KUTEKA, POLYGAMY NOT SINFUL – PASTOR

MBABANE – “There is absolutely nothing sinful about kuteka (customary marriage) and sitsembu (polygamy),” Prophet Alex Nkambule has said.

The pastor, now commanding a large following in the country, said God acknowledges the existence of nationalities and their way of life.  He conducts church services at Elangeni Umphakatsi Hall. His church is called Gatekeepers Assemblies. He quoted Isaiah 65: 1 to demonstrate that God appreciated nations. Reads Isaiah 65: 1: “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.” He said the phrase ‘to a nation’ should be underlined to understand the significance of nationhood. Therefore, he emphasised that culture distinguishes a nation. Prophet Nkambule said emaSwati who preferred western matrimonies to customary marriages were not yet married.

As a result, he urged all those who adopted the western form of marriage to remarry in terms of their culture. “You can not say your marriage is complete when you were married under a foreign culture,” he said. “Whether you are a Christian or not, families observe their own rules, values and that is why you will find someone being buried in accordance with his family rite.” The man of God said people of different nationalities did not become one nation just because they embraced Christianity and followed Christ as their leader and founder of their faith. The prophet was speaking in an interview with the Times SUNDAY.  Prophet Nkambule said Christians ought to know that God recognises them as emaSwati from different families.

He said God recognises the fact that the earth has families who are guided by different values. He explained that it was on this basis that Jehovah said to Abraham: “...in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. God regards you as liSwati who has converted to Jesus Christ,” the man of the cloth said. “Never lie to yourself that God sees you as a Jew or European as the almighty recognises you as a liSwati Christian.” The prophet said emaSwati committed a mistake when the gospel was introduced to them. Instead of accepting the gospel, he said they also embraced Western cultures. He said it was during this time that customary marriages were demonised and discarded, with emaSwati associating the western marriage with God. As they connected western marriages with God, he said, they denounced kuteka as ungodly and unacceptable in the church.    

Colonisation

Prophet Nkambule said he has learnt that colonisation created self-hate in emaSwati that caused them to reject their culture. The prophet was told that Christians believed that the bride associates herself with ancestors of the marital home when stabbing the ground with a spear. Responding to this belief, he said, for starters, there was nothing sinful about recognising ancestors. He said God did not want His children to worship the ancestors. He said a woman entered the kraal, which should be adjacent to the home’s entrance in terms of Swati culture. As the woman enters the home, he said she would find the kraal which symbolised entry to the marital home. Asked about his marital status, he responded that he got married under customary law. “Even then there’s nothing wrong with recognising the ancestors,” he said.

On the basis of this fact, the prophet advised that Christendom denounced the worship of ancestors, but not their ‘recognition’. He noted that some pastors confused ‘recognition’ with ‘worship’. Prophet Nkambule disagreed with the notion that an ancestor is a demon. “Lidloti (ancestor) is not a demon,” he insisted. To show that God does not rebuke the recognition of ancestors, he said Jacob of old declared in Genesis 32:9: “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac.”  He said Jacob mentioned deceased people in his prayer. He added that a liSwati praying like Jacob could be rebuked by today’s churches. He said Isaac recognised the work done by the deceased. When Abraham died, he said the care of the wells passed away with him. He mentioned that the sea people from Caftor elbowed in and plugged up those wells, destroying life-giving power.

Years later, Nkambule said Isaac inherited the challenge to restore and renovate the wells. He pointed out that a man does not die when his body is laid away. He quoted Hebrews 11:4 to support this theology and it reads:” By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” He said there was a certain group known as the ‘people of altars’ who did not die. “The subject on the people of altars will be treated differently as it is very broad,” Prophet Nkambule said.

Based on this veracity, he said Apostle Paul wrote in Hebrews 12:1 that Christians are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. In full, the biblical verse reads: “therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
He said the great cloud of witnesses referred to the people who have gone to heaven before them as Christians.
Polygamy
He was also called upon to shed light on polygamy as some pastors denounced this practice as ungodly. Reacting, Prophet Nkambule said polygamy is an inheritance and it is not meant for all people. He said certain people were meant for it and it is never a sin to marry more than one wife. The pastor said certain sections of the Bible were written by God-fearing polygamists. He said Solomon had 1 000 wives. He said it was unfair that current Christian polygamists were not being recognised and accorded dignity yet Solomon has been receiving utmost respect from the church.

Other biblical prominent figures who had more than one wife include Moses, Esau, Jacob, Elkanah, Samuel and David.  According to First Timothy 3, a bishop must have the following attributes:

• Be without reproach;
• The husband of one wife;
• Temperate;
• Sober-minded;
• Orderly;
• Given to hospitality;
• Apt to teach;
• No brawler, no striker; but gentle;
• Not contentious, no lover of money;
• One who rules well his own house;
• having his children in subjection with all gravity.

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