We often sing these lines in our national anthem; “the labor of our heroes past, shall never be in vain”, and we sing their praises for fighting for our independence and for laying the foundation of this great nation. And I am forced to ask; the happenings in our nation today, does it show that the leaders in the past, the founding fathers who have labored in the past, have they really done a good job? Where did we get it wrong? Is the problem of this nation from the founding fathers or from the present crop of leaders we have. My focus would be about foundation, reexamining what this nation is being built or standing upon.

When the foundation is faulty or destroyed what can the righteous do? If this nation will be rebuilt again, then where do we start from? Did the leaders of this nation establish a foundation with the intention that the nation would not rise high? So, if that is what it seems no matter how much effort is put into developing this nation it may not attain the desired heigh. So, what is the actual master plan for this nation? Was what the intention of the builders when the foundation was being laid? I want you to ponder and reflect on these questions if you are a politician, a comrade or you have a good heart for your nation and wish it prosper greatly as it ought to.

For every strong building, there is a strong foundation, and for every strong foundation, there is a systematic arrangement, specialized reinforcement by the builders who are building with the consciousness of the weight, the height and the duration of the building. So, this brings to bare the concept of foundation. And our understanding of it will give us a direction as to how to move the nation forward. Foundation according to a definition in civil engineering, is the lowest part of the building or the civil structure that is in direct contact with the soil which transfers loads from the structure to the soil safely. Generally, the foundation can be classified into two, namely; shallow foundation and deep foundation. So, if a foundation is shallow, it means the builders intent is not for the building to be very high. But if the foundation is deep, it means the intention of the builder is build a sky scrapper. What did the leaders envision when the foundation of this nation was laid? Because foundation determine the nature, strength and duration of any building.

This is a concept the Holy Spirit wants to use to explain certain things to the leadership of this nation. If foundation is what we can see, probably because it was constructed physically or it was drawn on a paper, what happens in a situation where we can’t see the foundation of Nigeria, yet we need to build Nigeria? This means that the foundation of Nigeria should first be spiritual and as such require spiritual builders. The foundations of nations are not built with blocks, cement and concreate, they are built on covenant and covenants are not complete or sealed without blood and sacrifices offered either to God or gods. And it is on the basis of that sacrifice that a nation will either be rich, prosperous, poverty stricken, standing or fallen.

The Lord said to me, whenever you see bloodshed, mayhem and man slaughter, wickedness and massacre of citizens under any leadership, the watchmen, and leaders must never attribute it to a terrorist group, unknown gun men or Fulani herdsmen even though it seems so. The underlying issue is covenant and the request or demands of the alter with which that covenant was made. Leaders have aligned with an alter that demands blood and sacrifices of its citizens, when such a transaction takes place in the Spirit, the result is that men are killed and butchered in their numbers. This is yet another season for sacrifices and if all we can do is to protest and shout on social media we make little or no impact. Hence, the nation must arise differently this time, let the sound of the alarm resonate through the length and breadth of every city and community that it is time to begin to rebuild a desolate nation, it is time to correct all the wrongs and establish truth and righteousness in this nation.

So, what should we do? How do we begin to build a new nation? When you become a leader your ability to discern the covenant that backs your nation, and align or dis-align to its terms and conditions will determine how prosperous your reign as a king or leadership would be. In Joshua 1:8 the Bible says; “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” And the question is; how many of our leaders keep the book of the law on their lips? That’s on one hand. On the other hand, what does the books say about this nation? What kind of laws bind this nation? What have we adopted as a law, as a constitution? This Scripture just revealed that the prosperity of any nation is hidden in the kind of book, law or constitution that the nation is practicing.

Is it possible that one of the foundational problems of this nation is our constitution? I will leave that for us to answer based on what we are looking at. Hence it is important that these books be reviewed if this nation will become prosperous again. The foundation of this nation was laid based on written laws or constitution and until these writings are wiped or blotted out by a far more superior sacrifice, the nation will continue to stand stagnant.

On the other hand, Revelations 12 verse 8 gave us an insight into how the worlds was built and upon which foundations it was laid. It will give us an idea as to how we should lay the foundation of this nation if we desire to prosper. It says that there was a Lamb that was slain from the foundations of the world. Who is the Lamb that was slayed from the foundations of the earth? Jesus! Apostle Paul made it clearer in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 11, it says; For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. I don’t know how we want to become prosperous outside of Jesus Christ. I am sure you may want to say; what about nations that have prospered yet they don’t believe in Jesus. The answer depends on your understanding of prosperity. But then two things come to mind in response to this assumption. What is the quality of the leadership of the nation’s being referred to? How many religious clashes do they experience? What is the philosophy and the ideology of the nation and its leaders? And how resolute and committed are they in achieving their objectives as a nation? Can we find any of these in our nation? When we are talking about prosperity, we should not only fixate our minds on material prosperity alone, we should look at the prosperity of the soul. It is possible to gain material possessions outside of Christ, build infrastructure and weapons of mass destruction, but the prosperity of the soul is not possible outside of Christ. Jesus said the life of a man does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.

foundations of nations must be laid by covenant and covenants are sealed by either shedding of blood or by blood sacrifices. So, rather than struggling to fix the ills that go on in the nation, the covenants upon which that nation is founded upon must be revisited. If foundations can be corrected every other thing about the nation can be corrected. What covenant and upon what alter has our leaders and founding fathers made transactions on behalf of our nation. So, God laid Christ as the foundation upon which the world was laid. The Bible says by faith we know that the world was framed by the word, Jesus speaking he said whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken to be a wise man that builds His house on the rock. So, what is the foundation and how does a leader build with it? It is the word of God. 

