CHARLATANS CAN’T HIDE BEHIND BIBLICAL APOSTLES & PROPHETS (PART I)

“Stop Equating Modern-Day Charlatans With Elijah”

By Akin Ojumu

Modern believers love to play the “Elijah also ran from Jezebel” card whenever one of their revered “Daddies,” “Mummies,” “Generals,” or “Papa Apostles” is exposed.

The moment the claims of another supposedly invincible spiritual heavyweight begin to collapse under the weight of reality, the defenders rush to social media:

“But Elijah also ran for his life.”

“Peter was persecuted.”

“Paul was beaten and imprisoned.”

“John was exiled to Patmos.”

“And even Jesus Christ was crucified.”

Yes. They will actually place their favorite preacher in the same apologetic sentence as the Lord Jesus Christ—the eternal Son of God, the Creator of heaven and earth—in order to rescue their celebrity minister from embarrassment.

That alone tells you something about how distorted the entire system has become.

But let us deal specifically with Elijah.

It is a serious error to equate modern-day self-styled “anointed men of God” with Elijah. The comparison collapses several biblical distinctions that Scripture itself carefully maintains.

Elijah was not merely an unusually gifted preacher who had accumulated a particularly large quantity of “anointing.” He was a covenant prophet occupying a unique, divinely appointed role in redemptive history.

His confrontation with Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal occurred within the specific context of Israel’s covenant apostasy. The drought, the fire from heaven, and the judgment upon Baal’s prophets were not demonstrations of Elijah’s private spiritual inventory. They were acts of divine judgment carried out through a prophet whom God had specifically commissioned.

That distinction matters.

Elijah did not wander through Israel advertising himself as a custodian of supernatural power. He did not build a ministry brand around “the anointing upon my life.” He did not summon people to the altar because there had been an “increase” in his anointing and they needed to “collect their portion.” He did not establish himself as the sole distributor of divine voltage. He did not boast that his anointing caused chairs with people sitting on them to float in the air.

The biblical narrative consistently presents YHWH as the actor and Elijah as the servant.

At Mount Carmel Elijah prayed:

1 Kings 18:36

“Let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.”

That single sentence demolishes much of the mythology surrounding the modern “super-anointed preacher.”

Elijah’s theology was simple: You are God. I am your servant. I acted at your word.

The fire that fell from heaven was therefore not proof that Elijah possessed some transferable spiritual substance called “the anointing.” It was proof that the LORD is God.

Indeed, when the people witnessed the miracle, they did not collapse to the ground screaming:

“ELIJAH CARRIES POWER!”

They cried:

1 Kings 18:39

“The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”

There is the theological center of the entire episode.

Not Elijah. God.

Not the prophet’s mantle. God.

Not the servant’s supposed spiritual capacity. God.

ELIJAH COULD NOT PERFORM MIRACLES AT WILL

A second problem with the modern comparison is the assumption that Elijah possessed a permanent reservoir of supernatural energy that he could activate whenever circumstances demanded it.

Scripture teaches no such thing.

The drought was announced under divine authority. The widow’s provision occurred according to the word of the LORD. The raising of the widow’s son involved desperate prayer to God. The fire at Mount Carmel came in response to prayer and according to God’s sovereign purpose.

Elijah was never presented as a magician with a heavenly battery pack strapped to his soul.

Even James deliberately emphasizes Elijah’s humanity:

James 5:17

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours…”

James does not introduce Elijah as a member of some superior caste of spiritually enhanced human beings.

Quite the opposite.

Elijah was a man. A human being. A servant. A dependent creature. His prayers were effective because God answered them according to His purposes.

ELIJAH OCCUPIED A UNIQUE PROPHETIC OFFICE

Third, Elijah belonged to the Old Covenant prophetic order.

Modern pastors, evangelists, conference speakers, motivational preachers, charismatic celebrities, and self-appointed apostles cannot simply reach backward into redemptive history, grab Elijah’s prophetic office, wear it like an oversized agbada, and announce:

“Elijah carried power, therefore I carry power.”

That would be categorically erroneous.

Elijah stood in the succession of covenant prophets through whom God delivered authoritative revelation and prosecuted His covenant lawsuit against Israel. You cannot simply appropriate that role because you own a microphone and thousands of people attend your conferences.

By that logic, Moses divided the Red Sea, therefore every modern minister should be able to divide the Atlantic Ocean. 

Joshua led Israel in the conquest of Canaan, therefore pastors should be authorized to declare holy war against cities. 

Elisha caused an axe head to float, therefore ministers should organize floating-metal crusades. 

Samuel anointed kings, therefore every preacher should begin selecting presidents.

That is not how biblical narrative works. Description is not automatically prescription. Redemptive history is not a catalogue from which modern preachers may select whichever supernatural identity they fancy or whichever one flatters them most.

CHRIST CHANGES THE ENTIRE LANDSCAPE

Fourth, the coming of Christ transforms the entire theological landscape.

Elijah himself points beyond Elijah to the Messiah.

At the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appear alongside Jesus. Then the Father speaks:

Matthew 17:5

“This is my beloved Son… listen to him.”

And when the moment passes, Moses and Elijah are gone. The disciples see Jesus only.

That is not an insignificant detail. Christianity is not about reproducing Elijah ministries. Christianity is about Christ. 

The New Testament never instructs pastors to imitate Elijah by accumulating supernatural power. It commands ministers to preach the Word. To shepherd the flock. To guard sound doctrine. To rebuke error. To live exemplary lives. To suffer faithfully. To point sinners to Christ.

