SHEMBE REFERRED TO AS AFRICAN MESSIAH, 100 PER CENT GOD
BETHANY – The Nazareth Baptist Church has revealed that Shembe is 100 per cent God.
Shembe is a title given to the leader of the Nazareth Baptist Church. The incumbent leader of the Nazareth Church is His Holiness Unyazi Lwezulu Shembe. When preaching during the Sabbath service held at Esabelweni in Mahlanya yesterday, Umfundisi Mpendulo Mkhonta wondered why people were shocked when they heard members of the church referring to the Creator as the God of Shembe. Mkhonta said the members of the church felt the presence of God whenever they were with Shembe. He said people would continue to ask why the church referred the Creator as the God of Shembe until the phrase was explained to them.
When explaining why Shembe was said to be 100 per cent God, Mkhonta stated that the Nazareth Church believed that God showed Himself to Shembe when He came to earth. He said it was for that reason they believed that the God of Shembe healed all diseases. “The Bible has taught us that whenever God comes to earth, He comes in a form of man just like it happened to prophets such as Abraham, Isaac, Moses and Elijah, among others. The people who experienced God’s wonders through the prophets believed in God as the God of those prophets. That is why they always referred to God as the God of those prophets. As the Nazareth Church, we believe that when God came to earth, He showed Himself to Shembe. I think you know that many prophets prophesied about the coming of Jesus, but none of them mentioned His name,” Mkhonta said.
He added that whoever heard the prophecies imagined the coming of Jesus but their imagination never came to be, until a child was born and given the title King of Kings. He said the church believed in Shembe as the African Messiah. The man of God said the church was aware of rejection from some sectors. “We have read the scripture and we will, continue reading it. The Bible has made it clear that there is nothing new as everything that happens today happened before,” he said.
Blasphemy
He said the phrase could be better explained by the scripture in the Book of John 10:31-39. Mkhonta stated that there was nothing different from what Jesus told His Jewish opponents who accused Him of blasphemy after they felt He claimed to be God. The man of God stated that Jesus replied by saying: “Is it not written in your law, ‘I have said you are ‘gods’. If he called them ‘gods’ to whom the Word of God come- and the scripture cannot be set aside. “What about the one whom the Father set apart as His very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said I am God’s Son? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”
Mkhonta said the Nazareth Church believed in Shembe as God just like Jesus explained to His Jewish opponents. “In Shembe, we have seen wonders. When he speaks the word that lived before anything, things happen. We have been blessed because he has spoken the word,” Mkhonta said before sharing his testimony. Worth noting is that Shembe is known for releasing blessings by the word of mouth to anyone seeking blessings of any kind. His way of blessing people has earned him a huge following in the African continent. Mkhonta stated that Shembe showed himself to his mother after a false pregnancy, which he claimed lasted for 24 months. The man of God stated that Shembe came after all means had failed.
“Shembe requested for a cup of water. He then inserted his two fingers and prayed. He then gave the water to my mother before instructing her to go to a hidden place. Something with a musty smell came out of my mother’s womb. She then started conceiving and giving birth. I am also as a result of the work of the God of Shembe. Shembe spoke the word and I was born after my mother experienced some hardships,” Mkhonta said. He added that there were many people who had experienced the works of God through Shembe. On another note, Mkhonta stated that many people prayed to Jesus of Nazareth yet they were not Nazareth. He said Nazareth did not cut their hair, eat pork, drink alcohol, smoke tobacco or engage in premarital sex.
Creator
He stated that members of the church observed the Sabbath just like the Creator did after creation. He made an example that they did not hold burials or do any work on a Sabbath.
“Some people sit on chairs but we do not because we are Nazareth. We thank Shembe for teaching us the word that we obey in our daily lives. We would have not lived longer had it not been for the word Shembe taught us. We urge everyone to keep the Word of God so that he/she can live longer,” Mkhonta said.
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