

# AFRICA

# IN

# PROPHECY

A REVELATION AFRICA'S PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE FROM BIBLE PROPHECIES

### Ohimai Abraham

Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright 2016 Ohimai Izedonmi

Smashwords Edition, Licence Note

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Discover other titles by Ohimai Abraham:

Understanding Work,

Success Simplified

Common Sense For Uncommon Workers,

Common Sense For Uncommon Students,

Common Sense For Uncommon Youth,

**DEDICATION**

This book is dedicated to the person of the Holy Spirit my indwelling helper and teacher for His awesome ministry in my life.

**ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS**

I thank God for the great grace given me to receive and write this words for my generation and generations yet unborn.

My sincere appreciation goes to every great mind that is directly or indirectly reflected in this book by way of direct quotes or impression. Thanks for making your shoulders available for me to climb so that I can see better future for generations to come.

I also wish to appreciate all whose hands worked tirelessly to make this book a reality.

Finally, I want to specially thank every member of The Firstborn Mandate team; your love and commitment has made serving God and my generation easier.

CREDITS

Scripture References: Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, King James Version and Dake's Annotated Reference Bible

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Introduction

PART ONE **: THE COURSE**

Chapter 1. Bursting Myths

Chapter 2. What Went Wrong?

Chapter 3. Tracing Roots

Chapter 4. Past Glories

Chapter 5. Present Realities

PART TWO **: THE CURSE**

Chapter 6. The Abrahamic Covenant

Chapter 7. Africa Is Cursed!

Chapter 8. A Spiritual Operation

Chapter 9. The Departed Glory

PART THREE **: THE CAUSE**

Chapter 10. The Law of Cause and Effects

Chapter 11. Accepting Total Responsibilities

Chapter 12. Understanding Firstborn Principles

Chapter 13. Some Manifestations of Firstborn

PART FOUR **: THE COST**

Chapter 14. The Decline from 1st to 3rd World

Chapter 15. Why Europe Underdeveloped Africa

Chapter 16. Some Other Consequences

Chapter 17. Blacks in Diaspora

PART FIVE **: THE CURE**

Chapter 18. The Acceptable Time

Chapter 19. Understanding God's Equation

Chapter 20. It's Jubilee Time

Chapter 21. Christ the Cure

Chapter 22. The Rebirth

Chapter 23. Enforcing the Rebirth

Chapter 24. How to Make The Rebirth Vital

Chapter 25. Forces of Rebirth

Chapter 26. Reprogramming the Firstborn

Chapter 27. Africa Arise

About the Author

Other Books by the Author

Connect With the Author

Join The Firstborn Mandate

# INTRODUCTION

Is Africa really cursed? If Africa is cursed, who cursed it and why? Are the negative life and leadership realities in Africa today products of a curse? Is there an end to the problems of Africa? What does the future holds for her? In this book, these and many other questions about Africa will be sufficiently answered from the wealth of Bible prophecies.

This book is a revelation and explanation of the secrets of God behind the lamentable and reproachful state of life and leadership in Africa as revealed from Bible prophecies. It is a work with both scriptural and historical proofs and its goal is to demystify and solve Africa's leadership and life problems permanently.

The message in this book is more than theories; it is an anointed message for the liberation and complete restoration of the glorious destiny and dignity of the black race. It is a life carrying truth from the Heart of God for such a time as this. It is Africa's road map from where it is as a nonentity, to its place of glory as a major world power again.

# PART ONE:

# THE COURSE

"... but from the beginning it was not so."

– Matthew19:8b

"There must be a recourse to the beginning to understand what the truth is."

– Pastor Faith A. Oyedepo

# CHAPTER ONE

# BURSTING MYTHS

Several myths have been created and used through the ages to explain Africa's origin and position in the world today. Unfortunately, these myths were ignorantly accepted by Africans as the very truth without any effort to probe its veracity. But one thing is certain-every lie has a life span which is made known at the appearing of the truth. Hence, in this chapter we shall be taking a critical look at some myths about Africa and seeing how they easily explode like bubbles when brought close to the heat of truth. These myths are:

The Noah-Ham Myth

The first of these unfounded and erroneous theories is what is termed the NOAH-HAM MYTH. This theory claims that Africa's present state is the result of the curse that Noah supposedly imposed upon his son, Ham. The resultant effect of this is that this particular theory have been used for a long time to validate and sanction slavery, racism, exploitation, oppression, terrorism and every kind of cruel and evil deed and inconceivable wicked act against the black man. The truth however, is not farfetched when we carefully and critically look at the same scripture that has been erroneously used to give credence to this devilish theory. In Genesis chapter 9 and verse 1 we read:

"And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth."

This scripture establishes the very fact that Noah and all his three sons were simultaneously blessed – and that includes Ham.

Furthermore, verse 18-27 of the same Genesis 9 gives the complete account of the whole story behind this curse in question. It states:

"And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the Ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted vine yard. And he drank of the wine, and was drunk and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, blessed be the lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant."

In explaining this scripture let's first examine Dr. Memsa Otabil's contribution to this subject, in his book titled, "Beyond the Rivers of Ethiopia". He clearly and extensively explained the reality of the above scripture in relation to the myth in question, and I shall now quote him verb atone. Now let's hear him speak:

"My purpose here is not to show the morality or otherwise of an action, but to allow the facts to speak for themselves.

First, let us establish the name of the individual who committed the offense. Verse 22 is clear about that.

"And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without"

The offense was committed by Ham. Shem and Japheth were those who covered Noah.

The second thing is to find out who was cursed and with that verse 25 clearly states:

"And he said cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren".

Canaan according to Genesis 10:6 was the fourth son for Ham.

Amazing as it may seem, the Bible states that although Ham was the culprit he was never cursed but somehow his fourth son Canaan who was not the accused was cursed.

The question then is; why was not Ham cursed? The answer is straight and simple. Ham had already been blessed by Almighty God in Genesis chapter 9 Verse 1, and Noah knew he could not undo that blessing with his curse so he made Canaan the scapegoat for his father's sins.

In Numbers 23:20, Balaam found out that when God blesses no one can reverse it. If Ham had been cursed then all his children would have been cursed but thank God that was not the case. In all, Ham had four children as recorded in Genesis 10:6.

"And the sons of Ham Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan"

It must be noted that Cush the first born of Ham was never cursed. Mizraim the second son was never cursed. Phut the third son was never cursed. Only Canaan the fourth son was cursed by Noah. If for nothing we can say that Cush as the first born of Ham received a double portion of his father's blessing according to biblical precedence.

It is further enlightening to note that the name Cush also means Ethiopia. He was the father of the black race of the world: and he was never cursed. Full stop!

To this Memsa Otabil's conclusion I totally agree and would also like to add this; that if anyone is interested in knowing who was cursed by Noah and in seeing the effect of that curse that person, should direct his attention to the Canaanites; the descendants of Canaan and the original inhabitants of the land of Canaan. That is the land God gave to Abraham and his seed, and not to Africa and the black race. You cannot find out something from where it was never kept. Final full stop!

The Evolution Myth

Another related and deadly theory that has been used to explain the dilemma of the black man is one with a very high racist undertone. This can be found in the work of Andrew Hacker, a professor of political science at Queens College New York. In his work, "In Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal", he stated that, there persists the belief that members of the black race represent an inferior strain of the human species. In this view Africans are seen as languishing at a lower evolutionary level than members of other races. He further pointed out that, the unhappy fact remains that most white people believe that, compared with other races; persons with African ancestries are more likely to carry primitive traits in their genes. He points out that the implication therefore, is that given this premise the presumption follows that most individuals of African heritage will lack the intellectual and organizational capacities the modern world requires.

The weakness of this theory becomes obvious when we ask ourselves these questions - If this theory is true, who then is responsible for the civilization that was prevalent in Africa before the coming of other races into the continent? If astronomy originated with the Egyptians through their study of the heavens, the stars and the weather; If Africa is credited for the origination of mathematics; if the theory of transmutation of elements (the basis of modern chemistry) first appeared among ancient Egyptians; if the ancient Egyptians were also reputed highly in medicine and was already performing caesarean operations and removing cataracts from the eyes of human beings even as far back as about 2980BC how come the belief is still held in some quarters that most individuals of African heritage will lack the intellectual and organizational capacities the modern world requires? Thank God that it is no more news that this modern world owe most of its achievements to the contribution of ancient Egypt (an African kingdom), especially in the complex fields of science and technology. Again it is important to note that this theory like its fellow should be taken by any relational being as nothing but mere lies. This is because they simply lack every scientific and historical foundation. Hence they cannot stand.

The Jewish Myth

This particular legend is of a Jewish origin. According to Frederick K.C. price, in his book, "The truth About Race", he restated an interesting account from a subsection of encyclopedia Judaica titled: "In the Aggadah" under the entry for Ham, thus:

Ham's descendant (Cush) is black-skinned as punishment for Ham's having had sexual intercourse in the ark.

He further stated that the book: "The Legend of the Jews, volume 1" by Louis Ginzberg gives more credence to the myths about blacks as follows:

The descendants of Ham through Canaan therefore have red eyes, because Ham looked the nakedness of his father; they (blacks) have misshapen lips, because Ham spoke with his lips to his brothers about the unseemly condition of his father; they have twisted curly hair because Ham turned and twisted his head round to see the nakedness of his father.... Thus, he was requited, for it is the way of God to mete out punishment measure for measure.

I think this claim appears rather childish, funny and foolish; it is as baseless as a kindergarten poem. Hence, we are doubly instructed in Titus 1: 14 and Timothy 1:4 thus,

"Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth." "Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do".

The Big Pond Myth

This theory claims that at the creation of mankind, God Almighty had a big pond into which He threw His creation.

The first beings to be thrown into the pond were fully submerged in the water of the pond and as such came out totally washed, cleansed and lily white

The second batch did not turn out very white but came out a bit yellowish.

The third batch got in when the water in the pond was quite depleted and muddied so they came out brownish–red and by the time the last batch had their turn they could only touch the water with the soles of their feet and their palms, so they came out very dark on the body with only the soles of their feet and their palms partially cleansed.

The deadliness of this theory is found in the fact that it did not only attempts to explain the colour difference of the races of the world, but also implied the superiority of one race over the other. And all these it attempted to do with no premise whatsoever. We can therefore, see again that this theory is just as valid as a kindergarten poem, because it simply lacks proof.

The Search Is On

All the above myths as we have already seen are grossly unfounded and lack any scriptural or historical foundation. What remains a problem however is that in spite of the fact that such theories have been debunked, yet no meaningful explanation has been given about the mysterious position of Africa in the world till date. This situation is further worsened because people have decided to turn their focus away from the only place the explanation and solution could possibly come from; that is the Holy Bible and history. This neglect, however, is not without a reason. In this case, the reason is simply that the Bible and history has been erroneously and manipulatively used in the past as the basis for validating the claims of some of these myths as we saw in the case of Noah-Ham myth above.

In effect, the world, especially Africans in general and African Christians in particular have been deceived to give up the search for the way out of all the mysterious problems facing Africa today. However, the truth still remains that there is an explanation for Africa's miseries today, and that explanation can only be found with God.

Even though some Africans have decided to settle with the status quo as the destiny and fate of the blacks, others have chosen to rather believe that there is a way out of this mess. And these ones also believe that the way out can only come from God - The all knowing one. This unflinching belief has led to such African's crying out to God for deliverance by reason of the unbearable burden upon the black race.

In response, God whose ear is not deaf that he cannot hear, and whose hands are not short that he cannot save have decided to hearken to the heartfelt and faith-filled prayers of these African's. It is therefore, in response to such prayers and in accordance to the fullness of God's timing that God has decided to step in to begin the process of change in favor of the black race. And it is this said response of God to Africans in these last days that has been carefully packaged and presented in this book for your own spiritual understanding and personal response.

# CHAPTER TWO

# WHAT WENT WRONG?

Having seen the real situation of things, that is the fact that these myths are nothing but lies from the pit of hell, one is then forced to ask this important question – "Then What Went Wrong with Africa?" That is, if these myths are not true just as we have been made to understand, then what could be responsible for this predicament in which Africa has found herself? As a rational being like you, this same question has also been a concern to me over the years. And this concern is based on the fact that I know that something is no doubt wrong with Africa. This is not difficult to tell because the realities of life and leadership in Africa all attest to the fact that something went wrong somewhere along the way.

In a bid to find an answer to this question, I have found myself reading several books on this subject and also asking several individuals this same question. But the answers I got from these sources have been too unsatisfactory in answering this question. At best they all seem to only touch the periphery of the main issue at stake. I have therefore attempted to categorize the unsatisfactory answers that I gathered into the following three basic sub-headings. These are:

**European Forces** : The people in this camp are always very quick to voice their opinion on this question of what went wrong with Africa. Their response is usually that Africa is where it is today because of the European forces of slave-trade, colonization, economic exploitation etc. These opinions to a large extent sound reasonable. But on the other hand, it also reveals the lack of understanding on the part of these people about the real causes and meaning of things. There is nothing - good or bad - that does not have a cause.

Yes! I agree that these European-created forces have caused and are still causing Africa and Africans much damage. But a second thought will reveal that as important as these factors are, they are still not causal factors all by themselves but mere consequences. In other words slavery, colonial rule, economic exploitation and the rest are all consequences of what went wrong. In part four of this book we shall treat this issue of consequences extensively. But for now let's treat first things first.

**Idolatry:** The people in this school of thought simply believe that Africa and Africans are suffering what they are suffering today because of the predominance of idol worshiping in the continent. Again we see that this opinion does not hold much water because there are some nations in the world outside Africa where idolatry is the order of the day. Yet our circumstance and theirs can not in any way be compared. A good example of such a nation is India, where they have millions of gods that they worship even till date.

**Leadership:** The last and most common of answers to the question of what went wrong? is that - "The lack of leadership in Africa is Africa's number one problem". This also sounds brilliant and closer to the truth revealed in this book. But the challenge here, however, surfaces when I tried taking this question deeper, by asking these same respondents this next question – "So what then is the cause of this Africa's lack of leadership?" At this point some of them would go blank with virtually no idea whatsoever to give as an answer. On the other hand there are those who end up trying to explain the reason for this lack of leadership with the already discussed European forces of slave-trade, colonization, economic exploitation etc.

The point here still remains that these reasons are nothing but consequences of the original cause of the lack of leadership itself. For if there was true leadership in Africa, slavery, colonialism, and economic exploitation would not have been possible in Africa the way it happened.

Now, it is however, instructive to note that whatever opinion these persons have put forward should be immensely appreciated with the understanding that we can only see as far as God permits us to see, through the light that He gives us per-time. Whatever point these people have contributed is worth acknowledging. Personally, I also shared some of these opinions in the past until God in his mercy opened my eyes to the truth. Nevertheless, we should not make the mistake of settling down on them as the end of the road. For to do so, is to settle for something less than the truth and therefore, less than God's best for us as a people.

Therefore, let's forge ahead with God to get to the end of this matter. But to get to the end we must first make recourse to the beginning by tracing our roots as Africans.

# CHAPTER THREE

# TRACING OUR ROOTS

Our emphasis at this level is to trace and track the course of Africa's historical development, so that we can get to where this entity called Africa originated from and in the process identify the root cause of Africa's misery. This is very important because, until we see the whole picture, we will not be able to put the African puzzle together. Until we see the beginning we cannot understand the present and therefore would be incapable of predicting the future. To this Isaiah 41:21-22 says:

"Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things to come"

Firstly, it is important to note that from the book of Genesis to Revelation, there is not one reference made to the black race with the name "Africa", whether as a people or a land. This no doubt has several possible implications if it is actually the case; that is if Africa has no place in the Bible. A major of such implication is that if that is actually the case, Africa would have no biblical or historical past that is worth studying for the purpose of solving Africa's problem. This is because the secrets of people and nations are found in their stories. Therefore, if there are no African stories, there will also be no African secrets.

However, a critical study of the Bible reveals the actual truth about Africa's heritage. There exists an avalanche of scriptures that clearly points to the fact that Africa has been there from the beginning though not with the appellation – Africa.

Even though the name, Africa – is a recent development just as the name of most African states are recent developments, yet, there were several names in scripture that was used in reference to the black race. Some of these names are Egypt, Ethiopia, Sheba, Nimrod, Cush etc. Surprisingly, some of these names are still retained in their original form till date. In this work, however, our emphasis shall be on Egypt as used in scripture in reference to Africa because it was the name that Africa was synonymous with during the period of this our study.

During my said encounter with the Lord, He made me to understand a very important truth in this light. He revealed to me that Africa and its leadership were cursed. But as I wondered how, when and where this curse was incurred, the Lord told me that the name Egypt at a particular period in history represented the totality of what is presently known as Africa today. And in my bid to prove this word from the Lord and have a historical and scientific ground for this revelation, I proceeded to carry out a research. The following is the product of that research. David Peter Silverman in his work on Ancient Egypt, as presented in Microsoft student Encarta 2007, has this to say {emphasis mine}:

Politically, Egypt was a major power in the ancient world. Its kings governed the land through an elaborate bureaucratic administration. At certain periods, ancient Egypt influence [leadership] extended even farther south and west in Africa as well as east into Asia.

From the above it is clear that there existed in the past a kingdom or empire whose leadership covered virtually the whole land that is presently known today as the continent of Africa. And that kingdom was none other than Egypt. Also take note of the fact that influence in this case is synonymous to leadership, for "leadership" according to J. Oswald Sanders is "simply influence." Africa as represented in Egypt was thus, a world leader that was worth reckoning with by the rest of the world, as a result of her political, economic, social and technological supremacy that was manifested in its relationship with the rest of the world.

