Divinity Questions and Answers

08 Jan, 2017 - 00:01 0 Views

The Sunday News

Divinity Digest, Witness Dingani
“False prophecy was a problem among the Israelites.” How is this applicable in the Zimbabwean society? (25)

COMMENT OVERVIEW

The above question requires one to indicate that false prophecy was indeed a problem in Israel. In Israel they were a number of so many unauthentic prophets, including the following.

(a) Zedekiah

(b) Hanniah

(c) Shemmaih

(d) The Baal prophets

False prophecy was a problem in Israel, this created religious disorder. In Zimbabwean context media has recorded so many ungenuine prophets bringing problems politically, socially and economically. On this ongoing discussion the writer seeks to demonstrate that false prophecy is a problem in Zimbabwe.

SUGGESTED ANSWERS

False prophecy led to religious confusion among the Israelites. It is believed that the Israelites due to Baalism started to practice syncretism and apostasy. (Syncretism refers to mixing two or more religions whereas apostasy refers to abandoning your own religion adopting the pagan religion). It should not be ignored that during the days of Ahab, Jezebel his wife brought Baalism from Tyre that caused people to be confused on which was the exact religion. This is evidenced by the words of Elijah during the Mt Carmel Contest which are recorded in 1st Kings 18:21.

“How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.

It is evident enough that people were confused. In the 8th Century during the days of Amos people also faced religious confusion, this is supported by Amos 5:26.

In Zimbabwean context, it is recoded by media that a number of Zimbabweans have been confused due to false prophecy, while others adopt other religions like satanism. This can be further supported by testimonials and manifestations during the church services where people claim that they were confused on which was the genuine prophecy leading them to join satanism unkowingly. All this indicates that problematic of false prophecy is applicable in Zimbabwean context.

The Israelites were confused about genuine prophecy.Perhaps there were many prophets who claimed to be genuine yet they were not. This is seen by the explanation of Moses to the Israelites about false prophecy and true prophecy during the exodus and it is recorded in Due 18:21 “How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?”

During the Ramoth Gilead incident which is recorded in 1st Kings 22:6-22, King Jehoshaphat called another prophet while there was previous prophecy which was delivered by Zedekiah the son of Chennah. What led the king to call another prophet?

Does this mean that he didn’t trust Zedekiah or was he aware of false prophecy which was prevailing?

In Zimbabwean context it has been recorded in media that due to increase of false prophecy in the nation, people have been confused on how to distinguish between true and false prophecy. At some point Zimbabweans have been doubting the predictions of various prophets which did not come to pass. This can be further supported Bulawayo24.com online publication on the 4th of January 2017 which ran a story with the headline “Magaya bitter of social media terrorists” where Magaya was qouted as having said “Social media platforms are being used to spread lies about true prophets”. This clearly indicates that presence of false prophecy created confusion among the Israelites, it is also applicable in Zimbabwean society as the writer highlighted above.

False prophecy led to the death of so many people during the Ramoth Gilead incident because of the false prophecy of Zedekiah who prophesied that Israel was going to win the battle and it gave the army false hope. Zedekiah in this case appears as a false prophet because of fulfilment criterion, his prophecy in 1st Kings 22:11 did not come to pass, hence he can be labelled as a false prophet because of Due 18:22 even though it is a moot among scholars.

The Israelites perished including the King Ahab, this was mostly caused by false prophecy of Zedekiah who later clashed with Micah Ben Imlah. In Zimbabwean context it has been recorded by media that individuals or families have perished after being given false hopes by an authentic/false prophets. It is also evident enough to prove that false prophecy was a problem in Israel as it led to the death of people and it is applicable in our society.

False prophecy promoted disunity among the people. In the 7th Century during the days of Jeremiah they were too many false prophets this include Shemaiah who is recorded in Jeremiah 19:24 and Hananiah in Jeremiah 28:11. The false prophecies of the above prophets were contradictory to the prophecies of Jeremiah who was delivering the message of punishment. The false prophets were anti-Babylonian and the number of the Judahites did not support exile. This means that those who were in support of message of Jeremiah were no longer in good books with the anti-Babylonian candidates because of the previous prophecies either by Hananiah or Shemaiah. In Zimbabwean context , it has been recorded by media that disunity is prevailing among the Zimbabweans because of false prophecies which would have failed to come to pass. Readers can follow local newspapers to find out what is happening in our society].Basing on this it is clear that problematic of false prophecy “disunity” it is applicable in the Zimbabwean society.

The however part

It cannot be ignored that there are some problems which were caused by false prophecy and there are unaplicable in the Zimbabwean society. For instance

a) False prophecy led to the death of political leaders.

Conclusion

Basing on the above analysis it is clear that false prophecy amomg the Israelites was a problem due to the above mentioned problems, it more applicable in Zimbabwean society as the writer mentioned above.

Witness Dingani is an author, columnist, youth coach, radio host, cricketer. He is the founder of a charity organisation Dingani Charity Organisation”. In 2016 he was nominated as the most influential youthful figure in Zimbabwe and was voted on the 8th position out of 15 people by the Pan-Zimbabwe society.

Questions by schools can be submitted through his mobile number +2363777896159 or Email address: [email protected]

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds