When God raises people to accomplish His will on earth, He gives them various roles to play. We must not be extremists when we have opinions about things like the #EndSARS Protests. We must not swing to either extreme: being on one end, saying, “If you are a Christian, then you must protest!” or “Do not ever protest! God is against it”.
Having a peaceful protest is not a sin as a Christian. How would a place like the United States of America have existed if someone, or people, did not arise and fight for it? Is it possible that it’s not God’s will for America to exist as a country?
We must know that God has different vessels; vessels unto honour and vessels unto dishonour – 2 Timothy 2:20-21 (20) But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. (21) If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and fit for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
Now, this is not saying that it’s only vessels unto dishonour that go to war. Soldiers of a country are not wrong when they go to war, engage and kill enemy combatants. They are carrying out their duty to their country. No one will consider them bad for killing people. In fact, we see them as heroes when wars are won.
So, one does not just declare that a peaceful protest is “bad”. It’s like saying “church is bad” because there are crooks in the Church. But how can Church be bad? Are there all sorts of crooks in church? Yes. There may even be more crooks in church than there are good church people. But does that mean we should stop attending all church meetings? No!
So what does that say to you? Should we stop things like protesting our civil rights? What do you think about Mahatma Gandhi (the Indian lawyer and activist who fought for India’s independence from British rule using nonviolent resistance), or Martin Luther King? We must understand the balance.
People are allowed to protest if they must. Peaceful protests are okay, but we in God’s Lighthouse – Levites who are set apart and focused on doing what God tells us to do per time – won’t do it except God leads us to (and God may allow a couple of His set apart ones to do so, depending on His calling on their lives). Every man stands or falls to his Master (God – Romans 14:4).
You must realize that it is ridiculous to be busy protesting when your voice, added in prayer, would have been enough to release ten thousand angels in the country. When you should be praying according to God’s will, you are busy protesting.
John 9:31 says: We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to Him.
James 5:16 says: Therefore, confess your sins to one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in it’s effect.
1 Peter 3:12 says: Because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their request. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.
Direct your focus and energy to living an obedient lifestyle; a righteous one. The Scriptures above emphasize that God answers the prayer of the righteous. 1 John 3:7 shows us what it means to be righteous. Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.
The words of God are the standard of what is right and wrong. 1 Timothy 2:8 says; Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up HOLY HANDS without anger or argument.
When we consecrate ourselves, we will lift our voices in prayers for those in authority — 1 Timothy 2:2 — and for the country.
Walking in the streets so that “your voice may be heard” is subject to the following questions: “Where [is your voice to be heard]? Heard by whom? Is it by God, or by the people?”
There will be multiple things happening in this country, and as disciples of Jesus, we must learn from all of them. We must know what God’s will is, and how we fight.
We do our warfare in prayer before the throne of God. To know if you can be leading a protest, you must first answer the question, “What kind of person am I? What kind of people are we [my church family]?”
Remember, there are different kinds of Israelites. Israel is a picture of the Church – Acts 7:38 talks about the church in the wilderness; Galatians 6:15-16 says,
[15] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. [16]And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
Romans 2:28-29 says,
[28] For a person is not a Jew because of his appearance, nor is circumcision something just external and physical. [29] No, a person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, brought about by the Spirit, not by a written law. That person’s praise will come from God, not from people.
(See also Galatians 3:7-9, Galatians 6:16, Galatians 3:29, and Romans 9:6-8).
The Levites were Isrealites, but they were different from the other 11 tribes. They were separate, set apart. They were not to do everything that the rest of the Israelites did. They were to remain in the temple to offer incense to God on behalf of the people. You must ask yourself, “Am I a Levite? Where is my place?”
Look at the life of David. He desired to build a house for God, but God told him, “You have been a man of war and have shed much blood in the earth, you cannot build Me a house,” (1 Chronicles 22:8, 1 Chronicles 28:3-6. See also 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17). David’s job description was to fight the battles of the Lord (1 Chronicles 26:27).
1 Samuel 25:28 — [28] Please forgive the sin of your servant, for the LORD will certainly establish the house of my lord, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD. May no evil be found in you all your days!
