A young man, straight from school into the work force, gets a very good job with a reputable oil firm/bank/NGO/school, heck anything, just a good job. Is doing really well for himself and others, has a good relationship with his girlfriend whom he eventually marries. Two years down the line, he begins to experience challenges, maybe life challenges maybe work related, loses his job and goes through the usual adjustment processes. The wife runs from pillar to post seeking spiritual (and sometimes physical) solution to the man's envisaged problems. Goes to a church where she is informed the husband has a "spirit wife" that is offended with the marriage and hell bent on dealing with him for marrying her.
A young lady, slowly approaching her late forties, holds down a good job, lives real well, contributes to her church, community and society, can afford to take trips abroad for holiday and leisure. No marital prospects on the horizon, maybe having been battered emotionally and psychologically, has also taken the decision to stay away from relationships and live her life the way she wants to live it. If marriage comes, fine and if it doesn't come okay! Her concerned mother, runs helter skelter, seeking a "solution" to her daughter's marital "problems". In seeking that solution, she chances upon a prophet or MOG who calmly informs her that her daughter is married in the marine world "Spirit husband". And his presence in her life will not permit any other man to step in.
A couple, married for over 10 years, both hold down good jobs (or maybe they don't, that is entirely besides the point here), good members of their society, churches and community. Openly loving and generous couple, besotted with each other and outpouring towards society at large. Their challenge - no children yet. They have tried every position known to man, even taken advice from dubious sources, all in a bid to try to have just one child. They have resorted to dry charges (no food, no water fasting for short bursts of three days at a stretch), all to no avail. Eventually, during a church crusade, they are informed that either (or both) of them have spouses in the spirit world (and perhaps children), and need deliverance from these ties in order to progress.
A married man has a near escape from a fatal road accident - Either his wife or him have a spirit spouse who is after their lives
A couple have one child who is hell bent on sending his parents to an early grave - The spirit children are annoyed that in spite of their best efforts at keeping the couple apart, they still got together and had children.
The instances are endless and could go on and on and on..
Worried, especially as I recently had the dubious honor of mediating in a case where the wife was told her husband's "spirit wife" was to blame for all the incidents he had recently passed through, to the extent that the "spirit spouse" was now attacking the innocent woman, trying to ensure she made little or no progress in life for as long as she remained married to her husband, I decided to carry out a bit of sleuthing. (My thoughts and opinions on this particular case comes at the end).
From my searches, this "Spirit Spouse" phenomenon seems to be a largely West African thing, with one or two particular churches latching on to it and declaring every issue a spirit spouse thing. Other upcoming pastors and prophets, seeing how it has worked out well for their forbears, proceed to proliferate and spread the gospel according to spirit husbands and wives. Spirit spouses were birthed in ancient Latin mythology and have slowly spread their tentacles to other parts of the world, but in no other space have they received widespread acceptance than in West Africa, especially our very own Naija.
Someone comes to a Pastor for prayers and deliverance. You are hard pressed to admit that you cannot decipher the root cause of this problem and rather than advice the young couple to continue to wait on God's time, you proceed to dash one or the other of them a "Spirit Spouse". Easy short cut to the resolution of the spiritual problem.
What happened to waiting on God and God's time? I took my time to go through the bible and no where was "Spirit Husband" or "Spirit Wife" mentioned in connection to any of the misfortunes that fell upon the great men in the bible. I believe that as Christians, whether practicing or professing, our standard should be the bible.
Job - Big man, houses, lands, cars, goods on the high seas, children wif swagga, it was reported he lost them all in one day! So, I am convinced, if Job's wife - that restless woman- had gone to a Nigerian prophet, she would have been asked to bring her husband down for deliverance from Spirit Spouse. Job on the other hand, knew that he was being tried and tempted, after all the bible does admonish us to count it all joy when we are faced with diverse temptations as it is the trial of our faith that worketh patience (James 1:3). He waited on God and for God's time and his end was more glorious than the beginning.
Would that a lot of these pastors, when they see desperate young men seeking an instant solution to life's problems would just advice them to wait on God. Wait! How come we no longer want to wait, both physically and spiritually? We want everything to come to us and at our own times, why? Who even deceives people into believing that life is a smooth journey - I can assure you that even the Dangotes and Otedolas of the world have some pressing or burning issue that can be wished away on a "Spirit spouse".
Abraham and Sarah, they waited to have Isaac. They waited beyond what any human being living or dead would consider realistic. They waited until their due time for visitation and then, they were blessed with the child as promised of God and indeed Abraham became the father of all nations as promised. Nowhere did the bible mention deliverance from a spirit husband or wife before the child came.
Mary Magdalene - no spirit husband
Peter (of "I go a fishing" fame, sword carrying disciple, "I no know this Jesus o") - no spirit wife
Samson - No spirit wife (even though he landed the prize with Delilah - go figure)
Ruth - No Spirit husband
Jonah - No Spirit wife
Joseph - No spirit wife
Racheal - No spirit husband
And on, and on, and on. In fact in the entire bible, there was no spirit spouse mentioned as the root cause of anybody's life challenges. Point of fact, there were demons, confirmed! And they were speedily dispatched. But no where was someone advised to go for deliverance from spirit husband. When I took this up with a prophet and asked him to show me proof in the bible that spirit spouses are the root cause of problems encountered by individuals, he took me to Mathew 13:25 - But while men slept, his enemies came and sowed wheat among the tares and went away.
