Totems and the

word of God
Unmasking the idolatry behind the
practice

By Ruvimbo Muchemwa

1
 Contents page

Introduction 2

Chapter 1: Definitions 6

Chapter 2: Praise names and poems 12

Chapter 3: The Name of Jesus 18

Chapter 4: Doctrines of demons/ devils 28

Chapter 5: The gods of Egypt 34

Chapter 6: Provoking God 40

Chapter 7: Noah’s ark - saving the animals 46

Chapter 8: Understanding covenants 51

Chapter 9: Renouncing and denouncing the practices 58

Chapter 10: Be sanctified and consecrated unto the

Lord 65

Chapter 11: Bible imagery 73

Conclusion 80

Glossary 85

Apendix One: Accepting and receiving Jesus as your

personal Lord and Saviour 89

2
Introduction

Since I received salvation when I was born again on

13 December 1993, I have never felt comfortable with
using any totem. Since then I have had a conviction
in my heart that the practice is not of God.
Surprisingly most Christians I talked to about it just
after being born again would usually look at me sadly
but would not comment. This led me to think that they
may have realized the truth I was sharing but were so
involved in the wrong practice from birth that they
would find it very difficult to change their lifestyle
accordingly.

This shows the mistaken view in some totemic

cultures of thinking of the use of totems as conferring
respect upon the person who is being greeted or
‘honoured’ with the totem. This to me is a great
deception of the enemy. It may be part of ‘culture’ but
if some of our cultural practices seem to be at
variance with scripture then Christians should choose
between the two hopefully choosing to forsake any
wrong cultural practices that they may adhere to
scripture.

People have all sorts of totems usually animals

ranging from elephants, lions, various types of birds,
antelope, kudu, bears, wolves, snakes, even body
parts, mice, water, monkeys and so on. This has
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parallels in satanism, witchcraft, occultic movements
and the new age movement all of which are not of
God, but are part of counterfeit options peddled by
the devil to lure people to worship him. There is no
sense in greeting or thanking someone by saying to
them , “Thank you. Lion” etc as to do so is not to
honour them but to exalt the totemic spirit which
obviously represents a principality or dominion having
a covenant relationship with the people of that
particular clan, tribe or family. With Jesus Christ in us
we need no other name given among men whereby
we might be saved. (Acts 4v12). The bible
acknowledges that Jesus Christ has a name above
all things in heaven and on earth (Phillipians 2:9-10).

Notice the apostle does not just say all people but
uses the phrase all things to ensure that we
understand Christ’s supremacy and pre-eminence
over all creation, both within the physical and the
spiritual realms. In fact, instead of people yearning for
the likeness or image of animals and inanimate
objects, it is actually all of creation that
yearns and longs for the revelation of the true sons of
God (Romans 8v22-23)!

Denying, denouncing and revoking one’s totem or

totemic emblem and covenant is not to deny your
roots or identity but it is part of what Christ
encouraged us to do when he said, Whosoever will
follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me Mark 8v34. It’s also part of
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what the apostle Paul spoke about when he wrote
about becoming a new creature in Christ (2
Corinthians 5:17). In the days of Moses the people of
Egypt worshipped many gods. Such views are what
Wikipedia defines as pantheism, the belief that all
nature is one substance with and equal to God.

Wikipedia also defines totems as, “A totem is any

entity which watches over or assists a group of
people, such as a family, clan or tribe.” The idea of
something else watching over us other than God is in
itself abhorrent to any committed christian as it goes
against the concept of having no other god besides
Jehovah who has revealed himself fully to mankind
through his Son Jesus Christ.

My purpose in writing this book is not to provide a

scholarly expose` of the subject but rather to write in
a simple way for the ordinary guy in the street and
above all to cause all that read it to consider their
ways whether they be acceptable or not before the
Lord. One will always reach their own conclusion but
if I succeed in provoking meaningful debate,
meditation and prayerful consideration of the issues
raised then glory be to God. It can provide a good
starting point for discussion in adult and junior
Sunday School and christian education programs.

Hopefully this will lead more people to seek to lose

themselves and immerse themselves fully into Christ

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Jesus, that they may no longer live but that Christ
may live in them and through them. Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but LOSS for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for
whom I have suffered the LOSS of all things, and
do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.
(Phillipians 3:8).

Above all may this book lead the reader to that which
the apostle Paul refers to as “…the stature of the
fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13).

Thank you

Bondservant and slave of the Lord Jesus Christ

Pastor Ruvimbo Muchemwa

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Chapter 1

Definitions

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/totemism defines
totemism as, “belief in kinship with or a mystical
relationship between a group or an individual and a
totem.” The Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus
defines the word mystic as “Having beyond normal
human understanding or magical.” The same
thesaurus says the word mystical is synonymous
with occult, cabbalistic, dark.

All these attributes are not godly. The

aforementioned website also defines a totem as an
animal or object that serves as an emblem or revered
symbol. Yet Christians are meant only to revere God.
Even the definition quoted above underscores the
fact that totemism is mainly about the spiritual
relationship between the individual or group of people
with the animal or object. God clearly states in His
word that we are not to have any other god besides
him. Neither are we to take on ourselves the image or
likeness of anything in heaven or on earth.

This remains true whether the image is physical or

mental. Idolaters started with real physical animals
and then internalized or intellectualized the concepts
such that the image is at times mental. Even then in
totemic cultures it is often forbidden to eat the actual,
physical animal as well.
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The very fact that the mystical relationship between
people and animals is thought to be magical makes it
unthinkable for Christians to dabble with. The biblical
track record has shown time and again that magical
powers are of the devil and contrary to God.
Examples include the magicians, astrologers and the
sorcerers of Babylon and Media and Persia during
the days of Daniel, the magicians of Egypt during the
days of Moses, and Simon the magician who in New
Testament times tried to buy the anointing that would
enable him to lay hands on people so that they could
receive the Holy Spirit.

Simon the magician did not even try to use his magic
to compete with the signs and wonders that God
wrought through the apostles but was convinced to
lay aside his magic and accept Jesus as Saviour.
However it seems he still craved the selfish power
that he had wielded over the city. The apostles had to
rebuke him firmly that the anointing was not for sale.
This shows us that magic is no match for the
earthquatic resurrection power of Jesus Christ which
He operates in us through the Holy Spirit. If first
century magicians were abandoning their magic for
Jesus why can’t we then abandon the ‘magical’ totem
culture for Jesus.

From the above it appears the emblematic use of

totems in Africa, North America and indeed in the
adoption of totem poles as a form of art in the UK and
8
other developed countries where even some town
squares are now adorned with totem poles is
ritualistic and demonic. It may seem an innocent
kinsmanship emblem or identity procedure but the
practice is inherently evil and has no biblical
precedence.

It is not for Christians to take for themselves the

name or title of the mental image of any animal or
object as to do so is to deify the object, to make it
equal with God, to worship it as one seeks to become
like it in some way which is a desire our Jealousy
God has reserved to be expressed only towards him.

Even the popular practice of having an animal

emblem or shield for customized family stationery and
for organizations such as football clubs, nations on
their coats of arms, noblemen, royal houses or
dynasties is itself linked to totemism. It stems from
people admiring animals to such an extent that they
idolize them and seek in a way to enshrine some of
their attributes in the totem, emblem or symbol.

Even big companies and corporations are not

immune to such excesses with even car models
being adorned with various animals. In countries like
China and Japan, people name years after animals
so that you have the year of the dragon, the year of
the pig, the year of the rat and so forth. People at
times think it’s innocent culture but the adherents of
such processes usually understand the spiritual
9
significance. That is one of the reasons why the Lord
Jesus Christ said that we have eyes but we do not
see and we have ears but we do not hear.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou

shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or
any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven
above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is]
in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the
Lord thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the
third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me.
(Exodus 20:3-5 NKJV).

This scripture clearly states the fact that we should

worship no other god besides the Lord God, identified
as Yahweh in Hebrew which is translated in English
as Jehovah meaning the self-existing one, the one
who calls himself I AM, Amen and Alpha and Omega.

It seems people are always tricked into worshipping

creatures more than the Creator. No wonder why
astrologers look to the sun, moon and stars for
guidance instead of seeking guidance from the One
who created them and knows each one of them by
name. It belies the desire for people to have a
predictable and observable God. They are not
comfortable with the true God who is sovereign and is
not answerable to anyone except to His own word

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that He Has decided never to violate or leave
unfulfilled.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became

fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man,
and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping
things. (Romans 1:22-23 NKJV). This testifies to the
supposed wisdom and great learning of human
beings when they discover and note down the
characteristics of different animals, birds and even
plants and seek a communion with them the Creator
never intended. Who changed the truth of God into
a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.
Amen. (Romans 1:25 NKJV).

Many people have had restrictions of certain foods

and practices because the totem demands it when
the same people would never submit themselves to
the will of God concerning their life. Thus they find it
easier to obey totemic traditions rather than to obey
God.

Having any laws or rules or customs imposed by

totems is contrary to God’s will. We have liberty in the
Spirit to live as the Spirit leads rather than as the
customs or any other totemic culture dictates.

Images or idols may be physical in terms of the idols

and images made in ancient times and even the
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totem poles and totemic walking sticks still made in
parts of North America and parts of Africa today.
Even for those who use totems in the abstract, they at
times use pictures or stone and wooden sculptures of
the animals to remind themselves of them. Though
they may not see this as idolatry the fact remains that
they ascribe particular regard or respect to such
animals than to any other animals.

It’s not for us to decide whether or not something is

spiritual when the people who originally invented it
meant it to be spiritual. One is reminded of Achan
who brought a curse upon the entire nation of Israel
for possessing things that were unclean in the sight of
God. God was not amused. If this is not spiritual then
what is it?

Prayer

Lord Jesus help me to examine myself concerning

this matter. Illuminate the issues involved through the
Holy Spirit. Reveal to me spiritually if there is anything
I am doing wrongly.

Amen.

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Chapter 2

Praise names and poems

Most totems are honoured with praise names

chidawo in Shona, a Zimbabwean dialect and most
totemic people have praise poems which are psalm-
like in nature as they extol the qualities and attributes
of the totemic emblem be it an animal, a plant or a
bird. This kind of worship should only be reserved for
God. It is thought by many theologians that people
become that which they worship to some extent, with
for example, people that idolize pop stars at times
adopting subconsciously some of their unruly
behaviour.

That is the premise on which the whole concept of

role-modelling in society, in education and in sport
rests. We should take Jesus as our model, the blue
print for born-again man. He exemplified all that man
has to be in order to live a full life while pleasing God
and man. His example to me is to be sought more
than any characteristic of any animal no matter how
beautiful or strong the animal is. At the end of the day
we shall all be answerable to Christ on the day of
judgement For we must all appear before the
judgement seat of Christ; and everyone that
everyone may receive the things done in his
body; according to what he has done, whether it
be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

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Even John the Revelator, the disciple whom the Lord
loved, states that when He shall appear for the
second coming we do not know what we shall be like,
but one thing we know and it is that we shall be; like
Him (1 John 3:2). Is it not better to be like Him who
was tempted in all ways and yet without sin? Is it not
better to like him of whom God Himself testified
saying He is my Son? Is it not better to trust in Him
whose blood speaks of our redemption, deliverance,
liberty, prosperity and holiness? Is it not better to be
like Him who loved His enemies and even interceded
for those that were in the act of killing him on the
cross even as he felt the searing pain of the crown of
thorns on his forehead and the pain inflicted by the
nails in his hands and feet?