Based on the strength of the above, it is instructive to note that the word's "Egypt" and "Africa" shall from henceforth be used inter-changeably in the rest parts of this book. This is more so because the actual cause of Africa's leadership and life problems as revealed in this book, has its roots in this particular period of Africa's historical development. It should be noted however, that the whole history of Africa, dates further back in time, and even as far back as the days of Noah and his children – the Cushites. We have already seen this when we burst the mischievous and notorious Noah - Ham myth.

Now, having traced our history back thus far, we shall now take it a step higher from there to see the actual state of life and leadership in Africa before what went wrong actually went wrong. And also to see if there was actually any change for the worse from what used to be since then. In other words, to see if there was any fall of Africa from glory and grace.

# CHAPTER FOUR

# PAST GLORIES

In this chapter, we are going to examine and summarize the contributions and legacies of the African continent in the area of politics, economics as well as science and technology. Amazingly, this continent of the blacks was the location of the first great civilization and world power in the history of mankind. And as one of the world's earliest and long-lived civilizations, Africa left a legacy of important innovations that have affected human kind over the millennia. The following are only highlights of Africa's past glory

Political Glory

The political stability and supremacy of ancient Africa cannot be overemphasized. Politically, Africa as depicted in Egypt was a major political power in the ancient world. As we have already seen the kings governed the Land through an elaborate bureaucratic administration. According to David Peter Silverman, at certain periods its political influence extended even further south and west, as well as east into the neighboring continent of Asia.

As at about 2500 BC there already existed in Egypt an elaborate bureaucratic system of government that was made up of a king and a council of princess. And it was through this council of princess that the Kings political leadership extended to and was established throughout the kingdom. This kind of political supremacy and stability was probably possible either through military expedition and conquest or through the voluntary submission of the vassal states to that of the central government located in Egypt. So that even though these independent states maintained their independent status, they however paid allegiance to the central government under the king of Egypt.

Let's not think it a strange thing that a kingdom could become that big that it covered virtually the whole of present day Africa. As a matter of fact this was a common phenomenon in the ancient world where a kingdom could cover as many as 127 provinces or nations as the case was with king Ahasuerus' kingdom in the book of Esther. _"Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces)"_ – Esther 1:1[KJV]

Economic Glory

Genesis 12:10-13:2 gives us a very revealing account of the Patriarch, Abraham's first contact with Africa. First, the scripture records that there was famine in the land, and Abraham had to run to Egypt for his survival as well as the survival of his household. If this particular account is true, and it is, it therefore implies that Africa was so economically strong and prosperous even to the extent that the famine that jeopardized the world's economy at that time did not seem to have affected Africa's economy in anyway.

During the days of the Patriarch Joseph in Egypt, the land of Africa even experienced an unprecedented level of prosperity. This was nonetheless due to the wisdom of God manifested through Joseph at the time. Genesis 41:53-57 reads:

"And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt were ended. And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands: but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph, what he saith to you, do. And the famine was over all the face of the earth and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians, and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came unto Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine, was so sore in all lands."

The point we are trying to make very clear here is that it takes an extraordinary measure of economic abundance to not only sustain a nation or a continent, but also the whole world, as it was the case with ancient Africa in its relationship with the rest of the world economically.

To further buttress this fact that Africa was economically buoyant; let's now critically look at another scripture. In Genesis 12:16 the bible says that "Pharaoh the king of Egypt gave to Abraham sheep, oxen, asses, camels and menservants". These substances were all symbols of economic wealth at the time. This implies that the King of Egypt had more than enough for his land and himself even to the extent of sparing in a famine-crisis situation. I believe it was based on these substances with which Abraham came out of Egypt that the bible later on in Genesis 13:1-2 expressly states that Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold. This statement concerning his wealth was not based on the initial substance he gathered at his call of God from Haran [Genesis 12:5].

Now, when Abraham responded to God's call in Genesis 12:5, nothing was said about him being a wealthy man in actual terms. All he had at this time of his life were God's promises spoken to his heart. The quantity of his substance at this level of his life can not in any standard be compared to the measure of wealth that he came out of Egypt with. And even if he had any wealth before going to Egypt, I believe that the famine that forced him to go to Egypt must have no doubt consumed such substance before his trip to Egypt. This is because, from scripture, we see that such famines were a matter of life and death therefore, survival was given priority. Genesis 42:2 speaking about the famine in Joseph's time, comments, "And he (Jacob) said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you thence; that we may live, and not die." This therefore suggests that every of their substance was consumed for the purpose of just surviving the famine. Thus it becomes safe to say that Abraham began his wealth creation program from the riches he received from Africa, hence, establishing the fact that an economic glory once rested upon the land of Africa.

Science, Technology and Arts Glory

Undoubtedly, Africa did not also fall short in the areas of science and technology. The Pyramids of Egypt which is first of the world's seven wonders still stands tall in the continent today as a testimony to this fact. Historians agree that the construction project of these pyramids required a huge workforce of several hundred thousand laborers over a period of many years. And that the successful completion of the projects depended on a stable and well-developed economy, a well-established administrative bureaucracy and immense public support.

This need for a monumental workforce for its nation-building and infrastructural development ultimately led to the enslavement of the Israelites and their use as forced labor for centuries to develop the continent technologically and infrastructural wise.

Therefore, they set over them (Israelites) task masters to afflict them with their burdens. And they build for Pharaoh Treasure cities... (Exodus 1:11)

Now, apart from the fact that it was in the land of Africa that two of the Seven Wonders of the World was found: that is the Pyramids and the Lighthouse at Alexandra; there also exist a plethora of artistic, philosophic, scientific and technological invention evidences in Africa. The ancient Egyptians produced a vast body of written records, including ethical and moralistic treatise, instructional texts, religious and magical scrolls, evocative love poetry, epic stories and tribal tales. And this is what David Silverman wrote about this point:

Africans possessed a sophisticated understanding of Mathematics and the principle of architecture, enabling them to introduce to the world large stone buildings before 2500 BC. Their enduring images – sculpted, painted, and drawn captivates viewers even today. It is also on records that they originated many basic concepts in arithmetic and geometry, as well as the study of medicine and dentistry.

Without the advance mathematics they originated, the ancient Egyptians would not have been able to build the Pyramids and other large structures. Even the ancient Greek credited the Egyptians with many early discoveries in the fields of philosophy, art and science. It is clear also that the Greeks and their civilization benefited from and where influenced by the achievement of the Egyptians in sculpture and architecture. For example, early Greek statues of youths, called "Kouroi", are clearly modeled on Egyptian statutory, and Greek fluted columns are undeniably similar to columns constructed in Egypt centuries earlier.

The influence of the ancient Egyptians is even seen today. The "obelisk", an architectural feature of many temples, is still used, as can be seen in the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. The ancient Egyptians were as well masters in stone-working and mental-working and the production of faience and glass. Their products were in popular demand and used throughout the ancient world. Their understanding of astronomy was very advanced and based on their knowledge and understanding of the sun and the stars they were able to devise a calendar.

# CHAPTER FIVE

# PRESENT REALITIES

It is very true, as history has proven in many places, that no empire or kingdom on earth can last forever. When Africa is not considered with this fact in mind, one is faced with present realities that to a very large extent negate the fact that there was ever once a glorious empire in the land of the blacks. Ancient and modern Africa is separated by a long period of time, distinct concepts and beliefs as well as very different realities. And this is because Africa at a point in its history suddenly reached its zenith and began to decline, instead of maintaining that status and building on same, as the case was with some other ancient empires in history. This failure is no doubt traceable to the absence of the necessary spirit of leadership that is required to improve upon or even maintain its past accomplishments.

Africa's past glory and her present realities, when compared can almost be compared to the opposite sides of a coin. And because of this disturbing paradox many individuals and writers, especially Africans have been deceived to erroneously conclude that whatever good thing that is attributed to ancient Africa could not have possibly transpired in Africa. These people therefore claim that every worthwhile achievement in Africa is nothing but the product of European activities in Africa. But thanks be unto God, that both historical, biblical and archaeological evidences have proven otherwise. This short-sightedness and bias of these Eurocentric writers, I believe, to some extent is made possible by the available present paradoxical realities in the continent today. From being a world power, Africa is now disdainfully classified as a third world continent, which means it is the basest of the world.

The problem of mental slavery is another disturbing reality, and this is the end product of the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Colonialism and its extension, neo-colonialism. The economic exploitation in the land is indeed immeasurable. From being the world's economic leader, it has been so reduced to the level of an economic slave in servitude to the rest of the world. And this reality is characterized by a very high rate of poverty, as well as a very low standard of living for the majority of Africans. Also the reign of ignorance in the continent today negates the fact that Africa was ever once the world's centre for intellectual enlightenment.

Corruption and corrupt practices especially among African leaders is also another reality that is very disturbing. It has now gotten so bad that African nations are now been rated among the most corrupt nations of the world. Some other realities are the presence of wars and conflicts, industrial failure, sicknesses and diseases, just to mention but a few.

By and large, it becomes very absurd and prejudicial for anyone to claim that Africa, until the recent influx of Europeans, never experienced any form of civilization, political leadership, economic prosperity, or scientific and technological inventiveness. It suffices to say that Africans once had their own experience of God's glory in this very continent, contrary to "popular" opinion. This glory was so great that kings and their people came to the light of the brightness of that glory that rested upon the land of the black, until it unknowingly departed from us, all because of our own making.

In part four of this book we shall be looking at these present realities in details, and we shall also find their roots in scripture so that we can locate the right solution keys to avert these problematic realities. But for now it will suffice us to be bordered with adequately answering this all important question – "WHAT REALLY WENT WRONG WITH AFRICA?"

# PART TWO:

# THE CURSE

" _And I will... curse him that curseth thee..."_

(Genesis 12:3a)

# CHAPTER SIX

# THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

The Bible is a book of written and sealed covenants both between God and man as well as between men. Some of these covenants between God and man in scriptures are The Adamic Covenant, The Cainic Covenant, The Noahic Covenant, The Abrahamic Covenant, The Haggahic Covenant, The Sarahic Covenant, The Mosaic Covenant, The Davidic Covenant, The New Covenant, and so on, and so forth. And each of these covenants came into force with their respective terms, conditions, commands, promises, and benefits. But for the benefit of this study, our attention shall be focused on the Abrahamic covenant alone.

Curse for Curse

A covenant can be defined as a formal contractual agreement between two or more parties, with each party agreeing to do something as a prerequisite to receiving some benefits. Covenants are usually written and sealed, and they are conditional in nature. That means a breach of the agreement by any of the party disqualifies same from reaping the rewards and privileges attached to that covenant. However if such agreement is fulfilled by any party, the other party is bound to make good his own end of the covenant, and to deliver the rewards and privileges that is due that party. And these rewards and privileges are usually contained in the covenant promises.

In the light of the above, the Abrahamic covenant is the covenant between God Almighty and the patriarch Abraham. This covenant was contracted long after the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel after God saw that it was impossible to deal with the human race as a whole. And God's intent for establishing this covenant with Abraham was to make it possible for Him to have a one on one relationship with mankind again after the fall, and in the process establish a holy lineage through which His son Jesus, the Savior of the world could come into the world and die for the sins of men. Since God had something to gain through this covenant, and been a just God, He also had to make some promises in this covenant to Abraham so that the covenant will be mutually beneficial to both parties. And these Abrahamic covenant promises are seven fold. According to Genesis 12:1-3 these promises are listed as follows:

1. "I will make of thee a great nation"

2. "I will make thy name great"

3. "You shall be a blessing"

4. "I will bless them that bless you"

5. "I will bless you"

6. "I will curse them that curse you"

7. "In you shall the nations of the earth be blessed"

The sixth promise of this covenant is very significant to this study. Hence, I have underlined it to distinguish it from the rest promises. Here we see God assuring His covenant partner - Abraham, that every one that curses him automatically attracts a curse from the Lord Himself. To fully understand and appreciate the importance of this particular promise, which I termed "Curse for Curse" as it relates to Africa; it is very pertinent that we first of all answer these following questions:

a. What is a curse?

b. Was Abraham faithful to the covenant?

c. Was the Abrahamic covenant generational?

d. And finally did Africans at any time in history curse Abraham or his seed?

QUESTION ONE: What Is A Curse?

A curse is simply the direct opposite of a blessing. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, it is something that causes harm or pain. It also means to continuously suffer from or be affected by something bad. Based on these definitions we can say that a curse is anything that causes discomfort and makes life unbearable for someone or a group of people. Curses can be inflicted either through the spoken word or through physical oppression. And curses can be caused by man to a fellow man or by spirit beings upon men. In other words curses can be physical or spiritual. Another very important feature of curses is that just like blessing they are generational in nature. This means that until a curse is broken every succeeding generation comes up to inherit and suffer the evil effects of such curses. And in some instances some curses even get worse with every passing generation until it finally wipes out that family heritage.

QUESTION TWO: Was Abraham Faithful To The Covenant?

From scriptures we clearly see that Abraham was indeed faithful to keeping his own part of the covenant. In Genesis 17:9-14 for example, Abraham carried out the circumcision of himself and the whole of his household, and in God's judgment this was a very good proof of Abraham's faithfulness to this covenant. Abraham took the step to go through all that pain because he believed in the covenant. "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: (Romans 4:11). And through the blood that was shed at the circumcision the covenant was sealed forever as a blood covenant between Abraham and God.

The best proof of Abraham's faithfulness to God and to the covenant was his absolute obedience to sacrifice Isaac his son of promise at God's request. When he did this, God was more than convinced that Abraham was faithful to the covenant. And in response God gave His testimonial to Abraham's faithfulness to Him and the covenant thus:

For I know him (Abraham), that he will command his children and, his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (Gen. 18:19)

Abraham did not only believe God he commanded his own children and household to believe the same God and to keep their own part of the covenant. And all this is so that God can perpetually keep his own part of the covenant. From the above, we can unequivocally say that Abraham was no doubt faithful to the covenant, and God personally counted it to him for righteousness (Romans 4:3).

QUESTION THREE: Was The Abrahamic Covenant Generational?

Thirdly, from scripture we can also see that Abraham's faithfulness in his generation was not credited to his account alone but also to the account of his generations that would come after him. Genesis 17: 9 states "And God said unto Abraham, thou shall keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations". And in Genesis 26:1-5 we see God coming to the aid of Isaac after the death of Abraham. The reason for this, God says, is "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments my statutes and my laws". Remember, all these Abraham did as proof of his faithfulness to the covenant in question. Hence, the covenant promise was of course not just to Abraham but to his off springs as well. And it is instructive to note that the Jewish race is literally the offspring of this Abraham that we speak of.

Now from the answer to the first three questions we can now provide a well informed answer to the last question on our question list above.

QUESTION FOUR: Did Africa Curse Abraham Or His Seed At Anytime?

The obvious answer is a capital YES! Historical and biblical records have it that before 1688 BC the descendants of Abraham came to Egypt in order to survive a global famine at the time. This was in response to the request of Joseph, who was also a seed of Abraham and through whom Egypt received the strategy by which she enjoyed plenty in the midst of that terrible famine. Records also have it that after a while in Egypt these descendants of Abraham were turned into slaves in Egypt for centuries and were subjected to harmful, harsh and forced labor. And this was no doubt wickedness and oppression meted out to God's covenant people - the Israelites right in Egypt-the heart of Africa.

Now based on our definition of a curse above it is obvious that the Israelites, Abraham's seeds were cursed by the black race in Egypt. A question now may be - How is Egypt related to Africa? Well according to Silverman's work cited in part one of this book, it is indeed an established historical fact that the Egypt we speak of was the capital of Africa at the time. And these Egyptians that cursed the Israelites were no other race but the black race whose geographical and historical location in the world from the beginning has been the continent of Africa. From all indications we can therefore say that Africans have cursed Abraham and his seed and in the same vein have also automatically invoked God's curse on us the black race. Because, as we already saw, God eternally promised to curse whosoever provoke this curse through cursing Abraham and his seeds.

"I will...curse him that curses you." "And also that nation whom they shall serve, will I judge." "Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord (Genesis 12:3 & 15:14, Jeremiah 2:3 respectively).

And this is where the central message and revelation this book seeks to communicate lies. That is Africa was caused because of her enslavement of the seed of Abraham (Israel) right in Egypt the centre of Africa at the time.

# CHAPTER SEVEN

# AFRICA IS CURSED!

Having placed our hands on the substance of this book; which is that there is a curse of God upon the black race, we shall now proceed to examine the nature of this curse so as to have a good understanding of how this curse came into force, as well as how it operates today in the life of the blacks.

When we speak of the fact that Africa is cursed, we are not reaching such conclusion just on the basis of the harsh life realities facing the black race today that suggests there is a curse, even though there is abundant proof of that. This conclusion that Africa is under a curse rather transcends the proof of just present realities because there are abundance of scriptural injunctions to that effect. Before this curse was even released God spoke about it expressly to Abraham, and this also has its base in scripture.

The Promised Curse

God in Genesis 15:13-14 revealed to Abraham the prophetic future of his descendants; that they would inevitably come into oppressive servitude and affliction under the hand of a nation for a period of four centuries. "He said unto Abram, know of a surely that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them and they shall afflict them, four hundred years. and that nation will I judge".

