A look at Xenophobia From a biblical perspective

Matt 24:4-81v

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. NIV

Introduction

The scripture above gives the foundational sequence of a high-level prophetic process, which defines the present season of humankind. This moment in time carries the seed of a future, designed in various prophetic paradoxes that would continue to bugle the minds of the blind and the spiritually uninformed. The reality of Light and darkness that presently coexist is not a new phenomenon to a well-informed bible student.   What will continue to challenge the philosophy of ignorant Christian will be based on how darkness, the operating system of this present world will assume authority that seem to defy their faith in the Lord.   The plan and strategy of the Lord in the process of reforming and restoring the hearts of the nation back to his ultimate will, is not one that can be clearly understood d by the unregenerate mind.

 The wisdom {the total summary of human operation} of this world, the word of God informs us to be devilish, sensual and self-seeking. Such is the philosophy behind what men terms to be wisdom. This definition of solution carries no insight or capacity to resolving the challenges of man. Acknowledging the wisdom that comes from above and making the best use of it in dealing with issues either from a personal crisis to a more global complex challenge should be the goal of all true spiritual leaders.

The coming of one kingdom means the collapse of another

The platform of dealing with these issues, like that of the ongoing xenophobic reality in South Africa must be solidly built on the backdrop of perfect understanding of the mind of the Lord in regards to the appearing of his kingdom within the earth {flesh} of men.  The birthing or the manifestation of the kingdom of God will continue to challenge everything, humans have held dearly as a concept of an ideal or perfect community. The theory or philosophy of the wisdom of this world clearly does not have the kind of value system that fosters peace and unity within a human community without the express involvement of the knowledge and wisdom that comes from above.  The more the saints pray, the Lord’s kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is done in heaven, the more we are going to witness the fall and total collapse of weak character and unrefined human nature throughout the earth.

 This will manifest in various ways that will eventually make the kings of the earth cry out for help. This is not a strange thing; the entire bible is filled with this patterns and concept. The world system never reaches forth to her savior until everything she holds is almost in ruin. This is the story of Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon.

 Within the ongoing collapsing of the unrefined spiritual and moral human structure, the Lord is building a new society; completely designed, patterned and driven to govern through the internal nature and values of the second man, the Last Adam. The truth is the Church of Christ in the earth is not sent to compliment other religious affiliations but to set a new standard of living amongst humans that will give people clear direction to how life should be lived according to Gods standard. What a glorious day we live in as Sons of the kingdom, born in due time to regain their position and inheritance of dominion as the Christ’s life takes full expression within them.

The duty of a prophet is to connect through revelation, events both personal and global to the present position of truth.  In other words, the truth in God’s word becomes the litmus test of both national and global events. All occurrences, no matter how relevant or irrelevant they may seem to the ordinary human sight have their consequences in the overall destiny of a nation or region. When we lose sight of the mind of the Lord, concerning either where we are as a nation, family or ministry we allow the enemy to gain the upper hand.  As we all know, truth in principle is constant, never changes, yet the realities around her are constantly changing through its effect.  There are those assigned for the ministry of handling truth that brings clarity and direction to human lives. The more these people function and advance within the parameter of their ministry the more nations and regions come in alignment to the Fathers eternal purpose.

In this article, I will try to consider the various views, facts and factors that should help in re-gaining the right prophetic perspective in dealing with the issue of xenophobic attacks here in South African. When I say prophetic, I am relating to the very operating system the Lord uses in directing and determining His course of agenda within the core structure of a nation.  There has been a direct prophetic plan of God for this nation since her inception and there is no doubt about the enemy’s persistent plan in trying to frustrate that plan. This means that our view, has citizens {dwellers} of the nation requires precise spiritual calibration {maturity} in judging the present xenophobic situation lest we allow the unregenerate soul to impact our judgment. There is a specific program assigned for this nation according to her destiny that must be fulfilled in alignment to the Father’s desired plan as the world moves into the next season of her birth pangs. The raising of nations {ethnos} against each other according to the word of God is the beginning of the birth pangs and not the end of the world like most theologians and end-time preachers have presumed.

