GOD’S KINGDOM SOCIETY (GKS) Around the earth, the largest, most similar yet different competitor to the Watchtower Society is the “God’s
Kingdom Society,” (GKS) which some estimate may have 3 million members. The GKS itself, which has its world headquarters in Nigeria, does not count how many people
are GKS members. They do this because 2 Samuel 24 shows that God punished King David for taking a census
of his people.
However,
Nigeria itself has about 155 million people, and about 7 million live in Delta State, a stronghold of the GKS where it is
highly regarded; so an estimation of 3 million GKS members is not unreasonable.
QUICK OVERVIEW AND FUTURE: The GKS much resembles Jehovah’s Witnesses but differs largely in that it places much more emphasis on helping
the needy, elderly, and young people. So far it’s membership is mostly mostly Nigerian.
Despite the historical and at least partly continuing emphasis on helping the needy, it appears that it is now focusing
more on trying to expand. In such a process it is predictable that some hardening occurs and this is what
we see for example in the article “GKS Bent On Evicting 72 -Year- Old Widow” by Eubaldus Enahoro in the Nigerian
Observer News of 2008.
It says the GKS has dragged Mrs. Grace Edet from an apartment she has been occupying at the God’s Kingdom Society
(GKS) to court in order to recover the two bedrooms flat at the Senior Ministers Executives Quarters she has been occupying
at the Salem City Warri. She told newsmen that her husband was with the GKS’s founder in early 1940
and served as a senior minister of the church until death in 1991. Further, the current President appears
to expressing some opinions in line with ideas of GKS’s traditional rival, the Watchtower Society.
She disclosed that her husband was also buried
in the church yard and since she came to Salem City in 1957 as a young lady she took the place as her home and was a complete
devotee of the church. Mrs. Edet noted that the plot to eject her started when the Executive Board of GKS
headed by Brother Mathias Iwoh cut her monthly stipends and subsequently stopped her monthly allowance and was left to survive
on goodwill from loved ones. She disclosed that her recent ordeal reached its peak when she was asked to
vacate the premises as she was no longer wanted for anything, adding that the trauma she was facing as a result of sanction
by the church was very agonizing, stressing that her only hope is in God Almighty.
http://www.nigerianobservernews.com/15092008/15092008/news/national/news12.html
FOUNDER AND EARLY HISTORY: Now
deceased, Gideon M. Urhobo was born in 1903 in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos. His family was part
of Nigeria's elite class. He was educated at the Warri Government School. He taught
in Roman Catholic schools and the Warri Government School, but in 1930 obtained a comfortable Colonial Government job as a
postal clerk and telegraphist.
He wrote that after three and a half years of diligent and prayerful studies of
the Bible, Jesus Christ came to him in a vision. Christ commanded that he preach God's Kingdom (or
Gospel of Peace) as a remedy to all human woes in all the nations, expose all of Satan's false doctrines, and pronounce
God's judgment against all wickedness.
When Gideon Urhobo resigned his job in 1933 and became a preacher of
much more humble means, his wife left him. He then took care of their children alone while also going out
to preach on street corners and in public places. Other friends and family members thought
he must be crazy so they also deserted him.
Beset with persecution in Warri, he went to Sapele in June 1933. There he gave lectures against the false doctrines of "churchianity."
These angered other clergymen against him. He also preached against Islam, which has many members
in northern Nigeria. After reading some interesting publications written by Joseph Rutherford who was then
the President of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, he went in October 1934, to a meeting with Watchtower representative
W.R. Brown.
As a result he briefly became
a Watchtower agent under Brown. However, he soon began disagreeing and expressing differences over topics
such as about marriage, organization, leadership, the memorial supper, women preaching, and Watchtower's predicting dates
for Armageddon.
Gideon Urhobo also said
only prophets, especially those who are anointed persons, are Jehovah's Witnesses; and he did not agree that only 144,000
humans go to heaven. When Brown said JWs have no human leader, Urhobo countered that it was untrue but
in fact Joseph Rutherford was the human leader of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Brown then declared that Gideon Urhobo was an enemy of the Watchtower
Society and trying to take over. When Urhobo split with the Watchtower in December of 1934, others followed
him to form God's Kingdom Society. In this way, the GKS was born. The Watchtower
Society and the Roman Catholic Church began acting as the main opposers of Gideon Urhobo and the GKS, a little one that in
time became “a mighty spiritual nation.” (Isaiah 60:22; Mathew 13:31, 32)
The Watchtower
Society called Gideon Urhobo names such as devil, Judas, and sinner. They also pretended that his preaching
would be like a withered branch, but instead it has borne more fruit than theirs and it continues to grow. Although
Watchtower’s attacks have been vicious and loud in denouncing his separating from W.R. Brown, even the Watchtower’s
Charles Taze Russell separated from N.H. Barbour.
After Gideon Urhobo died on February 25, 1952, those who had known him declared that although imperfect as all humans are,
his life which included numerous acts of kindness for others, was truly that of a holy man or saint. He
is also considered to be a Spirit-anointed witness for Jehovah and Jesus Christ. It is true that as the
first President of the GKS, he never went to Europe or America, and his most prominent secular job was only that of
a telegraphist. However, he allowed himself to be amply used for God’s purpose.
Although Gideon Urhobo studied with and distributed some publications
of Jehovah's Witnesses, it must also be remembered that he was in fact always and foremost for Jehovah God Himself and
Jesus Christ not the Watchtower Society. From its founding the GKC has pointed out that the Watchtower Society has proved
itself a false prophet many many times. As a quick example, even before the Watchtower Society mispredicted
that 1975 would bring Armageddon, JWs poured into Nigeria's towns and villages proclaiming Armageddon's imminence"
after the eclipse of the sun on Tuesday, 2nd May 1947.
SINCE GIDEON URHOBO: Gideon Urhobo was succeeded by Ebenezer Otomewo,
who served 45years as President of the GKS until dying on April 27, 1997. There was much during growth
his tenure but almost nothing is written about him, so possibly he was equivalent to Joseph Russell in the Watchtower Society’s
history. In September 1997 Emmanuel Oseghale Aighalua, an attorney, became President at age
39 and serves the GKS as President. For this he is assisted by other GKC officers and Executive Board members
including the current Vice President is Samuel Nwaeke. He is outspoken, opinionated and has traveled to Europe and the U.S.
MORE RECENT
DEVELOPMENTS DURING PRESIDENT AIGHALUA'S RULE: President Aighalua has called
on all the parties involved in warfare in the Niger Delta to cease all hostilities and negotiate. He has also called
on the federal and state governments to improve the level of security especially where there are many violent crimes. He
says the nation’s leaders need to live by the Bible and practice what they preach about not living in luxury and greed.
In Nigeria 1% of the population allegedly controls 80% of the wealth. This is considered un-Christian and goes against
the well-being and happiness of others.
Aighalua has spoken against Christians dressing children in sexually provocative ways such as T-shirts saying “porn
star in the making,” lack of parental guidance in video and TV films, parental emphasis on secular instead of spiritual
education. He has also noted “the increasing portrayals of violence, occultism, witchcraft, immorality, crime
and so on via TV, video and the internet. His email is oeaighalua@yahoo.com. He is against young people joining secret societies.
Aighalua personally disapproves of birthdays, noting Bible occasions that do not speak
well of those. He also feels that the money, time and energy spent feeding of guests, making cakes, hiring
live bands or deejays in some cases, sewing special clothing etc, could be better spent on more spiritual doings to benefit
children and the poor people in society. He also disapproves of African burial ceremonies being turned into festive
occasions at which young people dress flamboyantly, harass people on the roads, drink, drive recklessly and sing unedifying
songs.
His wife Blessing Aighalua accompanied
him to the United States on a visit with GKS members gathered in Boston, Massachusetts during July 24-26, 2009. They
also went to fellowship with GKS members in other parts of the United States. He reached to the U.S. media, helped conduct
seminars and training sessions on leadership etc. The President and his wife live in a large house or mansion called
Paradise House.