1 Samuel 18:17 says, Then Saul said to David, “Here’s my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior for me and fight the battles of the LORD.”…
But Solomon, David’s son, was given a job description that was different from that of his father. 1 Chronicles 22:8-10 says: [8] But this message from the LORD came to me [David], telling me, ‘You have shed a lot of blood and fought great battles. You won’t be building a house for my name, since you have shed so much blood on the earth in my sight. [9] But look! A son born to you will live comfortably, because I will give him rest from all his enemies that surround him on every side, since his name will be “Solomon”—I will give peace and quiet for Israel during his lifetime. [10] He will build a temple to my name. He will be a son to me, I myself will be a father to him, and I will secure his royal throne in Israel forever.’
In 1 Kings 21:17-24, 29, Elijah had pronounced judgment on Israel’s King Ahab, according to the word of the Lord — In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood they will also lick up your blood – yes, yours!… The LORD says, ‘Look, I am ready to bring disaster on you. I will destroy you and cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. I will make your dynasty like those of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah because you angered me and made Israel sin.’ … ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the outer wall of Jezreel.’… As for Ahab’s family, dogs will eat the ones who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”
Elijah’s words came to pass in Ahaziah’s (Ahab’s son’s) lifetime. Jehu was the man anointed to carry out this destruction on Ahab’s household (2 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 22:7-9). Jehu carried out this job excellently well — he killed Ahab’s son and successor, Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, the 70 sons of Ahab, and even Ahaziah, the king of Judah. He became king thereafter. God was so pleased with Jehu’s obedience that He promised that four generations of his sons would reign over Israel.
2 Kings 10:30 — The LORD said to Jehu, “You have done well. You have accomplished my will and carried out my wishes with regard to Ahab’s dynasty. Therefore four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” God’s words came to pass even though Jehu went on to be a king that did not walk in the laws of God (2 Kings 10:29-31).
Jehu was anointed to play a role, and he did so. Elisha, who anointed Jehu (2 kings 9), had an entirely different role. He was to stand in the face of God, hear Him, and prophesy His words. He was not to move around with Jehu, usurping the government of Israel at the time. This is under the Old Testament, which was written for our learning and as an example of the things which will come upon us at the end of the age (1 Corinthians 10:6-11, Romans 15:4). Besides, have you ever read in the Bible that Jesus joined in a protest against the Roman government who oppressed the Jews at that time?
Also, it is not usually a matter of “what”, but it is also a matter of “when”. 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14 emphasize the fact that there are different vessels, and there are also different kinds of callings and giftings. What is acceptable to one may not be acceptable to another.
On the one hand, it is not correct to tell any group of people that they should not be a part of the SARS protest. Joining a crowd in a peaceful protest to say “End SARS” and putting pressure on the government is a good thing as opposed to violence in the streets. There will likely be mishaps, but you see, that’s the risk that goes with any good thing or change. The devil always tries to distort it [like he is trying to do with the LGBTQ people who have joined the #EndSARS protests and begun to make their own demands to make gay rights legal in Nigeria]. Should you join or be compelled to join?
As a congregation [God’s Lighthouse], our answer is “No”. This is because as a house, we were praying for the Police years ago when there was no issue; covering them in prayer, loving them by praying for them to stop doing evil and wrongful acts, learning to love them in our hearts and forgive them, asking for mercy on their behalf and doing what majority of people (even church people) never think of doing. That attracted grace, and in case you do not know, just recently a law was passed, the new Police Act. So already, a reform was already being established in the Police Force. If reforms are being made in the Police Force then it already says so much. It tells us that God was already moving. But this [#EndSARS] happening in addition to it brings more to the table. It is us getting more than we asked for or imagined.
We have had Prophetic Words since 2018 where the Lord expressly told us of the reforms that would take place in the Police Force and SARS. Now that those changes have happened with the #EndSARS and #EndSWAT protests, we are more assured that it was God speaking to us and leading us to pray about these things as far back as 2018.
We have often acted under the leading of the Holy Spirit, often ahead of time. And many times, we have seen that events with repercussions that would have escalated have been mitigated by us, because we prayed; even repercussions that would have affected nations. Before the prayer walks started, God led us as a church to have outdoor praise meetings, and we obeyed. We went to war for our country, among other things, with praise. More than anything, God has emphasized to us that: OBEDIENCE TO HIM IS THE STRATEGY FOR WINNING WARS, not any other method. Obeying what He says and is doing what He says are the things that matter. It is how to fight effectively.