Laying prophetic foundation

This prophetic insight about the days we are in should prepare every believer, irrespective of his or her cultural or racial orientation for the battle ahead. Kingdoms have begun to rise against kingdom as it was prophesied. Those without the Lord’s mark are being recruited by the enemy to fight and kill their own brothers. What a revelation of the days we are in! The fragility of what is defined to be humanity; nationhood and religion are just too weak to sustain the true culture of unity especially when economic famine and other forms of human and natural disaster increase in the earth. God is busy testing the foundation of what we call a nation. He is shaking the wrong concepts and values we define to be human society.

For the scriptures declares, we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Are you part of that kingdom? If you are not, you will certainly be shaken in this season. Mind you, flesh and blood {human system} the scripture says is not permitted entrance into the kingdom. The meaning of the statement, Kingdoms rising against kingdoms defines to an extent the end of imperial ideologies and philosophy that once governed and define human’s standards of existence.

What was once accepted is now collectively being rejected today as regions continue to break away to form new coalitions in the name of destroying the repressive political and economic power of the west.  We cannot develop the right mental and spiritual capacity if we do not understand the concept of accurate biblical interpretation as they relate to the destiny of nations, regions and people.

When the soul is allowed to rule

The blooming of humanistic concepts of existence is ushering into the nations, reigns of demonic activities that will make governance almost impossible to the best of the best brains.  The battle between the spirit and the rebellious human soul will continue for many days to come until the Spirit man finally regains his place of authority and dominion. Those who continue to press into the lifestyle of the Spirit has the daily yield themselves to the power of the cross will gain daily ascendant power to crucify their flesh. Believers who are deceived by allowing the gravitation of their present earthly geography and location to define their values and passion will become captive of the spirit of the age.

The power and authority of Babylon is embedded within the cultural and racial pride. There is a fine line between patriotism and idolizing you nation. Living within the ambiance of the Holy Spirit’s instruction and guidance will help you to identity this divide as you gain spiritual maturity.  This is true maturity; to understand the paradox of your existence, while you live here in the world; you are not captured nor governed by the values and traditions of the world’s system around you.   The keeping power of the living word maintains your sight to where you came from and ultimately where you are returning some day.

I am proudly a Nigerian living in South Africa completely alien to the humanistic form of the system that defines the cultural and traditional existence of the two regions. I clearly understand my position and birth as a Nigerian in the light of my prophetic purpose for this great nation South Africa.  I have prayed and labored in the Spirit for almost 12 years before I was sent into this great white field called South Africa. The love I have for this great nation can only be compared to the Love I felt when I gave my life to the Lord several years ago.

A great price was paid in training and releasing me to this nation that can’t be compared to anything money can buy. It certainly will take a person who has been processed by God’s purifying fire to explain what it means to be sent to represent God’s purpose from one end of the world to another. Unfortunately, very few Christian ministers, especially in this part of the world can comprehend such, due to their short sightedness of the global purpose of God for the region.

What church leaders preach and teach irrespective of their denomination does to a great deal impact the overall perception of the church community, which is obviously of the broader society. It is of a great importance to the Lord that his ministers clearly represent his purpose and desire according to laid down biblical principles. Isolating the gospel to one aspect, region or class of people is sin before the Lord. The mission of church leaders in a society is to help broadening the mentality and perception of their members to clearly see and relate to the life and dealing of God in people irrespective of their color, race or sex.  When Church leaders start, teaching this spiritual reality in the developmental stage of the Church, their views and understanding of foreign mission workers will definitely start changing.

There will be a clearer understanding of why people migrate from one nation to another. I brought out this point to confirm that xenophobia also exist within some of the church structures in the nation, just has apartheid rulers used the religion {the Church} to promote their Nazism spirit. Unfortunately, this apartheid racial spirit still persists in the heart of some of the spiritual leaders and this I do believe fuels the evil of racism in the nation of South Africa.