Notice that the apostle John does not say that we will
be like any other of God’s creatures. We won’t even
be like any of the angels though we will share their
spiritual state in that we will no longer have mortal
human bodies as we now do. We will have spiritual
bodies as described by the apostle Paul in 1
Corinthians 15:50-57. So is the likeness of an animal
preferable to likeness to God through Jesus Christ?
One cannot but marvel at such an attitude as Paul did
when he wrote to the Galatians, wondering what had
come over them to accept another gospel because
any other traditions combined with the gospel form
another gospel. Even when Paul wrote to the
Galatians it was because people wanted the physical

14
sign of circumcision to be made compulsory for all
Christians though it had been a shadow of what was
fulfilled in Christ and christians re now circumcised in
their hearts, rather than in their bodies.

The Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus defines

worship as to ‘adore, esteem, honour, revere,
venerate, deify, aspire, pray, adoration, homage.’ The
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and
New Testament Words defines worship as, “to make
obeisance, do reverence.” All these are what people
do as they use the praise names and praise poems of
their totems. Even between in-laws and when people
try to show utmost respect they invoke the totems.
Would it not be better especially among born again
believers to say things like, “Thank you child of God,”
rather than say, “Thank you zebra, monkey or lion,” to
someone.

It’s actually insulting to God to degrade ourselves by

likening ourselves to lower beings, i.e. animals. If
animals were to be consulted I am sure they would
give anything to become like humans with the
capability of managing the rest of God’s creation and
being in dominion. This dominion means humans are
to responsibly and accountably manage the flora and
fauna as well as the inanimate resources of the
planet in a sustainable way, seriously taking their role
as the stewards that God placed on the planet for
such a noble purpose. Instead of people being
stewards and indeed custodians of animals and all
15
other aspects of nature, they have been sold a lie by
the devil and they now expect animals, in the form of
totems to have oversight of their affairs. This is like a
person expecting a computer to operate or control a
human being rather than the other way round.

People are closer to God than any other creature as

the bible says they are a little lower than angels. They
are however superior to angels in that angels serve or
minister to man and not the other way round. Man
can become a child of God enjoying a far more
superior position and relationship to God than angels
or any other spiritual being fallen or not fallen.

Man was made with the glory of God upon him, the
likeness of God, the spiritual position of being closer
to God than any other physical being or spiritual
being. The apostle Peter even talks of man sharing
the divine nature of God (2 Peter 1:4). God loves man
so much that he sent His only begotten Son to die for
him, something he did not even do for the fallen
angels who rebelled against him together with satan
to become the evils spirits that try and deceive
humanity to distance themselves from God. See
Hebrews 2:16.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the

abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone: which is the second death.
16
(Revelation 21:8 NKJV). In the garden of Eden it was
Adam who named the animals and the names he
gave stayed even until this day. In the Hebrew
culture, naming carries a lot of significance beyond
just giving something or someone a name.

Naming also signifies defining its purpose,

acknowledging its value and predicting its future at
times as seen in the prophetic names of most of the
bible characters with Abram being renamed Abraham
which means ‘father of nations’ and Jacob being
renamed Israel which means ‘prince of nations’ and
the disciples renaming Joses as Barnabas which
means ‘son of consolation’ or ‘son of
encouragement’. In all cases the names were
prophetic and defined the blessings and character
that was being bestowed by God on each person.

What this then means is that people that call and

identify themselves principally by a certain totem or
an emblematic animal image are defining their
hopes, aspirations and expressing their worship in
that particular animal or object of worship. It’s part of
the process of self-determination and self-explanatory
philosophy which is the reason why it’s not necessary
for Christians who should instead define themselves
and identify with Christ Jesus more than with any
other entity in heaven or on earth. It’s one reason why
Jesus emphasized that He has all authority in both
heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18). There are some
that think Jesus only rules the heavens but that they
17
need other custodians and helpers here on earth.
Though satan as the prince of this world (earth) has
some power on earth, he is subject to the authority of
Jesus who as King of kings and Lord of lords has
power over all the power of the enemy.

A king is superior in rank to any prince. Jesus is the

Creator while satan is but a creature. All things were
made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made…. He was in the world, and
the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not (John 1:3, 10). The bible identifies the
innumerable group of people that John saw in his
vision as those that had “…washed their robes, and
made them clean in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev
7:14 KJV). That’s all the identity we need rather than
any other label to get us to heaven. We need to be
identified with the Lamb and be written in His book of
life.

In heaven there will not be any people of this totem or

the other but rather the people who would have
surrendered their lives fully to Christ so that they
might get their crown of glory. Are you going to be
one of them or are you going to be like one animal or
the other? For when He comes He will easily identify
those that will be like HIM. He is the unique person of
the whole universe. He is God and He is also the Son
of Man, though we no longer know him after the flesh
or in terms of his humanity, rather we know Him after
the spirit.
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Let us learn to sing songs of praise to God when
someone has done well, when an in-law visits us or
when someone impresses us, instead of saying
‘What’s your totem by the way?’ Is any among you
afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him
sing psalms (James 5:13). You did not need
someone’s totem to interact with them initially, only
when you want to appreciate them do you then ask
for the totem. Does that not make it clear that totems
are used for praise. The early apostles and the
church at Jerusalem when Paul had given them an
account of the work that God was doing through him
among the gentiles, thanked and glorified God
because of him.

In other words they knew that all the glory and honour
for what Paul was doing, was due to God. They did
not praise or thank Paul, or his totem, but God. They
appreciated that Paul was a channel through which
the abundant grace of God was flowing and indeed
overflowing to the gentiles so that they too could be
reconciled to God. So next time someone impresses
you thank God because of him/ her or glorify God for
making that person do such an impressive thing. That
way you will guard your heart from idolatry.

Take the example of Moses when he had led the

children of Israel across the Red Sea by the direction
of God. He led them into singing a song of praise
unto the Lord. He could have taken credit for himself
19
or Aaron and Miriam or any of the other elders that
helped him govern the people, but he knew that they
were only cogs in the machinery that God was using
to deliver His promise to his people the children of
Israel. So no matter what we do, own or possess,
God has a hand in it. He has oversight over all the
affairs of man. The bible tells us that all good gifts
and good things come from the Lord and at times He
uses human hands. It is important to appreciate the
vessels that God chooses to use for their obedience
to God but most of the credit should ultimately be
given to God. That’s why even though the bible was
written by more than fifty different authors, they were
all acting under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit much
like secretaries to whom a manager or official may
dictate some documents.

The ownership of the documents will always be with

the one who dictated or decided what to write. So in
reality the Holy Spirit is the author of the scriptures
through the human hands who were his scribes or in
modern times they could have been his typists. Glory
be to God and not to any totem for all the good that
people do as they obey his word and His command to
love God and to love their neighbour.

Prayer

Lord Jesus help me to identify myself with you as a

bride identifies herself with her bridegroom even to
the extend of changing her name to that of the
20
bridegroom and letting his God become her God, his
people become her people and his passions become
her passions. Put on me the brand of your Holy Spirit,
the seal of the saints of God.

Amen.

21
Chapter 3

The Name of Jesus

The main name by which Christians ought to be

identified with is that of Jesus. We are called
‘christians’, a word derived from Jesus’ title and role
as the Christ which means the anointed one of God.
This in turn means in him we are the anointed ones of
God serving under him and derived our anointing and
delegated authority from Him when we are fully
submitted to Him and living in obedience to Him.
Obviously He is The Anointed One in a special sense
in that all the anointing or spiritual power in believers
emanates from him and by His choice.

So being called ‘christians’ means we bear and are

called by the name of the Son of God who is also
God the Son, who Isaiah in Isaiah 9:6-7
acknowledges as being among other things, “Mighty
God.” Isn’t it better then to value this identity with
Christ above any identity with animals. Even the Old
Testament prophetically acknowledges that we are
called by His name. If my people, which are called
by MY NAME, shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked
ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2
Chronicles 7:14 KJV)

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Does Christ not have enough attributes for us to
emulate that we would resort to emulating and
seeking to become in even the tiniest way like
animals? God forbid. If our fore bearers instituted
such practices in ignorance because they had not yet
received the gospel of Jesus Christ then we should
repent in dust and ashes before Almighty God and
seek forgiveness for such blatant idol worship. It
should suffice for us to be identified as the bond
servants and indeed willing slaves of the Lord Jesus.

There are some who would propose that misfortune

and curses will come upon us if we disregard our
totems. This in itself shows that the whole practice in
anchored in people’s fear and their way of trying to
interpret and give meaning to the world around them.
Glory be to God who sent Jesus Christ to overcome
death and set free those who were bound by the spirit
of fear of death. Forasmuch then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same; that through death
he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil; And deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15 KJV).

Many of the superstitions concerning totems include

the belief that disregarding the totem would bring
curses such as losing one’s teeth, mysterious death
and diseases. This proves that there are spirits
behind the whole practice that carry out these threats
23
usually to people who believe in them. It has been
known to happen that people who through sheer
stubbornness reject all such claims and disregard
them, nothing ever happens to them. This shows that
fear is perverted faith, which is faith in the ability of
the devil or his demons to harm you rather that true
faith, which is faith or confidence in God to take care
of and protect you according to His will, purpose and
promises as stated in scripture. So people who
possess and express positive faith towards God get
the fruits while those who possess negative faith
(fear) towards the devil and his demons also get their
negative fruit. Which one do you possess and
express?

The contrast is also of the earthly minded and the

heavenly or divinely minded man. One focuses his
attention, energy and reverence on things that are
material while the other looks at the things that are
spiritual and intangible. While we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are
not seen: for the things which are seen are
temporal; but the things which are not seen are
eternal. (2 Cor 4:18). Why focus on things that are
dependent on us that man has tamed for ages past
when there is a Living God so immense, so
unsearchable, and so perplexing that no one has ever
or will ever fully comprehend Him. Even Methuselah
who lived up to the ripe age of 969 was still learning
new things about God even in his 969th year on earth.

24
It is well documented that even tigers, lions,
crocodiles, venomous snakes, huge beasts such as
elephants, buffalo, sharks, bears and so forth have all
been tamed by researchers, circus people, animal
enthusiasts and stunt men over the ages. Many
documentaries films and books have been produced
by National Geographic and other organizations to
demonstrate the fact. This shows the authority and
dominion that God put in humans even to control
animals more dangerous and bigger and powerful
than we are, yet there are still some people willing to
be fooled by the devil into leaving the worship of the
Creator for the worship of the creature.

One reason why people easily swallow such

delusions is that there is no absolute authority in
animalistic philosophy and religion. So people then
easily cope out by adopting such religions which do
not oblige them to be holy, righteous or pure before a
Just Saviour. This allows them to live a carefree,
sinful life. Its satan’s way of ensnaring people and
most people follow the practice without ever
questioning why it’s there and why it’s done. The fact
that everyone else is doing it or I was raised up that
way is no excuse before God. If we have questioned
other traditions such as wife battering, polygamy and
ancestral worship, which though they may have been
commonly accepted in our grandparents’, days are
sinful, why not extend our scrutiny to this issue as
well.
25
The name of Jesus should be more than adequate for
us as the apostle Paul asserts that he did not seek
anything among the people at Corinth except for
Christ and Him crucified. So mighty is His name that
demons have been driven away, the dead raised to
life, the lame have walked and paralysed people have
had functions restored to their limbs through the
power that is in His name. Hardened criminals have
been reduced to tears of the sorrow that leads to
repentance.