The annual GKS ministers
meeting is a time for decisions of church policy and the state of the world in light of the scriptures. Meeting in Ghana
and Kenya for example, it has spoken against any use of abortion or human embryonic cells for example for scientific purposes.
The ministers have also spoken against anyone wanting to kill or harm the scientists, noting that two wrongs don’t make
a right and vengeance belongs not to humans but to Jehovah. They also encouraged the governments of Ghana and Kenya
to act against greed and for Liberians to stay at peace after U.N. peacekeepers pull out. They have also called on Western
governments to not legalize homosexual marriages. GENERAL
BELIEFS: The GKS believes that God Almighty the Father is Jehovah. Its main
goal is to peacefully tell the Good News and organize for Jehovah's Kingdom under Jesus Christ. It does this by
free public lectures and publications, TV, radio, the internet, witnessing on street corners and at homes mostly in Africa
and in some Western cities. Most of the evangelizing is done by male members. Female members mostly contribute by charitable
deeds and building stronger families.
The 144,000 number for those serving with Christ from heaven is not literal and not filled. Tolerance and
neighborliness need to be given to those of other beliefs, but it is noted that although many groups say they are Christians
or for Jehovah, their fruits show that to the contrary they are being cleverly misled by the devil who is a wicked spirit.
Pain, suffering, poverty, death of loved ones are all blamed on Satan and his demons.
Although the Bible speaks of women
such as Miriam, Deborah, Anna and Hulda as religious leaders, prophetesses or preachers such references are believed due to
misunderstandings as when Deborah is called a Judge over Israel, but the Bible’s calling her a Judge over Israel may
have been in only an honorary non-literal sense.
Hell is not a literal place of fire but sleep-like death for unconscious souls. Some will have a resurrection
to life, others to judgment. Christ and anointed Christians are called the Little Flock. They receive the First
Resurrection which is in heaven. (Lu 12:32, James 1:18) The Better Resurrection will be for faithful men and women of
old who worshipped Jehovah before Christ was born on earth, (Hebrews 11:4-40) and it will take place on earth, not this but
a reconstructed earth glorified like the Garden of Eden. Isaiah and Revelation speak of a new heavens and a new
earth. The General Resurrection will be for the remaining others,
both good and bad, and it is also upon the reconstructed planet earth. Good people receive eternal life. Bad people
will be judged and sentenced according to their deeds. (John 5:28,29) Humans will not only be resurrected but death
itself will be ended for them. (Hos. 13:14). It is seen from his upholding of Christianity that Saint Gideon Urhobo
is among them, but otherwise there are no known members of the GKS, their resurrection being on earth.
Christ’s Kingdom come upon the reconstructed paradise Earth
will reign for 1000 years. Then he will hand over the Kingdom to his father Jehovah according to I Corinthians 15, from
verse 24 to 28. Then the Kingdom of God will continue and cover the whole planet under the full command of Jehovah God
Almighty. In Psalm 115 verse 16 King David said the earth is for the children of men, that is for
humans.
King Solomon
said God had shown him a vision of those who go to heaven. He said he saw more than 1,000, but not one was a woman.
(Ecclesiastics 7:28). Jesus Christ chose apostles who go to heaven as spirit beings, and later he chose seventy other
disciples. However, no woman was among them, but women and men do receive the General Resurrection which is on
earth. At John 3:12-13, the apostle Paul says no one had then gone to heaven except
for Christ.
Only knowing adults
are given baptism symbolic of their dedication as Christians. Racism is opposed. The gift of speaking in tongues
or other languages has ceased as people can now read the Bible and preach in their own languages, which was not the case at
the time of the early church. Those who speak in tongues today are using meaningless sounds contrary to what happened on the day
of Pentecost. People cannot see Christ in the flesh for he is now a spirit in heaven. Only saints will see
Christ when they are resurrected as spirits to heaven at Christ’s second presence. Others chosen in the last days
will know of his coming by revelation, go and educate the world about God and His kingdom. The GKS position is that it is shameful that some professed Christians
actually worship idols. Idol worshippers lack faith in Jehovah. Interfaith is avoided because it is seen as light
mixing with dark. Homosexuality is also condemned. However the President of the GKC has commended Anglicans for
working against the legalization of homosexuality in Nigeria. The GKC urges faithful Christians to show fruits of the spirit such as
love, joy, and long-suffering.