In most cases, reconciliation demands that we face the truth headlong. As much as we only speak concerning these issues on a surface level, we only delay the true healing process. We all come from different places to represent the same God in our unique ministry callings and gifts. The Lord’s house {ministry} is not built on one-sided gift; it must involve and revolve around all ministry gifts.

Identifying true ministry gifts is not an easy thing especially in an instance where the enemy has managed to infiltrate the spiritual gate of the nation. Everyone who comes in the name of the Lord becomes a suspect of falsehood gospel. This attitude without the proper spiritual insight can make a nation reject those truly called and sent in helping to rebuild her broken wall and gates.  The enemy of the gospel is good in using counterfeit and deception in confusing and contaminating the hearts of those willing to accept the true gospel.  The enemy never stops in trying to frustrate the purposes of the Lord around the nation.

Political root of xenophobia

There is no doubt the nation has made some key landmarks in trying to reconstruct the process of her democratic destiny since 1994. What is yet to be seen in practice is the translation of those beautiful written policies into a powerful working tool that turns the daily lives of the ordinary citizens into a successful story. I should think anyone who truly desires not just to see the end of this horrific nightmare called xenophobic attacks, but also want to witness a lasting social political transformation should be interested in the core root of the attack. While one cannot rule out the political undertone in the attack, it is also a common truth that poverty and injustice are a good breeding ground for social unrest.

It becomes worrisome when a person{s} can cold-blooded kill another person because they feel threatened by their presence. How do we start addressing such state of evil within the human conscience? When people lose their sense of humanity in the name of a phobia is nothing but a manifestation of a well-seated evil in the heart of men.  The bottom-line question is still yet to be answered; are we dealing with a politically motivated attack sent, to strategically destabilize the young fragile progressive democrat process of the nation or a satanic attack against the Lord’s prophetic agenda for the nation?

The spirit behind this so-called phobia is the spirit of fear manifesting through pride and hatred. Isolating xenophobic attract from the highly complex social dives in the nation, is like taking a penknife to fight a battalion of army.   Look at the definition of xenophobia, which simply means an unreasonable fear of foreigners or that which is foreign or strange. One immediately gets the ideology behind the attacks. What is fear? What motivate such fear? Yet this attack is not unique to foreigners alone in the context of the social state of the nation.

There is still a sharp division among South Africans themselves; all you need is to listen to the conversation of the different ethnic groups here. The colored have this deep routed hatred for the blacks. They believe the reason they don’t get employed is because of the BEE program that only seem to favor the blacks, while the white just hate the fact that the black are the ones ruling today and they seem not to understand anything about leading a nation while the black have this sense of delusional pride of thinking they will always have the control of leading the nation, even when the parties are not delivering on the promise they made to their own voter.

While the Asians seem to be the go in between of the fractured relationship, I see them has both king makers and peacekeepers who seem to have a better and a clearer position of their role in the destiny of the nation and they might just one day lead this great nation. I guess the term the rainbow nation remains a futuristic {prophetic} description of tomorrow’s South Africa. {Mark 3:23-25 24}  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.NIV

The Nation and its destiny

Just has individuals and families are called, prepared and commissioned for precise kingdom assignment, so do nations and regions across the earth carry unique prophetic schedule according to the timing and injunctions of the Spirit. Unfortunately, the kind of Christianity we have today seems not to encourage members to pursue such spiritual knowledge.  Christians know very little about God when it comes to His prophetic affairs for their cities or nation. Individual lives are divinely wired to connect to the destiny of a nation or regions they have been assigned. Everything about their live, directly or indirectly is driven towards the core purpose of the Father for the nation.