At every single stage of our obedience we have seen the Holy Spirit habitually leading us, telling us about things ahead of time. You will not have to wonder if you should join the #EndSARS protests when God has already led you to fight ahead of time. We have done many things as a church that the rest of the Church (in Nigeria) later does, like having fastings and thanksgivings, and later seeing that more prominent church groups make plans to do same. We have also done many things in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit that the rest of the church and the nation never does.
We must know that biases and prejudices stop us from hearing the exact things that God is saying to us. The hearts of God’s people cannot hear Him when they have biases and prejudices, and even when some do, they hear it through their veils and prejudices. So when God says that praises should go up all over Nigeria, people may not be able to hear it, because they see no basis for the praises.
We must understand that we are not led by the people. We do things because they are prompted by the Holy Spirit. This is how we are led. So if there’s any need for a protest that we are meant to be part of, we will be told by the Holy Spirit too. We are not led by emotions running high, so there is no need to tell people that it’s wrong to #EndSARs. It’s okay for them to protest, they have that role, the physical outworking, like Jehu; but are you the Jehu company or the Elijah company?
Everybody has their job; and we must see ourselves for what we are. Don’t stay in between two opinions. Be the man of God or the woman of God; on your knees in prayer, in worship, in prophecy, in intercession, in sharing the truth. But don’t oppose those who carry out the practical implementation. Let everyone do his/her job, and don’t let anyone condemn you. You can explain to those who say that everyone should protest: “Join the protests? Oh, #EndSARs is fine and good, but I work in the temple. We’ve offered incense regarding this matter for years now, and it’s coming to pass. God told us that this was coming to be, and we thank Him. We bless God.”
If you are just praying about it, then say, “I am offering the incense to God.” But don’t say, like someone did, “Pastors [or Christians] who have not joined #EndSARS, you have ‘fallen the hands’ of the Church [embarrassed the Church].” Don’t be ridiculous. If the son of the prophet [whom Elisha had sent] did not play his part and anoint Jehu, would Jehu have done anything he did? [and mind you, he poured the oil on Jehu’s head and immediately ran away – 2 Kings 9:10]. If Elijah did not wait before the Lord and get the counsel of God and receive the command to anoint Jehu, would Jehu have received the power, the wind in his sails to go to war [against Ahab’s house]? Everyone is to do his or her part.
As we obey Him, we please Him. Always know that there will be things that will be done, and we don’t have to take a hard stand on everything. Let us be quick to inquire from God, then have peace; we must not be hasty to have opinions. Instead, we must seek to know what God is saying and support Him. If He tells you that a person will be president, for instance, you can tell the person, “God showed me that you’ll win. Make sure when you get there, you do God’s will. I’m praying for you that His will be done.” It doesn’t mean that afterwards, you have to support everything that they do. There may be tons of things they do that are not okay, but since God told you that they would be there, pray that they will do what is right and succeed. You do not have to lead the protest and scream on the streets.
Some people who have been called by God may need to say some things about the government because that is a part of their calling, while some may not need to say anything. All they just need to do is to go on praying quietly and leading other people to go to war in the spirit. God will move sovereignly by His Spirit upon all those who will be the donkeys [that He will ride on] who will implement the purpose. He will move upon the ‘Jehus’, move upon the ‘Davids’, and all who are to bring about the change. It’s a different sphere of responsibility. God can ask some people to pray and their prayers will reduce the violence in the streets, and there will be peace. Don’t say that they are wrong to not protest. The important thing is that the will of God is done on earth. If you are in the place of prayer, especially with the grace to see into the spirit realm, you are extremely blessed.
We allow the Holy Spirit lead us [and if you are a disciple of Jesus, allow Him to lead you too]. If He leads us to be a part of a protest, we will not dare to disobey. But until He tells us otherwise, we will focus on our role as Elijahs and Elishas. We will continue to stand in God’s face, worship Him, intercede for our nation on our knees, prophesy, and share the truth of God’s words with others. We are temple worshippers. We thank God and bless Him for His will for Nigeria. He will move on all those who will implement His purpose on earth, for as surely as the Lord lives, His will must be established on the earth. His word will not return to Him until it has accomplished its purpose and His glory fills the earth (Habakkuk 2:14, Isaiah 55:11).
God will help us see through His eyes, what we are. Amen.
— Pastor Ita Udoh
15th October, 2020