There is no greater name in heaven or on earth. It is

the only name that transcends cultural, social and
ethnic barriers, or even language barriers. What I
mean is that even if you travel to another continent
and encounter sicknesses there, or evil spirits, though
you may speak a different language you can still use
the name of Jesus to rebuke all manner of sickness,
disease or evil spirits. Even if you say Jesus’ name in
your own language in another country, the demons
there will still obey you. You don’t have to be
understood by the people there to exercise your
spiritual authority in his name.

No other name in the history of mankind has ever

been or will ever be so significant. Even followers of
other religions acknowledge His greatness. Even
historians the world over reckon time by His birth in
the use of BC which stands for ‘before Christ’ and AD
26
anno domini in Latin which means ‘in the year of our
Lord’. So in actual fact saying we are in the year 2008
is really a shortened form of saying we are in the year
of our Lord Jesus Christ 2008. So which ever way
you look at it, which ever religion you follow the
moment you write and agree with the date you are in
actual fact acknowledging Christ. Glory to God people
all over the world from school children, television
stations, radio stations, scientists and meteriologists
acknowledge him as the order of the day in their use
of the day’s date. Some theologians have suggested
that the bible scholars who calculated the year of
Jesus’ birth which is taken as AD1 were mistaken by
at least 3 years meaning that he was actually born in
3BC but even though we acknowledge such an error
it still shows the significance of his birth to humanity.

Other great philosophers, inventors, pioneers and

statesmen have walked the face of the earth and left
great legacies of discoveries, teachings and
examples that will benefit humanity but none in as
much the sense as Jesus Christ who can change
hardened criminals into sobbing, penitent seekers of
God’s grace, who can transform entire cities, nations
and regions. He is the one to whom all must give an
account one day.

Many books have been written over the ages by

people both ordinary and great, but one book is
unique to all f them. It is the book about God and His
27
Son Jesus Christ, the bible. It remains the world’s
best seller. It has more translations, more versions
and more copies than any other book on earth. Even
people that do not
like it still acknowledge its historicity and accuracy of
its prophecies about both past events and the future.
Archeological evidence emerges every few years to
authenticate the accounts given in the bible.

All other of history’s great people have had buildings

named after them, trusts established in their honour
and at times even days to commemorate them as
well as statues and other memorials but none of them
has had time and eras, ages reckoned according to
when they were born. So the Name of Jesus remains
by far more preferable and significant not only in this
day and age but also in eternity than the name of any
person or animal. It is also notable that his name is
also great in heaven. Only has all authority in heaven
and earth. Only he has the keys of life and death and
the power over all the power of the enemy. Only he
could claim and rightly so that he who had seen him
had seen the Father, that he was the only way to
having a real life-saving relationship with God. All the
other gurus, founders of religion and holy men that
have lived in ages past fade into the shadows of the
brilliance of his light. He is the light that shines in
darkness and darkness can never comprehend him
or overcome him.

28
In light of all this my challenge to you is simple: Do
you need any other spiritual power or entity in heaven
or on earth besides Jesus? Even angels are subject
to His authority, they worship him even as they did at
his birth in Bethelhem two thousand years ago. So
even those who worship and call upon thenames of
angels, or of any other human being are wasting their
time for He declared that no one has ever seen the
Father except him who came from heaven: Jesus
Christ. Why don’t you cast away all other gods and
follow Christ alone in faith.

Prayer

Lord Jesus help me to fully understand the revelation

of your name. To do things as if they were being done
by you yourself and to ask myself each time ‘what
would Jesus do?’ in a similar situation.

Amen.

29
Chapter 4

Doctrines of devils

Chapter 2 of the book of Acts applauds the early

church for continuing in the doctrine or teaching of the
apostles. This was because they were eye witnesses
of the reality of Jesus’ life and ministry on earth and
the mystery of his deity. However it seems there are
some doctrines which the Apostle Paul refers to as
the doctrines of devils;

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the

latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their
conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to
marry, and commanding to abstain from meats,
which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the
truth. For every creature of God is good, and
nothing to be refused, if it be received with
thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of
God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:1-5). The apostle
clearly states this comes as a result of people’s
conscience being seared with an iron meaning that it
will be inactive and unable to alert them to their
idolatry. One of the effects of this seduction by the
devils or demons involves the command to abstain
from meats which god created to be received with
thanksgiving. The apostle likens the myths and
30
superstitions promoted by such evil spirits to profane
and old wives fables (1 Timothy 4:7), which are to be
rejected by born-again believers.

People should eat or not eat foods on the basis of

whether or not they find them palatable or appetizing
rather than on the basis of whether or not they are
forbidden in their totemic culture. Let no man
therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in
respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of
the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things
to come; but the body is of Christ.
(Colossians 2:16-17). Doing so would attach
undeserved reverence or sanctity on ordinary animals
which are there to serve the interests of mankind and
not the other way round. This is evidence of the fall of
man from being God’s confidante and partner in
managing and regulating the universe to an idol
worshipper.

Choose to no longer pay homage to these evil spirits

in disguise. Choose to only give all glory and honour
to Christ Jesus. It has been known that people of the
same totem usually present with certain similar
characteristics in their inclinations towards certain
usually negative behaviour such as an inclination
towards violence or stealing etc. This would lend
weight to the fact that such attributes which are
usually mentioned as part of the totem’s praise name
and poem are imparted on them as people say them.
Even infants are ‘blessed’ at birth by using the totems
31
and the totems are usually mentioned at marriage
ceremonies and other occasions invoking the
attributes of the totem on the person or people. This
shows the power of the tongue in human affairs.

Even in the Old Testament Aaron the brother of

Moses who had witnesses for himself the parting of
the Red Sea, the provision of manna from heaven,
the slaying of the firstborn by the angel of death and
many other miracles was convinced by the Israelites
to make for them an image of a calf. People were
willing to pay with their gold jewellery to provide for
this work. (Exodus 32:1-35). Even today many people
display on their walls praise poems, pictures, icons
and representations of their totems. They say to
themselves that these are just innocent reminders of
their totem but that what being deceived means. It
means to be duped, hoodwinked, misled or deluded
into thinking or accepting something as right which is
not right in the eyes of God.

During Aaron’s time it was the people led by Aaron

who ennobled the image of the calf ascribing to it
godliness. And he received them at their hand, and
fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made
it a molten CALF: and they said, These be thy
gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the
land of Egypt. (Exodus 32:4 KJV). This ennobling
was akin to worship and indeed they sacrificed to it as
they would have done to God. Thus it became a
substitute for God. They therefore attempted to make
32
their own god. Lamentable and foolish as it is many
who ennoble and revere and hold their totems sacred
are likewise also trying to make their own God.

If Aaron could be so deceived by people who thought

of themselves as somehow connected and related to
a calf more than they were related to God who
appeared to them in physical form as a cloud during
the day and as a pillar of fire during the night, then
how easy is it for modern man to be tricked into doing
the same. No wonder why some people today prefer
the company of dogs and other pets to that of a
spouse or children. Many will say I will never get
married I have a dog or cat. Some even say they will
never have children as they that position is reserved
for a beloved pet.

While it is not bad to care for animals we should

never ennoble them and equate their importance with
man who was created in the image of God and is a
co-laborer with God. The apostle Peter even says
born-again man is a partaker in the divine nature of
God meaning that the godliness of God, the power of
God rubs off on us as we draw closer and closer to
Him. No wonder why Stephen’s face shone like that
of an angel with the glory of God as he was being
interrogated by the Sanhedrin (Acts 6:15). The same
thing happened to Jesus at the mount of
transfiguration (Luke 9:29) and to Moses when he
came down from the mountain where he had been
communing and fellowshipping with God for an
33
extended period of 40 days and 40 nights initially
which was extended to 80 days and 80 nights when
he had to return to the mountain because he broke
the first tablets of the law in anger when he realized
that the people had made an idol in his absence.
(Exodus 34:33-36).

God told Moses that the people had corrupted

themselves in other words devalued themselves in
the sight of God by worshipping this idol. Instead of
aiming higher towards God they were aiming low and
trying to worship and ennoble a creature. They knew
the real, true God who had parted the Re d Sea, fed
them daily with manna from heaven’s bakeries, fed
them with quails and caused a rock to spew water to
quench their thirst. This was the same God they had
seen sparing their firstborn sons in Egypt during final
plague and when He had told them that “When I see
the blood I will pass over you.” (Exodus 12v13) Yet
they abandoned Him for a man-made god, an idol.
Such a practice will separate us from God.I

f we have sinned out of ignorance let’s acknowledge

our sin and that of our forefathers and be accountable
to God for both corporate and personal sin as Daniel
did in the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel and
Nehemiah did in the ninth chapter of the book of
Nehemiah. Please read the whole chapters from the
bible to understand the importance of owning up to
sin and confessing it before God and thus breaking

34
the curse and barriers between us and greater
spiritual maturity.

The fact that Aaron was a priest and yet was

deceived shows us that even pastors and church
leaders can be misled into adopting and tolerating
idols. May the Lord open especially the eyes of the
leaders that they may not be spiritually blind people
trying to lead other spiritually blind people.

Prayer

Lord Jesus help me to depart from the doctrines of

demons and cleave to the true word of God as
revealed in the bible. Help me to shun and hate those
practices that are not expressly promoted in the word.

Amen.

35
Chapter 5

The gods of Egypt

Ancient civilizations including ancient Egypt and

ancient Greece abounded with idolatry which at times
took the form of animal gods such as Apis the god
that Aaron is thought to have made for the Israelites
in the wilderness in Exodus 32. This god’s symbol
was always the cow/ bull/ calf. As it is well known that
after the dispersion of the people of the earth after the
rebellion on the tower of Babel, it is reasonable to
assume links in some of the cross-cultural beliefs of
humans. For example a certain researcher has
established that in almost every single culture in the
world there is a flood story derived from the story of
Noah’s flood, obviously with local variations here and
there.

The same researcher found up to 80 000 of these

stories lending credit to the fact that all humans share
a common ancestry if we go back far enough and
were only scattered to various continents after the
separation of the continents, an event even eminent
geologists agree to. With this in mind it would thus be
reasonable to link totemic cultures today to the
ancient Egyptian gods. Most Bantu speaking people
are historically known to have migrated to Southern
Africa from Central and North Africa and could have
carried and adapted some of the belief systems that
were practiced there.
36
The Hutchinson Encyclopedia comments on ancient
Egyptian gods:
In the civilisation of ancient Egypt, totemic
animals, believed to be the
ancestors of the clan, were worshipped. Totems
later developed into gods,
represented as having animal heads. (p.348)
It is understandable from this fact that people from
other areas of Africa where writing, drawing and
advanced painting had not yet fully developed could
have adopted the culture of totems without actually
using physical idols of the gods they represented.
They instead used just the mental image. They are in
actual facts demons.