ATTENDANCE
SERVICES: Sunday service is simple, opened by "Hail Jehovah and Jesus Christ!"
Members also commonly use this expression to greet each other. Next come sermons or exhortations, announcements,
and songs of thanksgiving. The ending cry is also "Hail Jehovah and Jesus Christ!" Songs are usually accompanied by organ music and may be traditional or
modern African and Western songs. Most meetings are in English but with allowance made for those of other language
groups. Members do not partake
of the Lord's Meal (the Last Supper) because they believe Christ already came and was resurrected to glory in heaven.
GKC members pray while standing with their eyes open. (This must make it harder for enemies to spot them.)
WOMEN: Women cannot wear men's clothing or dress provocatively. They must wear a head covering,
cannot speak during worship or sit in the altar area. Instead men sit on the right of the altar and women on the left.
There are Wednesday night Bible Study meetings lasting
1½ hours for men. There is a separate timed meeting that night for the women. Additional Bible study opportunities
are available. MEMBERSHIP: Membership is free and as easy as agreeing to the beliefs of the GKS. Donating is encouraged,
and much joy comes from doing Christian deeds to help needy people. YOUTH: The GKS has a Youth Assembly with fun activities such
as a Bible quiz, drama, music, and sports. This comes every August. Freedom Day concerns the birthday of
Jesus, and it is held in October. The highly spectacular Feast of Tabernacles is held in December. There are also special
fellowshipping conferences for ministers in June. A fellowshipping conference for lay members and women is in March
and April. CURRENT LOCATIONS: Major GKC Bible Study groups gather throughout Nigeria and other African nations such as Liberia’s
capital Monrovia and Benin City in Benin. In Europe there is an especially large concentration in London, not
surprising since Nigeria is in the British Commonwealth and was once a British colony. In the United States members of the GKS gather in widely-spread cities
such as in Detroit, Michigan, and Decatur, Illinois. The world headquarters is at Warri or Salem City, Nigeria, in Delta
State or province.
GOD’S
OVERALL PLAN: Jehovah created the Word who became God's agent in creation,
and the Word was later sent to this earth where he was the only spirit son of God ever born to a woman, that is Jesus Christ
of Nazareth. Satan was and is
the powerful spirit being who heads the other powerful spirit beings commonly called bad angels or the demons. Jesus
Christ has returned to heaven where he is with Jehovah the Father, and Christ is the powerful spirit being who heads all the
good, holy and faithful angels. There is only one God Almighty, the Father Jehovah who is all powerful. However,
Christ, the other angels, Satan and his demons, being powerful spirit beings are also sometimes called “gods”
spelled with a small letter “g” in the sense of being powerful spirit creatures. (Ps 82:6) Jehovah
is "God of gods, and Lord of lords." (Deut 10:17) The Kingdom of Heaven is an actual place far above the firmaments, that is a place literally
in the heavens. The Kingdom was established only after World War I which was 1914-1918. That was when Jesus
returned invisibly. Most people inherit admission into the Kingdom here on earth, but a small number go up to the headquarters
in heaven. Armageddon will occur
sometime but no one knows when or can truthfully set a date for it. After Armageddon the planet Earth will be restored
to Edenic paradise and surviving humans will eventually be restored to perfection. This will all be to the great glory
and praise of Jehovah God.
PHILOSOPHICAL
DIFFERENCE WITH JW’S; POSSIBLE FUTURE EVANGELIZING EFFORTS BY THE GKS:
Although the GKS believes we live in the Last Days, it does not see its preaching mission as something
that must be accomplished so quickly by a fixed or immediate date but as possibly a mission to which it must be committed
on a long-term basis. Jehovah’s Witnesses are seen as sincere and admirable for their zealousness but totally
misled. Also, unlike Watchtower, the GKS does not claim to be the only true Church organization in the world, but does
appealingly say that it is a fruitful, branch of the Christianity faith sincerely trying to follow the Bible itself.