HOW A NATION BEGINS TO RISE

“And I will make you a great nation…”

 It begins with a word and this was how it all began with Abraham. When you see a nation like Israel today, getting stronger on all fronts, prospering by the day and attracting foreign investors; it began with this word, I will make you a great nation. This is what God is saying concerning us, this nation shall be great, and its latter glory will surpass what she had experienced before. When God wanted to begin a nation with Abram, not just a nation but a great and prosperous nation He came to Abram in Genesis chapter 12 saying to him; “get out of your country, from your family and from your Father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great.”

There is something very fundamental here that nations must take note of; firstly, this nation must disassociate from other gods, the verse began by saying get out of your country. What does this mean? Alliances must be checked. If this nation must begin to prosper, it must check the nations she has made agreement and have gone into alliance with and the kind of gods those nations serve. God established three facts from the promises he gave Abram. The first is that great nations are birthed, blessed, expanded and prosper by the hand of God and by the virtue of His covenant. The second thing I want us to note is that there is a correlation and a difference between being a great nation and having a great name. Let me explain this statement; the correlation is that; As a nation becomes great, her name also becomes great. The difference is that a nation could be great but may not have a great name. This is the case of this nation. This is the reason why when God wants to begin to build any nation into greatness He changes His name or gives them a new name. Just as He did for Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Saul to Paul, Jacob to Israel. Just as there is a correlation between a great nation and a great name, there is also a difference between having a great name and becoming a blessing. This is where we are heading, Nigeria will envitably become a blessing to other nations. But it must abide by the terms and conditions of God.

There are many nations who have great names but are never a blessing, and there few nations whose name are great and are a blessing. What is the point I am trying to make? The  prosperity of a nation is rooted in covenants and this covenant has the capacity to make a nation great, have a great name and becoming a blessing to other nations. See what God said to Abram in Genesis 17 verse 2. The Lord said to Abram “And I will make my covenant between me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then He went further in verse 4 saying; “as for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.” The Bible says God is not a man that He should lie nor the son of man that he should repent. He does not turn back to His promises. The Bible says that by two immutable things it is impossible for God to lie.

So, when God said to Abram in Genesis 12 that I will bless those who bless you and curse those that curse you, He was serious about it. Two strange things happened to confirm that covenants cannot be broken and how the foundation of it can last even to a thousand generations. The first incident happened in Numbers 22 verse 6, a sorcerer was hired to curse the nation God has made covenant with. Verse 6 says therefore please come at once that is Balak talking to Balaam curse this people for me for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land for I know that he whom you bless is blessed and he whom you curse is cursed.

Can you imagine that? But that was a man. Men or sorcerers or enemies may wish to cast a spell on a nation but as long as it is founded upon covenant it will not be shaken, the wind may blow the storm may rage but it will endure. But see what God said in verse 12 to the man that was hired to curse the nation; He has established His covenant with their fathers. He said; “you shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”  What were they blessed with? What is your nation blessed with? This is more than gold, crude oil, diamond and iron ore. See the effect of that blessing when they were in Egypt. The Bible says a king named pharaoh rose up against this same nation and said to his people; “look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come let us deal with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”

Then verse 14 says therefore they set task masters over them to afflict them with their burdens. Verse 12 is where I am going; the Scripture says “but the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” This is not an ordinary experience, remember that this nation is a nation in slavery in a foreign land. What am I trying to say in essence? This experience was built upon a covenant foundation that was established between God and Abraham. Remember that when we began, we established that nations, organizations that have been built on covenant will last and will stand the test of time, it will not be shaken. The question is; if covenant is what makes a nation prosperous how then can nations enter this covenant with God? Let me begin by saying this; covenants are struck on the altar of sacrifices. When God does not see sacrifice, he does not cut a covenant with any nation.  

When sacrifices and selflessness is not showcased by any nation and its leaders such a nation cannot attract well-meaning people, investors and donors including God. Why did I say this? Taking a close look at Genesis chapter 22, Abraham’s son was requested by God to be sacrificed, He didn’t hold back. And by the virtue of his obedience the Bible says in verse 16; “By myself I have sworn says the Lord because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son-blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply your descendants. Did you see that what happened in Egypt was not an accident it was as a result of covenant? And God keeping to His own terms of the covenant. Do we want to multiply exceedingly; do we want to be fruitful and prosperous as a nation? its time to cut tie with strange alliances and enter a genuine covenant with the God that bless.

 

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Apeh Francis Abah!

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