The bible clearly states that, “For there is one God,

and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5). The Hutchinson
Encyclopedia quote above also establishes a clear
link between the totemic spirit/ demon and the
ancestral spirits as the whole system of religion was
based on the belief that people were descended from
animals. You can see that the evolution myth was
peddled by the devil to humanity centuries before
evolution as a counterfeit to the clear biblical teaching
that God created man as he is and made a woman
for him out of one of his ribs. The bible does not say
he evolved man or caused an animal over some time
to develop into man.

37
Further proof that such Egyptian gods and their
worship is not right in the eyes of God comes from
the fact that God had to take his children, the nation
of Israel out of Egypt so that they could worship him
and only him. The reason why they were told in the
ten commandments to worship Jehovah only
stemmed from the fact that other gods such as the
totemic gods of Egypt from which they had fled
existed. Such gods were clearly defeated by Moses
as he unleashed the ten plagues upon the land of
Egypt. I will examine just a few of them here to
illustrate my point. The first plague was the turning of
the water of the river Nile into blood. The Nile was
venerated by ancient Egyptians and even hymns to
the Nile have been found in some ancient Egyptian
writings. The second plague was that of the frogs
which was to demonstrate that frogs were not in any
way divine as they were thought to be. A goddess,
Herqet represented by a woman with a frog’s head
was thought to be responsible for giving the breath of
life to all living things.

The gnats caused the magicians who as the devil’s

agents in this whole saga had performed their own
miracles to replicate the first two plagues, to declare
that “This is the finger of God.” (Exodus 8: 19). The
fifth plague of the killing of many livestock again
showed that their animal and totemic gods were
powerless as gods such as Apis (bull), Hathor (cow)
and Khnum (ram) which were all worshipped at the

38
time. The ninth plague of darkness also struck down
many gods such as the sun-god, Ra, who was
thought to provide sunlight, warmth and productivity
and the Pharaoh himself was seen to be a human
representative of this god and thought also to be
divine hence the practice of erecting statues and
building temples in honour of and for the worship of
living and dead pharaohs. Another god associated
with the sun was Horus and Nut the goddess of the
sky was humiliated openly by being shown powerless
in the face of God’s clear authority over all these i.e.
the weather, the sky, and the seasons.

The plagues would have led people with discernment

to completely relegate the totemic gods and their
worship usually masked as culture by the devil, to the
rubbish heap. They proved impotent at the onslaught
of God’s judgment and even today they will not help
any man get close to God. Those that value culture
should do so while sifting it to remove the chaff of
idolatry and keep the moral values and ethics that
remain. These (the universal moral values found in
almost every culture) of course can be traced right
back to the Ten Commandments and God’s law as
contained in the Mosaic covenant. You will still be a
true son of your father or member of your clan without
a totem, but you will be more pure and spiritually
clean before God.

You have to make a decision, a choice between God

and the gods of Egypt which I am using literally here
39
not just as a figure of speech as I have in this chapter
explored the origins of totems and their link to the
gods of Egypt. Joshua presented the same choice to
the children of Israel, the second generation after the
first one perished in the wilderness. Now therefore
fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in
truth: and put away the gods which your fathers
served on the other side of the flood, and in
Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil
unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day
whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your
fathers served that were on the other side of the
flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land
ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will
serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:14-15)

Even the Jews, while they were in captivity,

worshipped totemic gods! God raised Moses to bring
them out of there. They couldn’t have concentrated
on God in the midst of all that idolatry they had to
leave Egypt. In your case you do not need to
physically leave any location, but you need to leave
the gods of Egypt.

Prayer

Lord Jesus help me to sift through my cultural values

and examine each practice under the microscope of
scripture, knowing that I shall be accountable for
every word and deed before you. Help me to discard
40
from my lifestyle and culture all things that are not
godly, all things that do not edify my spirit. Cleanse
me Lord from all hidden and unknown faults. Help me
and lead me to see things the way you see them.

Amen

Chapter 6

Provoking God

The first generation of the people that left Egypt with

Moses headed for the Promised Land did not make it.
The main reason was that they provoked God at
every turn by turning to idols and by murmuring and
complaining all the time. But they rebelled, and
41
grieved his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to
be their enemy, [and] he himself fought against
them. (Isaiah 63:10).At one time as earlier noted,
they even made an idol and proclaimed that it was
their god that had brought them out of Egypt. They
had all seen Moses extending his staff over the Red
Sea so that it could be parted after he had prayed to
God. They had all witnessed the ten plagues of
Egypt. They had all seen their first born sons spared
by the angel of death after they followed God’s orders
to sprinkle the blood of the lambs upon their door
frames. Yet they couldn’t be content with worshipping
a God who is not visible and tangible in the physical
domain. They had to make their own god, and later
their own gods.

Even during the time of the kings of Israel, the

children of Israel ended up making high places to
worship false, lifeless and powerless gods. Some
kings were commended in scripture for tearing down
such high places while others are condemned for
building them and allowing them to flourish. On which
side would you be in terms of totemic gods? Are you
ready to tear apart the practice in your own
household, your own ministry and within your sphere
of influence or are you going to remain silent.

Elijah wouldn’t let the false god Baal triumph over

God so he challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to
prove the existence of their god while he would prove
the existence of Jehovah. (1 Kings 18:22-40). God
42
answered with fire on that day to humiliate the 450
prophets of Baal and their false god. Today we live in
times when the devil deceives people to focus at least
some of the attention, give some of the honour due
only to God, to other animate or inanimate objects of
worship, at times without even realizing that they are
indeed worshipping this thing. This is because the
deceit is presented in a very subtle way and the word
worship is never mentioned but if you know what to
worship means then you can see that there are
instances in which people including you have
worshipped other things other than the Lord God
Almighty.

The question has to be asked that if something

spiritual is thought to have power, such as the power
to cause misfortune on those that violate totemic
customs is the question of where that power comes
or emanates from, bearing in mind that in the spiritual
realm there are only two superpowers, God and
satan. All other powers and beings are subject to one
or the other. So if the power or influence of some
spiritual phenomena does not emanate from God, this
coming from the fact that such a phenomena is not
expressly mentioned as requiring our obeisance in
scripture, then it must be coming from the father of
lies, satan whom I choose not to mention with a
capital letter for he is not worthy of one.

When the Israelites provoked and grieved the Spirit

through rebellion, he turned against them and fought
43
against them through the series of judgements that
Israel has had including Babylonian captivity under
Nebucchadnezer, Roman occupation etc. We should
be warned not to provoke or grieve God by continuing
to follow and honour other gods. He states in his word
that he is a jealous God who will not share your
devotion with anyone or anything else but seeks to
have all of you for Himself. Jesus Christ taught us to
deny ourselves, to lose ourselves that we may gain
life in Him. For whoever desires to save his life will
LOSE it, but whoever will LOSE his life for my
sake, the same will save it. (Luke 9:24). He meant
losing some of the things that may seem to us to be
essential components of our lifestyles and culture but
which may actually be barriers to our full commitment
and total surrender to Christ and to the control of the
Holy Spirit. He Himself is the life as He affirms; I am
the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to
the father except through me. (John 14:6).

We need to fully appreciate the fact that in Christ we

have become …a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us
to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us
the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:17-
18). There are some that will question what type of
person you will be without a totem. The answer is
simple a new creature in Christ. Jesus warned of
trying to put new wine into old wineskins as this would

44
rapture them. In the same way many Christians are
just trying to graft onto their old belief system the truth
of the gospel. This is a recipe for error. The scripture
above in this paragraph tells us of becoming a new
creature and that all the ‘new things’ are of God. So
any practice which does not stand up or measure up
to the scrutiny of scripture should be discarded for the
prize of gaining Christ.

The apostle Paul also grew up with a rich religious

and cultural heritage. He even called himself a
Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees, of
the tribe of Benjamin, a zealous Jew, but he writes in
one of his letters: Yea doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellence of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I
have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I may win Christ. (Phillipians
3:8). This means that he had to look at those aspects
of his tradition that were not godly and lay them aside
so that they would not be a hindrance for him in
seeking a closer relationship with God through Christ.

Jesus warned us of the fact that the traditions of the

elders can become a stumbling block for us in our
relationship with God. He even stated that they are
taken for doctrine. They reduce the effects of the life-
giving, saving, healing and inspiring word of God.
Making the word of God of none effect through
your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many

45
such like things do ye. (Mark 7:13 Read passage
from vs 1-13). This was after the Pharisees and
scribes challenged him, not concerning scripture, but
rather the traditions of the elders.

Things do not become right simply because some

ancestor or the other once did or instituted them, but
rather because of what the word of God says about
them. So Christians should not blindly follow the
totemic religion because it was practiced by our
ancestors but should examine the practice fully to
determine whether or not it’s godly. Why do people
not live in caves because their ancestors once lived in
caves, or kill disabled children like they used to, or
oppress women like they used to? Having discarded
all the mentioned practices why can’t Christians today
discard the spiritually bankrupt totemic culture? This
will help us not to provoke God.

Prayer

Lord Jesus please forgive me if I have in any way

ever provoked you through my deeds and words.
Help me to understand which practices grieve and
provoke you. Help me to flee from such practices and
avoid judgment for myself and my loved ones.

Amen

46
Chapter 7:

Noah’s ark - saving the animals

Those that know any animals which they then falsely

worship as totems, owe it to God’s plan through Noah
to preserve the animals during the time of the flood.
Had it not been for God, and Noah, then these
animals would not have survived to this day. Even our
ancestors would not have encountered them and
been so awestruck by them as to enshrine them in
theirs minds as gods. Evidently the animals
depended on Noah and not the other way round. This
defeats the whole purpose of having them as totems.
They are utterly spiritually powerless. They did not of
themselves predict the disaster that would have
wiped them out completely from the face of the earth.
Had God not made plans for their preservation, they
would have perished in the flood. Conservation
started with God. The flood would have at that time
made every animal species an endangered species
threatened with total extinction.

So honouring animals as totems would be to try and

put the cart before the horse. This set up would not
be helpful and cannot be innocent or harmless as it
violates one of what Jesus describes as the two chief
commandments that in actual fact summarise the
purpose of all the Ten Commandments. The Ten
Commandments deal primarily with the relationship
between God and man, and secondly with the
47
relationship between man and other human beings on
earth whether they are believers or not. Notice that
they (the Ten Commandments) do not prescribe the
deification of animals but rather forbid the observation
of any other image or likeness of anything in heaven
or on earth other than the image of God in which man
is made. The image of God here means the character
of God and some of the attributes of God such as His
authority over creation, His spiritual dominion over the
forces of darkness etc also being inherent in born-
again believers. Christians should aim for
Christlikeness rather than likeness to any animal or
other being.

So whether your totem is the lion, baboon, zebra,

elephant or secretary bird, that particular animal had
to obey Noah’s instruction and to yield to his control
so that it could survive to this day. It’s not even worth
comparing animals to God, as they can’t even match
the innovativeness and authority of mere man. I have
seen oxen weighing over two hundred kilos each
being driven by a little boy of four or five years of age.
They recognize his authority though they may have
more brute strength. I once saw a poster in a barber
shop that said, “To some God gave muscles, to some
he gave brains.” While that would be very insulting
and insensitive to say to fellow men, it is appropriate
to apply to animals. Even elephants are at times kept
behind a wire fence when they could easily break
down any man-made structure within miles of where

48
they will be. I have spoken before of elephants and
buffalos being tamed and even domesticated. It all
shows the power and dominion that God put in man.
Yet some people want to lower themselves to the
position where they look up to animals for guidance,
inspiration and awe.