Many Nigerians, especially of the Urhobo and Isoko cultures, have
become members of the GKS. This is only partly because of its Bible teachings that are regarded as positive. Even
non-members enjoy the GKS’s rich blend of Nigerian music, its large colorful festivals and appreciative use and blending
of the elements of other people’s cultures. Instead of standing apart from or fighting against difference
in culture as Jehovah’s Witnesses do, the GKS makes use of cultures. Likely in evangelizing in other nations,
GKS would be sensitive to the local cultural differences there, too. For example in the United States polygamy is against
the law and culturally taboo, so it would likely take those factors into account.
There are examples of the GKS sensitivity to culture dating back to when G.M. Urhobo
and W.R. Brown of the Watchtower Society were alive. As said already, a major example is that of polygamy.
First GKS President Gideon Urhobo and the GKS have said that polygamy is not only scriptural but cultural inherent and a totally
legal arrangement in many African nations including Nigeria. Brown, Watchtower and JWs both long ago and now have opposed
polygamy even where legal and cultural. In fact Watchtower now compels men with more than one wife to divorce them all
except for one. However,
before the GKS came into existence, Watchtower’s JWs in Nigeria had also permitted the practice of polygamy! Until
the 1950s, Watchtower ordered JWs to oppose giving the traditional greeting that Nigerians make to an elderly person, because
it involved a bow to the elderly person. They claimed this was an act of creature worship. However, as said, they
switched to the approach of the GKS.
The Urhobo culture is the main culture in Delta State, one of Nigeria’s
36 states. It is in southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger River delta. The Urhobo people speak a type
of pidgin or broken English called Brokan which is used across Nigeria. English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are also all
official languages. Thus, the GKS is used to preaching in multi-ethnic contexts which means that if it becomes serious
about preaching in other lands, its likelihood for success is all the greater.
The GKS has its world headquarters at Salem City which is in the city of Warri in
Delta State. The state of Warri is noted for the production of oil, and its inhabitants are mostly Christians.
Some other religious groups in Delta State are the CMS, Baptists, Roman Catholics and Pentecostalists. It would need
to establish branch offices in more nations to do more evangelizing. One can only make
guesses as to where, should the GKS choose to do more to expand, it would be most likely to do so. Beyond London, U.K.,
it is known that the GKS has had some training sessions in the United States. Given too that English is a main language
for many Nigerians in the GKS, other African nations where English is spoken, such as in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi
etc), would be logical possibilities. Brazil, long a place where Watchtower has grown at a quick pace, is another logical
place, but it is more distant and the language there is a dialect of Portuguese. Not only has the current GKS President
already shown some keen interest in evangelizing outside of Nigeria, but the approach of 2014 is significant for both the
Watchtower Society and God’s Kingdom Society. Watchtower has told JWs that 1914 was the year that would begin
the end of the world ushering in Armageddon then paradise on earth. In 2014 it will be seen that the world still exists,
making Watchtower look stupid and false. Watchtower’s misprediction of the end coming exactly in 1975 led to a
fall in its membership; so clearly by the end of 2014, there will be another decline in its membership. Watchtower has already
moved to make some adjustments, but those may be too little too late. Meanwhile the GKS, as true to for other onlooking
religious groups around the earth such as the Roman Catholic Church, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, etc, has beyond doubt
recalled the significance of 2014 (a hundred years past 1914), so as we go toward that year more competition with Watchtower
can be expected. In the 1800s the Adventists also predicted the End, but they survived and have grown since because
of the emphasis on hands-on, membership-oriented love as seen with Adventist hospitals, retirement homes, schools, etc.
Watchtower has done none of those things.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY: The GKS recognizes that technology can be used for good or bad. Although warning of the
internet’s dangers, it uses the internet. For example it has youtube videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/GodsKingdomSociety and its current President has an email. Currently there are a number of GKS Facebook websites, some with the group’s
name, others not. The GKS has long used TV, radio etc.
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