‘Strike Your Hands’ in the Book of Ezekiel and Contemporary Ghanaian Christian Practice of Clapping in Prayer: The Problem of Interpretation and Application of Scripture

Abstract

In contemporary Ghanaian Christianity, clapping of hands in prayer has become an accepted practice. The Book of Ezekiel has been quoted to support this practice. Statements such as ‘When I clap my hands and pray let fire come and consume my enemies; let those against my progress perish’, have become statements in prayers. The focus of the article was to examine these texts in the Book of Ezekiel as to whether it is appropriate for contemporary Ghanaian Christians to use these texts to support their practice. To achieve this, the article subjected the texts in Ezekiel to exegetical exercise through the historical-grammatical method. This exegesis revealed that the practice is an interpretation and application error. This is because a proper exegesis of the texts from Ezekiel clearly shows that the texts have nothing to do with the contemporary Ghanaian Christian clapping in prayer. In fact, one cannot mimic Ezekiel because God has not informed the contemporary Christian to do so. The narrative is descriptive, not prescriptive. It is therefore recommended that Ghanaian Christians who clap their hands in prayer should not base the practice on Ezekiel’s experience. The article impacts positively on scholarship. It especially, demonstrates how biblical symbolic actions should be interpreted and applied. The issues raised can serve as tools for Christian scholars who wish to interpret texts of this nature.

Keywords

• strike your hands
• contemporary ghanaian christian practice
• interpretation
• application