As was the case when the Heavenly Father gave King Solomon the opportunity to ask whatever he wanted Him to do for him (1 Kings 3:5), I too requested for wisdom. But I also prayed for the grace not to do anything that would cause me not to make Paradise or the Kingdom of Heaven in the hereafter. The Lord repeated the question twice during our discussion which lasted about half – an – hour, but I did not change my request. Not even when on the third occasion, He said: “Adesina, this is the last opportunity you have to ask whatever you want me to bless you with.”
As He told King Solomon in 1 Kings 3:11 – 14, the Ancient of Days said because I did not ask for wealth (riches), long life, the punishment or destruction of my detractors, that He would do all I had asked for and more. This, no doubt, is the reason why He has been answering the questions I have been asking Him on the issues in the Holy Bible and Qur’an in the last 21 years.
I began doing so in 1997, inquiring how long the ordeal of Job lasted. I was reading his story in the Bible at the time. The Heavenly Father did not give me the answer that day, He only promised that He would do so one day. But He said I should know that it would have been more than ten years, since He gave Job’s wife ten children in place of an equal number that died during the tragedies he experienced (Job 2:18 – 22 and 42:12 – 17).
As stated in last week’s column the Lord gave me the answer on the duration of Job’s terrible challenges on Saturday, January 13, 2007, which was ten years after I had asked the question. This was the day I and two others He had a covenant with in March 1994 pleaded that 13 years were long enough a time for Him to fulfil His promise and appealed to Him to start to ameliorate our hardship. His reply was “what is your 13 years to the 30 years the sufferings of Job lasted?”
It is believed that the Bible was published in one of the years spanning 96 – 105A.D. This is because the last four Books in the New Testament: 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and Revelation authored by Apostle John were said to have been written in one of the years in the decade of 85 – 95 A.D. While the Church Apostle Peter established on the Day of Pentecost in 32 A.D (Acts 2:1 – 42) became known as Catholic Church in 106 A.D. Since the name of the oldest Christian denomination is not in any of the 27 Books in the New Testament, people have taken it that this was because the Bible had been published before 106.
In other words, the Christian Holy Book has been in existence for one thousand, nine hundred and thirteen years to one thousand, nine hundred and twenty – two years. If in these one hundred and ninety – one to one hundred and ninety – two decades or nineteen centuries, nobody knew or had written on how long the misfortunes of Job lasted, it means no one had asked the Ancient of Days about it.
And if someone did before me, it means that He declined to reveal it. Whichever be the case, I have to give the Lord thanks that I am the one through whom He has let it be known that Job’s suffering lasted 30 years. I am also grateful to Him for giving me the opportunity to ask Him questions on creation and issues in the Bible and Koran.
So far, I have asked the Lord questions on a few issues in the Christian and Muslim Scriptures. These included whether He is against polygamy, whether Jesus was born on December 25 or another date, whether the coming of Christ has put an end to the payment of tithes and whether Christians and Muslims worship Him or different deities.
I have written on all these issues in this column in the last ten years and would return to some of them in this series.
Indeed, by His grace I will one day write a book on what He has told me and will still tell me on creation and other issues in the Bible and Qur’an. For instance, we are told in Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 that God created only Adam and Eve. There is no report anywhere else that the Lord brought any other couple into being. Given this fact, how did the world come to be populated by people of different races and colours? Or contrary to what is in the Bible, did the Heavenly Father create other couples and why was there no report on them in the Bible? To be continued next week
Asiwaju Tinubu, a great and amazing leader (4)
Aside of having most of his followers remaining loyal to him and 95 per cent of those who left him returning to his fold, another lesson political leaders need to learn from Asiwaju Tinubu is his talent in choosing dynamic and highly successful disciples as the Governor of Lagos State after he left the office. He did not pick politicians who were very loyal to him or who held high party or political offices.
Rather, he went for party members or people he knew could perform very well even though they were not prominent politicians. Barrister Babatunde Fasola who succeeded him in 2007 as Governor of Lagos State was his Chief of Staff who before the appointment was not in political limelight. He took Lagos to greater heights. Mr. Akinwumi Ambode who took over after Fasola has been a very outstanding and awesome Governor. And I am sure most people regard him unarguably as the best administrator Lagos State has had since its creation in 1967, fifty – one years ago.
With the excellent way Tinubu performed and as Fasola and Ambode too have done, Lagosians can be rest assured that for as long as Asiwaju lives, the state will continue to have dynamic and highly achieving governors.
Let me end with this interesting information about the extraordinary coincidence between Tinubu and one of my younger sisters. Like him, her name is Bola. Hers is Adebola but I don’t know if Tinubu’s is Adebola, Omobola, Bolanle, Ajibola, Mobolaji, Bolatito or Bolade.
Like him, she too was born on March 29. She on Thursday, March 29, 1951 and he on Saturday, March 29, 1952. One of Tinubu’s names is Adekunle, which my immediate younger brother also bears. Like President Muhammadu Buhari, he too was born on December 17. He on Wednesday, December 17, 1947 and the president on Thursday, December 17, 1942.
Next week: Paying the debt I owe Chief Ebenezer Babatope a.k.a. Ebino Topsy