In essence God was telling Abraham that a nation was going to curse his descendants for a long period of time. And having told him the coming affliction of his seeds, God also proceeded to promise Abraham that a consequent judgment was going to come upon that land that would cause his descendants this pain. God in other words was saying to Abraham my promise to you of _"curse for curse"_ will still be effective for the benefit of your descendants even after you are dead. And to further buttress the fact that the promise would even be effective in this particular situation God says: "And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge and afterward shall come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy father in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age."

In order to understand the nature of this judgmental curse promised by God, there is need for us to first properly establish if the children of Israel had ever come under such affliction for that period of time and also point out which nation this prophecy concerns that cursed Abraham's descendants.

Now the book of Exodus 12:40 help to throw light on this question. It says; "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years". The answer therefore is that that particular prophecy of God in Genesis 15:13-14, has already been fulfilled. And it's amazing to note that the period of this affliction to a large extent corresponds with the period God spoke about, which is four hundred years. But most surprising is the fact that this affliction took place in the land of the blacks and was perpetrated by the black race. This therefore makes the black race qualify as the first race to bring the children of Israel, Abraham's seed under a curse.

The Executed Curse

Just as it is important to find out if the prophecy concerning the affliction of the Israelites has been fulfilled, it is even much more important to find out if the second half of that same prophecy has been fulfilled. That is the part of the prophecy that guarantees the execution of God's judgmental curse upon that nation that would curse the descendants of Abraham pain in the said ordeal of Genesis 15.

The fulfillment of the judgment part of the prophecy was automatic. It was consequent upon the fulfillment of the first part. And since the first part has been fulfilled, the second part has obviously been fulfilled in its entirety. For a proof of this let's now take a close look at the events that culminated in the freedom and exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt the land of their first affliction. God speaking in Exodus 3:19 said _"And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go."_ Here, God was in other words saying that the release of the children of Israel from Egyptian oppression would not be possible, until he had judged the land with his outstretched arm of judgment. And this He said was due to the hardness of Pharaoh the king of Egypt's heart which was a sign of leadership strength.

In all, this promised judgment was executed upon the blacks and their land in eleven different phases. These are what are referred to in this book as the plagues of God upon Egypt. And it is very instructive to note that these curses are still active in the land of Africa till date according to scripture. Jeremiah 32:20-21 reads; _"Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day; And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;"_

To understand these plagues and their impact upon the black race, it becomes important that we make a list of them in the order of their occurrence. Here is the list:

The Eleven Curses of God upon Africa

1. The water to blood curse

2. The frogs curse

3. The lice curse

4. The flies curse

5. The livestock disease curse

6. The boil upon men and beasts curse

7. The hail and fire curse

8. The locust curse

9. The darkness curse

10. The death of the firstborn curse

11. The spoiling curse

It is very pertinent to note that this is not just a mere list of things. These curses listed above accounts for Africa's mysterious conditions and decline from been a world leader to its present position as an object of ridicule in the world today. Every one of these curses has their respective negative effect on the black race till date. These were all signs of the actual thing that God intended to happen to the blacks as a consequence of the evil they lashed out to the children of Israel without any just cause.

For instance, the curse of darkness in the land of Egypt according to Exodus 10:21-23 was actually a sign of the gross ignorance that is now prevalent in Africa today. _"And the Lord said unto Moses; stretch out thine hands towards heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."_

Consequently, Africa from being the center of civilization and enlightenment to the rest of the world is now reputed for mass ignorance and illiteracy. Now Africa is reputed as the _"Dark Continent"_ , not because of the darkness of the people's skin but because of the darkness of our hearts and minds, and this is nothing but spiritual darkness.

Some of these plagues that are disease related can also be said to be signs of the reality of the prevalence of sicknesses and diseases in Africa today. In other for us to have a proper understanding of these mysteries, I want us to now observe carefully some salient points in the book of Psalm 78, with reference to the above listed eleven curses of God upon Africa. The Psalmist writes:

How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan: and had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods that they could not drink. He sent diverse sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labours unto the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost. He gave up their cattle also to the hail and their flocks to hot thunder bolts. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. He made a way to his anger he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham.

In fact the above passage of scripture shows the fact that Africa is in a desperate situation. The Psalmist by the Spirit of God saw the actual intent of God in the land of Egypt as a result of the release of those plagues. And from his prophetic point of view this judgment was far more than just a physical operation. For it was a spiritual operation in all ramifications but with inexplicable physical consequences. For instance in verse 46 of that same passage we see him explaining the effect of the curse of locust and caterpillars upon the land. The effect of this particular curse the Psalmist pointed out was the devouring of the increase of the labour of the land. No wonder since this operation of God, despite the hard working and labouring nature of the blacks, they still cannot account for any meaningful increase produced by such labors. And this is because the curse has been in operation in the life of the blacks.

We can also glean out another salient point from this passage of scripture, and that has to do with the prevalence of the activities of evil spirits in Africa. In verse 49 we read: _"He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble by sending evil angels among them."_ Since this operation, these evil spirits have held the land in captivity thereby promoting their destructive schemes through witchcraft and other evil means, and causing much trouble and hardship in the land as we see all over Africa today.

Now having shed light on some of those aspects of the said curse, let's bring the search light back to the main subject of this book and see how all these curses and judgments of God affects Africa's leadership in particular.

The Crowning Curse

The death of the firstborn was the most significant of the eleven curses. Even though it was about the last, yet it made the highest impact in the land. As a matter of fact, it was the crowning curse of God in the land of Africa.

The curse of the death of Africa's firstborn signaled something very consequential. It marked the complete annihilation of the spirit of leadership in the land of Africa. And this lost of leadership marked the beginning of the end of Africa's reign as a world power and also started an era of its decline from grace to grass.

As it is the case with the other ten curses, this leadership curse was even more of a spiritual operation than it was a physical one. The death of the physical firstborn of all things in Egypt was also a sign of the death of the spiritual firstborn. And in this case the spiritual firstborn of Africa means its spirit of leadership. Let's now proceed to examine some scriptural proofs of this very point.

# CHAPTER EIGHT

# A SPIRITUAL OPERATION

To determine if the death of Egypt's firstborn is significant to understanding the absence of leadership and the unbearable life's conditions in Africa today, let's see the factors below in the light of Romans 1:20 which says; _"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse"._ This scripture simply means that physical things helps us understand spiritual things and spiritual things also helps us to understand physical things vise visa, as the following factors now reveals to us. These factors are:

The gods Factor

In Exodus 12:12 we see something very note worthy. It reads: _"...and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord"_. Here the scripture shows that the judgment God promised the nation that would oppress his seed includes their gods. Gods in this case speaks of spiritual forces, principalities and powers. And according to the bible every kingdom on earth has its own spiritual forces or gods which determines how that kingdom is governed physically. Daniel 10:13 reads:

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Can you imagine the truth the above scripture brings to light about this point? Angel Gabriel (a spirit being) speaking to prophet Daniel (a human being) tried to explain to him how that things happen in the spirit realm first before they can manifest in the physical.

The prince of Persia here is not a physical prince. This was, as a matter of fact, the spiritual leadership over that particular territory called Persia. And it was this spiritual leadership that determines what happens in that territory. This is still the same today over the nations and the kingdoms of the world. In the new testament, Ephesians 2:2 attests to this fact by saying: _"wherein in time past we walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience"._

Daniel 10:13b further declares that Gabriel the angel was hijacked by these spiritual forces that he called the kings of Persia. This kings no doubt are spiritual beings. A reason for this is that the scripture here speaks of kings (plural) and not king (singular). In the physical only one king is recognized as the political leader of a kingdom. This explains why Exodus 12:12 also speaks of God the most high judging the gods (plural) of Egypt and not just the god (singular) of Egypt.

Lastly, angel Gabriel said he remained with these kings that hijacked him. The point here is that every reasonable human being knows that no physical king or kings have the power to hijack an angel who is a spirit being. It therefore means that these kings of Persia as well as the gods of Egypt that were judged by God were no other factors but spiritual forces. This therefore goes to establish the fact that the judgment of God on Africa was not just a physical operation; it was instead a spiritual one with physical consequences. Hence, God had to kill Africa spiritual leadership which was then manifested in the physical as the death of all physical firstborn in Egypt. Pointing to the very fact that the death of the physical firstborn in Egypt was only a sign of what had transpired spiritually.

The Animal Factor

Again from Exodus 12:12 we see God including even the animal on His judgment list. But the question that this brings to mind is, why the animals? Looking at this ordinarily, we may never understand God's purpose in this matter. However, when we look at it through God's word we can understand clearly God's intent for enlisting the firstborn of animals on His judgment list.

And when he was come to the other side unto the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man can pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, if thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters (Mathew 8:28-32).

From the above scripture we see a related spiritual operation of judgment carried out by the master, Jesus. In it we see that it was possible for spirits to indwell even animals, because Jesus himself granted the request of those devils. That is granting them permission to enter into the swine, since He was determined to cast them out of the humans they had hitherto possessed.

Relating this case to our point of God killing the firstborn of animals above, the obvious revelation from this is that these animals God killed, also possessed some measure of the spirits of leadership that was over the kingdom at the time. The reason for this act of God in killing even the firstborn of animals was that He wanted a complete annihilation of leadership from the land of Africa. Hence, He was determined to leave no stone unturned.

The Bones Factor

Another very important pointer to the fact that this judgment was a spiritual operation, with physical consequences can be found in Genesis 50:24-26. It reads:

And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry my bones from hence.

It is instructive to note that this event above happened several years before God's actual judgment of Africa. But in spite of this time gap we can still point out some very strikingly related and relevant facts.

Now, Joseph was speaking prophetically at the point of his death, and he re-assured the Israelites of the certainty of God's visitation to them and His coming judgment on Africa, as it was later fulfilled. But more noteworthy and relevant to us now is the very serious instruction Joseph gave his brethren, to carry his bones away from the land of Egypt when God finally visits them.

The question here now becomes, what is so special about Joseph's bones that he had to take an oath with the children of Israel, just to ensure that they carry his bones away from the land of Egypt. Again looking at this with the ordinary eyes will not provide any answer. But comparing scriptures with scriptures, we can no doubt see the mind of God behind this particular operation. And the necessary scripture here is, 2 Kings 13:20-21:

And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

This particular scripture reveals that there is something about the bones of a man, and that is; the bones of a man carried the spirit of that man. Here we see something similar about Elisha the prophet's bones. Even though the man was dead and his flesh had completely decomposed, his bones still raised a dead man. The reason for this is that the anointing of God upon him was still on his bones, and that anointing could still work wonders by restoring life to a dead man. Scripture declares that God's gift and callings are without repentance even after the death of the man that receives it.

In the same vein, Joseph being a prophet understood very well this truth. And having a foreknowledge of the nature of God's promised judgment upon Africa, that it was going to be the complete annihilation of the spirit of leadership from the land, Joseph strictly cautioned his people to take out his bones from the land, when the judgment finally comes.

Now the bottom-line reason for this action on the part of Joseph is the fact that Joseph's bones carried something. It carried the spirit of the firstborn which is also the spirit of leadership. What do we mean by this? 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 says:

Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's :)

From this scriptural understanding Joseph was the heir to the firstborn birthright even though he was not the firstborn by birth. And as such he became the firstborn of Jacob his father and by extension the firstborn of Abraham his great-grand-father. And for this reason, if Joseph's bone had remained in Egypt, it would have meant that the blessing of Abraham was still there, and the spirit of leadership in Joseph would have also still remained in the land. Therefore, to ensure that the purpose of God which was to wipe out leadership completely from the land was not defeated, Joseph by the Holy Spirit gave a prophetic instruction to the Israelites. And this instruction was no doubt carried out by Moses when the children of Israel left Egypt for the promise land. Exodus 13:19: _and Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you"._ And by this obedience of Moses to Joseph's prophetic instruction, the complete annihilation of leadership in the land of Africa was perfectly consummated.

# CHAPTER NINE

# THE DEPARTED GLORY

_And she named the child Ichabod, saying, THE GLORY IS DEPARTED from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said the glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken._ (1 Samuel 4:21-22 emphasis mine).

The name Ichabod according to scriptures means inglorious. It speaks of the glory of God leaving a people or land. Similarly, this was exactly what happened the day the children of Israel stepped out of the land of Africa. When they stepped out on that fateful day after the judgment of God was consummated on the land, something very important also stepped out with them. And since then Africa has never been the same again. Africa which was hitherto a land of glory after then became an inglorious land and a symbol of reproach in the world. Let's now see from God's word how all these happened. We can find this in Exodus 12:40-

Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the lord went out from the land of Egypt.

This was indeed a memorable night, not just for the children of Israel alone but also for Africans.

And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by the day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people (Exodus 13:20-22)

And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them. (Exodus14:19)

And the Egyptian pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all pharoah's horses, his chariots, and horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked into the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariots wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel; for the lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. (Exodus 14:23-25)

The point we are trying to establish here is threefold. First, is the fact that it was not just the physical leadership of Moses that brought the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery; it was a spiritual leadership. And this we see in Exodus 13:21, when the scripture categorically stated that: _"the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to LEAD them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to go by day and night."_

Next is the fact that the bible speaks of the HOST (singular) of Pharaoh in Exodus14:4 as against the HOSTS (plural) of Moses in Exodus 12:41. This scripture points to the fact that all that was left to pharaoh and Egypt was just their physical host. On the other hand the children of Israel were attributed to with the term hosts because apart from the physical host which consists of the children of Israel, there was also another host which was spiritual and which led the physical host. And the leader of this spiritual host latter on in this their sojourn revealed himself in person to Joshua the next physical leader of Israel after Moses. The name of this leader surprisingly was also host-related. Joshua 5:13-15 reads:

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, what saith my Lord unto His servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoes from off thy foot; for the place where thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

This same Spirit of leadership is the Spirit of glory, and it is what forsook the land of the blacks as the Israelites left Egypt for the Promised Land. And this is the same spirit that has been leading the nation of Israel over the years, even through threatening and troublous times, yet, ensuring that the Israelites remain glorified.

Lastly, the cloud in the above scriptures speaks also of spiritual matters. It speaks of God's glory and also of spiritual leadership. In 1 Kings 8:10-11 the scripture says:

...and it came to pass, when the priest were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

This same cloud of glory that lifted up from the land of Africa was later on seen with them, not just as a cloud but as a cloud of glory.

Hebrew 12:1 tells us that the same cloud in the scriptures above also speaks of spiritual leadership and of spiritual beings. Here it says; _"wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witness..."_ This cloud of witness is further explained in verses 23-24 to be: _"the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than the blood of Abel."_

In summary, the glory has departed from us. And we have been paying dearly for this great loss. The same pillar of cloud that led them from where they were to where they are today is the same pillar that started working against us right from then on. It brought about the overthrow of Pharaoh and his army (the best military force in the world at the time) and is still working against us the blacks today. Exodus 14: 19-31 proves this to be true:

19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

31 And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.

But thanks be unto God, because he has opened our eyes to see where we missed it and also how we can make the necessary corrections to usher God's glory back upon Africa again. For it is only in this glory that the future of Africa's life and leadership lies. Therefore, let's get ready to bring God's glory upon the land again for the restoration of the black race and the land of the blacks again.

# PART THREE:

# THE CAUSE

" _As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come"._ (Proverb 26:2)

" _Everything happens for a reason; for every effect there is a specific cause"._

\- Brian Tracy

# CHAPTER TEN

# THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT

It is generally believed that when the cause of a problem is known that problem is already half way solved. If this is true, it is therefore very important that we trace the root cause of this African problem. For it is not just enough to know the problem itself, we must proceed to diagnose the actual causes, because only then can we truly accept the total responsibility, not only for what has gone wrong, but also for how to right the wrongs in Africa. It is therefore, for this reason that this part of this book shall be given to locating what caused these problems and exactly how it was caused.

The Oxford Dictionary defines a law as a rule enacted or customary in a community and recognized as commanding or forbidding certain actions. A law is also defined as divine commandments. It is a regularity in natural occurrences e.g. laws of nature; law of gravity. And obedience to these laws is not negotiable.

Virtually everything on earth today is governed by laws. Knowing these laws and applying them rightly is the secret to success for any person, nation or kingdom. On the contrary the ignorance of and misapplication of such laws spells doom for everyone involved in it, irrespective of their plea or claim of ignorance of the existence of such laws. This simply means that laws have respect for no one whether they are black, brown, yellow or white. What you choose is what you get

One of these laws that govern the universe is the law of cause and effect. According to this law, everything on earth happens for a reason. And for every effect there is a specific cause vise visa. This is a law with a biblical foundation and some examples of this law in scriptures are:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. (Deuteronomy 30:19)

And afterward, he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursing, according to all that is written in the book of the law. (Joshua 8:34).

This means that what we see in Africa today is not the product of an accident. It is rather the product of a deliberate act on the part of Africans. And this accounts for the brokenness that we see all over Africa today. Africans are broken today because they broke God's written down laws concerning Abraham and his seed. And that law is simply this; _"I (God) will curse him that curse you (Abraham)"_ \- (Genesis 12:3). Laws like this one cannot be broken; instead they break those that attempt to break them. Hence, Africa and Africans are broken in pieces today.

Now the point here is that we must come to terms with the truth that we have broken God's law concerning Abraham and his seed and are therefore paying the costly price today. We must accept that we are primarily responsible for what has happened to us and therefore stop casting blames on others for our own failings and short comings. For what we have and where we are as a race in the world today is nothing but the effect a definite curse that was caused by us. Nothing indeed just happens; the realities we are facing today did not manufacture themselves. We manufactured them in the first place. And that is why our opening scripture for this section reads:

"As the bird by wandering, and the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come." (Proverbs 26:2).

