Martin Henry

"Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper."

These words of the ancient Hebrew king Jehoshaphat, facing overwhelming coalition forces in war, should be of special interest to a modern nation which has chosen a Judaeo-Christian prayer as its national anthem.

There are prophets at large in Jamaica, all claiming to be sent by God. The problems for the would-be believer who wants to heed Jehoshaphat's instruction are the contradictory utterances of the prophets, the vagueness of their foretelling and the track record of failed prophecies of some who have been in the business for a while.

Much later, the Apostle Paul advised the Christian Church, "Do not despise prophecies [but] test all things [and] hold fast what is good." There has to be a way of carrying out this injunction, otherwise it would be unreasonable.

Statistical analysis of hits and misses, as The Gleaner has done for Phillip Phinn, the most prominent of last year's prophets, may be good for fortune telling, but could hardly be an effective measure of the prophetic word from a God who cannot lie and who does not err.

In the impossible circumstance of Judah being attacked by superior multinational coalition forces, "the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel", an ordinary member of the congregation, in a national intercessory convocation. Following a prophetic promise of victory, clear and specific information was given on enemy troop movements and on what Judah should do. "Tomorrow, go down against them. They will surely come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord who is with you."

So said, so done.

Compare: "God will remove a lot of covers. New finds will be coming forth. More businesses and companies will shut down. The Judases and Hamans will be discovered. The unknown soldiers will begin to manifest." These are among the many fail-safe 'prophecies' for 2008 by a new prophetic group at large. Fortunately, there are a number of specifics in their dozens of prophecies for 2008 by which one key element of the "proving" called for by the Apostle Paul can be done: Did the prophecy come to pass?

Rumour of war

One such specific prophecy from the group is that "war is going to break out in Jamaica". No conditionalities stated. But, to the contrary, Bishop Dr. Delford Davis has requested private audience with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to reveal a plan, given to him by God which will put Jamaica on a course of sustained success. "We are going to see a tremendous turning around". The suffering experienced through crime and violence in 2007 will be abated in 2008. "We are going to see a more peaceful society. We are going to see more people become more tolerant of each other. Neighbourliness is going to return to a greater dimension."

The nation should give the keenest attention when a prophet seeks private audience with its rulers. In the tradition of biblical prophecy, prophesying is largely a public function and, by its very nature, has to be. Indeed, the prophets suffered immensely for their public confrontation with rulers, including exposing their 'private' sins.

There seems little doubt that the prophets at large in modern Jamaica wish to capture the ear of Government. The governed has a God-given right to hear the alleged words of the Lord and to bring the prophets to judgement.

Receive with due caution

And like the masses, leaders too should receive prophetic utterances with due caution as no-longer Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller can attest; as well as the story of King Ahab's fatal final battle in II Chronicles 18.

In the biblical tradition, prophets of all variety flourish when spiritual forces hidden from human eyes are about to clash and Jehovah is about to assert His Sovereign power in the affairs of men. Jamaica is an important spiritual centre of the world, a battlefield of principalities and powers. And prophets flooding the land speak to ominous times in the clash of forces, human and spiritual.

Martin Henry is a communication specialist.