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Victim of change

By Rev. Emmanuel O.S. Okereke
18 June 2017   |   4:14 am
At the inception of this administration, the Lord ministered to me concerning the agitations for change and opened my eyes to see what becomes of the fate of our beloved country if we do not take heed...

Rev. Emmanuel O.S. Okereke

Text: 2 Kings 7:17-20

17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. 18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: 19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.

At the inception of this administration, the Lord ministered to me concerning the agitations for change and opened my eyes to see what becomes of the fate of our beloved country if we do not take heed to this message and if we do not have a rethink after reading this message.

I shared this message with my congregation on Sunday, June 19, 2016 and emphasised on the fact that I have seen the country disintegrating if everyone concerned do not tread with caution. Let me state categorically that the words and actions and inactions of our leaders at all levels, and the reaction of the masses at all levels too, shall ultimately determine if we shall continue to exist as one indivisible entity.

Let no one be deceived into thinking that his region or tribe has any undue advantage over the other tribes or regions, or having a higher sense of self-dependence, mineral resources, thriving economy, food sufficiency, growing (internally generated revenue) IGR, better climate, tourist attractions, flourishing vegetation, military advantage, technological advancement, the list is endless.

Recall from the above text that, that change can be unbelievably sudden and unprecedented. The King’s officer did not believe the declaration of the man of God, so even when the declaration came to pass, he heard it but became a victim of that change by the reason of his doubt. Also, the four leprous men outside the city gate that decided to fall to the swords of the Syrian army, later, were celebrated as the actors of that change.

In Gen. 13 & 14, the herdsmen of Lot and Abram started quarrelling and this made them to separate but Lot and his household became the victims of that change as he was taken captive in a war and was later rescued by Abram.

In Gen. 46; Famine drove Jacob and His house into Egypt where his son Joseph was the Governor-General, and when a king who did not know Joseph came to power, they became victims of that change generations after.

In Exodus 14, the fact that the Lord by His mighty hand brought the Israelites out of Egypt with miracles, which made Pharaoh to let them go, did not stop Pharaoh from pursuing after them upon realising that the socio-economic life of his country was facing peril. The Egyptians had gained mastery through slavery over the people of Israel. The choice to pursue after them made the Egyptians the victims of that change with the famous declaration ‘the Egyptians you see today, you will see no more.’

The change that the children of Israel craved that caused them to murmur against God, made a large percentage of them that were above 20 years, except for Joshua and Caleb, become victims of the change that was promised.

Rev. Emmanuel O. S. Okereke is the Founder/Presiding Bishop of Divine Power Pentecostal Chapel Inc. Mechanic Village, Off Osolo Way, Behind Aswani Market, Isolo, Lagos.

www.sheperdhousedppc.org, info@sheperdhousedppc.org, 08033844117

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