Let's face the truth boldly. The curse that has come upon us was caused by us, and if this age long curse must be lifted from us, we must also accept responsibility and be ready to cause a change in direction, from curses to blessings.

# CHAPTER ELEVEN

# ACCEPTING TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY

According to Bible history, the king (pharaoh) that orchestrated the oppression of the Jews in Africa was not of African descent; he was an Assyrian by origin. History records that during the period when the Jews were in Africa; that is after the death of Joseph, that there arose to power a new pharaoh who neither knew Joseph nor his contribution to the empire building work of Egypt.

Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. (Exodus 1:8).

This particular king became the pharaoh of Egypt through his conquest of Egypt. And according to Finis Dakes (pp. 105), this particular king began a fresh dynasty; perhaps Ramases II, whose son Menepthan would be the pharaoh of the exodus. This was the reigning pharaoh – when Moses came back from the desert to deliver the Israelites.

The point we are trying to establish here is that the judgment of God that we suffer upon Africa today was not directly caused by Africans through an African born pharaoh; it was rather caused by an Assyrian king. Let's now see what God has to say concerning this historical fact. Isaiah 52:4 reads;

For thus saith the Lord God, my people went down afore time into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

Despite the fact that Africans were not the direct cause of the unjust oppression of His people (the Israelites), God still chose to release the curse directly upon Africa for a reason. This reason is simply that the evil act was carried out on the African land; it was on the land of the blacks that innocent Jewish blood was violently spilled. Joel 3:19 reads:

"Egypt shall be a desolation...for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land."

Many Jews (God's covenant people) both old and young lost their lives as a result of violence and rigorous slavery meted out to them right in the land of Africa. Exodus 1:11, 13 &14 says:

"Therefore they did set task masters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for pharaoh treasure cities ...and the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor: and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in bricks and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve was with rigor".

As a normal and rational human being do you think that this great sin against humanity and more importantly the Jews (God's own people) would just be swept under the carpet unnoticed and unpunished? I don't think so at all, especially with my understanding of God's eternal faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham and his seed.

Also, a good look at the promised judgment of God in Genesis 15:13-14 reveals further the reason God chose to hold Africans responsible for the evil act, instead of the Assyrian pharaoh. _"And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance."_ Notice that this particular scripture laid emphasis on the "land" and the "nation" that would bring the Israelites under bondage. No mention was made of the king. So even though the king in question was Assyrian, God was however more concerned about the land in question.

Moreover, it is vital to also take into cognizance that Africans collaborated with the Assyrian pharaoh in planning and enforcing this oppressive ordeal. In Exodus 1:9 the bible categorically points out that this pharaoh reasoned with his people (the Egyptians) to reach this evil decision, as we did see in Exodus 1:11. Also in Exodus 2:11 the Bible reveals that the task masters set over the Jews, to afflict them were no doubt Egyptians and not Assyrians.

"And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren" (Exodus 2:11).

Against this backdrop, we can safely conclude that we Africans were responsible whether directly or indirectly for the unjust oppression of Israel right in the African continent, and also that this very act of ours qualified us to receive these unbearable consequences that we have suffered over the ages. With this understanding, let's now accept complete responsibility for what we have done and for where we have found ourselves in the world today as a result of what we caused in the first place. For it is only by sincerely accepting responsibility for our own wrongs, that we can truly tell that we are ready to discover the way out of this hell that we have brought ourselves into.

# CHAPTER TWELVE

# UNDERSTANDING FIRSTBORN PRINCIPLES

In this chapter we are going to be analyzing some very important principles about the term "firstborn". This is very necessary to give us a proper understanding of the true essence of the firstborn and how the lost of it in Africa affects our life and leadership today. And this understanding I believe will also help to give us some pointer to solving the African age long misery.

PRINCIPLE ONE: Firstborn Is the Spirit of Leadership

This first principle states that firstborn represent the spirit of leadership of a man, a family or a nation. This is to say that firstborn is a spiritual concept and not just physical. When this spirit comes upon a man or a kingdom it brings leadership which produces extra-ordinary transformation in the life of that one, thereby resulting in such a people or kingdom becoming a symbol of excellence and leadership for others to follow after.

But when this spirit departs the opposite of this transformation no doubt becomes the case. And it is surprising to know that there exist an avalanche of proofs of the manifestation of this very principle in the life of both individuals and kingdoms. We are going to examine this principle first from the angle of individuals and next from that of kingdoms. But before we embark on that let's attempt to clearly define what we mean by the term; "spirit of leadership".

In his book, "The Spirit of Leadership", Dr. Myles Munroe, gave a thorough definition of the spirit of leadership and its source. He also attempted to show the difference between Leadership Spirit and the Spirit of Leadership. And this is what he wrote; The leadership spirit is the inherent leadership capacity and potential that is the essential nature of human beings. And the source of this leadership spirit he says is God almighty according to Genesis 1:26 that was given to all mankind at creation.

On the other hand, the spirit of leadership which is our focus here, according to him, is the mind-set or attributes that accompany a true leadership spirit and allows the dormant leadership potential to be fully manifested and maximized. This spirit of leadership he said is:

1. A mind-set

2. Dictate one's motivation

3. Is revealed in ones response to one's environment

4. Is a perception of oneself and the world

5. Is the convictions that regulate one's thought about oneself and ones world

6. Is one's personal, private philosophy of life

7. Is one's thought about one's environment

8. Is ones belief system, which controls one's behavior

9. Is the source of one's actions, which determines the response of the environment

10. Is how you interpret the world

11. Is your mental conditioning

This spirit of leadership is the thoughts that make up the mindset of a man. And when that man have access to these thoughts which makes up his mindset, the spirit of leadership, then goes on to activate the leadership spirit which is the inherent leadership capacity and potential of that man. When a man or a kingdom is denied access to this spirit of leadership, their leadership spirit can be said to be good for nothing. In other words, it is the spirit of leadership that brings alive the leadership spirit.

Now, relating this to what is obtainable in Africa since this curse, we would see that there is not much difference from our experience. Our African leaders travel to different parts of the developed world; they see the development in those parts of the world, which are brought about by the application of powerful ideas by the leaders of those developed nations. And when they get back to Africa they find it impossible to replicate in Africa the development they see outside Africa. This inability we all know is not brought about by a lack of material and natural resources; it is rather the product of the lack of a spiritual resource called the spirit of leadership. Even in cases where some of these leaders struggle and try to accomplish some developments, they still end up frustrated along the way. And this no doubt accounts for the multiplicity of abandoned small, medium and mega scale projects all across African nations today.

The solution to this problem is not just in the accumulation of ideas or in mere leadership training. What we lack in Africa is not ideas. No amount of leadership and management education can fill this gap either. Majority of our leaders are educated, and some of them got their education from the developed world and yet they are still failing to perform and to practice what they know.

Previously, I thought the solution to our leadership difficulty in Africa rested on leadership and management training alone. This thinking inspired me to setup an organization during my sophomore year in the university. This organization was primarily given to leadership training and development for youths in my campus. But since God gave me this revelation in 2007 about the death of Africa's firstborn that this book speaks of, I realized how futile my effort at solving Africa's leadership problem would have turned out without first knowing the root cause of that problem. But I thank God for this revelation, because with it I now know better, what to do. I now understand that ideas and even principles are useless without the right spirit backing them up. This point I speak of is not new at all in this world. It is indeed an ancient and eternal truth. And this is what the scripture have to say in that regard:

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)

Let's now relate this point to what Myles Munroe stated about the source of the spirit of leadership and its process of manifestation in our lives. The process in his book is as follows:

1. A source (the spirit of leadership) transmits its ideas through words or images

2. Words heard or images seen transmit thoughts and ideas to our minds

3. Thoughts conceived becomes ideas

4. Ideas conceived becomes ideologies

5. Ideologies conceived becomes beliefs

6. Beliefs conceived becomes convictions

7. Convictions conceived becomes philosophies

8. Philosophies conceived becomes lifestyles and

9. Lifestyles determine our destinies.

From the foregoing, we can see that when the spirit of leadership; the source that transmits empowered ideas through words or images departs from a people, all that will be left with them will be mere ideas, words and images, without the spirit to give it life for manifestation. This is why Dr. Myles emphatically stated in this his book that there is nothing as powerful as a thought or idea. And even more important is the fact that there is nothing more important than the source (spirit of leadership) of our ideas and thoughts. He also added that, what we derive our thoughts from determines the kind of thoughts we conceive and who we eventually become. Also, knowing that as a person thinks in his heart so is he, then the source from which man gets the thoughts that he thinks is critical. And he concluded by saying that the key to living effectively is receiving your thoughts from the correct source.

PRINCIPLE TWO: Firstborn Is Given By the Holy Spirit

(Using Kings David and Saul as Case Studies)

These two men before their encounter with the spirit of leadership were ordinary men, just like every other person in Israel. But right from the day they encountered Samuel the prophet, their destinies never remained the same again. The question now is what brought about this sudden and drastic change from been ordinary to becoming extra-ordinary men. The answer is not in their educational training or family background. (See 1 Samuel 2:8). The answer can be found in the spirit that came upon these men- that is the spirit of leadership that the Holy Spirit brought into their lives.

Case 1: King Saul

Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his (Saul's) head, and kissed him, and said, is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?... And the spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophecy with them and shalt be turned into another man (1 Samuel 10:1,6 )

So we see that in Saul's case it was not those physical attributes neither was it even the oil that brought about that transformation. It was indeed the Spirit of the Lord who is also the spirit of leadership that made him. It is this same spirit that gives men the empowerment to lead. "And let it be, when this signs are come upon thee, that thou do as occasion serves thee, for God is with thee".

Case 2: King David

Let's now take a look at the experience of David in relation to this spirit of leadership.

12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

15 And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. (1 Samuel16:12-15)

Again we see clearly from the scripture above that it was not even David's good looks, or past exploits that launched him to leadership. Rather it was still that same spirit of leadership from the Lord. Furthermore, verse 14 reveals some very important things to us. And they are:

1. It was the same spirit of leadership that departed from Saul that came upon David

2. This exchange was caused by Saul's sin against the Lord. (1 Samuel 15:24)

3. When this spirit of leadership who is also the spirit of solution departs from a person, a contrary spirit which causes trouble takes over its places, and then begins to create trouble. This explains the troubles we have been facing in Africa since the departure of the spirit of leadership.

4. The day the spirit of leadership leaves is not necessarily the day his absence is noticed. It took some years before Saul finally left the throne and died. But as far as God was concerned, Saul seized from being king the day Samuel denounced his kingship. (1 Samuel 15:28)

5. God uses prophets to bring down this spirit of leadership upon people and to also take it away from them when they fall short. This explains why God had to raise a prophet in the person of Moses to take out the spirit of leadership from Africa.

6. Finally, when God takes away this spirit of leadership away from a people he gives it to whomsoever He chooses. When this happens it is not difficult to notice. And with time it becomes obvious for all to see.

Let's now see this from scriptures: _"And Samuel said unto him (Saul), The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou."_ (1 Samuel 15:28). And latter on in 1 Samuel 16:18 we read: _"then answered one of the servants (of Samuel), and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him"._

Did you see that? Within a short period of time, can you imagine the change that occurred in the life of David? Try to compare that description of David to this one in 1 Samuel 16:12 (And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a fair countenance, and goodly to look to...), you would see the evident manifestation of leadership in his life after he was anointed by the Holy Spirit. In this latter description all that was attributed to him were his physical appearance and characteristics, but in the former we see the characteristics of wisdom, understanding, might etc which were hitherto not there. These are some characteristics of the spirit of leadership as we shall see latter on.

Now, relate this case of David and Saul to the rest of the world. The result is not farfetched. What happened here is what happened to Africa and is what is still happening to the kingdoms of the world till date. The spirit of leadership which left the kingdom of Africa, if you observe well, is the same spirit that has brought about the rise of the various world powers till date. That is to say that whichever kingdom becomes the world's power till date has been determined by the one God chooses to let this spirit come upon. Without this spirit upon a kingdom, that kingdom cannot become a world power. And this is irrespective of its military, economic, political and technological capabilities. For it is not by power and might, it is by the spirit of leadership (Zechariah 4:6). When we come to understand this truth we would be less worried about the fighting and balancing of power amongst the kingdoms of the world in these last days. A look at history and especially during the cold war between Britain, USA and USSR, as well as other events and factors that led to the rise of the USA as a world power is of vital importance to understanding this very point.

PRINCIPLE THREE: Firstborn Is Given By Birthright

Another scriptural way through which people received this spirit of leadership was through the agency of birthright. This means that one's order of birth determines if he or she receives the spirit of leadership or becomes the leader of a family or not. By virtue of his birthright the firstborn have a preferential privilege to receive any benefit first before any other member of that family. This also entitles him to a double portion of the father's inheritance. And this principle applied even when there was hatred of the firstborn's mother in the father's heart.

15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:

16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:

17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. (Deut 21:15-17)

And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. (Gen 29:26)

And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another. (Gen 43:33)

There is however an exception to this rule in the Bible. This exception can occur in three different ways, and when it happens it over rules the principle above and establishes a higher one. The first exception to this principle is; that the birthright can be sold by its original inheritor. A ready case in point is that between Jacob and Esau.

29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.

31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. (Gen 25:29-34).

The second exception to this principle is that the firstborn birthright can be forfeited by its owner because of sin. An example of this is Reuben, Jacob's first son:

1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's:) (1 Chronicles 5:1-2).

Finally, the third exception to this rule occurs when God in his eternal supremacy chooses to set it aside. This is found in the case of Ephraim and Manasseh which is recorded in Gen. 48:15-20 thus;

15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.

18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: AND HE SET EPHRAIM BEFORE MANASSEH.

Now, one of the key persons that manifested this spirit of leadership by birthright was Joseph. It was by this same spirit that he functioned both on the job and at home that gave him the lead even as a slave in a strange land, and finally brought him to the place of his dream as the prime minister of Egypt. This is the working of the spirit of the firstborn which is also the spirit of leadership.

"And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?" (Genesis 41:38)

Even though Joseph was not the father's firstborn by birth, he however gained the birthright of the firstborn that Reuben the original firstborn lost to sin.

3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. (Gen. 49:3-4).

21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.

22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. (Gen. 48:21-22)

From the above scriptures we see some very important characteristics of the firstborn spirit. These characteristics are as follows:

1. It is the might of a people or kingdom

2. It is the beginning of their strength

3. It is their Excellency of dignity

4. It is their Excellency of power

5. It ensures the double portion inheritance

But when the spirit of the firstborn is lost as it happened in Africa, the opposite of these characteristics becomes the result. That kingdom becomes unstable as water and therefore cannot excel. A kingdom without the spirit of leadership becomes a mere figure-head kingdom. No matter the quantity of leaders it possesses, it will always lack qualitative leadership "When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers..." (Prov. 28:2 NIV), and this is exactly what has happened to our beloved continent - Africa.

# CHAPTER THIRTEEN

# SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF FIRSTBORN

The following is a startling discovery I made as I researched further on this revelation of the firstborn. It is proof of the manifestation of the spirit of the firstborn both in individual and national life even till date. In his book, _"The Real You"_ , Dr. Kevin Leman has the following to say about the very important role of firstborns in the history of the United States of America:

"You already know the firstborns. You probably voted for him to become president. Or maybe you work for her at a fortune 500 company. Perhaps you watched him fly into space as an astronaut, or you've read her bestselling books. All of these occupations are overwhelmingly populated with firstborn adults... They are known for been capable, hard driving, perfectionist, exacting, exhaustingly logical... scholarly and organized. Though firstborn like to be in charge, this desire for control can produce different results. Some firstborn will be the Type A bosses who rule through power. Others will be the compliant nurturers who take care of the world... Many firstborns are very meticulous. Any profession that requires exactitude sounds good to them: airline pilots, accountants, astronauts, and the like all tend to be oldest children. If you need to get something done, if you want to start a business, if you are looking for someone to bring organization to chaos – in all these instances, you'll be best served by a firstborn."