Even having animals as pets is only possible because

we exercise authority over them. There are however
some New Age religious teachings that promote the
use of pets as totems. This idea is purely evil and
stems from beliefs in using witchcraft, sorcery and
magic in all their forms which are not of God. A
number of them who had been practicing magic
brought their incantation books and burned them
at a public bonfire. The value of them was several
million dollars. (Acts 19:19 NLT). Notice the fact that
the practice of magic involved incantations much like
the ones that totemic poems and praise names
involve.

There are also parallels in the ancestral worship

where incantations are common and in pagan
worship practices practiced for example in the UK by
druids who still use Stonehenge for their pagan rites.
It is well known that Satanists also congregate at the
same locations on Halloween Day etc to offer
sacrifices to demons. satanists are also known to
have familiars which are animals they turn into to
carry out their evil business. Self-confessed former
satanists like Emmanuel Eni and Rebecca Brown
49
have written about the practice. They have also
written of demons appearing in animal form. All this
leads to the fact that we ought to look beyond the
animal symbols or emblems of demons to the evil
spirits behind them which when we have unmasked
them, we should clearly denounce, renounce and
abandon.

We may not have our incantations written down in

book form as writing was not accessible to our fore
fathers but still the incantations have been passed on
through oral tradition from one generation to another.
While we can’t burn the books like the people we
have just read about (in Acts 19v19), we can still
discard the customs. These people did not worry
about the monetary value of losing such valuable
books as they were known to be worth millions of
dollars. They knew having God’s favour was by far
more valuable than any amount of money. Other
things that happened in the past have been forgotten
and lie buried in the graves of ancient people yet the
customs and traditions of totems have survived the
ages testifying to their spiritual significance.

This will take time to sink in for someone who was

ignorantly following or at least tolerating the practice.
Prayerfully seek God’s will for your lifestyle in this
matter. If you are someone who is already filled with
the Holy Spirit, ask Him to teach you and to guide you
into all truth in this matter for this is part of His
mandate in your life. Bury yourself in the scriptures
50
and consult other godly people in your life in the light
of scripture to seek their view. Ultimately you will
have to decide one way or the other but do not rush
into a decision. Consult God first.

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus Christ. Help me Lord to understand

the danger of meddling with evil spirits. Help me to
look beneath the surface and examine my practices
in the light of scripture. Holy Spirit reveal to me the
truth in this matter and guide me as I seek to obey
God’s word.

Amen

51
Chapter 8

Understanding covenants

God is God of covenant. Covenant simply means

promise, pledge, agreement or contract. The two
main covenants God has made with humanity are the
old covenant (testament) based on the Mosaic Law
and the new covenant (testament) based on the
grace of God which we access by faith in Jesus
Christ. In the spiritual realm covenants are usually
made by humans and a spiritual being and are
binding to the person and his or her offspring. This
applies to the Abrahamic covenant concerning the
promised land which was only fulfilled during the days
of Moses and Joshua and the covenant that God
made with David that he would have someone from
his lineage sitting on the throne forever, which was
fulfilled in Christ.

Covenants by nature are two-way agreements with

obligations and benefits for each partner. In the
Shona culture there are covenant friends (Sahwira)
who have a ceremony to mark the beginning of such
a covenant which will bind even their offspring to the
relationship. In Genesis 15 God made a covenant
with Abraham. In the ceremony to mark the beginning
of the covenant God Himself walked between the two
pieces of each of the animals that were being
sacrificed to Him by Abraham. At another time God
asked Abraham to offer his son Isaac and, as a
52
covenant friend of God, he agreed. This was a
prophetic occurrence to typify the fact that God
Himself would one day also offer his only begotten
Son to die for us for our sins.

The covenant with Abraham stipulated the act of

circumcision as the sign of the covenant for Jews. In
the same way I would like to think that our forbearers
must have made covenants with evil spirits and then
started to worship these totemic spirits with the signs
of covenant including the use of praise names and
praise poems. They might have had rites or rituals
that they carried out in order to start the covenant
relationship with these evil spirits. Whatever rites or
rituals they carried out which may have included
eating or sacrificing the blood of that particular animal
was not of God.

In return the totemic spirits were thought to watch

over the tribe or clan or make it stronger or powerful.
This may have been as a result of lack of knowledge
about the true God. The apostle Paul once
encountered the people of Athens, who surprisingly
enough, even worshipped an unknown god in
addition to all their idols in case they may have
missed one other god, much like today’s practice by
governments the world over of having a memorial for
the unknown soldier after times of war to honour
those whose remains may never have been
recovered. Paul noted that the people of Athens were
“…too superstitious…” (Acts 17:22). They had so
53
many objects pf worship as many people have so
many different totems that they honour. We therefore
should separate ourselves from any superstitions and
practices not expressly promoted in scripture.

In Christ we have been made into a royal

priesthood(1 Peter 2:8-10), with Jesus being the chief
high priest of the new covenant. He established this
new covenant not with the blood of bulls, rams or
goats but with His own precious blood. His blood is
the blood of the Son of God, the blood of God the
Son. No wonder why His blood is so powerful in the
affairs of man: it is the blood of God the Son,
Emmanuel, God with us whom Isaiah calls in Isaiah
9:6-7, “Mighty God.” What this means is that all born-
again Christians having been washed in the blood of
the Lamb no longer need a human middleman
between them and God, a priest. Instead there is now
the priesthood of all believers.

Priests as we are now before God, are expected to

be holy and righteous to enable them to maintain 24/7
communion with God. They were anointed with oil
signifying the Holy Spirit anointing we now have. Old
testament levitical priests had to have blood sprinkled
upon their ear, their thumb and their toe to signify
sanctification in their hearing, the work of their hands
or their deeds and their walk or character (Exodus
29:20-22). Honouring totems would not have and
even now is not in keeping with the holiness expected
of the kings and priests before the Lord. (Rev 5:10)
54
In Christ we were redeemed. To redeem is to buy
back, to release, to compensate for, to deliver. We
might have been included in the terms and conditions
of any spoken or unspoken covenant between our
ancestors and totemic spirits. In Christ we were
bought back from being bound by any such terms.
We are now free in Christ and our obligation in terms
of reverence, honour and worship is only to God and
Jesus Christ His Son.

Jesus has all the authority and we have the authority

through His Name to nullify any ungodly covenants or
pacts with the devil or any of his demons whether
they come in disguise or not. It’s time to break the
ungodly covenants, to overturn them to desecrate
them and turn to God. Blotting out the handwriting
of the ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing
it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14 NKJV). The
covenant is against you, it is contrary to you so
discard it now in the Name of Jesus.

This is what the Apostle Paul has to say concerning

ignorance: And the times of this ignorance God
overlooked, but now commands all men
everywhere to repent: because He has appointed
a day, in which He will judge the world… (Acts
17:30-31 NKJV). If God overlooked our ancestors’
ignorance because they did not have the word of God
revealed to them and available to them as we do
55
today, what excuse do we have to carry on in this
idolatry. From the scripture above the truth is God
now commands all men, in other words all human
beings, to repent and worship only God through His
son Jesus Christ who purchased us with His own
blood to make us heirs of the new covenant.

Hosea 4:6 also tells us that people can be destroyed

through lack of knowledge. Compare the results of
centuries of ancestral worship which is actually
idolatry and totemic culture and the accompanying
poverty in primitive societies to the affirmation of God
in America for example where even the dollar bills
proclaim, ‘In God we trust’, and the accompanying
national blessings, which are now starting to be
eroded by widespread apostasy and departure from
godliness. If our fore fathers laid the wrong foundation
for us spiritually we need to lay another foundation in
Christ for ourselves and our offspring.

The path that lies open to us is therefore that of

repentance rather than trying to justify ourselves or
trying to trivialize the practice as being
inconsequential. It’s not what we think about it but
rather what God says in His word that matters. We
should be like the Bereans who when Paul taught
them something …received the word of God with
all readiness of mind , and searched the
scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
(Acts 17:11). I encourage scholarly and layman
debate on the issues raised in this book whose aim is
56
not to prescribe anything but to suggest that people
begin to search their bibles and see if these things
are so. Ultimately it’s not human approval or
acceptance that is important to us but rather the
approval and acceptance of our Master, the Lord
Jesus Christ. It’s possible that today’s custodians of
totemic beliefs will challenge us about discarding the
‘traditions of the elders’ as they did concerning the
first century disciples. Let it suffice to say that we are
not willing to please men but rather to please God in
this matter.

As you break and nullify any ungodly covenants

made by your fore fathers with evil spirits
masquerading as totems, meditate on this promise
from God in his word: As for me, this is my
covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit
that is upon thee, and my words which I have put
in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth,
nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the
mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from
henceforth and for ever (Isaiah 59:21). This is the
covenant extraordinaire that God wants you to keep
with Him for yourself and your spiritual and physical
offspring. I am using spiritual offspring here to mean
the people that you will be enabled during your life on
earth to lead to Christ as the Holy Spirit uses you to
witness and to be a witness of the reality of God.

Prayer

57
Lord Jesus please forgive me for being ignorant of
the full meaning of totems and the use of praise
names and praise poems. In your Name I denounce
any totemic demon that may be claiming a covenant
relationship with me and my children. I nullify all these
covenants with the blood of Jesus. I know I am no
longer bound by them. I am free in Jesus Christ who
redeemed me.

Amen

58
Chapter 9

Renouncing and denouncing the practices

The tongue has enormous power in the spiritual and

indeed in the physical realm as well. Wars have been
declared verbally, love declared, marriages proposed,
deals sealed or broken all through the words of
someone’s mouth. Even fights have started or
tempers have cooled down through words uttered by
someone. Governments all over the world ask their
soldiers, police officers, presidents, prime ministers
and judges to take an oath of office when they start
their career as public servants and they all have to
make it verbally. They do so because they know the
value of the spoken word, the power of the tongue.

In dealing with the totemic spirits we should deny

them the honour given to them by those who call their
praise names or chant their incantations through their
praise poetry. It’s not harmless as some would think.
And because it is not in honour of God then it’s not for
us as the heirs of the kingdom of God.

The bible says about the tongue: Death and life are
in the power of the tongue…(Proverbs 18:21
NKJV). We can use our tongues to declare our liberty
from demonic oppression and to denounce these
totemic spirits and the totems they hide under. We
should openly declare to them that we no longer
belong to them regardless of what might have
59
happened in the past and that any control they may
have had over us is no longer possible now that we
are the Lord’s and only His. We belong to no one else
and we will serve no one else.

That way we can reverse any evil that may have

come upon us or that follows the bloodline such as
avenging spirits and so forth which are demons and
have no power or right over the redeemed children of
God who are born not of flesh and blood but of the
spirit. Speak out if you have been silent all along and
have been hoodwinked by the enemy. Tell him you
are not ignorant of his devices and that he cannot
succeed against you. Lest satan should get an
advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his
devices. (2 Corinthians 2:11).

Deny the devil any allegiance. Deny him any room

(Ephesians 4:27). Denounce him for the dirty tricking
liar that he is. You don’t need any other spiritual being
in your life other than God. He is sufficient to meet all
your spiritual and material needs. Seek Christ alone
and exclude any other gods or idols from your life.