Paul tells Timothy:

2 Timothy 4:2

“Preach the word.”

Peter tells elders:

1 Peter 5:2–3

“Shepherd the flock of God… not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”

Notice what is missing.

There is no instruction to become a spiritual celebrity. No command to announce an increase in personal anointing. No instruction to manufacture mantles. No exhortation to distribute portions of supernatural power. No theology of “Come and collect what I carry.”

The pastoral office looks remarkably ordinary compared with the circus that modern charismatic celebrity culture has constructed around it.

JESUS HIMSELF REBUKED THE ELIJAH IMPULSE

There is even a remarkable New Testament warning against casually adopting Elijah’s ministry as a template.

When James and John wanted to imitate Elijah by calling down fire from heaven, they asked Jesus:

Luke 9:54

“Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

Jesus rebuked them.

Think about that. 

The disciples had a biblical precedent. Elijah had called down fire. Yet Jesus would not permit them simply to reproduce Elijah’s judgment ministry.

Why?

Because redemptive history had moved forward. They were not Elijah. Their circumstances were not Elijah’s circumstances. Their mission was not Elijah’s mission. And the arrival of Christ changed everything.

POWER BELONGS TO GOD

Perhaps the greatest error in comparing modern “anointed preachers” with Elijah is that it subtly relocates divine power.

Scripture locates power in God. Modern charismatic rhetoric often locates power in the preacher.

The Bible says:

Psalm 62:11

“Power belongs to God.”

Not to Daddy. Not to Papa. Not to General Overseer. Not to Apostle. Not to Prophet. Not to your favorite conference speaker.

Power belongs to God. The Apostles understood this perfectly.

When Peter healed the lame man, the crowd stared at Peter and John as though they possessed supernatural abilities within themselves.

Peter immediately rebuked the idea:

Acts 3:12

“Why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?”

Compare that apostolic instinct with the rhetoric we hear today:

“I carry power.”

“There is an increase in the anointing upon my life.”

“You have a portion in what I carry.”

“Come and collect it.”

“My mantle is coming upon you.”

“The grace upon my life is being transferred.”

Peter’s instinct was the exact opposite.

Do not look at us. It was not our power. It was not our piety. Look to Christ.

Even when extraordinary miracles occurred through Paul, Luke chooses his words carefully:

Acts 19:11

“God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul.”

Notice the subject of the sentence.

God.

God was doing the miracles. Paul was the instrument. 

That grammatical distinction reflects a massive theological distinction. The power remained God’s. The servant remained the servant. 

Modern charismatic rhetoric frequently reverses the order.

Divine agency becomes human possession. God’s sovereign action becomes the preacher’s spiritual property. The servant gradually becomes the attraction. The instrument becomes the celebrity. 

And before long people are no longer talking primarily about what God has done. They are talking about what the man “carries.”

Elijah did not own God’s power. Elijah did not manufacture God’s power. Elijah did not increase God’s power. Elijah did not distribute God’s power. Elijah did not monetize God’s power. Elijah did not build a personality cult around God’s power. He was a servant through whom God acted according to God’s sovereign purposes.

THE SAME ERROR IS MADE WITH THE APOSTLES

This same failure appears whenever modern ministers casually compare themselves with Paul and the Twelve.

The Twelve Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ occupied a unique and foundational office in redemptive history. Paul likewise possessed a unique apostolic commission from the risen Christ.

The apostolic era is not something that can simply be reproduced by ambitious men in expensive suits declaring themselves apostles.

The Church is described as being built upon:

Ephesians 2:20

“...the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”

Foundations are laid once. They are not relaid every generation by conference speakers handing themselves impressive titles.

The refusal to recognize the uniqueness of the biblical apostles has produced enormous confusion within sections of the Pentecostal, Charismatic, Word of Faith, and New Apostolic Reformation movements.

Once men convince themselves that the extraordinary apostolic era is normative, the door swings open.

Everybody needs visions. Everybody needs manifestations. Everybody needs signs. Everybody needs supernatural encounters. Everybody needs a mantle. Everybody needs an impartation. Everybody needs to demonstrate power.

And sooner or later someone inevitably announces:

“I carry something you need.”

At that moment, the Gospel has quietly been replaced by spiritual dependency upon a man.

And wolves flourish wherever believers are trained to suspend biblical discernment in the presence of supposedly “anointed” personalities.

ELIJAH IS NOT YOUR ESCAPE HATCH

So, whenever the claims surrounding some supposedly powerful preacher collapse and his followers immediately shout, “But Elijah ran from Jezebel!” the response should be:

Yes. Elijah ran. But before invoking Elijah, you must first establish that your preacher occupies Elijah’s prophetic office. Establish that God commissioned him as He commissioned Elijah. Establish that his miracles are authenticated in Scripture. Establish that God authorized his extraordinary claims. Establish that he is functioning within Elijah’s unique redemptive-historical role.

You cannot borrow Elijah’s humanity to excuse your preacher’s failures while simultaneously borrowing Elijah’s miracles to exaggerate your preacher’s authority.

You cannot have it both ways.

Elijah cannot become your theological emergency exit whenever reality punctures the mythology surrounding your favorite “man of God.”

Elijah was not a proprietor of divine power. He was a servant of the God who possesses all power.

Power belonged to God then. Power belongs to God now.

And no preacher—no matter how impressive his titles, how large his congregation, how dramatic his testimonies, or how loudly his followers shout—owns even one molecule of the omnipotence of God.

In Part II, we will examine what actually happened when Elijah fled from Jezebel—and why his flight provides no refuge whatsoever for the mythology of the modern super-anointed preacher.