BIBLICAL BRIEFS 94
In 1Sam. 9: 9 the term ‘seer’ is explained: “Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, ‘Come, and let us go to the seer’; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called a seer.” There are several seers in the Old Testament: Samuel, Zadok, Gad, Heman, Jedi, Iddo, Hanani, Jehu, Asaph and Amos. This term is not being used in the New Testament. In South Africa, specifically the Afrikaner, the British Israelism, and other far-right groups, have placed a huge premium on Siener van Rensburg’s prophecies and thus called him a seer. This humble and illiterate man’s highly symbolic visions and dreams are unfortunately ominous influenced by subjective and alarmistic racist interpretations. Following are some facts regarding Siener known by few of his Christian followers (the quotes indicate that they were taken from original sources). Siener is often typify by believers as if it seemed that he had “an attack of madness” and that he appeared to be a “wreck” due to his strange behaviour. He often came across as “fearful”, as if he was “by nature scared”. His “deep turmoil and terrifying feelings” filled people with fear and suspicion. In his book: Commando, A Boer Journal of the Boer War, Denys Reitz says the following regarding Siener: “he pretended to be possessed of occult powers”. Siener predicted that his son, Johannes Cornelius, would follow him up as a seer, but this boy died just after Seer and his wife passed away. J. Maree rightly asks in The Messenger of July 1991: “Who gives the prior knowledge, God or Satan?” Siener was the spiritual advisor of General De la Rey. Denys Reitz said the following concerning the general: “I had met him only a few days before his death and I saw that his mind was affected, for his talk was of Christian Science, spiritualism, and the dreams of Van Rensburg, his famous prophet; and at one time, when he had looked at me in a strange way, I asked him why, and he said that he was testing our souls to bring them ‘en rapport’, a phrase he must have picked up at a séance.” H.C. Armstrong, in his book, The Biography of Jan Smuts, writes about De la Rey “(that he) talked with spiritualists and attended séances; and he was under the influence of Van Rensburg”. General Botha says about De la Rey (in J. Meintjies’ De la Rey – Lion of the West): “He gave me the impression that he had gone wrong somehow – not in his sober senses but in a sort of mental wandering.” Except for the fact that the New Testament prophets function completely different from the Old Testament prophets, the Afrikaners’ high regard of Siener’s prophecies is suspicious, because it is undergirded by a racial agenda and fake predictions, often driven by fear. This is certainly not God’s agenda for the white, black and brown Afrikaners in Africa. We can no longer be guided by a spirit of divination and historical sentiment that is possibly built on the occult. True prophets “speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation” (1Cor. 14: 3).
Dr Tom Gouws