Jesus taught us that we shall have whatsoever we

SAY in prayer. This is when he taught the principle of
speaking to your mountain which could be your
insurmountable challenge or any obstacle between
you and a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with God
through Christ. So begin to make a prayer of

60
confessing your allegiance to God alone and also a
verbal renouncing and denouncing of idols and other
gods. Verbally TELL the enemy that you denounce
him and all his wicked devices. DIVORCE him in the
way the children of Israel divorced the strange
women during the time of Nehemiah. The strange
non-Jewish women typify other allegiances that are at
conflict with our relationship with God Almighty, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul also states that nothing shall be

able to separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus. What he meant was that no physical or
spiritual or abstract concept would ever dislodge
Jesus from his throne as the Lord of all our beings.
Yet some people have allowed some of the created
things to have an unworthy honour ahead of the Lord
of glory Himself. For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-
39). So do not allow any other creature that you deify
as a totem to separate you from God. Declare to the
totem that it cannot separate you from Christ and that
it will not hinder your progress in the Lord.

Some will argue that to deny or denounce their totem

is to deny their tribe, clan or family. Though it is not
61
good to alienate yourself from family, if there is need
to choose between God and family, then every
christian ought to choose Christ before family. The
twelve apostles had to leave their homes, families
and businesses to follow Christ. They had to give up
some things to fully surrender to Christ. So if need be
do not hesitate to give up what you have to give up
for the sake of Christ.

Moses had to give up his position as a prince of

Egypt and leave the royal palace so as to identify with
the people of God’s covenant. In all human thought
this would have seemed like madness, but God was
working out a great plan through him that would
culminate in the release of his people from four
hundred years of captivity. Many have been in
captivity through totems for centuries but regardless
of how long this has taken, God can still set you free,
you and your household. If the Son of man sets you
free, you will be free indeed!!! (John 8v36).

He that loveth father or mother more than me is

not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me
(Matthew 10:37). Let this scripture help you put your
priorities right. Let God come first before any other
consideration. What would it profit you to gain the
approval of your family, tribe, clan or indeed society
at large if you lost your relationship with the Lord in
the process or you appeared to God to be a double-
62
minded person whom God promised will not get
anything from Him (James 1:6-8). Do not waver and
do not be tossed to and fro by the traditions of men.

Men have failed since the days of the tower of Babel

to come up with solutions to human problems. They
may erect imposing edifices like the tower of Babel,
but their aspirations come to nought if they are not
Christ-centred and lead them to be Christ-like. Jesus
never revered or honoured any animal as a totem,
neither did any of the apostles or even the early
church after Christ’s ascension. Be clear about which
side you are on, which side you stand. Are you with
God or against God? Let the Holy Spirit lead and
guide you into getting the real true answer to these
questions. He is the one who testifies in our hearts
that we are the children of God. Why is it so difficult
for you to give up your totem? Is it not because
though you deny it, there is a spiritual bond between
the two of you? Is it not because you feel it’s so much
a part of you?

Paul speaks of no longer living but Christ living in him

(Galatians 2:20). Is it Christ living in you who honours
totems or is it self? Self has to be suppressed, self
has to die so that we may be quickened, renewed
and transformed in Christ. John the Baptist when
Jesus was revealed to him had this to say about self.
I must decrease and he must increase (John 3:30).
Is that the case in your life? Is Jesus’ influence, his
63
thoughts, his attitudes, his emotions having
prominence over and above your own? These are
tough questions, but questions which a true christian
should not leave unanswered.

Ultimately it will take courage to depart from age old

traditions and it will be difficult just as it would have
appeared incomprehensible to the Samaritan woman
that Jesus meant that true worship could take place
without the mountains of Samaria or the temple at
Jerusalem. In the same manner it takes moral and
spiritual courage to contemplate life without a totem.
You will need to stand up and be counted and even
go against your brethren as it was during the time
when Aaron made the golden calf in the wilderness
and Moses had to ask the men of Israel which ones
of them were on God’s side.

The Levites chose God’s side and slew (killed) their

idolatrous brethren that day and since then affirmed
their role as priests under the old covenant. When
God had made Aaron, the Levite and his escendants
priests, he had made a good choice (Exodus 4:14).
You have to choose which Master to serve. You
cannot have two masters. You cannot be the same
spring that spouts forth bitter and sweet waters at the
same time. Take your pick now that you have known
the truth. The truth will set you free.
Prayer

64
Lord help me to gather the courage to denounce and
renounce my totem and any spirits that may have
disguised themselves in my life through this practice.
Enable me to walk in your statutes and not to let
anything in heaven or earth come between me and
you.

Amen

65
Chapter 10

Be sanctified and consecrated unto the Lord

Sanctification means being separated unto the Lord.

It also means the course of life befitting those so
separated as informed by the word of God and the
example of Jesus Christ. In practical terms this
implies that there are some things that Christians
ought to give up for the sake of living according to
God’s will as they understand it in scripture. This
means mainly repenting from sin and iniquity in all
their forms and all self-serving behaviour. This entails
examining our cultural and humanistic norms to see if
they are aimed at glorifying God or just pandering to
the fantasies of the human mind. We also need to
scrutinize such practices and see if they are in fact
‘spiritual’ and if they are spiritual and not directed
towards God, then they are directed towards other
spiritual beings which the bible informs us are evil
spirits (Ephesians 6:10-14).

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and

New Testament Words defines sanctification as,
“Sanctification is the separation of the believer from
evil things and ways.” And the God of peace
himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit
and soul and body be preserved entire, without
blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1
Thess 5:23). According to that scripture there are
three main areas in which we need to be sanctified:
66
the spirit, the soul and the body. The purpose is that
we may be blameless and unblamable at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess 3:13). In light of this
are we without blame concerning our use of and
belief in totems before God? We should be blameless
not in the eyes of men but in the sight of God. Even
things that we think are right could actually be wrong
in God’s sight.

Firstly we should be blameless in our spirit: the spirit

part of us. This is what the Apostle Paul refers to as
the inner man (Ephesians 3:16). It is also the part of
us that is in the image or likeness of God, for God is
spirit and is worshipped in spirit and in truth (John
4:24).This is the part of us that is born again when we
receive Jesus at the moment of salvation. This is the
part of us that discerns spiritual things and senses the
tugging and the prompting of the Holy Spirit through
the small still voice of God through conviction by the
Holy Spirit or by the word of God.

The spirit is the real you. In Luke 8:55 we read that

when the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was
raised back to life, her spirit came back to her. That is
another way of saying she returned to her body.
When you die we no longer talk of burying you, but of
burying your body or corpse because the real you
would have departed to be with the Lord. You can
never be buried. You can only transfer either to
heaven or hell while your body, the earth suit in much
the same way as astronauts have a space suit, is
67
buried here on earth because your spirit does not
need it in heaven or hell depending on where you will
be headed. This inner and spiritual part of you needs
to be clean. Your spirit can only be clean when you
worship no other gods, real or imagined. When you
do not give the same level of honour to any animate
or inanimate object as one should normally give to
God.

While it is only God who can ultimately sanctify us

through the Holy Spirit, there is also a part we have to
play by being separated from anything that could
pollute our spirit. We have to obey God’s word which
is the truth that can sanctify us (John 17:17). So our
sanctification can not be imputed but has to be learnt
and built up little by little as we submit ourselves fully
to the teaching of the word of God and the example of
Christ.

We need to be sanctified in our soul which is made

up of our mind, our emotions, our conscience and our
will. Our mind is the man battleground in which most
of our spiritual warfare is fought. The battle is for
control of our attitudes and our mindset which will
determine our behaviour. The more we internalize
and apply scripture in our minds the more we begin to
think and behave in a godly way. This should affect
the way we think about various things and our mental
attitudes towards spiritual issues. Our minds should
not regard anyone or anything else as holy unless it is
so described clearly in scripture. We should separate
68
our minds from belief in totems and their supposed
relevance and potency in our lives.

Our conscience should be active and submitted to

God so that He can use it to convict us of sin and any
wrongdoing. This is mainly achieved by getting to
study scripture and to meditate upon it as it is our
only source of absolute wrong and absolute right.
Modern man has tried to do away with the idea of
absolute right and absolute wrong or sin and has
instead propagated the idea that truth is relative
which means that according to this view anything
could be right or wrong depending on how well you
can justify it. This is self-justification and
licentiousness in the disguise of modern, progressive
thought.

If one subscribes to this point of view then your

conscience will be disabled as you would justify
stealing or fornication for example as satisfying your
needs. However the bible clearly tells us that there
are things that are wrong or sinful simply because
God says they are. We may justify or excuse them in
one way or the other, but that is just a delusion as we
will one day be called upon by God and not human
judges to give account for everything we have ever
done or said. So you had better take God’s word
rather than man’s opinion on the matter.

Our emotions or heart as some theologians and

indeed most people call it in everyday language
69
refers to our emotional intelligence our ability to feel,
understand and deal with our own and other people’s
emotions be they positive or negative. Sanctifying our
emotions as a part of our soul would thus mean
expressing our awe, reverence, godly fear and
adulation only to God. We should therefore not adore
our totem more than we adore God or feel in any way
‘attached’ to it. Attachment to people, objects and
experiences can at times become counterproductive
if the attachment supersedes our attachment to and
our submission to God.

Another part of the soul is the will which means our

decision making component with which we can
choose between right and wrong. Many have
wondered why God made man a free moral agent at
liberty to choose for himself which path he may take
in life, even to the extent of allowing him to choose
turn away from God. This shows us the great love
God has for humanity. He could easily have made us
as automatons only able to live righteous and maybe
even remote controlled, but he has given us the
freedom to choose even between life and death.
Even though His heart grieves over all those who
deny, denounce and even mock Him, He also enjoys
the reverence and honour given to Him by those who
choose to walk the narrow path of a life surrenderd to
Christ. It’s easy to give up everything when you begin
to appreciate how much our Maker has given up for
our sake. He put on the garment of humanity to adopt

70
us into the very family of God. He calls us no longer
strangers or just friends but actually His brothers and
sisters. Isn’t that wonderful! We have a Big Brother
in heaven! We will no longer be bullied by any
spiritual forces, we have Jesus to protect us and fight
for us.

We should also be sanctified in our bodies meaning

that our bodies should not be tattooed with symbols
of any animal. Tattooing with animal symbols is
associated with occultic practices, and at times with
totemic culture. Our bodies need to be separated
unto the Lord and they should remain as clean and
holy temples for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. Jesus
cleansed the actual physical temple at Jerusalem
during His last week on earth and because we know
from Scripture that God does not dwell in temples
built by man’s hands, He now wants the temples of
the Holy Spirit, our bodies to be likewise clean before
God.

Our bodies should therefore not attend any rites,

rituals, chantings or praise poetry sessions for totems
because just our attendance will be bringing the
temple of the Holy Spirit to such occasions. We need
to understand who we are and what we stand for. We
are no longer ordinary people as we are now
ambassadors of the kingdom of God, indeed
ambassadors of Christ. In diplomatic circles, an
envoy or emissary will never attend any questionable
or doubtful events for fear of appearing as if the
71
government that he represents endorses whatever is
being done there. In the same manner a child of God
should be careful of what he or he says and portrays.
Ask yourself the question: In which practical ways
have I become a new creature? Are there any real
changes in behaviour, thought and emotions that
distinguish you from any other person on the street?