In another of his book _"The New Birth Order Book"_ Dr. Kevin Leman compiled a list of America's presidents beginning from George Washington to Bill Clinton. And this list further reveals the relationship between the firstborn of a land and the leadership of that land. Twenty out these forty one presidents were either direct or indirect firstborns. They were either the first child of their father, first child of mother, first child of second marriage, only child, or first among the male children. Here is a reproduction of Leman's list to which I have added the last two presidents after Bill Clinton, thereby making it a list of 43 presidents in all:

43 United .States of America Presidents and Their Birth Order

1. George Washington – fifth child of father; first of mother; ten-year gap before his birth

2. John Adams - oldest of three boys

3. Thomas Jefferson – third of ten; oldest son

4. James Madison - oldest of twelve

5. James Monroe - oldest of five

6. John Quincy Adams - second of five; oldest son

7. Andrew Jackson - youngest of three sons; two years between him and older brother

8. Martin Van Buren – third of five; also had three older half siblings; two years between him and older sibling

9. William Henry Harrison – youngest of seven; oldest son

10. John Tyler – sixth of eight; second son; two years between him and older brother

11. James K. Polk – oldest of ten

12. Zachary Taylor – third of nine; third son; two years between him and older brother

13. Millard Fillmore – second of nine; oldest son

14. Franklin Pierce – seventh child of father (sixth of eight in second marriage); one year between him and older brother

15. James Buchanan – second of eleven; oldest son

16. Abraham Lincoln – second child of first wife;(three total); oldest son

17. Andrew Johnson – third of three; second son; four years between him and older brother

18. Ulysses S. Grant – oldest of six

19. Rutherford B. Hayes – youngest of five; seven years between him and older brother with two sisters between them

20. James Garfield – youngest of five; five years between him and older brother

21. Chester Arthur – fifth of nine; oldest son

22. Grover Cleveland – fifth of nine; two years between him and older brother

23. Benjamin Harrison – fifth of thirteen (second of ten in second marriage); one year between him and older brother

24. William McKinley – seventh of nine; at least five years between him and older brother

25. Theodore Roosevelt – second of four; oldest son

26. William Howard Taft – seventh of ten (second of five in second marriage); two years between him and older brother

27. Woodrow Wilson – third of four; six years between him and older brother with one sister between them

28. Warren G. Harding – oldest of eight

29. Calvin Coolidge – oldest of two (father's first marriage)

30. Herbert Hoover – second of three; second son; three years between him and older brother

31. Franklin Roosevelt – second son (only child of fathers second marriage); twenty-eight years between him and older half brother

32. Harry S. Truman – oldest of three

33. Dwight Eisenhower – third of seven sons; one year between him and older brother

34. John F. Kennedy – second of nine; second son; two years between him and older brother

35. Lyndon Johnson – oldest of five

36. Richard Nixon – second of five sons; four years between him and older brother

37. Gerald Ford - only child of parents' first marriage (three half siblings in father's second marriage; three half siblings in mother's second marriage)

38. Jimmy Carter – oldest of four (Billy was the baby)

39. Ronald Reagan – youngest of two sons; two years between him and older brother

40. George Bush – second of five; second son; two years between him and older brother

41. Bill Clinton – only child (mothers first marriage); one younger half brother

42. George W. Bush II – first son of both parents

43. Barrack Obama – first son of both parents (first African-American president)

By and large, we can now see that the judgment of death of Africa's firstborn in Egypt was not just a physical operation, it was indeed a spiritual operation that resulted in the lost of the spirit of leadership in the land till date.

# PART FOUR:

# THE COST

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

(Galatians 6:7)

" _There are in nature neither rewards nor punishments – there are only consequences"_ – Robert G. Ingersoll

# CHAPTER FOURTEEN

# THE DECLINE FROM 1ST WORLD TO 3RD WORLD

It is very surprising to know that everything about God's dealing with Africa, right from when He judged her till date is clearly shown in scriptures, yet we never saw them until this God appointed time for their revealing. As a matter of fact several of the Old Testament prophets prophesied about it. And the truth is that a lot of those prophecies have been fulfilled while some are been fulfilled before our very eyes, yet we didn't perceive them. But thank God for what He has chosen to reveal to us now. And it is what He opened my eyes to see from the scriptures about the consequences of this stated curse that I now write about in this part of this book. We are going to be comparing these biblical prophecies to events in Africa's history and by the grace of God we will get to know what God's mind is for us today.

In recent times the community of nations came up with some terms to distinguish the different nations in the world. These terminologies reflect the level of achievement of such nations or continents. And these terminologies are basically three, namely; First World, Second World and Third World with each reflecting the level of development of these continents. Hence, they are also called "Developed", "Developing" and "Under Developed" continents respectively.

Now the reason we used these International Relations jargons here is not to teach us the rudiments of International Relations, but to make us see that it is in God's supreme power to determine which continent comes first and which one comes last in this world per time. And this happens all the time regardless of what any political thinker may think or say about it.

Based on this very fact we can see that the fall of Africa from been a World Power (Developed continent) and actually the first of the World Powers to the level of the third world continent (Under Developed continent) is not a surprise to God at all. This is simply because He made mention of it through His prophets as far back as some 2,600 years ago. And this is what God said through Prophet Ezekiel about it:

And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.

It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations; for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. – (Ezekiel 29: 14-15)

This prophesy summarizes the state of Africa vis-à-vis other continents of the world today. Africa is now not just a base continent but the basest, that is the third world continent. And this present status according to the scripture above is due to the Judgment of God upon Africa because of her oppression of the Jews; Abraham's seeds. Hence, as a continent we have so many leaders but with no leadership to show for it all because the word of God is sure and cannot be broken hence, we have lost our place of leadership in the world today.

# CHAPTER FIFTEEN

# WHY EUROPE UNDER DEVELOPED AFRICA?

The great African historian Walter Rodney wrote a classical book titled;" _How Europe Underdeveloped Africa._ " This book no doubt was an eye-opener to the immeasurable in-human treatment meted out to Africans both on the African soil and in Europe. But one question the book was unable to satisfactorily answer was the question of "WHY?" That is: why did the Europeans underdeveloped and are still under developing Africa?

Yes, it is true that the Europeans brought so much under development to the continent through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, The Scramble for Africa, Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism and massive economic exploitations basically because of their uncontrolled practice of capitalism. But for us to really answer this question of why, we must consider every relevant facts available. And the facts from God's holy word clearly help us answer that question of "why" as we are about to see.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Firstly, scriptural proofs graphically show that God was actually the one behind the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. And again this was because of Africa's enslavement of His people – the Jews - in Africa for about 430 years. Hence, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was therefore no doubt payback time for Africa as we shall now see in the words of Prophet Isaiah.

At the same time spoke the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amos, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins and put off thy shoes from off thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

And the LORD said, like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. (Isaiah 20: 2-5)

This was a prophetic declaration of Africa's Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade some 700 – 680BC long years before it actually was fulfilled, and yet it was executed with so much precision, as we shall now see as we compare the historical facts from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade between Africa and Europe with the above prophesy.

The following is a summary of the work of Donald R. Wright on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, as featured on Microsoft Encarta. In this his paper, Donald Wright records that:

The Atlantic Slave Trade developed after Europeans began exploring and establishing trading posts on the Atlantic (West) Coast of Africa in the mid 15th century. From the 15th to the 19th century, Europeans bought millions of slaves in West, Central and East Africa and sent them to Europe, the Caribbean and North, Central and South America. During this period, European and American slave traders purchased approximately 12 million slaves from West and West Central Africa.

The Atlantic crossing known as the Middle passage was nightmarish for slaves, who were poorly fed, subject to abuses at the hands of the crew and confined to cramp storage holds in which diseases spread easily. Historians estimate that between 1.5 and 2 million slaves died during the journey to the New World.

As humanitarian sentiments grew in Western Europe with the 18th century Age of Enlightenment and as European economic interest shifted slowly from agriculture to industry, a movement to abolish the slave trade and the practice of slavery came into being in the Western world. In 1807 the slave trade was outlawed in Britain and the United States.

Now this account of slavery in Africa though very pathetic should however be seen as the fulfillment of the stated prophesy concerning God's Judgment. One striking proof of this is the timing within which God said that Africa's slavery would last. According to the scriptures we just read, it was to last for three years in God's calendar. Now to understand this dating we need to understand that sometimes God speak with codes. These codes are simply dark saying that are not understood by those who have not been initiated to that secret knowledge. With respect to this code God used here, He made me to understand that each of those years is actually equivalent to a century. That means those three years stand for three centuries.

Now after God made me understand this mystery I proceeded to calculate the period of this Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade; beginning from the date it started to the very year it was first abolished, and the discovery was marvelous. And based on the summary of the period of the slave trade above, the following breakdown is the result of the timing:

Slave Trade Begins = c.1450

Slave Trade Abolished = 1807

Total Period of Slave Trade = 357 years

The equation above reveals that from the inception to its abolishment, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade lasted for three centuries and fifty-seven years. Working with God's equation of one year ratio one century (100 years) the end result becomes 3 "God years" and an extra 57 normal years. The question now is; "Why the extra 57 years?" The answer to this question I believe, we can deduce from the instance that even though God also said the children of Israel where going to be in Egypt for a period of four hundred years, they however, ended up staying there for a total of four hundred and thirty years. That gives us an extra 30 years. The problem here we must understand, was not with God, but with men. For instance even though God had appointed Moses to be their deliverer from bondage, yet he could not deliver them until he was trained and prepared for the work. Hence, he had to go for another 40 years training before he emerged as the deliverer of Israel. This forty years period evidently accounts for the extra years. Hence, I believe such human failing is also probably applicable in answering the question of the extra 57 years of Africans Slavery. The point here is that delay in the fulfillment of prophesies is always man made and never God made.

The Scramble, Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism

These are just some terms that are used to describe the ill treatment Africans received from the hands of the Europeans. It began full force in 1885 when some European nations met at a conference in Germany where they discussed and decided on how they would divide African territories amongst themselves for free. This meeting is what is now known as the Berlin Conference. Since that conference till date Africa have never remained the same. It resulted in African states being divided arbitrarily amongst these European nations with severe consequences that still affect the socio-cultural, political and economic life of virtually every nation in Africa.

This act on the part of the Europeans is no doubt contemptible. But when we find out the purpose of God in this scramble for Africa it becomes surprisingly obvious that these European States where only instruments in the hand of God who was the main actor behind the scene. That is to say that God was actually the one that allowed these evil that Africa went through in the hands of the Europeans. For a proof of this point let's see what the word says about this:

And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. (Isaiah 19:4).

And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 29:17-20)

Now we see from the above scripture that the wickedness that was meted out to us by these Europeans after the scramble was only made possible because, spiritually God had sold us out to them. For if God had not sold Africa out the scramble for Africa would not have been possible just as it happened. (Deut. 32:30)

The issue of Colonialism and Neo-colonialism which themselves were extension of the scramble for Africa and of the slave trade is still traceable to the same causal factors from scriptural truths. And it is very important that we remember that the reason for all of these according to God's word is because of the curse we Africans cursed Abraham's seed through 430 long years of slavery.

Economic Exploitation & Poverty

The last curse Moses released upon the Land of Africa was the curse of exploitation. This he did when he instructed the children of Israel based on God's command, to borrow from the Egyptians such as they required. This was targeted on the treasury of Egypt.

And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. (Ex 12:35-36)

Even though they borrowed these things it is surprising to note that the scripture actually says that the Israelites spoiled the Egyptians. To spoil someone means to strip that one off his valuables. It also implies plundering and seizing something by violence. The reason for this is that it was a spiritual operation that took place. In the spirit a force was set into motion by that very act and that is the force of external exploitation in Africa.

This spoiling opened up Africa for uncontrolled exploitation by the rest of the world. No wonder no other continent till date has experienced such immeasurable economic exploitation especially of human and natural resources like Africa. And all these no doubt has resulted in indescribable measure and dimensions of poverty for the continent. Africa gathers up only to have the birds of the air come upon it and cart away with her hard earned resources. Little wonder, in spite of the abundant natural resources in Africa, the continent still ranks as the poorest continent in the world. This indeed is a serious problem and calls for serious attention.

For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed. I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them anymore, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD. When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD. (Ezek 32:11-15)

# CHAPTER SIXTEEN

# SOME OTHER CONSEQUENCES

The Dark Continent: Ignorance on Rampage

As we saw earlier, a grave consequence upon the land is that of darkness and this darkness speaks of spiritual darkness which is manifested in the physical as gross ignorance. This accounts for the appellation "The Dark Continent" for which Africa has been notorious for ages. Of course we know that this darkness we speak of is not that of our pigmentation. Rather, it is the darkness of our minds and hearts.

Africans have been shamefully reputed for ignorance, to the extent that someone once remarked that if you want to hide something from a black man, just keep it in a book. That simply means that the blacks hate knowledge. But how did this come about. Because at the beginning of this book we did saw historical records that confirms that Africa was once the centre of enlightenment and civilization to the rest of the world. Again to explain this mystery we must of necessity turn to God's word, for no man can successfully answer such a question. To do exactly that, let's see first where this problem started before we go ahead to see the prophetic confirmation and its consequences from the word of God.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. (Exodus 10:21-23)

Please, let's bear in mind that this physical darkness that was created by Moses here was only a sign of the real curse of darkness which was spiritual. We see this proven from the prophecy of Ezekiel concerning Africa, He says:

And when I shall put thee Egypt out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord. (Ezekiel 32: 7-8)

These are not joking matters. They are the reality of life in Africa today. And they account for the stagnation and retrogression we are experiencing in Africa today, because, no development can take place in the absence of light. Not even God at the creation of the world could create without light. When there is no light there can be nothing but chaos. No wonder we have been groping in the dark and stumbling upon ourselves for ages and not even knowing the cause of our own pains.

Corruption in Africa

One of the plagues of God upon the land was the release of frogs upon Africa. According to scripture these frogs that were released connotes something very terrible in Africa. Because from the book of Revelation we see that frogs represent lying and perverse spirits.

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils... (Rev. 16: 13-14a)

With this in mind we can now begin to understand exactly where the corruption monster in Africa came from. According to the above scripture corruption or perverseness is an unclean spirit, and this is one spirit God promised to mingle in Africa as a consequence for our sin against the Jews. Let's now also see that:

The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof; and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof as a drunken man stagerreth in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work of Egypt, which the head or tail branch or rush, may do. (Isaiah 19:13-15)

Again this is an alarming situation and calls for serious concern on our part. We can now understand why Africa nations are among the most corrupt nations of the world. And the unique thing about this Africa's corruption is that according to the scripture above, it has been mingled with the very fiber of the African soul. And it's manifested both among the leadership and the followership in the form of seduction, perverseness, lying, corrupt practices, etc. It is also manifested in the different sector of the African life, from the home to the government. This is no doubt a humanly helpless situation that will take only God to deliver us from, simply because, as we were made to understand from the above scripture, corruption in Africa is an expression of the inward working of an invisible evil spirit.

Wars and Conflict

Africa for years and till date have been characterized by inter-tribal and inter-state conflict and again these conflicts are nothing more than the consequence of the curse of God upon the land. The impact of this phenomenon in Africa is very grave. It has claimed several lives and has made reconciliation almost impossible. But in all of these God never left us without a witness as to the purpose of these troubles. And as we shall also see, this also was still one of God's judgments upon Africa for ill treating the Jews.

And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight everyone against his brother; city against city; and kingdom against kingdom. (Isaiah 19:2)

Now apart from the fact that this explains the purpose behind most of the wars and conflicts in Africa it also goes a long way to establish the very important fact that the Egypt we have been referring to from scripture was more than the nation of Egypt as we know it today. Egypt was a name that speaks of the whole of Africa as a continent. This is because we see the above scripture saying that God will set kingdom against kingdom for war in Egypt. If this is true, then this Egypt here must be speaking of the whole of the continent of the black race called Africa today.

Sicknesses & Diseases

To say there is sickness and diseases in Africa is an understatement. Saying it as it really is requires putting it this way; that Africa itself is sick and diseased, spirit, soul and body. Its immune system has become so broken down that it has become almost impossible for Africa to successfully fight against sicknesses and diseases. And this is manifested in the breakdown of our health care systems.

Every sickness that finds its way into Africa becomes uncontrollable. And this results in the loss of the lives of untold number of Africans annually. For instance the HIV/AIDS pandemic is believed to have claimed the lives of more blacks than of any other race in the world. And the same goes for other deadly diseases like tuberculosis and especially malaria which is peculiar to Africa.

But again these are nothing far from scriptural truths. We can recall that some of the plagues of Moses in the land were sickness and diseases related. Examples of this are (1) The creation of lice (2) The creation of flies (3) Livestock diseases (4) The boils upon man and beast and (5) The turning of water into blood. This speaks of the contamination of water which is the sustenance of daily life. Little wonder one of Africa's biggest challenges today is that of scarcity of drinkable pipe borne water.

# CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

# BLACKS IN DIASPORA

During my research for this book, I was bewildered to find out that even African's living outside the African soil are not also free from the consequences of these curses. As a matter of fact a much respected African-American; James Dixon II summed this up in a riveting book that addresses the African-American state of emergency which he titled – _"If God Is So Good, Why Are Blacks Doing So Bad."_ In this book he brought to light some very troubling facts and figures about the condition of the life of Black Americans especially in the area of Health, Education, and Finances etc.

In the area of health, he candidly writes: "Facts are facts. Blacks lead the statistics in sexually transmitted diseases and particularly in HIV/AIDS infections and we are dying at a faster pace than other racial or ethnic groups. This has to be dealt with, not ignored; because you cannot cure what you do not confront and you cannot change what you are afraid to challenge".

The following are some alarming statistics contained in Dixon's book. It records that, according to the 2000 U.S. census, blacks make up nearly 13% of the U.S. population, yet comprise nearly 50% of the 1.1million presently carrying the HIV virus in the U.S.A. Being more specific he said that of the HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed during 2005, African Americans comprised 49%; Whites 31%; Hispanics 18%; Asian/Pacific Islanders 1%; American Indian/Alaska natives less than 1%. I want to believe that these statistics is beginning to help you believe what we have been talking about so far. For here we have different races living in the same nation yet with very different realities of life.

James Dixon II further added that a report published by the international AIDS charity ADVERT has it that since 1981 when AIDS was first identified, "more than a half million Americans are believed to have died" of the disease. Thirty-eight percent of these deaths were among African Americans. And that the fact is that more blacks die annually of AIDS than any other race.

