USING BIBLICAL HISTORY TO JUSTIFY RELIGIOUS ABSURDITY (PART II)

“When Description Becomes Prescription”

By Akin Ojumu

In Part I, we examined the extraordinary prophetic assignments God gave Ezekiel and Isaiah.

Ezekiel was instructed to lie on his side for hundreds of days, prepare food using dung as fuel, shave his head with a sword, and eat a scroll.

Isaiah was commanded to walk naked and barefoot for three years as a prophetic sign of judgment.

These were not ordinary religious practices. They were specific divine instructions that served particular purposes within God’s dealings with His people.

Yet, if we applied the interpretive method used by today’s self-appointed apostles and prophets and their followers, these extraordinary assignments would become potential models for contemporary Christian spirituality.

After all, they are recorded in the Bible!

But the absurdity does not end with Ezekiel and Isaiah. Consider Jeremiah and Hosea.

PROPHET JEREMIAH: THE YOKE AND THE RUINED UNDERWEAR

1. God Instructed Jeremiah to Wear a Wooden Yoke Around His Neck.

The Bible records God’s command:

Jeremiah 27:2 

“Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck.”

The yoke symbolized the submission of Judah and the surrounding nations to the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

Jeremiah was not demonstrating a new dimension of spiritual bondage breaking. He was proclaiming God’s judgment through a physical symbol.

The yoke was not a supernatural instrument for receiving anointing. It was a prophetic message.

2. God Commanded Jeremiah to Wear a Linen Loincloth Without Washing It.

In Jeremiah 13:1–11, God instructed Jeremiah to purchase a linen loincloth, wear it, and not put it in water.

Later, God commanded him to hide it in a crevice of the rock.

After many days, Jeremiah returned to retrieve it. The garment had become ruined and useless.

God then explained the symbolism.

Just as the garment had been ruined, so He would ruin the pride of Judah and Jerusalem because of their stubbornness and disobedience.

Now, imagine today’s self-appointed prophets establishing an international ministry based on the prophetic significance of unwashed underwear.

They could organize special conferences on The Mystery of the Dirty Linen Loincloth. They could preach sermons on Seven Prophetic Dimensions of Undergarment Anointing.

And, knowing the Nigerian religious industry, someone might eventually discover a way of selling specially anointed underwear as an instrument of supernatural breakthrough.

À la Baba Adeboye’s Anointed Comb and Anointed Handkerchief!

À la Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin’s Spiritual Shirts and Anointed Nightgowns!

Absurd?

Certainly.

But no more absurd than turning other extraordinary biblical events into universal spiritual principles simply because they appear in Scripture.

PROPHET HOSEA: A MARRIAGE THAT BECAME A PROPHETIC MESSAGE

1. God Instructed Hosea to Marry a Woman Associated with Sexual Unfaithfulness and Give His Children Names that Announced Divine Judgment.

Hosea 1:2–9 records God’s instruction to Hosea to marry Gomer, described in the prophetic language of sexual unfaithfulness. She was a sexually promiscuous or unfaithful woman.

The marriage itself became a living illustration of Israel’s spiritual adultery.

Even the names of Hosea’s children carried messages of divine judgment.

One child was named Jezreel, pointing to coming judgment. 

Another was named Lo-ruhamah, meaning “No Mercy” or “Not Pitied.” 

A third was named Lo-ammi, meaning “Not My People.”

Imagine a modern pastor announcing that God had instructed him to marry an unrepentant and unregenerate prostitute and give his children names such as “No Mercy” and “Not My People.”

Would that make his conduct a model for an ideal Christian marriage?

Should believers now seek out promiscuous and unfaithful spouses because Hosea received such an instruction?

Should Christian parents begin giving their children names – such as, “Àìní Àánú” or “Ọ̀tá Olúwa” – announcing divine rejection because the Bible records that Hosea did so?

Absolutely not.

Hosea’s marriage and the names of his children served a particular prophetic purpose within God’s covenant dealings with Israel. They were not universal instructions for Christian family life.

THE FUNDAMENTAL ERROR: CONFUSING WHAT THE BIBLE RECORDS WITH WHAT THE BIBLE REQUIRES

Here is the point.

God commanded Ezekiel to lie on his side for hundreds of days.