Now it takes the ministry of a true prophet to inform, develop and shape people’s mentality to start seeing nations and regions from this kind of perspective. In most cases, very few people understand the connection of their spirituality to the destiny of a place, people or region. Nationalities, race, tribes and geographical boundaries without understanding why the Lord allows or permits those differences blind carnal, fallen humans. God set people and countries where they are for the glory of His purpose to be unveiled at the fullness of time. Nations are like the Lord’s church designed for different mandates in His counsel.

The church the Lord positions derives her purpose and vision power within the core spiritual structure of the region. The Lord, in His prophetic purpose raises and equips a prophet in Ghana only to send to Mali to go and fulfill His mandate. It takes maturity to know that as believer we do not attach our lives to physical locations even if that is where we are born. The fact that you are born in a place does not mean your life should be attached there. God uses the dynamic of a city or nation to shape His own people for the place He will send them.

The concept is like John the Baptist who was born within the religious system of his day; his father was actually a priest within the order yet john would not entangle himself with the system, why? He clearly understood his mission and destiny in regards to the city. While he lived within the geographical region of the nation, his life was an enigma to the social and cultural order of his people. What a prophetic sight displayed by this prophet. While he did everything to bring peace, joy and tranquility to the people, his eyes were focus on who has been designed to be on the inside.

1 Peter 2:11-12

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. NIV

Alien to this world

Though he was a Jew like our Lord Jesus Christ, yet everything about their lives was totally opposite the culture and religious norms of their day. The spiritual paradigm and reality of the kingdom they belong was just too strong to be contaminated by their natural nativity.  When so-called Christians still attach undue glory to their earthly race, culture, nationality and color of skin, it definitely shows they still do not understand what redemption means.

It is amazing to know that things like color, racial class and educational orientation are amongst what divides the Church of Christ today. How can the church lead good example when she is also divided. A kingdom divided against itself the scripture says cannot stand. Beyond xenophobia, I would like the church to see the real issue of division so we do not lose focus of the real enemy.

Until the issue of spiritual identity takes precedence over earthly race we will not be able to access the kingdom of God according to [1corthinans 15:50] Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  Race, color or nationality is all divinely designed by the Lord to connect us to our earthly route so we can exercise our heavenly mandate. The anointing of Christ must rest on a seed born by the virgin Mary.

Mary did not birth the anointing but the flesh she birthed housed the anointing. This same concept applies to cities and nations. Your spiritual birth is your real position but as earth dweller, you need a form of genealogy to connect and identify the history of your earthly pilgrim. As the human body houses the spirit and soul of man so does, a nation or city houses the prophetic purposes of the Lord.

In God’s eyes the purpose and mission of a region or nation goes beyond what happens within the walls or boundaries of such place, it is beyond the legislative laws and cultural ties that bind the people together; it cannot be accessed through shared ideological frames of mind. It is a spiritual phenomenal that has to be understood by spiritually renewed minds. When man was created in the Garden, he was created as a spirit directly reflecting the image of God. The attributes of God’s likeness was the central theme of man’s life and nature.

From the position of life, we see authority and dominion given to him to rule over all that was within the garden except his wife and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. His fall and exit from the garden introduces humankind to what we can call an alternative way of life. A life designed to be governed through the fallen human soul. A soul in rebellion to the pattern and desire of the Father, everything fashioned after the fall as a key to human development including rulership were all designed to fail until the human spirit is alive again to bring the kingdom of God down to human affairs.

Understanding humanity

It is highly important the Church understands this concept of life if we must find a solution to the numerous complex challenges bewildering the nations. The people within a region must understand that what makes a nation goes beyond her geographical location, ideological beliefs economic power or cultural affiliations. The Lord allows people to coexist in communities for various reasons designed to expose the weakness of their humanity and to teach them how to live in the power of shared community. The study of humanity is not limited to the study of our racial or cultural differences but the brining to pass of God’s eternal purpose through a coherent concept of nationhood. God defines a nation through his desired plan for those called from darkness to light.