Please, can someone with a better understanding explain to me how this relates to Spirit Spouse? He said to me that this was a parable only for the "discerning", and I took him through the bible where every parable was properly explained and in fact in most instances, linked directly to the situation they referred to! Well, I had my own bible reference for the Pastor - 2 Peter 2: 1-3.
Overall, I really think we need to learn to be discerning. People encounter life situations and when you go through a "wilderness experience", learn to wait. Wait and listen to the still small voice. Stop running from pillar to post. Wait for God and He will speak to every situation in your life and at THE APPOINTED TIME, things will work right and your lines will begin to fall into pleasant places.
Now, back to the issue of the young man with "the spirit wife". His flesh wife (abi wetin you go call this one again), was visibly agitated. She wanted no part of this spirit wife especially since she was told that the next target could be her life! She in fact, needed to quickly disassociate herself with the man as she had also started experiencing "difficulties in her business". I had a good laugh on her account, free of charge and told her one thing.
It was obvious to me that there was never any love involved in the marriage, especially on her part, in the first instance. She had just been stringing this man along and was there for the ride. Now when things were no longer as rosy as they used to be, she was conveniently taking the easy way out - blame it on the spirit spouse and bail for your life. I advised her and I strongly believe in this advise, to stand by her man! What he needs during this period of challenge in his life is someone who would empathise, comfort, understand and support. Of course her business will experience difficulties because where before, it was just used to support Madam's fashion leanings and cravings, now it was supporting the entire household (school fees, feeding, house rent, etc).
Like I told her, she could make good use of this opportunity to flee to greener pastures, no guarantee that those pastures would remain evergreen and guess what would happen when her new love begins to experience a set back, *no brainer alert*, well, she would be accused of having a spirit husband since every man she latches herself onto experiences setbacks. How then would she feel?
On the other hand, if the man finds a woman that supports him during the difficulties, stands by him and together nurtures him back to growth, the rat that abandoned the sinking ship would definitely surface sometime in the future and start attempting to claim her place back as the "First and rightful wife".
Please Nigerians, be wise and grow a brain!
Mathew 13:25 - But while men slept, his enemies came and sowed wheat among the tares and went away.
ReplyDeleteThe scripture deciphered by the "pastor?" is a typical case of everything that is wrong with christianity nowadays. The Bible "IS A COLLECTION OF EVENTS AND PEOPLE'S EXPERIENCES AND COMMUNICATIONS WITH GOD. WITH A BETTER PART OF IT, PROPHECIES OF THINGS YET TO COME". It is not a book of codes to be interpreted and deciphered as one wishes or deems fit. It should be read the same way one would read a textbook...for greater understand on how things work and how things should and would work. 1 verse in the bible can be given as many interpretations as there are pastors and i ask myself, whose interpretation is correct? God is not a God of confusion.
Precisely. I agree with you 100%, but my worry is the spirit husband/wife phenomenon. What is your opinion of it? Does it exist? Do you believe in it? Why do you believe(disbelieve it)?
ReplyDeleteThere are demons, yes. Leagues and bonds can be made, yes. Such bonds could be in varying forms (for a short wealthy life, for a long childless life, for a non-heaven bound powerful life and who knows...maybe even for a matrimonial contract)
DeleteHowever there is no scripture in the bible to support this (but then, the bible is God's word and not the devil's...lets not forget that even as God has his own rules, the devil might have his too)
But that every(or most) problems some people face...particularly in relationships...is tied to spiritual marriage(s) is hogwash and an absolute lack of understanding of how things function. The fact that there are 4 seasons is enough to tell everybody that life has its ups and downs and varying phases. Not to mention the fact that the so-called people who are supposed to be married to these so called spirit wives and husbands did not include amnesia in the contract (as all of them seem surprised with the news of their marriages themselves, how then and when did they get married? at birth?
As for the pastors spreading these bullet-proof remedies...keep on relinquishing your seats for others in heaven.We greatly appreciate the kind gestures.
There are demons, yes. Leagues and bonds can be made, yes. Such bonds could be in varying forms (for a short wealthy life, for a long childless life, for a non-heaven bound powerful life and who knows...maybe even for a matrimonial contract)
ReplyDeleteHowever there is no scripture in the bible to support this (but then, the bible is God's word and not the devil's...lets not forget that even as God has his own rules, the devil might have his too)
But that every(or most) problems some people face...particularly in relationships...is tied to spiritual marriage(s) is hogwash and an absolute lack of understanding of how things function. The fact that there are 4 seasons is enough to tell everybody that life has its ups and downs and varying phases. Not to mention the fact that the so-called people who are supposed to be married to these so called spirit wives and husbands did not include amnesia in the contract (as all of them seem surprised with the news of their marriages themselves, how then and when did they get married? at birth?
