Topic: The Royal Passion
Text: 2 Samuel 23:13-17

King Edward VIII was the Prince of Wales (1911-1936) and king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of the British dominions and emperor of India from January 20 to December 10, 1936, when he abdicated the throne in order to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson of the United Sates. He was the only British sovereign to voluntarily resign the crown. Being a royalty comes with heavy and strict demands especially the British Royal Dynasty. One of the demands was that the King, who is also by implication the head of the Church of England, must not marry a divorcee whose former husband is still alive. The singular action of King Edward VIII to violate this rule will not only cost him the throne of his father, but his entire descendants for all generations. His Brother Albert took over the throne as George VI, succeeded by His daughter Queen Elizabeth II who is succeeded by King Charles III her son. This to me is one of the most pathetic Royal stories in history, I can’t imagine how his descendants will be feeling for the rest of eternity for this singular act.

In contrast to the above story is that of Attah Ameh Oboni of the Igala Kingdom of Kogi State, Nigeria. He went into history as the most celebrated and revered monarch of the kingdom besides his ancestor, King Ayegba Oma-Idoko, who sacrificed his only daughter, Princess Inikpi, to preserve the kingdom and the dynasty against the invasion of the Benin Kingdom between 1515 and 1516. According to the tradition of the Igala kingdom, the Attah is not only the king of the Igala nation but he is also the chief priest and spiritual head of Igala land. The Agaba Idu is second to none in the world and therefore, must not bow to anyone, shake the hand of a woman as a demand of his priesthood nor ever be seen to remove his cap in the public. All these three taboos were demanded of Attah Ameh Oboni in Kaduna at a meeting of all the kings and royal chiefs of Nigeria with Queen Elizabeth II which he refused. When King Ameh Oboni was forced to remove his cap by the soldiers on the instruction from “above”, a swam of bees invaded the conference hall causing every one including the Queen to run for their dear lives and bringing the meeting to a halt. His subsequent arrest and mysterious disappearance from the heavily guarded prison led to a conspiracy to dethrone him by the colonial rulers. When the dethronement became eminent, to avoid cutting off his descendants from the royal dynasty, he committed suicide and died as the supreme ruler paving way for his biological son Attah Micheal Ameh Oboni II who was the immediate past monarch of Igala Nation.

In the Scripture for the day, 2 Samuel 23:13-17, David’s 37 “mighty men” were mentioned. Three men were outstanding from the list. They jeopardised their own very lives, penetrated the garrison of the Philistines to bring water for the king of Israel, the anointed of God and the captain of the army of Israel. David didn’t send them. He just made a loud wish and they responded with their lives to satisfy the desire of the king. They didn’t come back to David with an excuse, they came with the water.

Now all the monarchs and Kingdoms of these world are just but a shadow of the kingdom of our God and of His Christ Jesus; into which you, the believer, was incorporated and adopted in Royal Priesthood. His ultimate passion and goal is that all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues bring their worship to the Lamb and acknowledge Him as the Lord. What is your excuse?

Prayer:
1. Lord lay a fresh burden of your passion for worship into my heart.
2. Raise a generation of priests and kings who are ready to die for the kingdom to bring in the harvest of worship from the nations.
3. Holy Spirit occupy the hearts of the youths of the Church with so much of kingdom matters that the world will not be able to distract them.
4. Give all the royal backing and authority in signs and wonders to all your faithful labourers on the mission fields among the unreached in and beyond Nigeria.

Pastor Victor Idakwoji
Director of Mobilization and Networking,
NEMA, Abuja, Nigeria.