The redeemed human spirit does not recognize geographical boundaries as birds in the sky do not recognize national regions. When there is no solid, holistic biblical teaching in a nation the spiritual foundation of such a nation gets affected in such a way that threatens the prophetic agenda of God for the people. We have several prophetic utterances declared about this great nation but very little have been done to bring clear prophetic responsibility in preparing the nation for her destiny. This nation has journeyed through a season created by the Lord to prepare her for her day of manifestation. Like any other prophetic purpose, there must be a season of great warfare to test and rebuild her ability to stand in the day of restoration.

The blueprint of the Father’s plan for a nation is what defines their future enemies and victory. This reality must inform how they view themselves in regards to political and socioeconomic challenges, weakness, and victories. In other words, when a nation clearly understands her national destiny it helps galvanize the required human and capital resource needed to function within the context of her assigned global mission.  When there are no clear prophetic voices to amplify this mandate at the gate of a nation, the Lord certainly will use various occasions and events as His prophetic voice to create the right platforms that put His trumpet {message} on the lips of His watchmen assigned to introduce the nation to her glorious destiny.

Ezek 33:10-11

10 “Son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?” ‘  11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’ NIV

Regaining political freedom

When the nation regained her political freedom in 1994, it opened her up to vast level of opportunities both for development and her desire for re-integration with the rest of the world. Sanctions were lifted; investors began to pour in from various parts of the world including the African continent.  It was a time of great bliss to celebrate her democracy and the economy but the new government was cut off guard in that she did very little to prepare the social psyche of the nation for such inflow of foreign nationals.

This mistake of the government to a great deal contributes to the already emotionally fragile and marginalized black South Africans who viewed the foreign immigrants as invaders.   While the reality of BEE {black economic empowerment} is yet to filter down to most of the townships and informal settlements, except for Soweto.  Majority of the black South Africans were hoping that having voted to the ANC into power would automatically turn the story of the horrific past into a blessing.  This obviously was not the case at least not until now. This has led them to start feeling disillusioned and disenfranchised.

Note that most of the poor foreign immigrants living in South African are also found sharing in these squatter camps and townships that basically do not have any form of infrastructural capacity to accommodate both parties While the ideology of using force and aggression to resolve issues during the apartheid regime still lingers within the mindset of the people, it became the only remedy to force out their own African brothers even if it means killing. This wrong mindset of resolving issues with violence and criminal act has become a template that will certainly take awhile to defuse.

It is important to know that this violent cruel mentality is not unique to foreigners alone; it can be seen in the daily criminal acts committed in the nation.  The nation of South Africa is like a nation that just finished a long time battle, armies have been called back to the barracks, issues have been politically resolved but there are still unresolved issues {landmines} embedded in the hearts of the nation. Just one wrong move, these mines are triggered to the destruction of lives. How do we start defusing these landmines in the heart of men who seem not bothered about what happens to them anymore? Can we use momentary pleasure like sports to resolve a well-sited problem? There is nothing wrong in hosting the world cup and use it to boaster the moral of the nation but to believe its powerful enough to resolve the problem of about two centuries to me is disillusioned. Embedded systemic problem must be dealt with through the appropriate channels.

An unbelievable reaction

It has been two years since the nation of South Africa witnessed the first major xenophobic attack majorly on foreign black’s nationals. It came as a shockwave to many within and outside the shores of the nation. I could still recount the sight of this horrific and barbaric act, committed in the name of reclaiming lost jobs back from other foreign nationals who they claimed deprived them of their economic inheritance. There is no excuse for attacking innocent foreigners who came looking for opportunity is one of the key words for the 21st century society. Any nation or society that desires to be major key player in the present globalized economy must be ready to open up her nation. The policy of her immigration laws must be flexible such that human and capital resources have easy access.

