WHAT IS THE PROPHETIC IMPLICATION FOR THE

DEPARTURE OF SPIRITUAL ELDER LIKE REINHARD BONNKE?

By Isaiah-Phillips Akintola

What is the meaning or spiritual implication when a spiritual (gift) personality like Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, who literally shifts the spiritual realm of an entire continent, exits the earth? What does it mean for a man who expresses humility to the core, but carries an awesome governmental authority that many of the high and mighty in the elites of ecclesiastical leadership listens to his voice? What does the departure of this kind of spiritual representative mean to the Body of Christ? These and many more critical questions, we should be asking ourselves as spiritually minded individuals and the corporate body of Christ, if indeed, we are moving towards the ultimate maturity and the finishing of all things.

More so, we’ve prophetically entered a more accelerated realm of the nearness and the impact of the kingdom of God upon the earth; many of the things happening now carries a high-level prophetic frequency and implication that we cannot afford to ignore or trivialize. 

We live in a time where it has almost become the norm to trivialize spiritual things, particularly when what is seen seem not to make sense through carnal, human understanding. Appreciation and honor are no longer defined by a deep sense of prophetic insight but through the visual lens of material possession or sensual appraisal.

The concept of engaging values by spiritual knowledge, wisdom and revelational understanding has almost become a thing of the past, especially when almost everyone now claims both intellectual and [spiritual] psychological sigh as long as they have the pulpit and altar of social media to voice the opinion or objection about any spiritual matter.

In our overt quest for information and unending knowledge, we’ve managed to raise a generation that is highly informed, but also shallow and opinionists in its expression. Many have mistaken acquired information and psychological awareness for the inflow and impartation of the Spirit of knowledge, counsel, wisdom, and understanding, which comes with the fear of God. 

The relationship between Elisha and tutorship under Elijah took Elisha beyond the realm of mere awareness. When the Sons of the prophet said to Elisha, did you know that the Lord is about to take your master from the earth today? Elisha replied, yes, I know, but hold your peace. 

The apprentice [Sons] prophets all know that Elijah was to be taken to heaven, but they did not understand the prophetic implication of what they knew. Yet, for the first time that Elisha was also very much aware of the departure of his master, but he will not allow such knowledge to distract him from the bigger picture of his prophetic assignment.      

The implication of allowing one to be submerged in the quest of seeking to know [information] without the formation of Christ in us as brought about a disease of spiritual blindness and the inability to discern movements, seasons, and divine directive. Wisdom is when we can carefully marry the vast realm of information power, we are exposed to with the virtue of humility that comes via the school of obedience in wisdom. To pursue the narrative of the 21st century of boundless information is to expose ourselves to falsehood, shallowness, and the seduction of the wisdom of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  

Tracking the prophetic implication of a man of such spiritual caliber like Reinhard Bonnke is highly necessary to see what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the Church, notably when he departed on the 7th day of the month of December. Without flogging the idea of numerology, I believe his departure, on the seventh of the last month of the year, speaks to us of several things that allow us to shift our perfective as the Church.

Furthermore, there are other prophetic shifts, directions, and implications we should consider and be keenly aware of; least we underestimate his departure as just another death that happens in the Body of Christ. The passing away of such carrier of grace, wisdom, and anointing in the redemptive, prophetic program of the Father in creation is never to be taken for granted or be just another incident of old Age death.   

The passing away of God’s prophetic vanguards in a generation means several things, including the closure of a prophetic season and the opening of another. The passing of the type of ministry leadership grace and voice should be highly noted. Elijah and Elisha are two different personalities with unique grace, but we see Elisha receiving a double portion of the anointing upon the life of Elisha.

The anointing is God’s prophetic voice that allows certain things to be done on behalf of the kingdom of God, especially in the objective of redemption. There are certain individuals the Lord had developed and matured in the spiritual ranking to the degree that they have been entrusted with a specific position of influence as Eldership and governmental authority at the gates of nations and continents.

Such an individual has is not just limited to how we conventionally see their gifts; these individuals have become a prince over global affairs as we see them in the book of Daniel. They’ve been shifted and positioned in the realm of spiritual administration in order to advance and execute the judgment of God in the earth. The problem of generalization of grace, gifts, and ministry office due to the abuse of charisma and leadership position has aggravated our spiritual blindness and the lack of honor in the Body of Christ.

As we begin to exit the day of Saul’s type of leadership towards the restoration of the tabernacle of David, one of the things we must learn fast is the ministry of sighting and honoring faithful Elders at the gates. The scripture speaks about 24 Elders that surround the throne of the Father and not 24 gifts.

When our gift matures into the realm of Eldership, we’ve entered into the sphere of governmental authority that can be used to shift times and seasons according to the calendar of heaven, and I firmly believe that Reinhard Bonnke functioned in this capacity even as Evangelist.

There’s no single part of the ascended ministry that is lower and less in quality than another, even though they function in accordance with divine order. Ranking in the ministry gifts is a personal reward of how we respond to the unique dealings of the Father.

 The Father is the one who defines our level of obedience to and reward. It is said of our Lord Jesus Christ; this day I have begotten you as a Son.  Sonship is the place where we come to in the Spirit of obedience that enhances our gifts to function in a governmental capacity. Meaning, we function in our ascended gift from various levels of spiritual authority.

When we are keenly sighted and knowledgeable and spiritual things, we are open to receive the required training that allows us to receive and function within certain leadership, administrative Spirit that engages the operations of spiritual darkness over realms, cities, and nations.

People like Reinhard Bonnke though functioned as an Evangelist but carried a much mature, governmental influence in the prophetic activity of God in the earth and within the leadership of the Body of Christ. The way the Father used this great servant to awake and further push the prophetic agenda of the Lord of the can only be seen and measured by those who have been spiritually aware.

The inability to acutely reorganize elders and kingdom accessing point [gates of authority] beyond just a functional gift or even office is one of the main weaknesses of the present spiritual knowledge of the many in the Body of Christ, and worst still, amongst professors of the current apostolic initiatives.