All gestures of obeisance to evil spirits such as

clapping, ululating and dancing as totems are being
uttered or the praise names are being uttered need to
be brought under the spotlight of God’s word, the
bible, if the body is to be sanctified before God. Is it
not possible to greet one another by name rather than
by totem? Would we lose anything? Even those that
stick to them may or may not have the right original
totem as it is known that at times people lost their
totem or had it changed after losing in battle to
another chiefdom or clan. If totems were just about
identity why would another clan want to seize the
totem of the vanquished? Would it not have been
better to impose their own totem on them to
assimilate them? All these issues seem to reinforce
the concept of totems as being more than just an
identity symbol. Even fatherless or disowned children
and dumped children end up with what may not have
been their original totems but still do not lose
anything, so is it worth it having any totem at all?

Prayer

72
Lord Jesus I pray that you may cleanse me in the
inner man. I ask that you may cleanse my inner self
of all evil associations with any other god beside you.
I also pray that you may cleanse my heart and mind
making them free of any in godly thoughts or
emotions. Help me to use my will to decide to be
good and to decide to obey you and live for you.

Amen

73
Chapter 11

Bible imagery

There is a lot of imagery in the bible with deeper

symbolic meaning for us especially in the prophetic
and apocalyptic books including Daniel, Isaiah,
Revelation, Ezekiel and others. Such imagery is also
common in the parables that Jesus told. While some
may equate this with use of totems, I beg to differ.
The reason is that when such imagery is used it is not
used in the context of people emulating or idolising
animals but rather as shadows of that which was to
be fulfilled in Christ. For example Jesus is likened to a
Lamb in that He was silent before His tormentors just
as a lamb is silent before its shearers.

The lamb typology also extends to the fact that lambs

were used as a sacrifice since the days of Abel, the
son of Adam and Eve and Jesus was revealed to
become the once for all time sacrifice to replace
forever any need for animal sacrifice. Even the fact
that animals were first killed by God himself in order
to make a physical covering for Adam and Eve to
cover their shame after they had sinned shows us
that humans are more precious than animals in the
sight of God as animals were sacrificed for man’s
sake and not the other way round. It is thought that
this became the basis for all future animal sacrifice as
people knew what God had done to cover man’s
shame and his sin, though this method did not
74
actually transform the sinner’s character and lifestyle
in the way that the blood of Jesus will do.

Even the use of actual lambs at the first Passover

that God instituted through Moses was just a type of
Jesus as the ultimate Passover Lamb who died to be
the only acceptable sacrifice to pay the price of all the
sin in the world, past present and future. The blood of
the Passover lamb was smeared on door posts but in
our case the blood of Jesus is sprinkled over all
aspects of our being to cleanse us and sanctify us
unto the Lord.

Some of the imagery such as the horses and riders of

Revelation and the book of Daniel are angels riding
actual horses which we do not know whether they will
be physical or spiritual just like we do not know
whether the horses and chariots of fire that Elisha’s
servant saw when God opened his eyes were
physical or spiritual though we know that they were
part of the army of heaven which God as the Lord of
hosts (armies) leads.

The devil is also likened to a dragon or snake in

scripture due to his cunning and the fact that he used
an actual snake to deceive Eve by possessing it and
speaking to her through it. It could not have been a
virtual snake as God would then not have
pronounced the curse or judgment upon actual
snakes making them slither on the ground up to this
day. Demons are likewise likened to scorpions by
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Jesus in Luke 10:19 due to their sting or irritating
potential.

From all the examples above while some people will

see bible imagery as being problematic in relation to
the justification for totems by those who believe in
them, it should be noted that imagery in the bible is
not used to denote any particular tribe or clan as
having a totem though at times the attributes of
certain tribes were likened to one animal or the other
or one phenomena or the other.

At the time that Jacob was blessing the children of

Israel before he died in Egypt in Genesis 49, he
likened Judah to a lion due to his strength, Asher to a
donkey due to his industriousness, and Issachar to a
serpent due to his cunning. Joseph is likened to a
fruitful branch due to his God-given prosperity and
Benjamin to a wolf due to his doggedness in pursuing
his goals. Though Jacob used this imagery it was
never taken as a banner or totem by the children of
Israel and the likening of his children to natural
phenomena was more of a figure of speech and
poetic than anything else as the concept did not
extend to each one of them, but only to some of
whom he used metaphors to better describe them as
all senior citizens are wont to do the world over.

When Moses blessed the children of Israel before he

died he never likened any of them to any natural
phenomenon at all (Deutoronomy 33). He only
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blessed them according to the way God revealed to
him. So when we want to bless, appreciate and laud
the efforts of our fellow man we should bless them
according to the blessings mentioned in the word of
God rather than to invoke their totem as this will be
activating other spiritual forces that are contrary to
God and to the best that God has in store for each
one of us.

In Revelation we also find the use of the beast (An

antichrist man) and dragon (satan). In these two
cases it is the symbolic use of these words in the
same way that Jude refers to apostate people in the
last days as brutes or beasts in that people will be
animalistic and more controlled by their emotions and
lusts than by their spirit through the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit whose fruit includes among other things
self-control, faithfulness and goodness. Note that
Jude the younger brother of Jesus thinks it’s
degrading to be likened to animals rather than
uplifting or ennobling as those that believe in totems
would portray.

Even John the Revalator in the book of Revealations

equates some unrepentant and apostate people to
dogs: For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and
whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and
whosoever loves and makes a lie (Revealation
22:15). If being likened to a dog was ennobling then
these people would surely not be outside the gates of
heaven at the end of the ages. Even the apostle Paul
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likened some dangerous double-minded and
insincere Christians to dogs: Beware of dogs,
beware of evil workers, beware of the concision
(Phillipians 3:2). See also Isaiah 55:10, Isaiah 56:11.
Peter likens backsliding Christians that return again to
sin to dogs that return to eat their own vomit and pigs/
sows that return to the mud even after being cleansed
by their keepers (2 Peter 2:22).

The following quotation from Deutoronomy should put

the matter to rest: And the LORD commanded me
at that time to teach you statutes and judgments,
that all of you might do them in the land where all
of you go over to possess it. Take all of you
therefore good heed unto yourselves; for all of
you saw no manner of embodiment on the day
that the LORD spoke unto you in Horeb out of the
midst of the fire: Lest all of you corrupt
yourselves, and make you a graven image, the
embodiment of any figure, the likeness of male or
female, The likeness of any beast that is on the
earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in
the air, And lest you lift up yours eyes unto
heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon,
and the stars, even all the host of heaven, should
be driven to worship them, and serve them, which
the LORD your God has divided unto all nations
under the whole heaven (Deutoronomy 4:14-19).

Moses went further to restate the following: Take

heed unto yourselves, lest all of you forget the
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covenant of the LORD your God, which he made
with you, and make you a graven image, or the
likeness of any thing, which the LORD your God
has forbidden you (Deutoronomy 4:23).

So bible imagery does not contradict the prohibition

not to serve or worship the image of any animal,
person or the stars, sun, moon and other natural
things in our universe. These are the gods that can
not see or hear us and are powerless to help us.
They have no answer or solution to the problem of
our estrangement from God or sin. The last few
scriptures had an admonition to take heed, which
simply means to seriously think about, to be careful of
and to be warned of the danger inherent in what is
being warned against i.e. idolatry.

Prayer

Lord Jesus help me through your word not to be

deceived into believing bible imagery can be equated
to any false religion and worship of idols in any form
whatsoever. I denounce any allegiances I may have
made with the devil through ignorance. Blot out the
handwriting of any ordinances, covenants and
statutes that are written against me as you have
already nailed them to your cross.

In Jesus’ Name

Amen
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Conclusion

Having laid out my views and the truth of the word of

God, I rest my case and argument. I leave it to the
reader to make their own decision, which I hope will
be an informed decision, not just informed by human
tradition and customs but by the word of God and the
revealed will of God. It’s so easy to say we love God
in the abstract but when he challenges us like He did
to Abram to leave his family, his people and his
country, or the young rich man to go and sell his
possessions and follow Him, when we face issues
that require us to weigh the odds, to count the cost of
following Christ, only then do many begin to falter and
to hesitate. This leads to lives lived on the fence
between God’s side and the devil’s side: the valley of
decision. You cannot continue to sit on the fence.

You need to decide one way or the other. You need

to choose. Even Joshua after having brought the
children of Israel to the Promised Land, finishing off
the journey Moses had started with them, confronted
them with a choice. At one time the prophet Elijah
when he had perceived the pervasiveness of idolatry
in the land had to confront the children of Israel to
choose between God and Baal, an idol.

Abram’s choice led him to having his whole life and

even his very name changed. No longer was he the
idolatrous Chaldean, he became Abraham the father
of nations, the friend of God. So much was his life
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changed that he even refused to take the spoils of
battle when he fought with the four kings (Genesis
14) but relied on God to prosper him. He became so
wealthy that at one point one valley was not big
enough to accommodate both his and his nephew
Lot’s livestock.

In the rich young ruler’s case he chose to disobey

God after counting the cost. He chickened out. He
chose the seemingly easy option of deferring the
matter till another time. Doing so means the
opportune time never comes. It’s much like some
people in the diaspora who always talk of going back
home to their home country ‘some time in the future’
but never actually do so. It may be appealing for you
just to postpone a decision now but let me encourage
you to act now if you have taken your time to think,
meditate and search the scriptures about this issue.

Even Moses had to choose his true identity as a

Hebrew man above his position as a prince of Egypt,
which was the leading civilization of its time. He
chose poverty in the place of riches, hard labour in
the place of being waited upon in the royal
household; he chose enslavement instead of nobility
and being in line to the throne. He was looking at the
bigger picture of eternity and God’s will instead of just
the here and now of comfort and convenience today:
he chose rags in the place of his royal wardrobe; he
chose obscurity in the place of fame and popularity.
He had to make a hard choice. He had to align
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himself with his God-given destiny. He knew there
was more to life than convenience and hiding in the
crowd.

Moses made a difficult choice and had to pay the

price of a premature, unwise intervention by fleeing to
the desert where God trained him in the university of
life, at the school of hard knocks to become the great
vessel of the Lord that he was 40 years later when he
came back to Egypt to pry God’s people loose from
the grip of a despotic Pharaoh. He learnt to find his
identity in God rather than that conferred to him by his
foster mother, a princess, and the royal household
and indeed the people of Egypt.

At times discarding that which people identify you

with needs a lot of personal sacrifice, but if it is the
will of God we should be ready to give up anything
and indeed become poor that we may gain the riches
that are in Christ. Where our treasures are, our hearts
are also.

If we value earthly labels and seals above the

invisible seal of the Holy Spirit and the inner witness
of the Spirit that we are indeed the children of God,
then we will try and hold on to earthly things. It’s
important to note that while we sojourn on earth, our
real citizenship is that of heaven. We do not become
citizens of heaven by dying; we are already citizens of
heaven now. “For our citizenship is in heaven,

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from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phillipians 3v20).

