David Ibiyeomie adamant on claim that ‘Jesus hates the poor’ says, ‘God told me I am right’

Founder and Pastor of the five-finger church called Salvation Ministries in Portharcourt, Rivers State, David Ibiyeomie has refused to apologise over his claim that Jesus hates the poor despite the avalanche of criticisms that greeted that statement.

Ibiyeomie told his church members on Sunday April 20 that he was not wrong and insisted that no believer should accept poverty..

He said if believers can accept their transition from sin to righteousness they should also be be able to accept a transition from poverty to prosperity

While trying to defend his earlier claim that Jesus hates poor people he said, God was dictating to him in the bathroom and said ‘my son, you’re not wrong..tell them I died for them so they could become rich. So if they don’t accept it that means my death for them on the cross was in vain’

He stated emphatically, ‘nothing should make a believer accept poverty’ adding that ‘believers naturally don’t associate with sinners, why will they associate with the poor. You help the poor, you don’t stay with the poor.’

Since Ibiyeomie made the claim that Jesus hates poor people social media has been set agog with many criticising him for the statement.

Some went as far as citing scriptures where Jesus associated with the poor and pointed out he never had kind words for the rich.

A catholic reverend father Chinaka Justin Mbaeri had tried to educate Ibiyeomie telling him the home of Lazarus whom he purportedly described as a rich person was Bethany which meant the home of the poor..

He wrote, Claiming that Jesus visited Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Mary and Martha, and that they were giving him food, doesn’t mean they were rich.

This reveals Pastor Ibiyeomie’s ignorance of the meaning of the hometown of Lazarus, which is Bethany. Bethany in Hebrew is “Beth anya” (בֵּית עַנְיָה), which means “House of the Poor” or “House of Affliction.”

This is because it is literally known as the ‘House of Figs’ from the Hebrew Beth te’enah, which reflects the nature of the village at that time.

The houses in Bethany (John 11:1-5) as the name implied were associated with fig cultivation – agriculture. Thus, Bethany was not a city of the elite or the rich but was a small, humble village near Jerusalem, known for housing the sick and the poor and Jesus’ preferred resting place whenever He was in Judea.’

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