“What happens when a prophet misses a prophetic word about the nation?” — Mr. E
This is going to be a long read, so stay with me.
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Let’s address the issues systematically.
PART 1
In 1 Kings 19:16, we see that God instructed Elijah to anoint Jehu as king over Israel. However, when we get to 2 Kings 9:1–13, we discover something interesting: Elijah did not personally anoint Jehu. The assignment eventually passed through Elisha, who then sent a young prophet to anoint Jehu.
This is important because Jehu already had a word from God concerning his future, but the existence of the prophecy did not mean that the manifestation would happen automatically.
Jehu had a prophetic word over his life, but there were still processes that had to take place before that word became a visible reality. He had to be anointed. He had to step into the position. There was human participation involved in the fulfilment of what God had spoken.
So, does the fact that the prophecy had not yet manifested mean that God did not speak?
Absolutely not.
It simply means that a prophetic word and its manifestation are not always the same thing.
God can speak about what He intends to do, while there are still people, decisions, actions, processes and circumstances that must align for what He has spoken to become evident in the earth.
Jehu’s story shows us something profound: God speaks, but men respond.
God initiated the word, but human beings participated in the process. Elijah received the instruction. Elisha carried the assignment forward. A young prophet eventually anointed Jehu. The young men around Jehu had to make him king. Jehu himself had to respond to that word and step into the assignment.
This is why we should not become confused when we receive a prophetic word and do not immediately see its fulfilment. The absence of immediate manifestation does not automatically mean the prophecy was false or that God did not speak.
Sometimes, the word is ahead of the process.
Prophecy does not eliminate human responsibility. Rather, genuine prophecy often reveals what God intends to do while simultaneously inviting human beings to participate in bringing that intention into manifestation.
However, there are other aspects to consider…
(To be continued in part 2)
PART 2
Concerning political prophecies that do not come to pass, I believe there are several aspects we must consider before we conclude that the prophet was false or that God did not speak.
I have already established that men must respond. There is a dimension of God’s dealings where human beings must participate in order for certain things to manifest.
Consider the story of the four lepers in 2 Kings 7. Elisha had prophesied that, by the following day, there would be an abundance of food in Samaria. The four lepers did not hear Elisha make that prophecy. Yet, they were moved to act. They decided to go into the Syrian camp, and when they arrived, they discovered that God had already caused the Syrians to flee.
In other words, they did not hear the prophecy, but they were moved in the direction of its fulfilment.
This shows us something fascinating: sometimes God speaks a word, and then He moves men sometimes without them even knowing they are participating in the fulfilment of a prophetic word.
So yes, God may speak, but there is often a dimension where men must move.
However, there is another dimension to prophecy that we must understand.
There are times when God shows a prophet something as a possibility. There are other times when He shows the prophet something that He intends to do but still requires human participation. And there are times when God shows a prophet something as a settled outcome i.e a done deal.
There are even instances where God requires the prophet’s own speech as part of the process.
We see this in Ezekiel 37, when God says to Ezekiel, “Son of man, prophesy upon these bones.” The bones were going to live, but Ezekiel had to speak.
That is why, concerning the prophecy I gave about the Osun election, I was particularly convinced about what I had seen. I was not merely seeing an outcome that God would accomplish independently of human beings. I was seeing both the outcome and the divine activity surrounding it. I understood it as a settled matter, and I also understood that my participation in declaring what I had seen was part of the prophetic assignment.
Now, when a prophetic word does not come to pass, we must be careful about how quickly we judge.
A prophecy failing to manifest does not necessarily mean that the person who gave it is a false prophet.
Look at Jonah.
Jonah prophesied that Nineveh would be destroyed. Yet Nineveh was not destroyed in the way Jonah announced, because the people repented. If you had lived in Nineveh and heard Jonah’s prophecy, you could easily have concluded that Jonah was a false prophet when the destruction did not occur.
But Scripture does not present Jonah as a false prophet.
This should teach us to understand that prophetic declarations can sometimes contain conditions, divine intentions, human responses and other things that may not be immediately visible to the people hearing the prophecy.
At the same time, we must be honest enough to acknowledge another possibility: sometimes a prophet may simply have missed it.
We are human beings.
Prophets can make mistakes. Prophets can make assumptions. Prophets can misinterpret what they perceive. Prophets can confuse their expectations with revelation. Sometimes what a person sincerely believes God said may actually be what the person concluded from what they saw.
And this is something both prophets and those who follow prophets need to understand.
Sometimes, those who follow prophets forget that prophets are human. And sometimes, prophets themselves make the mistake of presenting an image of themselves as though they are incapable of error.
That is unhealthy.
We must never create an atmosphere where a prophet is treated as though everything he says is automatically infallible simply because he is prophetic.
The sharpest prophet is only as sharp as his alignment with the revelation God has given him concerning that particular matter.
For me personally, I did not miss the prophecy concerning Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election. I have said this repeatedly, and I had spoken about it even before Buhari completed his tenure. There are videos on this platform to that effect.
But that does not mean I am better than another prophet who may have spoken differently.
It simply means that, concerning that particular matter, I was aligned with the revelation I received from God.
That is really all it means.
Prophetic accuracy is not a trophy of superiority. It is not proof that one prophet is inherently more spiritual, more powerful or more important than another. It is fundamentally a matter of what God revealed, how accurately it was perceived, and how faithfully it was communicated.
Therefore, when a political prophecy does not come to pass, we should resist the temptation to make an immediate, simplistic conclusion.
We should ask several questions:
What exactly was revealed? Was it a possibility, an intention, a conditional word, or a settled outcome? Was human participation required? Was there a prophetic action or declaration attached to it? Did human beings respond differently? Was there repentance or a change in circumstances? And, perhaps most importantly, did the prophet actually hear God correctly?
All of these questions matter.
Because sometimes a prophecy does not manifest because men did not respond.
Sometimes because the prophetic word itself contained a condition that was not fulfilled.
Sometimes because God was revealing an intention rather than an immutable decree.
And sometimes, quite simply, the prophet got it wrong.
We must be mature enough to accommodate all these possibilities.
The prophetic is powerful, but the prophet is still human.
And ultimately, our confidence must not be in the infallibility of men. Our confidence must remain in God, His Word, and His sovereignty.
(To be continued in part 3)
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