In the area of poverty amongst Black-Americans, here are some hard facts from Dixon's book. He states, that on the surface, to look at us (black Americans) one would think we are a genuinely prosperous race, but the truth is 50% of our children live in poverty. He added that people find it hard to believe that our black colleges are closing due to lack of support and our per capital wealth is less than all other major ethnic groups. According to Dixon II, black-American appear to be owners, when they are employees, they have the image of investors while they are mere consumers, and borrowers rather than lenders.

Furthermore, he spoke of our helpless desperation when he said the blacks know things have gone wrong and have not turned out the way we envisioned. So many of us (African-American) are unemployed and unemployable and so many are locked up in prison and poverty and locked out of prosperity. We feel the reality our economic weakness causes on a daily basis and sense the absence of leadership that is bold and visionary. And he added that even blacks who are not even statistically informed are experientially aware of our perishing predicament.

In the field of education and learning same Dixon's II book is believed to address the crisis of anti-intellectualism among African-American, thus confirming the fact that the said spiritual darkness over Africa also hovers on our black brothers in the Diaspora, irrespective of the distance that separates us.

Again with the use of statistics James Dixon lamentably points out the level of intellectual erosion among African-America. According to him the fact that only 46% of black students graduate by age 18 is alarming. The statistics that 63% of black 4th graders read below grade level is shocking. These and other facts reveal why we have lost our winning edge.

He proceeded to add that a major problem across the country (America) has to do with drop outs. The rates for blacks are more than astounding. In his state, Texas, the Intercultural Development Research Association reports that 2.5million students dropped out of school in the past 20 years. And that 69.3% of these were blacks. And these facts are even more threatening when we know that they are very recent. As a matter of fact this Dixon's book from which we speak of was first published in the year 2007.

The conclusion from all these and from the others we have seen all points to the one fact that something is fundamentally wrong with Africa and that there is need for urgent solutions to that problem before it becomes too late.

# PART FIVE:

# THE CURE

"And the Lord shall smite Egypt: He shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and He shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them." (Isaiah 19:22)

"See now that I, even I am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." (Deut. 32:39)

"I have yet to find one reference to a man, a group of men or a nation that was cursed eternally or in perpetuity, leaving no possibility of that curse being lifted. Not one" - Frederick K.C. Price, P.H.D.

# CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

# THE ACCEPTABLE TIME

Having come thus far in understanding the revelations of God about Africa in this book, the final and most crucial question that arises now would be - is there any way out of this curse for Africa? Or is Africa doomed forever? Well, just as it was humanly impossible for us to know all we now know about Africa's past, it will also be no doubt impossible to predict Africa's future or suggest solutions to these problems without first finding out from God if there is really a way out, and if there is a way out, what would that solution possibly be. It is therefore, with this in mind that we shall now be delving into the word of God to search and see if there is indeed a God ordained solution to the African curse because until this is done, we remain of all races most miserable.

It is wonderful to discover from scriptures that one of the five-fold mandate of Jesus Christ according to Isaiah 61:2 and Luke 4:19, is among other things; _"To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."_ This acceptable year that the Lord Jesus came to proclaim is synonymous to the Jewish year of Jubilee.

In the Jewish tradition, according to Leviticus 25:8-10 the fiftieth year was very significant. It marked a period of complete restoration for every Jewish citizen.

8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

The fiftieth year was hallowed or set apart to proclaim liberty to all people, and to start life and business all over again as at the beginning. At this time all mortgages were cancelled, all servants released and all bondages of man annulled. Debts were forgiven, and land reverted to the original owners. Similarly, this is what Jesus came to do for the whole world. He came to make the time acceptable. He came to make it possible not just for the Jews alone, but for the whole world to experience total freedom and restoration from all curses and bondages and this includes the continent of Africa.

However, this does not imply that every nation and people must step into their own season of restoration at the same time. This is because, God deals with every people uniquely, based on His purpose and timing of that purpose for every land. This is why one nation could be experiencing spiritual awakening and restorations from God while another nation remains in gross spiritual darkness. The point we are trying to get across here is that there is a time for everything and a season for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1), also that an understanding of that time could sometimes make all the difference.

According to Bible prophecy, there is an acceptable year for the restoration of Africa. The purpose of Jesus' coming is to make each people know when their own time of visitation comes, and this mandate He still carries out today through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the prophets.

Why Understand God's Time?

The importance of each people to know and understand their unique time of visitation and restoration cannot be overemphasized. This is because it is indeed very possible to be unaware of God's set time of restoration, as evidences of this abound in scripture. And this ignorance no doubt comes with severe consequences to all affected. The following are some of such example from scripture: Firstly from Hosea 11:3b we read "... _but they know not that I healed them_." Here we find that even though God was through healing them, these folks still went about carrying the sicknesses on their bodies.

Also in Psalm 82:5 we can see that without the knowledge and understanding of spiritual timing suffering for the land is sure. It reads _"They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness"_ , and the result of this ignorance is that _"all the foundation of the earth are out of course."_

Lastly, Hosea 4:6 establishes the point that when an understanding of timing is not in place, we could still continue to suffer the destructive consequences caused by such ignorance even after the original destruction caused by the destroyer has been long terminated by God. _"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..."_ And based on my understanding of God's timing on this matter, these examples explain Africa's position right now. As Africans we are now suffering the consequences of our own lack of understanding of spiritual timing, instead of the consequences caused by the curse.

And until the book is opened for us to receive understanding from it our weeping and suffering is bound to continue. But praise God because Jesus is worthy to open the book and to give us understanding into the mysteries behind Africa's age long miseries.

3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. (Rev 5:3-5)

According to God's time-table for Africa, the period of the curse ought to have been fulfilled. Therefore, with that in mind, let's now begin to arm ourselves with an adequate understanding of this God's time-table so that we can again be in command of our own destiny as well as that of the rest of the world. This type of understanding is the first step we must take towards reclaiming our place as a global leader again.

Like the children of Isaachar let us receive from God an understanding of the times to know the role and function of Africa in God's purpose for this last days. For it is only then can we again have the rest of the world at our command. " _And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment."_ (I Chronicles 12:32). We can only enjoy what we know exists. It is therefore high time we came to terms with God's time so that we can lay hold of our inheritance in God.

How to Understand God's Time

There are basically two scriptural ways of understanding spiritual timing. The first is by books and the second is by inspiration of the Holy Spirit through prophets, visions and similitude.

The great prophet Daniel gives his own account of his understanding of spiritual timing concerning his people through books. It is very important to note that books in this case do not mean magical books or just any kind of books. By books in the light of the above we speak of the Holy Scriptures. And this is basically achieved through comparing scriptures with scriptures in order to receive sufficient light on a particular issue. Let's now hear from Daniel;

"In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish **"seventy years** in the desolations of Jerusalem." (Daniel 9:2).

From Daniel's statement above, we can glean some important points to help us understand God's timing for Africa even though Daniel spoke directly in relation to Israel. The first point is that he understood by Books. This speaks of plurality or multiplicity of sources. You may receive knowledge from one book, but if you must receive understanding you will have to find out from more than one book. The next point is that he based his conclusion on the word of an already established, higher and more credible authority than his. That is the authority of Prophet Jeremiah. Lastly, the said time was categorically stated by Daniel in Israel's case and it was **"seventy years."**

Likewise, my experience in receiving this message from the Lord for Africa has been very similar to that of Daniel. Firstly, I understood through books, - that is primarily the Holy Scriptures as contained in the Bible as well as other historical books. Secondly, I gained more clarity and understanding through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. With all sense of humility, I was never taught these things by any man, not even by my lecturers and professors during my university days as a student of history, because these things can never be found in the realm of intellectual knowledge and prowess. They can only be found in the realm of God's Spirit and these He reveals as He wills per time. Hence, the place of godly inspiration in this message, through the prophetic, visions and similitude based on scriptural proofs and not just reasoning, or imaginative abilities. _I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets._ (Hosea 12:10).

In the case of the revelation of God's set timing in this book, I want to quickly say at this juncture that there are enough and appropriate scriptural backing to substantiate them, whether they appear in the form of the prophetic, visions and similitude's. And as we shall soon discover, the empirical and chronological end products are simply mind-blowing and humbling to the wisdom of this world.

The Time of the Heathen

The book of Ezekiel 30:3 categorically states what time the judgment of God upon African shall be accomplished. It puts it thus: _"It shall be the time of the heathen"._ The time of the heathen in this case means the time of the Gentiles, and the time of the heathen or Gentiles according to Finis Dake (pp. 1474) represents the period of the administration of the Gentiles, as the rod of chastening upon Israel, towards the furtherance of God's purpose concerning them. This time of the Heathen began with Israel's first oppression by the Gentiles in Egypt, and will continue with the history of Israel through this dispensation of Grace. It will end at the return of the Messiah in glory when He will deliver Israel from the Gentiles and exalt them as the head of all nations in the Millennium and forever.

From the light of the above we can understand that Africa's restoration is scheduled to happen during the time of the Gentiles and not during the millennium as some school of thoughts assume. One related and very relevant scripture that further explains this point is found in Isaiah 19:23-25. It reads; " _In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together._ _In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria,_ _even_ _a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed_ _be_ _Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance."_

This scripture speaks of the end time relationship between Africa, Assyria and Israel and their respective positions in the world during this period. In this positioning, Israel is placed as third while Africa comes first with Assyria in-between. This therefore implies that in God's calendar these events which also speak of Africa's restoration are not scheduled to take place during the millennium. The logic behind this is that during the millennium Israel according to scripture will no doubt be given first place above all other nations of the world. We can thus, safely conclude that all these events including Africa's restoration will take place before the end of the times of the Gentiles. And that is obviously before the rapture of the church.

According to Zachariah 10:10-12, at the millennium power will again change hands and, Africa will then surrender its leadership role to Israel who will then become the only world leader and power. All these points goes to prove that the time of the Heathen will last until the time of Israel's salvation in the millennium and after this Africa shall become eternally subjected to Israel and to Jesus their King.

10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Labanon; and place shall not be found for them.

11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.

12 And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD... (Zechariah 10:10-12)

16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:16)

God is a very time conscious being. He has consistently proven this aspect of Himself in His dealing with men over the ages. For instance, He told Abraham that the children of Israel would be under the Egyptian bondage for a period of 400 years and it happened even as He said it. In the case of Africa God did not change His time conscious nature. For a better understanding of His timetable on this matter let's now bring on more light.

Forty Years

In respect to the desolation of the land of Africa caused by God's judgment, the Bible points out in the book of Ezekiel 29:11-13 the exact duration of God's judgment upon the land. It reads:

11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited **forty years**.

12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate **forty years** : and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

13 Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; **At the end of forty years** will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:

Here it stated emphatically and repeatedly for three consecutive times that the judgment was to last for a period of forty year 40 YEARS. This passage of scripture without doubt establishes a major truth that the age-long miseries of Africa are not forever. And that the judgment was meant to last for a period of time after which there was going to be a restoration for the land of Africa.

Now, having located from scripture the timing of God, let's now try to understand exactly what God meant by this forty years period; when did the period start and when was it suppose to end? This is so that we can without doubt know if we are in the fullness of that time. This is very necessary on the following grounds. First, is that if we are working towards solving Africa's life and leadership problem when it is before the expiration of God's allotted time, we would find ourselves walking in error and therefore working against God and His supreme will for the land. And as you already know, working against God's will, would no doubt be suicidal for every one of us.

On the other hand, if we are oblivious of the timing of God on this matter, we might end up suffering longer than necessary as a continent. In other words we will be bearing the burden we are not supposed to bear anymore. But knowing what has been done for us and the time it was done, would automatically put us in the right and unchallenged position to enforce our freedom, as well as to enjoy the benefit of such freedom. It is only the understanding of this timing that will put us in control of Africa's problems. Therefore, let's now proceed to understand the meaning of the "forty years" as used by God in respect to Africa's judgment.

# CHAPTER NINETEEN

# UNDERSTANDING GOD'S EQUATION

Humanly speaking, I was at first puzzled by what God meant by the term "forty years". But as I prayed and studied on it, He then made it clear to me that this "forty years" only represent a code that would require the revelation of an equation or similitude to decode. And the equation in this case He told me is that, one year of these forty years represents 100 years. In other words one year equals one century. And by multiplying 100 years by 40 years, I arrived at a total of 4,000 years. You'll recall that it was still this same equation of one year ratio one century here that God also used in decoding the timing of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade to me as we already saw in section four of this book.

Now the next logical question is – "How does 4,000 years or 4 millennia relate to the timing of God's judgment of Africa?" Well, I will explain this further with some little more arithmetic just as the Lord brought it to my understanding. But before I do that, I want to quickly show us some scriptural examples and proofs of what we are dealing with here. This is very necessary because until we can see it from God's word it is no doubt less than the truth and should therefore be discarded. But if it is the truth as we shall soon see, then it is worthy of all acceptation and appropriation _._ For, it is only the truth that is known and applied that makes free. _"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"._ (John 8:32)

The first instance of God using equations or similitude to code dates and timing that we shall consider is found in the book of Numbers 14:32-34:

32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

Here we see God declaring a similar forty years judgment. But this time to a different set of people and with a different equation. In this case the equation was one day ratio one year.

The second example is found in Ezekiel 4:3-8:

3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.

5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.

8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.

Again we see God here speaking of judgment to Israel through prophet Ezekiel and also bringing in the same code or sign. Here He speaks of two periods of judgments. The first was signified by 390 days and the second by 40 days. And the ratio for decoding both of these periods He said is "each day for a year."

From the variation in years used here we see that our emphasis is not in the forty years, but in the fact that God does use codes to keep some of His timing mysterious until the set time for their revelation. This is why even though 390 days, and 40 days are hundreds apart yet, He still chose to use the same ratio because He wants us to know that He is not monotonous.

Another very important lesson we must quickly pick from this towards understanding the forty years of Africa's judgment is that this is still the same prophet Ezekiel God used to code the forty years period of Africa in Ezekiel 29:11-13. This again tells us that God would not have been so monotonous to use the ratio here to apply to Africa. For He deals differently with different people even though His purpose remains fixed, as we shall now see as we go back to understanding proper, God's equation for interpreting Africa's judgment.

Chronologically, let's do some time travel as we sum up some periods together. The first period we shall look at is the 430 years the children of Israel sojourned in Egypt. The second period is the period between the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt until the birth of Jesus Christ. According to Finis Dake (p. 75), this second period totaled about 1,688 years in all; that is 1688BC to 0BC. The last of these periods is that which begins with the birth of our Lord Jesus to this present day. And the total of this last period would give us a total of about 2,030 years. Now the sum of all these periods put together will give us a grand total of about 4,148 years. This is arranged as follow:

1st period = 430 years

2nd period = 1688 years

3rd period = 2030 years

Grand Total = 4,148 years

This gives us 4 millennia and an extra 148 years. When we divide this grand total by 100, that is; 4,148 ratio 100, we would arrive at 41.48 years i.e. 4,148 ÷ 100 = 41.48 prophetic years.

# CHAPTER TWENTY

# IT IS JUBILEE TIME

Now having arrived at this answer, we can now without any shadow of doubt see our fate as a people in God's unchanging calendar. Based on the date above, we have already wasted much time because of our lack of understanding of this timing so far. However, thanks be to God who has opened our eyes to behold these wondrous things from His word. But we must understand that there is therefore now an urgency of responsibility upon us to take advantage of this opportunity and thereby fly on the wings of right timing. And while we do this, let's bear in mind that nothing can stop a people whose time has come from the Lord.

Dear Africans, we are now privileged to be living in the days of the fullness of our time. This is our time of Jubilee. So let's step out and begin to proclaim our liberty from everything and every demonic power that has held us bound in captivity. Let us rise up and take back our place of glory that was ours at the beginning. For God is now for us and no more against us. Let us stand fast in this liberty were with Christ has made us free so that we will not be entangled again and be ignorantly held bound in the prison from which we ought to have been set free already. The season of judgment and curses are over, we are now in the season of healing and Jubilee for the set time that God promised to heal Africa has come.

And the Lord shall smite Egypt: He shall smite **and heal it** : and they shall return even to the Lord, and He shall be entreated of them, and **shall heal them**. (Isaiah 19:22)

Let's now take a hold of this revealed truth and use it to chart our course from prison to palace, for that is where our destiny in God lies. Africa, rejoice for your light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you again.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

# CHRIST THE CURE

The cure for this identified curse upon Africa is found in no other person but in Jesus Christ the son of the living God. There is no other sacrifice that can take away this curse upon us than the sacrifice of God's sacrificial lamb Jesus. To receive a permanent solution to our problems, we must of necessity now find out how the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary brought us deliverance. This therefore calls for our understanding of the substitution death of Jesus.

Jesus has become the scapegoat for our sins and curses in Africa. He has become the substitute firstborn, who has given to Africans His firstborn rights and have taken upon himself the curses upon Africa's firstborn. How is this true? Remember, in scripture Jesus was established as both the firstborn of God, the firstborn of man, and the firstborn from the dead.

Christ, God's Firstborn

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Roman. 8:29)

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (Colossians 1:15)

From the above scriptures it is clear that Jesus is God's firstborn. As a matter of fact He was the firstborn that God was trying to protect among the Israelites in Egypt when He said that Israel is my firstborn, and that if pharaoh would not let His firstborn go, He would kill Egypt's firstborn just as he finally did (Exodus 4:22-23). That is to say God killed Africa's firstborn so that He could preserve His own firstborn - Jesus for the purpose of his serving a greater purpose that also includes the saving of Africa's firstborn just like it is turning out in Africa today.

