[OPINION] The Prophet TB Joshua the Media Didn’t Know

Posted by African Examiner African News, Articles/Opinion, Latest Headlines Tuesday, June 8th, 2021

By Prof. R. A. Ipinyomi

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Temitope Balogun, with Joshua as his prophetic name, we believe was called by God and filled with God’s Spirit. Generally a prophet is called to speak God’s word to people who had in one way or another distanced selves from God. TB Joshua was one of them, a prophet and a preacher, a healer and generous giver, and a philanthropist amongst many other gifts. That he has been reported dead in the early hours of June 5, 2021 remains very hard for many of his followers to believe. In the popular media he is seemingly wrongly treated a prophet not more than a whistle-blower and a controversial individual. Those of us who were fortunate to have first-class knowledge of the prophet are hurt more when falsehood becomes the order of the day.

Some of the old prophets in the Bible include Moses, Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha amongst others. Prophet TB Joshua belongs to this class of Gods topmost prophets under unbiased assessment based on spiritual level, ability to train other prophets, performance and appropriateness of prophecies, miracles and teaching, adherence to the scripture, etc. In addition he belongs to the class of the earlier apostles such as Peter, John, Paul and others. If prophet T B Joshua had a message for you he would make all efforts to get it to you including phone calls and transportation at his own personal cost.

Therefore TB Joshua should be seen as someone who came forward to speak God’s word to this rebellious generation and at a time when religion had become commercialized and major means of livelihood and when the developed world had turned away from God to self and science. T B Joshua pushed his case to the last minutes of his life, telling people that God is Nature and hence God is Science. The media have been trying to convince people that freedom is found in doing what they want, whereas T B Joshua said that true freedom is obtained only by submission to Christ’s Lordship and making the Bible a standard for life.

The public may also need to know that this pastor T B Joshua also faced many persecutions and trials. When his messages were put down from airing on government TV he created his own. When his prophecies were criticized he stayed calm. When he was given a national award by the government of Ya’Adua, which would have lured to attend a public occasion, he sent his wife. He was a very careful man who depended on the leading of God’s spirit to direct his steps.

The prophet never stopped praying for people using every method at his disposal. He introduced Emmanuel.TV, Anointing Water, Distance Not a Barrier to the Move of God, and turned a slum in Ikotun Egbe a local area in Lagos into a beautiful praying ground for international audience that could become a moor pilgrim place. He was a different man of God in every area because he remained original, focused and obedient to the God Word. Whereas he was gentle and humble he was also equally equipped to be a consuming fire as any other prophet of God. God Himself is a consuming fire. The Jesus that came at first was gentle but at His second coming He will be a Judge and a Consuming Fire. If the spirit of God that was in T B Joshua is hovering around it must be to consume because at that level evil can no longer be overlooked.

The public didn’t take advantage of the prophet’s offer of healing. Many of those who did are still amongst us to speak. The classical healing and deliverance cases that came before TB Joshua at a single meeting are more than what a National University Teaching Hospital of any country could have handled a whole year. Cases that defiled healing from any other quarters came to TB Joshua and got positive results which cannot be denied the prophet. The World is going to miss this genius called prophet T B Joshua even as we expect that many of his disciples will spring us with the mentor’s type of evangelism.

Prof. R. A. Ipinyomi, University of Ilorin, Nigeria