The next human frontier will absolutely be borderless. You cannot live in the past and expect to be relevant in the future economic advance.  The Government must put structures on ground that can both educate and empower the mentality of her populace in regards to integration. The Government must prepare her citizens to challenge all forms of mental barriers that might want to limit her from opening up to the opportunities flowing into the nation. Yet this must be carefully done in the light of social and economic security. It is not a farfetched concept that an abused person can end up abusing other if the right prayer and necessary therapies are not applied.

This seems to be what is playing out here; a nation that was once abused under apartheid government today is seen to be using the same wicked principle against other foreign nationals to her own detriment.  How do you start explaining or justifying such barbaric act? Where is the humanity of these selected South African who go hunting down their unarmed fellow brothers?  How do you explain burning another human being in the name of trying to regain your economic power? The real issue of economic and political marginalization is still there unanswered.

Very few gains have been made since the ANC regained power some 15 years ago, promises of a better life for these marginalized and deprived communities is still a story of the future.  These people being used to perpetuate xenophobic attacks should realize they are only been used to stir an evil that will continue to hunt their yet unborn children.  The seed a man or nation sows he shall also reap in multiple folds. People must realize they cannot get away with evil, they might escape human justice but how do you escape the judgment of God Almighty?

Maybe there is something to learn from these immigrants

It is a shame to know it’s this same people they claimed to have taken their daily bread are the same people who provide the most needed services in the various communities. These are people who use their money to open mini mobile-shops. Shoe repair shops, these foreigners fix broken down cars and electronics mechanics and phones. Some of our South African brothers do not have these specialized skills.  I think the issue is more of jealousy, pride and anger due to their lack of skill. This is what the bible calls the Cain spirit. The spirit that kills his own brother because he seems to understand what the Lord demands.  This does not call for attack but to humbly offer yourself to learn from your brother.

Partially I do blame the government for not understanding the problem of their people and so could not offer the right solution. When we say we desire to educate our people that must be done in the context of self-empowerment. While it is good to open schools but we also need to recognize that education starts from building the right self-image especially when you look at the history of the nation. There is no doubt this nation is endowed with great wealth but about 70% of its people are uneducated.

There is also an urgent need for the government of South Africa to understand the skills and capacity of these immigrants and create forms and platform whereby these skill labor force cab help build capacity in areas that are mostly needed. When this is done in the spirit of care and love for one another there will be a great return from both parties. Collaborating resource and skill to build capacity is achievable.

The unanswered question

The question should be asked what skill we both share in order to build a better future both for nation and for ourselves. I personally know that there are lots of skill and information transfer the West Africans living here can offer their South African brothers.Building a mutual micro entrepreneur resource base here can help a great deal. We can definitely have a win-win issue in regards to the economic battle if the government will help to monitor such a project. No nation must live in a delusional mentality of thinking their nation cannot be destabilized. Zimbabwe is a very good example for us. This nation was once the food basket of the African continent but today the story is a different case. 60% of Zimbabweans are educated but are bricklayers here in South African.

This is unaccepted, African leadership must wake up to this humiliation of their people by putting stable government institutions in place in order to have sustainable and progressive development. Most of these foreign nationals are here due to bad administrative leadership of their government. It is not a disputed fact that Africa is the richest continent in the world, yet she stands to represent the poorest continent, what a paradox! What is wrong with some leaders who seem to see leading their country as their birthright?

To deal with these ungodly xenophobic attacks we need to look at it from the apartheid regime.  You may want to ask, what is the link between past apartheid racism and the present evil xenophobic attacks? Well, the links are numerous from refusing to recognize the humanity of the other race, to killing for economic and political gains.

As a Christian, I do believe that thing must be viewed from God’s perspective so we do not find ourselves siding the lies of the enemy. Accurate spiritual perception to issues like this helps in bringing the right solution.  One of the advantages we have as believers is the ability to see things from the spiritual point that gives us the advantage to know the right answer to deal with them. As I have said earlier, prophetic insight to the present condition of things tells us more about the desire of God for the situation.

