SUN & MOON ARE HUSBAND & WIFE

By Akin Ojumu

One of the many reasons the Body of Christ is in such a terrible state today is because the people of God pay lip service to the Bible. The severity of the morbidity of the Church is directly attributable to the de-emphasis on the written Word of God, and a wholesome emphasis on human wisdom, subjective feelings, and unproven experiences. 

Whereas the Bible tells us that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God,” the people are being taught something entirely contrary. Faith now comes from the dreams and visions of apostles and prophets, it comes from sowing all kinds of seeds, it comes from looking at a wand hoisted by the GO, and it comes by sitting on chairs prayed over by the gods of men.

Serious Biblical exegesis has been jettisoned and a total reliance on the Bread of life by which we grow has been thrown out of the window. In their place, covetous heretics employ all manners of gimmickry and greedy charlatans deploy all kinds of trickery. They exploit the ignorant masses with their manufactured fables and fabricated stories which they do to achieve a singular purpose, to get hold of their victims’ money and to get fat on the rewards of their followers’ hard-earned labor.

God’s Word is not an ancient riddle, and biblical exegesis is not a treasure hunt. There is no fundamental Christian doctrine that hasn’t been plainly revealed in Scripture. And yet much of modern scholarship is overrun with people who are so busy excavating deeper meaning that they end up burying the truth right under their noses (Cameron Buettel).

An illustrative example is the self-proclaimed apostle who claimed he went to heaven. As he was shown round, he met John Knox and Abraham who were members of a select committee set up by God to screen Africans for God-knows-what purpose. As you’d have suspected, this apostle was among the 12 people selected by this heavenly committee in the entire African continent.

The thing about charlatans and heretics is, they never end well. The trajectory of the unraveling of heretics follows a similar and familiar path. When the lives of those who teach erroneous doctrines come apart at the seams, it usually proceeds along a predictable pattern. Charlatans often rise from obscurity and within a few short years they ascend to stratospheric heights in ways that cannot be explained. But sooner or later, they are exposed for the sham they are.

At the zenith of their fame, they attract a multitude of followers and amass plenitude of fortunes. Along the way, and as it is wont to be, they quickly get embroiled in all kinds of scandalous brouhaha and are roiled in all manners of hoopla. They are trailed by persistent tale of sexual escapades, and they leave in their wake a trail of corrupt practices. They are known to dabble in dark magic and have been caught consulting with sorcerers to obtain power.

A prototype of a charlatan in Nigeria today is Joshua Iginla. This self-confessed adulterer is a dangerous reef shipwrecking the faith of many. He’s like a cloud blowing over the land without giving any rain. The man is a tree in autumn that is doubly dead, bearing no fruit and pulled up by the roots (Jude 1:12).

Iginla’s emptiness is evident in this message he preached a couple of years ago where he made many outlandish and nonsensical claims. According to the false prophet:

“The sun and the moon are husband and wife. So, if you don't understand the mystery. The moon pushed to birth in the night, the sun shines. Umm! It’s another mystery for another day. And Joseph understands how to control things!!! How to control things!!! Joseph…Joseph penetrated the sun, and hung the sun, captured the moon, captured the starrrsss. So, when Joseph was in charge of the sun all the days of his life he was in control. When he was in charge of the moon, all the night of his life he was in control. When he was in charge of this star, all the shining of life he was in control. So, Joseph understands how to co…how to co…pro…pro…provoke the galaxies, enter into the…in the terrestrial from the immortal realms. He controlled the sun, he controlled the moon.”

As a Christian, it behooves you never to submit yourself under the spiritual authority of a charlatan. It’s critically important that a congregation of Believers chooses their leaders with utmost care. The criteria for Church leadership is clearly laid out in 1 Timothy 3:1-12. 

“If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position.” So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.”

Choosing the right leaders is just the first step for a congregation of believers. For them to grow, they must return to the wholesome teaching of the Bible. The congregation and its chosen leaders must continually teach the Word of Truth accurately. Any church that ignores this injunction, or deviates from it, does so at its own peril.