God instructed Isaiah to walk naked and barefoot.

God told Jeremiah to wear a yoke around his neck and hide a linen loincloth until it was ruined.

God instructed Hosea to enter a marriage that would dramatize Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness.

These were extraordinary prophetic assignments.

They were not ordinary religious practices. They were not reproducible formulas for acquiring spiritual power. They were not timeless instructions governing the conduct of every believer.

And they were certainly not promotional material for celebrity prophets seeking to establish their supernatural credentials.

They were specific divine instructions given to specific individuals to communicate specific messages within particular historical circumstances.

THE BIBLE RECORDS WHAT GOD DID THROUGH THESE PROPHETS. IT DOES NOT COMMAND EVERY CHRISTIAN TO REPRODUCE THEIR EXPERIENCES.

This is why every serious student of Scripture must understand the distinction between descriptive and prescriptive passages.

Descriptive passages tell us what happened.

Prescriptive passages communicate what God’s people are commanded to believe or do.

And even when a narrative records a direct command from God, the interpreter must determine who received that command, why it was given, and whether Scripture extends its obligation beyond the original recipient.

God commanded Noah to build an ark. That does not mean Christians must begin constructing enormous wooden vessels in preparation for another worldwide flood.

God instructed Abraham to leave his country and his kindred. That does not mean every Christian must abandon his homeland to demonstrate faith.

God commanded Joshua and the Israelites to march around Jericho. That does not mean Christians are instructed to march around their houses seven times to bring down invisible walls of financial limitations.

And God instructed Naaman to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River. That does not turn the Jordan into a universal divine prescription for healing.

The mistake is the same in every instance.

Someone takes an event that occurred within a specific biblical context, strips it of its original meaning, and converts it into a spiritual principle that Scripture itself never establishes.

This is how biblical interpretation degenerates into religious superstition.

AND WHAT ABOUT THE GREATER WORKS JESUS PROMISED?

The defenders of modern-day apostles and prophets frequently appeal to 

John 14:12

“Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”

Notice what Jesus did not say.

He did not say His followers would levitate. 

He did not say they would engage in astral travel. 

He did not say they would visit heaven to attend meetings with God. 

He did not say they would drink tea with Him in their living rooms or acquire supernatural powers through encounters with departed religious celebrities.

The promise of greater works must be understood within the context of Jesus’ departure to the Father, the sending of the Holy Spirit, and the worldwide proclamation of the Gospel.

In John 14–16, Jesus repeatedly connects His departure with the coming ministry of the Spirit and the continuation of His work through His disciples.

The greater works cannot simply be reduced to more spectacular miracles than Jesus performed, as though the central purpose of Christianity were to produce an endless succession of supernatural entertainers competing to surpass the miracles of Christ.

The extraordinary expansion of the Gospel following Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit provides the essential redemptive context for understanding His promise.

On the Day of Pentecost, approximately three thousand people received the apostolic message and were added to the Church (Acts 2:41).

The Gospel subsequently spread far beyond the geographical boundaries of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

This was not an exhibition of personal spiritual greatness. It was the continuation of Christ’s saving work through the ministry of His Spirit. When Jesus spoke of “greater works,” He meant greater in magnitude and geographical scope, not greater in quality or supernatural power.

Whatever legitimate differences Christians may have about the continuation of miraculous gifts, John 14:12 cannot reasonably be turned into a blank check validating every sensational claim made by a modern religious personality.

THE PROMISE OF GREATER WORKS IS NOT A LICENSE FOR GREATER FABRICATIONS.

And here is something the defenders of modern-day apostles and prophets must understand.

The fact that God performed an extraordinary miracle in biblical history does not establish that their favorite preacher has performed anything remotely similar.

The authority of Scripture cannot be transferred automatically to an unverified supernatural testimony merely because the two stories share some superficial resemblance.

There is an enormous difference between believing what God has revealed in Scripture and believing every extraordinary story told by someone who claims to speak for God.

And that distinction brings us to the final installment.

In Part III, we shall examine why biblical faith does not require gullibility, why the miracles recorded in Scripture served purposes beyond spectacle, and why Christians must test supernatural claims rather than surrender their judgment to religious celebrities.

To be continued.