes with thunderstorms, windstorms and raging fires as instrument of punishment of his enemies and rescuing of his people.  Matt. 24:7 suggests that earthquake accompany physical and spiritual warfare while Acts 16:25-26 records the earthquake that set Paul and Silas, unlawful captives of the enemy, free Zech. 14 describes the day of the Lord, when he comes to reign, after defeating nations that fight Jerusalem.  

Earthquakes (verse 3-5) will be a major instrument of his intervention to the intent that survivors from all nations will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the Lord of host, to celebrate a time of thanksgiving (verse 16).

6.0   PROPHESYING TO MOUNTAINS

Three passages in the scriptures - Ezekiel 6, Ezekiel 36 and Micah 6-record specific prophetic declarations concerning mountains.  While Ezekiel 6 is a judgment against idolatry in the high places of Israel, Ezekiel 36 is a proclamation of blessings and renewal to Israel and judgment against her enemies.  Micah 6 is a contention with Israel about her backsliding. These passages are self-explicit.  Worthy of note is that mountains hills, ravines and valleys Ezekiel. 6:3, 36:4) like every other thing “living or non-living” God created, can hear the word of the Lord, obey the word, and bring to pass the Lord’s mind concerning his people.  Let us learn to put up our prophetic garb, and as led by His Spirit we speak to everything that God has created, to bring blessing to God’s people and judgment to their (and His) enemies.  Amen.

7.0 DEALING WITH STRONGHOLDS

Strongholds are meant to be captured.  David (I Sam. 5:6-9) and Caleb (Joshua 14:10-12, 15:13-17) demonstrated this.  See also Joshua 6 & 16:14-18). Today many sincere Christian missionaries and evangelists spent a lot of natural and spiritual resources trying to reach tribes, towns, villages and cities for the Lord without dealing with the strongholds (See section 3b and 4.0).  The result is a lot of frustration.  If Joshua had wanted to capture Jericho by conventional warfare tactics, the result could have been worse that of the first attempt at capturing Ai.  Paul and Silas could not have been delivered from prison or the jailer’s family becomes Christians if the strongholds had not been dealt with first by prayers and praises.  Yes, captives will be taken from warriors and plunder retrieved from the fierce (Isaiah 49:24-25).  A wise man attacks the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust (Prov.21: 22).  Nations, tribes, villages, towns and cities which have been stronghold of Satan and idolatry are waiting for the manifestations of the wisdom of God, to pull down their walls and set their captives free. From the foregoing, below are some of the processes of dealing with strongholds.

1. Like Joshua, we must recognize that the Lord   himself is the commander of the hosts, and must learn to take instructions from him (Joshua 5:13-15).
2. The general and specific leading of the Holy Spirit is an indispensable tool (Joshua 6:2-5, Zech. 4:6-7).
3. Faith courage and confidence in God’s promise is a necessary attitude (Joshua 14:10-12, I Sam. 5:6-9).
4. Righteousness and right living are needed to prevent the hedge from being broken (Zech. 3:1-6, Joshua Chapter 7, Ecclesiastes. 10:8).
5. Spiritual mapping and identification of such strongholds (Numbers 13, Acts 17:16, 23).  The strongholds are normally in form of altars for worship on mountains, valleys, riverside, trees, junctions and cross paths, burial grounds etc.
6. Strategic prophetic spiritual walks, praise and warfare on such places as led by the Lord (Joshua 6, 2 Chronicles. and Acts 16:25-26).
7. Prophetic declarations on such strongholds or to such strongholds (Numbers 22:41, 23:13, 24:27-28; Ezekiel 6, Ezekiel 36, Micah 6).  You may ask for the ministry of the hammers (carpenters) that scatter the horns (Zech. 6:1-8) and the hunters and fishermen Jeremiah. 16:16) against God’s enemies.
8. Any other processes known to you, or ministered to you, to the intent that in this present age, by means of the church, the (angelic) rulers and powers in high places might learn God’s wisdom in all its different forms (Eph. 3:10).

8.0   CONCLUSION

All things were created by God to glorify Christ (Col. 1:15). Unfortunately like Satan could boldly tell Christ these things have been given to him and he gives to any he wishes (Mt 4:8-9), these things have become demonic strongholds today, with altars on them for the worship of demons. The whole of creation travail and groan, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19-23), that we destroy strongholds, pull down every obstacle raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive and obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians. 10:4-5), in order that at the present time, by means of the church, angelic rulers and powers in high places might hear Christ’s wisdom in all its different forms.  The recent earthquake upon Mount Cameroon is a shaking of the powers that hold the people captive against God’s will. On “this” mountain, the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine - the best of meats and finest of wines. “On this mountain” the Lord will destroy the shroud that enfolds the people of Cameroon, the sheet that covers the nation. (Isaiah 25:6-12).  He will destroy the hold of African Traditional Religion, communalism and the worship of the Queen of heaven (Catholism) over Cameroon.  He will cause the weapons of war over the Bakassi to be beaten into ploughshares of peace.  There will be a highway of peace between Nigeria and Cameroon, not for the trafficking of weapons of war or of merchandise but for the trafficking of the gospel. And a remnant shall grow in Cameroon from its root bearing, fruitful branches of disciples to the Central African Region.  Amen

9.0 LET US PRAY

1. Do a spiritual mapping of your hometown, environment or mission field.  Apply the principles of section 7 i to viii to reclaim, dedicate and free the land and its people for the Lord.
2. Aso Rock and Zuma rock in the FCT are strongholds of symbolic spiritual significance over Nigeria.  Pray over them according to the principles learnt in this letter.
3. Ask that the earthquakes and eruptions over the Mountains of Cameroon will continue until the powers holding that land in bondage are completely dealt with.  Ask that the hammers (carpenters) of the Lord will destroy the horns of the “Monono Ottos” of the land (Zech. 1:18-21).
4. Ask that the church in Nigeria and Cameroon will take up the opportunity availed by the opening up of the land due to the shaking of its powers (Isaiah 25).
5. Pray for the evangelists and missionaries that you know, that they have the heart of Joshua, Caleb and David, manifesting the wisdom of God in praise, prayer and prophetic declarations over mountains and strongholds in their fields.  Ask that Zech. 14 be fulfilled in their ministries.
6. Read and prophesy Isaiah chapter 2 and Micah 4 over the land.
7. Pray against the strongholds of your life.

10.0 BENEDICTION

O earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the Lord!  The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth.  The mountain smelt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down the slope”.  (Jeremiah 22:29, Micah 1:3-4, Isaiah 2:2-4).