By Sunday Ogidigbo
The Book of My Bible Stories is one book that most people in my generation are familiar with. A lot of us were first introduced to the Bible by flipping through the colourful pictorial pages of The Book of My Bible Stories. Most people are familiar with the many stories of the Bible, but very few understand the wisdom that these stories hold for us. When we read the Bible, it is important for us to situate the stories within our everyday reality. We must seek to draw wisdom that can be applied directly to our lives as individuals and collectively as a people. You must do everything to make sense of what you read in scriptures and how it impacts the events around you, so as to apply them within your personal space.
The stories of David, Daniel, Nehemiah, Jesus the Christ and that of His Apostles, present for any student of the Bible, strong, deep and heavyweight lessons for living, and the understanding of the relationship between politics, policies and prophecies. The events that played out in the birth, death and burial of Jesus Christ brings this truth to life more eloquently. Looking at the events that played out politically the days before Jesus was born will open your eyes to the fact that some policy thoughts that kings decree actually do come from heaven in order for prophecies to be fulfilled. Caesar Augustus’ decree to tax the whole world was what made Joseph and his heavily pregnant wife to go up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because it had been prophesied that Jesus is of the house and lineage of David. It was while they were there waiting to be counted and taxed, because of the inconveniencing policy of government, that the time came for Mary to give birth. His birth did not only fulfill the prophecy of the virgin birth, it also fulfilled the words of the Prophet Micah that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem of Judea. The wisdom here for us is that it took the tax policy of the political class to align Joseph and Mary to the prophetic destiny of their firstborn child – Jesus Christ the Son of God.
While I have nothing against economic analysis, all I want to do is to remind everyone that prophecies trump politics, policies and politicians. The famine that hit Egypt in the days of Joseph was primarily to promote Joseph and relocate the children of Israel to Egypt in line with the promises made to Abraham by God. The current economic woes hold more promises than problems. In other words, the whole political lifting of Joseph in Egypt and the faceoff between Moses and Pharaoh were prophecies playing out in the political space of that time.
A critical look also at the death of Jesus will also reveal the politics, policy and prophecy nexus. Thousands of years before Jesus was born, it was written in one of the prophetic Psalms that He would be crucified in the midst of criminals, His hands and feet pierced, His garments shared among the soldiers and that they will cast lot for His vesture. History and the Bible confirmed that these situations played out as it was prophesied. This prophecy was fulfilled because of the political reality of the nation of Israel at that time. The only way that Jesus could have been nailed to the cross was to have been crucified by Romans because only Romans killed criminals by crucifixion to hold political power and jurisdiction over Jerusalem. It was written in the Bible concerning Jesus that he must be stripped and crucified. For this prophecy to be fulfilled as decreed, politics and policies had to align. The decree of Caesar, the decree of Pharaoh and that of Nebuchadnezzar all appeared harsh and wicked on the surface, but looking back now you will observe that all their policies brought God’s people to the place of destiny and fulfilment.
The current economic times are not easy for the rich, not to talk of the poor among us. It appears the economy is on freefall and auto pilot at the same time. The government of change gave us 50 kobo on every litre of petrol we buy with the right hand, but with the left hand, takes back 50 naira for every deposit above 1000 naira made by most depositors into their current accounts as stamp duty. The confusing deliberations associated with the national budget also adds to the economic woes we are currently faced with.
In the days to come, don’t allow your heart to be troubled by government and their policies. Locate your prophecy, understand it and do everything to operate within it. Plan with the budget, with an eye on your prophecy. For prophesies themselves are the driving force behind the major events in the affairs of men. Prophesies are the unseen factor influencing and regulating politics, policies and politicians.
While I have nothing against economic analysis, all I want to do is to remind everyone that prophecies trump politics, policies and politicians. The famine that hit Egypt in the days of Joseph was primarily to promote Joseph and relocate the children of Israel to Egypt in line with the promises made to Abraham by God. The current economic woes hold more promises than problems. In other words, the whole political lifting of Joseph in Egypt and the faceoff between Moses and Pharaoh were prophecies playing out in the political space of that time.
In the days to come, don’t allow your heart to be troubled by government and their policies. Locate your prophecy, understand it and do everything to operate within it. Plan with the budget, with an eye on your prophecy. For prophesies themselves are the driving force behind the major events in the affairs of men. Prophesies are the unseen factor influencing and regulating politics, policies and politicians. There is a direct correlation between politics, policies and prophesies. The policies of heaven are called prophecies and they precede politicians, politics and earthly policies. Our prayers should be the alignment of these factors for our ultimate good.
Sunday Ogidigbo is the Lead Pastor of Holyhill Church Abuja. You can connect with him on Twitter @SOgidigbo or visit www.sogidigbo.com
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