For some it’s easy to choose the path of the children

of Israel. They swore total allegiance to God alone
and even erected a pillar of stone representing each
of the twelve tribes of Israel as a memorial to them
and to remind their children of their commitment to
God. They were just paying lip-service to God. They
did not honour their word. They later succumbed to
the alluring idol worship of the nations around them
leading to the times recorded in the books of Judges,
1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles when there was a
repeated cycle of idolatry and other forms of sin and
iniquity, followed by judgement that would cause
them to remember God and to repent which would
bring God’s favour which would lead them to relax
and start worshipping idols, disobeying God in many
ways and rebelling against Him, thus starting the
vicious cycle all over again.

This path is full of potholes and hidden ravines and

crevices. We should not pay lip-service to God. He
knows everything even before we think of it or speak
about it. There is nothing hidden from His sight. That
makes it impossible to lie to Him or to deceive Him in
any way. In fact it is futile to try and do so as in actual
fact we will only be deceiving ourselves and wasting
our time.

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So my brother or sister ask yourself the question that
the crowd asked the Apostle Peter when he preached
at the day of Pentecost and they said to him ‘What
shall we do?’ His answer that day echoes throughout
the ages, ‘Repent!...’ So my brother, my sister, ‘What
shall you do?’ It’s about you. If you are reading this
book as an unbeliever please read Appendix One
which you may find helpful.

Be blessed

84
Glossary

covenant comes from the Hebrew word brit which

means agreement through mutual trust and
commitment made between either man and God or
between people as in the case of David and
Jonathan.

demons evil spirits thought by theologians to be

some of the fallen angels that rebelled against God
together with the devil in events recorded in
Revelation Chapter 12. It is important to note that
they are created beings thus having no power over
those who enjoy the protection of God the Creator.
They used to worship him before they rebelled
against Him. That is why it was evil spirits that were
quick to cry out when Jesus approached as they
knew Him not from their encounter with Him on earth
but in the eternity past in heaven before He put on the
cloak of humanity to show us how to live godly lives
and to redeem us back to God.

idol false god either physical or in man’s mind

idolatry worship of anything or anyone other than

God Almighty, this may include worship of self called
Narcissism in the bible, worship of animals, stars, the
sun, moon and even human idols.

idolise regard something as being divine or venerate

or worship some other object or being other than
85
God. This includes viewing something other than God
as having any supernatural power(s).

repentance making a decision to consciously turn

away from sin and beginning to lead a godly life
which we are enabled to do by the Holy Spirit.
Ultimately the concept involves change in action,
emotions and thoughts as one seeks align these to
the word of God. It was the main thrust of both
Jesus’, Peter’s, Paul’s and John the Baptist’s
messages and ministries. Its the only starting point for
the christian life. It’s the response God expects from
those that want to accept His offer of salvation in
Christ.

revere give great honour and respect

Salvation a word which comes from the Greek word

sozo which means complete transformation and
deliverance of the spirit, soul and body of the believer
as a result of accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour. It is
A work of God, though it depends on human
response to His offer of free salvation. It is thought to
be both an event as in the act of repentance and a
process in terms of the fact that though our spirit is
instantaneously saved at the moment of salvation, the
body and soul will only be completely saved gradually
as we allow God to take more control of our faculties
and as we grow spiritually. It is for this reason that
Paul writes of dying daily and also of the rapture
signifying the salvation of our bodies and completion
86
of the salvation of the soul as we shall all be fully like
Christ in action, thought and emotions. In English the
word obviously comes from the root save and this
means we are saved from various things including
sin, our own selfish and self destructive desires and
lusts.

sin anything that is wrong in the sight of God as

identified in the bible regardless of how we feel or
think about it. God remains the final authority on what
is and is not acceptable before him. No sin is too
trivial for God to ignore or too great for him to forgive
if we repent of it. The bible tells us that sin separates
us from God in time and in eternity unless we forsake
it.

type an object or person that is likened to another

such as the passover lamb in Exodus being a type of
Christ who is the real, ultimate Lamb of God.

typify be a type of something or someone.

typology study of theological types.

worship (1) comes from Hebrew word sahah, which

means to bow down, to stoop low, to prostrate
oneself physically or figuratively before an object of
worship. (2) Webster’s Thesaurus defines as to
venerate, esteem, deify, honour, revere, idolize,
aspire.

87
Appendix One

Accepting and receiving Jesus as Lord and

Saviour

Maybe you have read this book and you are not yet a
believer in Jesus Christ. You are not born-again. In
that case everything in this book will not make sense.
You need to seriously consider accepting Jesus. That
should be the starting point of any journey towards
reconciliation with God and godliness. Let me outline
a few facts that you may find helpful.

We are all sinners

Since the day Adam chose to disobey God, all

humanity is viewed as disobedient to God and born
with an inclination towards sin. There is a sinful
nature in us. Over and above that we have also
individually and corporately committed personal acts
of disobedience to God whether knowingly or
unknowingly. Ignorance of God’s law is no excuse for
wrongdoing. It’s the same with the laws of any nation
if you get arrested for any offense you cannot plead
innocent simple because you were unaware of the
existence of the law. It is important however to note
that God hates sine but He loves the sinner (all of us).

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a

liar, and his word is not in us (1 John 1:10).
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin
88
did my mother conceive me (Psalm 51:5). For all
have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God
(Romans 3:23).

Sin separates us from God

A holy God cannot fellowship or commune with us if

we continue to live in sin and disobedience to Him.
We cannot on our own solve the problem of sin. We
cannot win God’s favour of ourselves. All our
methods and means of trying to reach God are not
effective. We need to find God’s way of reconciling
pourselves to Him.

But your iniquities have separated between you

and your God, and your sins have hid his face
from you, that he will not hear (Isaiah 59:2).

Jesus is the way

God has provided a way for humanity to come back

to Him, through His Son Jesus Christ, who came from
heaven to show us the way live a life pleasing to God.
Jesus has already paid the price or penalty for all sin
past, present and future. In Him we can be released
from bondage to sin and ungodly habits. We can be
cleansed and given a chance to start all over again.
He can clean up the mes in your life right now. When
we receive Jesus, we are receiving the Father who
sent Him, when we honour Jesus we are hnouring the
Father that sent Him.
89
For I came down from heaven, not to do my own
will, but the will of him that sent me (John 6:38).
Jesus says unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by
me. If all of you had known me, all of you should
have known my Father also: and from henceforth
all of you know him, and have seen him (John
14:6-7). Neither is there salvation
in any other: for there is no other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved (Acts 4:12).

Receive Jesus as your personal Saviour, friend

and companion

In the light of the above I now invite you to take the

next step: Acccept Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Saviour. He loves you. Even now He is knocking on
the door of your heart. Will you allow Him to enter?
Will you let Him in? He will fill you with His abundant
love, His abundant life and His joy and peace. Your
life will never be the same again. No matter who you
are, no matter what you have done or not done in the
past He loves you and will accept you. He died on the
cross for you. He can wipe out all the records of all
that you have done wrong in the past. In Him you can
repent which means to turn away from all past sin
and start living a clean free and peaceful life where
you will be at peace with God and man.

90
But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name (John 1:12). Repent all of
you therefore, and be converted, that your sins
may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing
shall come from the presence of the Lord (Acts
3:19).

If you believe Jesus died for you and that He rose

from the dead on the third day and is right now
seated at the right hand of the Father, please say this
prayer aloud. The bible specifies that you have to
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Romans
10:13-18).

Prayer of repentance

Lord Jesus I come to you today. I agree with your

word that I have been disobedient to god through my
lifestyle. I have sinned against you. Please forgive me
and wash me clean with your precious blood that was
shed on the cross for me. Help me Lord to start
afresh and to live a life that is fully surrendered to
your will. I receive you today as my Lord and Saviour.
Come into my heart today. Live within me and set me
free from all my past hurts, my past failures and
mistakes. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Give me the
power to become a child of God.

In Jesus’ Name

91
Amen

See the next page for what to do next now that you
have become a child of God.

92
Next Steps

If you have prayed this prayer (or any other similar in

intention and content) earnestly and sincerely, you
are now a child of God, not because I say so, but
because God says so in His word (1 John 5:11-12,
Romans 10:15-17). You now have eternal life. That’s
all it takes to be a child of God, but remember it’ not a
destination but rather the beginning of difficult journey
along the narrow path of God’s will for your life.

Join a bible-believing church and be baptised

This is important so that you will fellowship with,

interact with and learn from other Christians. You
need to be baptised to obey Jesus’ command in
Matthew 28:18-20. It is a symbol of the inner
cleansing of your spirit that takes place in your heart
through the power of the Holy Spirit. You can also
find encouragement, counseling, teaching, healing
and comfort. (Hebrews 10:25)

Pray regularly at least once a day just to

communicate with God, to praise him, to honour him,
to pray for the needs of others and yourself, to ask
him for His power and guidance to help you
overcome evil with good.

Read your bible regularly; at least once a day or so.

This will inform you about the perfect will of God

93
for your life. The bible is our greatest source of
information on anything in our past, present and
future in relation to the will of God (Psalm 119:11,13;
2 Timothy 3:15-17).

If you have made a decision for Christ, welcome to

the body of Christ. God loves you so much that He
has time for you individually. He knows all your needs
even before you ask. He longs to hear your voice as
you pray to Him He has even provided the Holy Spirit
to dwell in you from the moment of salvation and to
teach and help you to pray (Romans 8:26). Be like
the Samaritan Woman. Go and tell others of this
great man that you have met. Invite your friends and
family to follow Jesus. They will never regret it. And
the great thing is you don’t have to pay anything. It’s
absolutely free. With drugs, alcohol and other worldy
pleasures you pay the price at times you pay with
your life but in Jesus your salvation and eternal life
are all paid for and ready to be enjoyed.

Be like the four lepers in the bible who when Samaria

was besieged and had run out food, approached the
enemy camp out of desperation thinking that either
way they were going to die. When God delivered the
bounty of the Syrian army into their hands by causing
the Syrians to hear the sound of many horses and
chariots approaching, they first went and hoarded all
they could lay their hands on, until one of them
reminded the others that they were not doing the right
thing, they needed to go and tell the people in the
94
city where food and treasures could be found for free.
They owed it to the rest of the people to tell. Now that
you have found where spiritual food, spiritual treasure
and spiritual water can be found, in Jesus, go and tell
others about it. A testimony need not be flowery. The
people that know you well can tell whether or not you
have changed or rather been changed or transformed
by the undeserved favour (grace) of God. It is to
these people that you can be most effective in telling
your story of how Jesus is transforming your life. You
are not yet perfect, in fact none of us ever will be in
this present day and age, but you are and we all are a
work in progress (Ephesians 2:8-10) This means
God is working on you and me to make us daily more
and more like Jesus, which means
ultimately more and more like God Himself. That’s
because Jesus possesses in Himself the fullness of
the godhead bodily (Colossians 1:15-20, Isaiah 9:6-7,
Isaiah 7:14).

95
Indicative Bibliography

BCA (1997) The Hutchinson Encyclopedia1997

Edition. Helicon. London

Webster’s Reference Library (2005) Webster’s

Dictionary and Thesaurus: Concise Edition. New
Lamark, Scotland: Geddes & Grosset.

Vine, W.E. (1970) Vine’s Complete Expository

Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.
London: Thomas Nelson.

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/totemism Accessed
on 27/01/08.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem Accessed on
27/01/08.

Bibles used: mainly New Kung James Version unless

otherwise stated.

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