This means that while we live in a material world like Daniel in Babylon we can also see both the spiritual and prophetic destiny of the nation.  While we do not deny the facts on the ground we also should not dispute the authority and power God has given to us to address things that seem to defy the power of human intelligence.  Everything crime perpetuated in the natural realm of life; be it racism or the xenophobic attacks all have a spiritual connotation, meaning there is a spirit in the high places marshaling these attacks to destabilize and frustrate the prophetic agenda of the kingdom of God within that nation.

The Lord’s prophetic plan

This is why the Lord assigns prophets and apostles over regions to counterattack this force while they are still planning their evil schemes.  Church leaders need to raise the level of their governmental judicial power over regions assigned to them in them.  When demons capture the authority of a ministry and turn them to a puppet theater that has not life or power to execute dominion, we cannot but witness such horrific manifestation in the land. The scripture tells us we wrestle not with flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Racism spirit was the machinery the apartheid regime used to manipulate, divide, steal, and try to destroy the destiny of the great nation. Today, that same evil spirit of Cain is intensifying its evil vice in the nation by using xenophobia to steal what God is spiritually building and releasing at the same time into this region. The prophetic destiny of this nation and her people lies at the threshold of understating her apostolic mandate over the continent of Africa and the rest of the world.

This city shall be built by the wood cuts from different parts of Africa. The Lord is deploying the best of craftsmen into this nation as Solomon’s get the stone cutter ready for the building of the temple of the Lord. Ministry gifts {those called by God} are being pictured in an accelerated way that will change the atmosphere over the land for the grand release of the sons of Cush into his grand glory. It will certainly take those who have been born of the spirit to understand the call of men from afar to complete the house the Lord is building within the heart of the nation.

This calls for a clear understanding of the spiritual dynamics of the season. The dragon called xenophobia-the spirit of fear will be destroyed as the church of the Lord starts responding through the nature of Christ’s love and grace to one another. For the Lord has not given us the spirit of fear. It must be dealt with from a position of soundness of mind. Rest and stability in the prophetic destiny of this nation will bring forth leadership to provide food and security to His people.

Therefore, it is time we see what the Lord is doing and stop responding to the laid down strategy of the enemy.   You will not see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Sight, prophetic understanding into the season of this nation is crucial.  Can the people of this nation see the coming of the Lord through the lives of these men and women who have been sent in the building project of the Lord?

When God proclaims a new day concerning the destiny of a people the enemy also responds to make sure such mandate does not come to pass. The duty of the elders at the gate of leadership is to strengthen and encourage the builders of the house of the Lord. When we lose sight of divine signals to mere humanistic political agendas, we become victims of deception.   God is sending crafts men to the nation and we are fighting them due to the lack of understanding. It is time to get a wakeup call.

What about praying against xenophobia

In most cases as when we are faced with life threatening challenges like this one, we obviously recline to the idea of prayer as some kind of magical charm that just instantly changes things.  Prayer is supernatural in nature and there is no doubt about its impact within the destiny of a nation, but should also be noted, prayer is structurally built on clear biblical principles and injunctions that must be adhered to if the required results must be attained. Please note; God only answers prayer with His invested interest. That may sound cruel to the ears of some people. However, it is the truth.

Unfortunately, many still do not understand the whole principle and process that informs effective prayer in dealing with situations. This misconception has made the ministry of prayer look burdensome and ineffective to some people. When we refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to groom our understanding to the point where our spiritman differentiates right from wrong, we would certainly assume issues from face value and then conclude what kind of prayer is suitable for the situation.  Things are not always the way them seem. We must to be sensitive to the voice and direction of the Spirit in discerning societal challenges. What makes prayer effective is not necessarily the need as it where but how the Lord will have us approach the situation from the deposits of spiritual knowledge and principle.