As for the pastors spreading these bullet-proof remedies...keep on relinquishing your seats for others in heaven.We greatly appreciate the kind gestures.
You know, sometimes, just to prove that there actually is a spirit Spouse, the "clean partner" is told that the unclean one will reject any attempt to divorce him/her from their other world spouse because of benefits. Therefore, the louder they protest their spirit marriage, the more the prayers that are heaped on their heads.
DeleteSincerely, I laughed at Saturday's couple because while the husband kept protesting that he did not have a spirit wife, that these were just the tides of life, the wife was even more vehement in her claims that the spirit wife was "ogbonge" and had blinded the husband to her existence.
Na wa for WAEC!
In addition to the first paragraph of my last comment, remember that the devil in Luke 4:5-8 tried to be in league with Christ for the price of Christ's worship to him in exchange for power and wealth. Other examples of demonic bonds and agreements are strewn within the scriptures starting from the garden of Eden with Eve and the serpent. But not one on spiritual matrimony (but like i mentioned...the devil has his own rules and this cannot be ruled out)
ReplyDeleteIt however is not justification for the challenges we face in life and in relationships.
What can I say? Spirit husbands and spirit wives and unending deliverances. I often wonder at the hardiness of these evil spirits, you deliver them in 2013, they come back again in 2014 necessitating another deliverance crusade. Some crusades even happen monthly in a sort of ping pong scenario. The organizers of these crusaders obviously lack the power to bind a thing and it would stay bound; necessitating a rebinding monthly/annually as the case may be.
ReplyDeleteI have also experienced altar calls for people with spirit wives/husbands to come forth for deliverance and scores and scores of people pour forth - like it's something to be proud of. I sit there wondering, 'Hold up peeps, if y'all knew you had spirit spouses, what have you been doing walking around with them all this time? Oh, I know, ye've been waiting for the MOG to call you out so you can proudly walk down the aisle and show off your spiritual liaisons ... lousy show-offs!!!' In short, Nigerians are so gullible, that the con artists in the name of pastors go around making a huge killing off of them.
In my opinion, false prophecy is a low-risk business venture. There's always some measure of probability that at any point in this life all will be well - or ill; and like Viola has so eloquently pointed out, if ill befalls us it is life and the trials of faith that come with it! It requires patience of us and holding onto God until the wilderness moment passes; like Job so valiantly did. But since we want everything to run smoothly and for lines to fall in pleasant places NOW NOW NOW, the false prophets cash in on the gamble, 'I see an accident, if you travel tomorrow, let us pray.' False prophet prays, accident does not happen, he was right! On the flip side, false prophet pays, accident still happens, he was right too! Guess who is smiling to the bank?
Let is take 1 John 4:1 more seriously!
LOL, paragraph 2 is a classic and needs to be pasted at most of those deliverance centres. Showing off spiritual liaisons indeed. I was almost tempted to paste a "deliverance video" here to see if you all will notice something I did. The acting was too obvious to be true. Sincerely, I know that demons exist and can possess a careless Christian, but the extent to which we are so accepting of Spirit Spouse(s) is just unbelievable. It is a one size fits all solution to any problem experienced by anyone under the sun.
DeleteGuess your last sentence sums up the whole matter!
quite a hilarious piece.for me its just old wives feables,myth and superstition.challenges of life must come,so wen dey come the sensible tin is to search 4 solutions not to look 4 what or whom to ascribe it to.anyway,its signs of d end time.wen i lost my husband few months back,one of these fake pastors approached me wt dis fake theory,i gave it to him real good,infact,it was so hot between us dat he told some ppl dat my reaction was prove dat wat he was rubbishly insuniating was true.abeg make dem go park well.i like d new layout of d blog and incorporation of pix.GVJ say so.
ReplyDeleteSister V thank you for this piece. NO! there is nothing like spirit husband or spirit wife. It is the devil that brought about all these tru its agents, the fake pastors. Jesus did not say we will not encounter difficulties but promised us a way out. though we walk through the shadow of death we shall fear no evil because He said He shall always be with us to see us through. You will be the greatest idiot if you believe in it that well because you don't think bad or do bad to anyone therefore nobody will think evil about you, Jesus did not hurt anybody or fight anyone yet He was beaten, spat on and nailed to the cross. Then who are you not to experience tough times. In the first instance do one think making all the wealth is ones doing. No, it is the Lords doing. So when one falls it is not a bad thing all one needs is to find a way through Christ to get back on ones feet. By saying spirit this spirit that is one of the ways satan is using to play its tricks on us through its prophets of doom.Let us wake up and rebuke satan of all these lies. Go to south south of the country, innocent teenagers has been accused of witchcraft. Trust pastor T B Joshua, he won't just take all those sh.t.
ReplyDeleteJasper pls expatiate on your reference to Pastor TBJ for more clarity.
ReplyDeleteVio, we just have our own special naija Christianity; very different from all others. so as far as we are talking naija style, spirit husband de. mammywater de, no one dies 'ordinarily', someone killed him/her, etc
ReplyDeleteihe onye cho k'ofu
more posts pls
ReplyDelete