Christ, Man's Firstborn

25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. (Matt. 1:25)

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

23(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) (Luke 2:7,23)

Here again Jesus is manifestly declared to be the firstborn of Mary – a human being. This therefore means that he can play the role of God's firstborn and man's firstborn depending on what the situation at hand demands.

Christ, the Firstborn from the Dead

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colosians1:18)

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 1:5)

This scripture establishes the truth that Jesus has power and preeminence as firstborn over the living and firstborn over the dead. This therefore goes to mean that Jesus has resurrection power over Africa's dead firstborn spirit to bring it alive again.

Jesus the Substitute Firstborn

Jesus is not only the substitute sacrificial lamb for the sins of mankind. He is also the substitute sacrifice for the redemption of Africa's firstborn.

11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD. (Numbers 3:11-13)

We see from the above scripture a fundamental truth about the possibility of the redemption of the firstborn. That truth is that the redemption of the firstborn is only possible at the payment of a certain substitution price. The substitute of the firstborn of the Israelites was the Levites to whom they paid the price of the redemption of their firstborn.

However, with Africa's firstborn this is not the case as we are not in any way related to the Jews in this matter. But thank God that there is a substitute we can relate with, the man Christ Jesus. And this man Jesus is not waiting for us to pay any price to Him. In fact He has paid the price with his own very life and his firstborn rights when he died on that cross, and all this was orchestrated by God, the father of the firstborn spirits for our own good. Herein lays our redemption from the curse that we as a continent have suffered over the ages.

13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14)

Dear Africans, Jesus has died to redeem us from all the curses upon Africa and has made it possible for the blessings of Abraham to rest upon the land of Africa and upon Africans through the exercise of our faith in His substitution death as it relates to Africa's firstborn. When He died as God's firstborn He gave up His life to raise the dead firstborn of Africa back to life again, and thereby restore the spirit of leadership on Africa in these last days. The same God, who at the beginning smote Africa's firstborn in order to save his own firstborn, have in these last days smitten that same firstborn of His (Jesus Christ), and this he did for the purpose of healing and restoring Africa's firstborn spirit back to life again.

However we must realize that just like every other gift of God to mankind, this firstborn redemption gift from God to Africans will only be effected by our acknowledging, believing and declaring it forth. And this is exactly what God is calling us Africans unto today. With this understanding of the firstborn revelation, we must now begin the process of rebirthing Africa's spirit of leadership by lifting up our voices in unity unto God by asking Him to bring about the vital redemption of Africa's firstborn. And this cry to God must now begin from the church in Africa and then to the rest of Africa, because the spirit of Jesus our firstborn substitute is already in His church in Africa waiting for us to call on him.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

# THE REBIRTH

The Spirit of God for some years now has been moving upon Africa in a new way and with divers' manifestations in the gifts of salvation, deliverance, healing and prophecy. This move has not seized to be on the increase since it started at about the last half of the twentieth century. And it has even spread like wild-fire to every nook and cranny of the continent since then.

The Move of the Spirit

This move of God's spirit is similar to the first move of the Holy Spirit in scripture as recorded in Genesis 1:2, _"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters"._ We are experiencing a similar move of God in Africa today. Just like the case of the earth before creation that we just read, Africa also has been characterized by formlessness, emptiness and spiritual darkness. This humanly helpless situation has now attracted God's attention into the continent. And this attention of God is manifested in the spiritual awakening that is already spreading like wild-fire across the continent.

This spiritual awakening has brought about tremendous spiritual transformations. These transformations have been so powerful that the continent which was notorious as a dark continent is now becoming the continent of light to the rest of the world. Africa is no longer the same for the better. From been a receiver of missionary attention from the western world, Africa is now the sending center for world evangelization. The gospel has been greeted with unprecedented success. From Africa the gospel is now sent to even the western world that brought it the Christian religion in the first place. Moreover, the moneys of Africans are now sponsoring the publishing of Bibles and other evangelical materials used for reaching out to the rest of the world.

No doubt things are no longer the same spiritually in Africa. But while we are basking in the euphoria of this massive spiritual awakening, we must now endeavor to start asking ourselves a very vital question. And that question is – what is God's purpose for this spiritual awakening? Is it an end in itself or is it supposed to be a means to an end? It is this pertinent question that we shall now attempt to provide scriptural answers to in this chapter of this book. The reason for this is so that we can use it as a lens to see God's bigger picture for Africa as a continent and for Africans as a people.

Now going back to our question, let's quickly see the end product of the first recorded move of God we just read from Genesis 1:2. After this verse the following verses shows the result of that first recorded move of the spirit of God. And the result as the scripture shows were physical and material transformations, which began with the release of a prophetic word from God- _"let there be light"._ With this light also came direction that kick-started the whole process of creation of the world that we live in today.

With reference to the rebirth of Africa's leadership spirit and the restoration of her glory, we find the same trend at work for Africa in Isaiah 19, where God prophetically speaks of Africa's restoration. After elaborating on His judgments upon Africa from verses 1-7, we then see a reversal from verses 18-25. In the latter portion of this same Isaiah 19 prophecy, we find God speaking about this present spiritual awakening that is moving across the land of Africa.

1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. 2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. 5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up 6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. 7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and ever thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. 9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. 10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. 11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? 12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. 14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. 15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. 16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. 17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it. 18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. 19 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. 20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it. 22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. 23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. (Isa 19:1-25)

Here we see vividly from Bible prophecy the present move of God in the land of Africa. Some of the factors that characterize this move are the manifestation of the Holy Spirits gift of speaking in tongues (verse18); the next is that there will be total trust in God as manifested in the swearing to the Lord of hosts (verse 18b). In the last part of this verse He says _"one shall be called the city of destruction"_. If you study this portion of scripture from a reference Bible, you'll discover that the word destruction as used here actually signify something different. And the words sun or righteousness is the words that are interchangeably used to represent the word destruction in that same scripture. That scripture in other words mean that one of the nations of Africa shall be called the city of the sun or of righteousness. That is to say that one African nation shall be the center from where spiritual light will shine to the rest of Africa and the world. Now looking back we can see that the nation of Nigeria has stood out over the years as the fulfillment of that particular prophecy.

In verses 19-20, we also see God speaking prophetically of the devotion and dedication of Africans to Him through the raising up of pillars and alter for sacrifices unto the Lord. He also spoke concerning the spiritual revelation of himself that will bring about such intimate union and fellowship between Him and the Africans, and this will cause them to be uncompromisingly dedicated to the Lord.

Moreover, the portion of this passage of scripture that is much more relevant to us in answering the question of "What is God Purpose for this spiritual awakening" is found in verse 20. It reads – _"And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt"._ Now herein lays the answer to our question above. We see the mind of God behind this present move of the Spirit of God upon Africa here. And to that God says that when this spiritual awakening that began from verse 18 begins to happen, it is all going to serve the purpose of a sign and a witness to God that the continent is ready to start experiencing dimensions of rebirth and restorations. And this dimension is actually the end product of the first spiritual rebirth.

Already the Spirit of God through the ministry of the prophets has been expressing this aspect of the mind of God concerning Africa; that there is a spiritual shift and revival that is already taking place. And this spiritual revival it is also been prophesied will be followed by serious mental empowerment, social tranquility, economic prosperity, political stability and technological breakthroughs. This is not a new phenomenon in the world at all because even the industrial revolution in the western world was as well preceded by a spiritual revival.

This is therefore a wakeup call to Africans to prepare for this next phase of God's move upon the land. And the truth is that this move of God will be so powerful that every grass in the field will be a partaker of it. However, the best part will only go to those that prepared for it. And it is very instructive to note that the glory of the African continent at the beginning can not in any standard be compared to the glory God is about to be revealed in Africa in these last days. This therefore calls for more serious and better preparation on our part as Africans.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

# ENFORCING THE REBIRTH

In as much as it is very important for us to expect the coming restoration upon Africa, it is however, much more important that we understand what it takes to prepare for and to enforce this restoration, so that we don't allow any part of this coming restoration elude us, because no restoration comes easily without the enforcement of certain forces. Therefore, in doing this we will have to find our basis again in God's written word as this is the only way we can have an advantageous position that will guarantee ultimate success for the enforcement of this restoration.

A Basis for Rebirth

From Isaiah 19 that we just read in the preceding chapter, we find a very important word concerning Africa's restoration upon which we can stand as a solid base for enforcing same. And that word is this: _"And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them"._ (Isaiah 19:20).

This is a sure basis in God's word for the enforcement of our promised restoration. The scripture expressly sates that God will bring about the healing of Africa. And it says that He is the one that smote it in the first place through Moses and will also be the one to heal Africa himself. We also did see from God's time-table for the healing of Africa in a preceding chapter that this is the set time for the healing of Africa's leadership and the restoration of her glory. This therefore means that we have a solid scriptural basis upon which we can stand before God to plead the case of Africa's restoration. _"Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob"_ (Isaiah 41:21). This is where the preparation for Africa's restoration can only begin from. That is to say that we must first fill the clouds with rain before we ever expect the rain of God's glory upon Africa. And doing this begins with first knowing that it is God's will to heal and restore the land, and this we have been able to achieve in this part of this book.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

# HOW TO MAKE THE REBIRTH VITAL

Having seen the scriptural legality of the possibility of Africa's restoration, it is now very important for us to understand what it takes to translate it from being just a legal restoration to a vital one. That is we need to find out what it takes to fulfill the African prophecy. In doing this we shall now take a look at a scriptural example to see how a people were able to translate their legal restoration to a vital one. And this we find in the book of Daniel 9:1-23.

Daniel's Model Prayer

9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;

2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.

18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;

21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. (Dan 9:1-23)

This is a model of Prophet Daniel's prayer for the land of Israel while they were in captivity. But the important thing about this prayer is the fact that it was a follow-up to a very similar discovery Daniel made from the scripture about the prophesied restoration of the Jews from captivity to their own land. It is surprising to note that even though Daniel had made a powerful discovery of God's plan for their restoration, he did not go about it the normal human way. Instead of rallying together some likeminded Jews to form a band wagon of warriors to fight their captors and deliver the children of Israel based on his discovery, he rather chose to bring about restoration the God way by seeking the face of God in prayer. This was so because as a prophet he understood that before the restoration of a land can happen that land must first be restored in the realm of the spirit. Until this happens suffering is bound to continue.

Reading from verse 3- we see some very key principles and process in Daniel's model prayer that we Africans can also begin to deploy as we seek the face of God en-masse for the restoration of our land. _"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said..."_

A Cry for Mercy

We must now begin to lift our voices all over Africa in line with these discoveries and according to this Daniel model prayer and plead for God's mercy upon our land. We must now begin to take complete responsibility, not just for our generation but also for past generations and for the sin that they committed against God's covenant people right on the soil of the African continent.

We must also understand that the blood of the Jews that was spilled on African soil and their forced labour for the land (James5:4) still cries out against the African continent to God. And the truth is that His ears have never been closed to such cries of vengeance. To this Deuteronomy 26:5-10 says:

5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.

6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor.

7 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.

8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.

9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; (NIV).

What the spirit of God is signifying in all of these is that we have sinned against God and against the Jews. It must dawn on us that the several years of the enslavement, oppression and violation of a people's right is a very serious sin that couldn't have gone unnoticed and unpunished. Let's realize that where we are today as a continent is the consequence of our age-long sin according to God's eternal word. All these should therefore cause us to lift up our voice and cry out to God all over Africa. We must repent of this sin against the Jews whole heartedly and with a true repentant spirit. Not to do so is to settle for perpetual troubles. This is because God has sworn with himself to curse whosoever curses Abraham and his seed, and this as we know is an everlasting covenant between God and Abraham. He has kept this covenant with Abraham right from the beginning and would continue to do so till eternity.

God's Healing Flood

As we acknowledge this truth and begin to practice it, I see God sending into Africa a mighty flood of healing that will kick-start the whole restoration process. This is what He said His response to our cry for His mercy would bring about; _"...for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them"_ (Isaiah 19:20b). In essence, God is saying that when we realize our mistake and cry out to Him for pardon, He would send a prophet with a message for the healing and deliverance of the land of Africa. This healing and deliverance is going to be very similar to what happened between Abraham and Abimelech in Genesis 20:1-17:

1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.

4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?

5 Said he not unto me, she is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? And what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.

12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.

18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

Here we see God standing up to protect His covenant with Abraham by plaguing Abimelech and his entire land with bareness because he ignorantly attempted to take from Abraham His wife. And we also see the process of God's restoration for Abimelech and his land from this same passage of scripture. We see Abimelech after having a revelation of his sin that brought upon them the curse, lifting up his voice and calling to Abraham for mercy.

Furthermore we see in verse 7 God stating in very clear terms the conditions required for Abimelech's restoration thus: _"Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine"._ Here God says if you want a restoration of that which you have lost, you must of necessity first restore that which you've taken from Abraham. And if you fail to do so your case remains helpless.

Jesus, Abrahams Seed & Our Redeemer

This condition God gave to Abimelech I must say, also applies to the restoration of Africa but with an exception. The exception here is that we as Africans cannot actually pay for the Jewish blood that was spilled on the African soil. We cannot pay for the suffering and affliction we meted out to the Jews, and we no doubt will be unable to recompense the Jews for the unjust labour we forced from them. But our saving grace is found in the truth that there is a substitute and a redeemer- Jesus-God's firstborn and man (Abraham's) firstborn. Because of the vicarious death of Jesus, we don't have to pay the price in actual terms any more, for He himself paid the price by suffering affliction on our behalf. He also shed His blood that speaks better things to wash away the blood of the Jews that was shed upon our continent.

Therefore, as we call upon the name of Jesus in repentance and restoration prayer, I see His blood speaking better things for the land, than the blood of the Jews that has been crying out against us to God for vengeance. I can hear the blood of Jesus crying out mercy upon the land of Africa. As we acknowledge our sins and pray for God's mercy and grace, I see Jesus the seed of Abraham doing what Abraham did for Abimelech in verse 17-18:

17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.

18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

And as we pray in the name of Jesus unto God, I see God moving in his healing power upon the land of Africa. I also see God bringing about a restoration of Africa's lost glory again.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

# THE FORCES OF REBIRTH

In effecting this restoration, God is going to be putting into play upon Africa a spiritual process that is made up of several forces and stages of restoration, with each of these playing their own unique and special role. But in all, they are going to be working together to create a common good for Africans. And the truth is that these forces are going to come into play in Africa faster than we think, and this is going to be possible because it is not going to by power and might but by the Spirit of the living God.

AFRICA: A VALLEY OF DRY BONES

The trend of the Spirit that I see taking place in Africa as the rebirth takes place is in summary similar to the account of prophet Ezekiel's experience at the valley of dry bones as recorded in the book of Ezekiel chapter 37:1-14, and these forces of rebirth will take their turns in the process of rebirth according to the following order:

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

FORCE 1: The Problem

Africa today is faced with hopeless and helpless life and leadership problems. These problems appear to be even helpless from every human point of view. Right now Africa is synonymous to the prophet Ezekiel's valley of dry bone. As a matter of fact, these dry bones are a type of the remains of the Africa's firstborn or leadership spirit that was killed by Moses in Egypt. And just like Ezekiel, some prophets from their observation of the African condition may be tempted to write-off Africa as completely helpless. But thanks be unto God, because before they will begin to prophesy negatively concerning the problem based on available facts, the Spirit of God will interrupt their minds with thoughts to think again on this puzzling question- _"Son of man can these bones live again?"_ can there be a rebirth of our dead leadership spirit again? Just as Ezekiel replied, our answers should also be – _"O Lord God, thou know"_. Because if we were to answer based on our senses we would be very quick to respond with unbelief in God's ability to do what He has planned to do for us. And, if that happen the other forces that make up the process of Africa's rebirth cannot come into play.

Therefore, we must be very careful what we say about Africa's problems. Instead of seeing problems, let's start yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit so that He can open our eyes to see solutions and possibilities. For with Him all things are possible and if we dare believe in Him nothing will be impossible to us. Dear Africans it's time to start believing God for a rebirth because it is very possible.

FORCE 2: The Prophetic

The nest force that I see coming into play in this rebirth process is the force of the prophetic. Like never before the spirit of God is going to manifest in the body of Christ in Africa through the release of prophecy concerning Africa's role in this last days. These prophecies have already started coming out in bits, but will soon be released in its fullness. I see God breaking protocols in some Christian gatherings across Africa because the Spirit of God is going to start moving in the hearts of such meeting leaders to digress from their program order and to start praying and prophesying upon Africa.

As this prophetic move of God takes place, I see African prophetic ministers so yielded that they will speak forth God's word given to them, even against their own reasoning. I see God raising prophets to address every field of human endeavor in Africa. And this is going to be so powerful that it will spread into the entire African society. As the word of God concerning this rebirth increases in Africa, Africans will become so loaded with the word that it becomes very offensive for anyone to speak negative words concerning the continent. And this will bring about the celebration of Africa by Africans.

Nevertheless, it is instructive to note at this juncture that there is much need for us to exercise caution on the words we prophecy. That means we must be wise enough to prophesy only God's word and not human philosophy or mere positive confessions, for this situation will respond to nothing else but God's prophetic word. So like Ezekiel we must endeavor to prophesy just as we are commanded so that we can see God's expected results just like Ezekiel did too. It is only God's word that has the power to give life to dead situations, because His words are spirit and life.