What Christians have been doing is trying to use prayer as a shortcut or a route of escape from issues the Lord will have us confront through the appropriate machinery put in place.  The Spirit of wisdom cannot come into effect until someone offers his voice to him. What is happening to the revelational knowledge we are receiving in handling situations like this in the Church? Alternatively, could it be that the Church is not prepared to tackle circumstances like this.

Righteousness exalts a nation the scriptures tell us but sin is a reproach… the enemy is trying to crack through the wall of righteousness being built for the prophetic purpose of God for the nation and intercessors must be positioned at her walls to frustrate this plan.  Our comments of wisdom and dialogue on community and national issues can be a powerful tool that facilitates agreement and change in the society and it’s amazing how the people of the world are trying to use this tool while we look.

There is a time to be quiet but there is also a time when our silence is termed to be evil. I must say the Church and her leadership must break the silence in this matter of xenophobia in South Africa. We have to employ the knowledge and wisdom of the Spirit to deal with this problem.   The position of the Church as the light and salt of the world must not be given the opportunity of being questioned even though that is already happening.  There is a lot the Church can do concerning the present condition of things. It is time to speak out against this evil polluting the atmosphere of the region.

Still living in the past

Racism and other forms of human and social injustice have various ways of expressing themselves in their past era if they are not adequately handled. Some of these post traumatic realities could play out in forms of domestic violence, crimes and abuses of drugs and substance, fears, excessive control, pride, anger and extreme passion for material acquisition etc.

Those are common symptoms pointing to past unaddressed social psychological matters within the nation.  This post apartheid backlash certainly reechoes two issues; the level of ideological work that needs to be carried out within the social paradigm of the nation, mostly amongst the still marginalized parts. Secondly the quality of leadership resources and capacity required to make the necessary impact. Many today might not have been born during the apartheid rule, yet the spirit of racism still lingers within the walls and streets of the nation.

The reorientation of both the spiritual and mental landscape of the nation is only effective through the ministry of the Church of God.  I would like to qualify what I mean by the Church, I am relating to those individuals and ministry whom the Lord has branded with prophetic sight and positioned at the gates of nations.  The ministry of elders at the gates is beyond just the ability to pray, it is ministry of the watchmen, those whom the Lord has sandaled with apostolic initiative both in changing and addressing the destiny of regions and nations from a higher realm of spiritual authority. These calibers of saints do not necessarily have to have a mega church structure attached to them or a title tagged to their names. They have no political agendas but when they speak, their voice affects and shifts the course and condition of a nation.

Prioritizing leadership

Presently, the available institutional structures designed to marshal the process of social cohesion and development in a society like South Africa seems to be nonexistence or just too weak. In a nation, that has suffered tyrannical rulership for century’s needs visible, strategic, effective and proactive institutional reform from the grassroots level.  The capacity to inform, transform and conform the nation’s social psyche from her past marginalized history to a more coherent, unified and progressive developing society should be the driving values system of the present administration.

This is what informs how job creation and other social infrastructures are developed in the communities. Racial and other forms of prejudicial perception in the provinces should be addressed continually until we have a positive inroad in the way we see ourselves as humans. One would have naturally thought that by now a national sponsored advertisement campaigned should be on air, addressing this evil threatening the peace of the continent. The media is a highly effective tool in building or destroying a nation, it all depends on who gets the upper advantage of using it.  We have not seen the best use of this tool in dealing with these xenophobic attacks. More needs to be done in this regard.

This is the time when all Christian leaders need to come out in lending their voice to develop this nation as regards to preaching and teaching the right values that build social integration at all levels. We must not live this work to the government. They need your help just as you need their help in creating the right platform to access the community. God’s prophetic agenda for this nation must come to pass and I do believe it has begun in various ways we might not fully recognize now. What can you do to stop all forms of violence and crime in the community? Do you have an idea of creating jobs and skills for communities? If you do, please call or send me a mail and we can take this to another level. Remember, we are here for such a time as this… The Lord is counting on you and me to bring a change to the present condition of the society.