These prophetic declarations will sound too impossible to some critics that will arise to oppose them like the fellow in 2 Kings 7, but just like that man the end of these critics will be disastrous. Such critics to this prophetic restoration move of God will only barely live to see the restoration take place but will not be partakers of its benefits, because they will be crushed under feet and left behind because they failed to prepare for it as they were not expecting it at all. I therefore encourage you not to doubt this coming prophetic move of God upon Africa. Even if it sounds too impossible dare to believe it because it shall come to pass in its appointed time.

FORCE 3: The Process

This rebirth I speak of will not take place within the twinkling of an eye. No, it will take a process with one thing coming after the other in their respective order. This process however is a sure one, because it is been orchestrated by God's spirit Himself and not man. From verse 5 to 8 of Ezekiel 37, we find a pattern that Africa's rebirth is going to take. And as a matter of fact it is taking that pattern already because the rebirth process has begun in Africa. Here the prophet said that as he prophesied that the process started thus: _"...there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above..."_

Similarly, we are going to be experiencing this same pattern. It is beginning with a noise of rebirth across the continent. God is going to be putting the word of the rebirth in the mouth of his choice prophets to prophesy it to Africans. And as they begin to prophesy as they will be commanded, things will be stirred in the realm of the spirit that will start manifesting in this physical realm in the form of a shaking.

The shaking stage is the next in the process, and it means a movement, a repositioning and a rearrangement. There is coming a mighty shaking of the heavens and the earth for the repositioning of Africa. This is not an ordinary movement but a spiritually forceful one that men cannot help but to flow with its tide. And as it continues it will bring about strategic networking and alliances between complementary individuals, organizations and even nations in Africa with a common goal of rebirthing the continent. It shall be the union of bones to bones and bone to bone. And because it is the union of bones, it might look useless, lifeless and unproductive at first, but we should never allow this stop us because that is not the end of the rebirth process.

After this coming together of bones, things will then start taking shape in Africa. This is because sinew, flesh and skins will start coming upon the dry bones, and this is a sign of the new strength, and beauty God is bringing upon Africa. The sinews and flesh speaks of a new strength, while the new skin also speaks of a covering of protection and beauty upon the continent. But even as colorful and beautiful as this may seem we must be careful not to settle for that as the end of the road to rebirth. And this brings us to the next and very important force in this rebirth.

FORCE 4: The Power

The force of power is what will make the whole process meaningful and worthwhile. Without it the new Africa will be as good as a well decorated corpse. The power we are referring to speaks of the person of the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of life from God. " _And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them"_ (Rev 11:11).

After all the wonderful restoration in Ezekiel 37, the prophet became helpless in verse 8 and cried out that there was no breath in them. In other words there was no power in them to make them function according to their purpose. But God stepped in and commanded him to invite the Holy Spirit into the situation to give life to them. Even as this rebirth begin in Africa we must be wise enough to understand that we cannot afford to trust in human abilities. There will come a point in the process that all human effort will fail and to bring about the end result we must of necessity invite the Holy Spirit of God and let Him have his way in us so that we can live again.

FORCE 5: The Product

In verse 10, Ezekiel the prophets said; _"so I prophesied as he commanded me and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army"_. This is the end product of this rebirth in Africa – AN EXCEEDING GREAT ARMY. It is going to be an exceeding and great army of Africa's next generation leaders. They are not just going to be an ordinary army but a trained army that is ready and armed for war and work. According to Isaiah 61:4 this great army shall build the old wastes of Africa, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations in Africa.

This is going to be an army of visionary young men and women who will be sent of God to the different spheres of African life and leadership. And they all will run with one God-given purpose that is to bring about positive global changes and transformation. It shall be an army of order and the Lord of host shall be the commander of this great army. This army will manifest in splendor and strength like the revolutionary army of Joel 2:1 – 11:

1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march everyone on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk everyone in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

# CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

# REPROGRAMING THE FIRSTBORN

In this part we shall be looking at the kind of preparation that would cause this army of Africa's next generational leaders to be that invincible in battle. We shall be looking at the factors that would work together in their training for reigning. This has to do with the kind of spiritual, mental and physical training and empowerment that will be required to launch this God's generals. And this reprogramming will bring about the turning of the hearts of the fathers to that of the children and that of the children to the father.

THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF LAEDERSHIP

_And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord._ (Isaiah 11:2-3)

It is instructive to note that the Hebrew word used as spirit in this passage of scripture is the same word used for breath or wind in Ezekiel 37 to describe the Holy Spirit. According to Finis Dakes this Hebrew word _Ruach_ means wind, breath, life, anger, spirit, mind and will. From this we can therefore see that the same spirit that gives life to this great army of Africa's next generation leaders will also do something else to them before launching them that was not obvious in Ezekiel 37. What the Spirit of God will do to this army is to give them a new mind and a new mindset. That means that he will give them a new mind that is programmable or teachable: _"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them"_ (Ezekiel 36:26-27). And after that He will begin the process of programming their mind for exploits through the operation of the following seven spirits of leadership.

1. The Spirit of The Lord

This is the first of the seven Spirits of leadership that will be working on this African army. It is called the spirit of the Lord or the Spirit of Lordship. It is also known as the spirit of dominion and of power. When this Spirit comes he will cause this army to work in unusual boldness and would also give them a sense of dominion for unusual exploits.

When this Spirit begins to function, the world will become so small for them to dominate. This is this Spirit that recognizes no impossibilities or limitations. This Spirit will put Africans in charge of their circumstance and enable them to achieve extra ordinary results with ordinary resources, just like Samson who with the jaw-bone of an as killed one thousand Philistines.

As this Spirit begins to work in us every mountain and hills that have hitherto withstood us will come crashing down to His power that will be working in us. This will result in the demonstration of power for great works. And because of this power nothing shall successfully stop them from achieving their God given purpose and not even the devil will be able to stop this army.

2. The Spirit of Wisdom

This is the Spirit for building and foundation laying. After the Spirit of the Lord have brought about the breaking down and clearing out of all unwanted forces, them the spirit of window will step in to start planting and building new things.

According to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome this kind of wisdom is a force. This Spirit would grant us divine insight into the plans and purposes of God, and also enable us to understand spiritual realities. This Spirit of wisdom gives insight of knowledge and the controlling power of insight. Wisdom is insight into reality or truth and foresight into the future. It causes you to understand what others can't see.

With this wisdom at work in us we will be able to see clearly the mind of God about the past, the present and the future and therefore with that be able to fulfill our destiny. Through this wisdom we will make the right choices as leaders.

This spirit of wisdom is the same as the one that was at work in Joseph. At first like Joseph, this wisdom will be made manifest in our words and action. We will find ourselves having access to and speaking mysteriously of supernatural strategies for success, which will be followed through until they are fully accomplished. And because the Spirit of wisdom is a force, we are not going to struggle to flow in it, instead we are going to have it take full control of our mind, our thoughts, words and actions as we recognize Him and yield to Him

3. The Spirit of Understanding

This is the spirit of leadership that will bring about the establishment of these new works of God in Africa. With this spirit at work we will find ourselves providing answers to Africa's age-long questions, solving our problems and demystifying things that have hitherto been mysterious. For instance, it is the working of this spirit in me as a person that made the writing of this book possible. It was this spirit of understanding that granted me access into these deep things of God.

I see God bringing about the opening of our eyes of understanding in an unusual manner. This will result in men gaining access to mind-blowing ideas; concepts and inventions like never before. It was this same Spirit of understanding that made it possible for Joseph to interpret the dream of Pharaoh that the Magicians, Astrologers etc. who lacked the Sprit were unable to interpret. And by this same spirit of understanding I see this great army providing solutions to problems of government in Africa, that where beyond natural help. And by this operation of the spirit, I see Africa been established in political stability, social tranquility, economic prosperity and, scientific and technological breakthroughs.

4. The Spirit of Counsel

This spirit of counsel is the one that gives guidance from within. He will be manifesting Himself amongst this His army as the wonderful or miracle producing counselor. The counsel, He will be dishing out may look foolish and unreasonable to the natural man. But the truth is no matter how foolish it appears, we must learn to trust and obey him because in it lays our victory.

We must be attentive enough to hear his voice and differentiate it from the many voices in the world. _"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left"_ (Isaiah 30:21-22). When we follow his order we become invincible, and even when we fall on the sword according to Joel 2 we shall not be wounded. Why? We are obeying the miracle producing counsel of the Spirit of counsel.

6. The Spirit of Might

These are the days of power in Africa. There is going to be a demonstration of the Spirit of Might in this great African revolutionary army. This power display will be so great that they would have done what they want to do before what they have already done would dawn on them. This display of power and might is going to be strictly by the spirit of God according to Zachariah 4:6. It will be obvious that it is not the same as what human abilities can achieve.

As they begin to operate in this newness of spirit, they will have an _"I can do"_ mentality to do exploit. This will result in men of little human strength attempting mega projects and accomplishing them swiftly. This is the same spirit that the men of faith in the Bible like David, Gideon and Samson operated in and wrought victories. These were men with little or no physical abilities, but with extraordinary conviction in the extraordinary abilities of God.

By this spirit of might they will be able to move mountains, leap over walls and run through troops. They will be able to subdue Kings and kingdoms through this spirit. This is not just going to be manifested in their mighty words alone but much more in their mighty deeds by faith which cannot be denied even by the best of critics.

Just as the Egyptians of old accomplished some extra-ordinary physical feats, such as the Pyramids, these men shall also by even much more empowered by the Spirit to build world shaking projects that will remain till the end of the world.

But it is very important to note that this spirit of might will only operate by faith alone, and not by senses. That means like David they must have an unwavering faith in their covenant with the Almighty God to deliver Goliaths into their hands, instead of trusting in human weapons of war.

And as they function by this spirit I see God granting unto them unusual speed that will enable them to outrun even the best of chariots and horses. Africa will not only catch up with the rest of the developed world but will also be able to over run them in the race of development.

6. The Spirit of Knowledge

There is coming upon Africa a down power of revelation knowledge. This kind of knowledge is far more than the everyday knowledge that is gained through schooling and experience. It is going to be revealed knowledge, delivered directly into the heart of this great army.

This will bring about them supernaturally knowing things that never crossed the minds of their teachers and parents. As a result of this, solutions will be provided to the world's most disturbing problems from Africa especially in the area of health, economy, science and technology. And this will bring about super innovations that the world has never dreamt of before.

Because of this Spirit of Knowledge Africa which was known as the Dark Continent will become well known as the continent of light to the rest of the world. And because this knowledge is more than the one gathered through laboratory researches it will bring about unlearned men having possession of vital knowledge that even the well schooled never dreamt of. And as a result it will become obvious that the wisdom of man and the wisdom of this world is indeed foolishness, when compared to the wisdom God is about to manifest through this spirit of knowledge.

Moreover, it is important to note that this kind of knowledge will not be given to 'swines' who will trample on it. It will only be entrusted to men like Daniel. These are men who will refuse to defile themselves with the pleasures of this world. Men, who like Moses, have chosen to suffer for righteousness with his own people than to enjoy the pleasure of sins for a season. These will be holy men that have sanctified themselves unto God for His special use; men, who have made themselves vessels of honour, so that they can be qualified to convey this kind of precious heavenly knowledge to this world for the blessing of Africa and mankind.

7. The Spirit of Fear of the Lord

This is the spirit of godly reverence and repentance that has already started working in Africa and is manifest in massive salvation across the length and breath of the land. This Spirit will grow increasingly in the hearts of Africans in these last days as they begin to see the wonderful works of God and experience His mighty power in their lives. And in the manifestation of this Spirit in His fullness lays the solution of the endemic corruption in Africa.

# CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

# AFRICA ARISE

It takes a new light to birth a new day. And this is exactly what God is doing by the new light He is giving us as a people today. There is a clarion call of the Spirit to Africa today, and this call is signifying that a new day has dawn upon Africa. Weeping may have endured through Africa's night but joy has come with this dawning of a new day upon the land. God is making us understand that a new day for us as a people has come because a new light from God has come. However, God does not only want us to know that it's the dawning of a new day. He also wants us to arise from our slumber and start shinning in the glory of this light that He has brought to us through this message from Him.

As I write this concluding chapter my mind goes back to a vision that God showed me in the year 2001. This happened in a friend's house while I was observing siesta. In that vision I saw what looked like a big hall with a well elevated roof, and sitting on one corner of the hall was a man who was dressed in what looked like rags, he was looking dejected, frustrated and hopeless like a prisoner in a dungeon. I could not see more than all these because the hall was filled with so much darkness and the only light with which I saw this man was a tiny flicker of light that descended from the roof of the hall through what seems like a pin hole.

When I awoke from that vision I was filled with so much terror because of the helpless condition of the man that I saw. So much was this fear that I asked my friend whose house I was to accompany me to a nearby street so I could preach the gospel to passersby, for I thought that was all God was trying to communicate to me by that vision as I was then still very immature in spiritual understanding. Because, this time I was just about two years young in Christ and that was about the third of such terrifying visions I was seeing.

But as I grew in Christ, the Lord started granting me insight into these visions He was showing me and how they related to His purpose and calling for my life. With reference to this particular vision that I am speaking of here, He made me to understand that the man I saw in that vision was Africa and that Africa is suffering the way it is suffering today because it does not have the required light, and therefore was unable to bail itself out of where it was grounded. He told me that what is needed to change its circumstance is a particular kind of light that will dispel that darkness that has held it bound. He finally told me He was going to use me to shine this light and instructed me to shine on Africa the light he was going to give to me so that it can discover and completely free itself from the power of darkness that has held it bound in captivity. And I thank God almighty for He has given me this said light to Africa. And just as he gave it to me I am in turn giving it to Africa so that we can arise from mediocrity and captivity unto a life of glory that was prepared for us before the foundation of this world. I therefore declare to Africa:

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory (Isaiah 60:1-7).

I see the gross darkness that has covered Africa so far lifting up from Africa and setting down on other parts of the world as we begin to arise by this light. And because of this glory that is been manifested in the land as we arise by the word of God, I see a new way of thinking, a new way of living and a new way of leading coming upon us. And this new way is going to be so glorious that it will attract people and their leaders from the rest parts of the world into Africa. And just as it was in the days of Joseph, when the Egyptians arose to act according to the light God gave through Joseph, which resulted in them not only escaping the global famine at the time but also led to Africa becoming a centre of hope to the rest of the world. I see the same phenomenon repeating itself as we arise to implement this God's restoration plan for Africa. By this light from God, I see us miraculously escaping the present economic problems in the world, and as a result we will become the centre of hope and succor to the whole world in these last days.

I also see Africans by this light thinking outside the box that life has put us so far. I see us thinking differently about their life, their circumstances, their nations and the continent. Instead of nurturing mediocre thoughts of impossibility, I see us accommodating thoughts of possibility and prosperity. I see a new generation arising that will not understand the meaning of the word _"impossible"_ as a result of this new way of thinking that this new light brings. And I see all this dovetailing into another phase and that is the phase of a new way of living. A new lifestyle is emerging in the African continent. It is a lifestyle of peace and social righteousness. It's a lifestyle of righteousness with an emphasis on the fear of God, and love for fellow mankind. And it is also a lifestyle that places premium on hard word.

Finally, I can hear God saying to us in Africa –"Arise, shine for the light you have been waiting for has come". And that this light has caused His glory to be risen upon us. It is very possible for Africa to arise to global leadership through this light because as a people repenting of our evil against the Jews and are now also propagating and defending the covenant gospel more than the rest of the world. However, the truth still remains that until we arise in this light that has been given to us, we will not see the manifestation of His glory upon us as a people. Therefore, let's arm ourselves with strength and arise to the occasion because our time has come.

###

Thank you for reading this book. If you enjoyed it, won't you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer?

Thanks!

Ohimai Izedonmi

# ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ohimai Abraham is founder and president of The Firstborn Mandate; an anointed ministry with a vision of Healing the Curse of Life and Leadership upon the People and Nations of Africa. He is the author of several life transforming books. His teachings are simple yet profound with infallible proofs and diverse testimonies across the globe to the glory of God! He is increasingly imparting lives across the world through his multidimensional ministry projects like Africa In Prophecy, Youthfull, Business Devotion, Healing Night, Uncommon Students Seminar, Firstborn Academy and Mission Orphans. As an entrepreneur he is the CEO of InfoQUEST Consults, a branding, publishing, training, and consulting company. Ohimai and his wife, Blessing, presently reside in Benin City, Nigeria where he serves as the senior pastor of Firstborn Christian Centre; a church that equips people with spiritual strength for secular significance.

# DISCOVER OTHER TITLES BY THE AUTHOR

(1) _Africa in Prophecy_ _: A Revelation of Africa's Past, Present and Future from bible prophecies,_

(2) _Understanding Work_ _: Unveiling the purpose, principles and power of accomplished workers_ ,

(3) _Head Masters_ _: How you can become the head by using your head,_

(4) _Success Simplified:_ _How you can create an extraordinary life from inside-out_

(5) _Common Sense for Uncommon Workers_ _: Wisdom keys to making your work profitable_ ,

(6) _Common Sense for Uncommon Students_ _How to win in school and prepare for the bigger world_ ,

(7) _Common Sense for Uncommon Youth,_ _Wisdom keys to make your youth count._

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# JOIN THE FIRSTBORN MANDATE

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The Firstborn Mandate is a faith-based leadership and entrepreneurship development organization. It runs with a vision of raising an army of 1,000,000 (One Million) Africa's next generation leaders for the healing of the African age-long leadership curse.

We are taking this mandate of healing the curse to the nations of Africa and to the blacks in diaspora through several transformational projects, these include:

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