Torah portion: Leviticus 19:1-20:27

Kedoshim (Holy ones)

The key command in this week’s portion is in the second verse of chapter 19: “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.”

To be holy, a person must be like God in mind, heart and action. Just as God is separate and different from the fallen world, so must his people be.

We were created in his image at the beginning of time, but mankind fell away due to the first act of disobedience of Adam and Eve. The tendency of mankind since then has been to rebel against God and form their own ideas of how to live, resulting in a life separate from the Creator. All the world’s philosophies, false religions, political movements and resulting division, strife and warfare are evidence of this.

A Character Like God’s

God’s character is shown through his requirements. Simple as they are, many of these things are set out systematically in the chapters that we are studying this week. For example:

• A family life pleasing to God
• Keeping the Sabbath
• Keeping away from false gods and idols
• Giving unto God from the willingness of the heart
• Being generous with produce from the land (income)
• Being honest
• Bearing good witness of the Lord
• Caring for the poor and needy

It would be a good exercise this week to complete the above list by studying the portion and laying the list out prayerfully before God.

But How?

We know that in keeping the law the Israelites failed. We would too, if we tried to achieve holiness through our own will-power. Jesus’ sacrifice clears those of punishment who trust in him. But does that make these principles of holiness of no relevance now?

Turn to the Sermon on the Mount as a cross-reference. Surely Jesus is actually strengthening the definition of holiness. Consider 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Galatians 5:19-21, where we find lists of those things that keep a person from entering the Kingdom of Heaven.

Then go to 1 Peter 1:16 to discover that Peter reminds us that the same command, “Be holy, because I am holy”, is as true today as it was at the time of Moses. How then can we achieve what the Israelites failed to achieve?

Yeshua has sent us his Holy Spirit to indwell us and make us a people different from the world. That difference is defined by the character of God whose Spirit is, if we ask in faith, living in us.

Be holy. That is the prompt for our prayerful meditation before God this week.

Author: Clifford Denton

Torah portion: Leviticus 21:1-24:23

Emor (‘speak’)

‘Time’ is a dimension of life that we take for granted. The clock is always ticking and the pages of our diaries and calendars are always being turned. There are often occasions when time seems to ‘fly’, yet we know that it is actually effectively constant and regular in its passing. So we should not be surprised to read in this week’s Torah portion of the Lord God giving instructions to Moses regarding regular, annual fixtures to be included on the Hebrew calendar: “my appointed festivals” (moedim, lit. ‘appointed times’).

God even seems to underline the element of ‘time’: “These are the LORD’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed time” (Lev 23:4, emphasis mine). They were to be celebrated at specified points on the calendar: Passover at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month, the Festival of Unleavened Bread on the fifteenth day of that month, and so on.

This specific concern for ‘time’ was incorporated by God into each of the annual Hebrew festivals. But ‘time’ was also intrinsic to other instructions laid down in this section of the Torah. Those concerning the priesthood were to be applied “For generations to come” (Lev 21:16; 22:3). Newly-born calves, lambs and goats were to remain with their mothers “for seven days” (22:27). Thank-offering sacrifices were to be eaten “the same day” (22:30). Lamps in the Tent of Meeting were to be tended “from evening til morning, continually” (24:3) and bread was to be set out before the LORD “Sabbath after Sabbath” (24:8).

A Question

This ‘time’ factor may not seem unusual to us because we are used to time having a big ‘say’ in our lives. But those ongoing references by God to Moses should actually make us stop and think.

We know from Scripture that God Himself is eternal and everlasting - not restricted or bound by ‘time’. Jesus declared: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8).

In contrast, we live in a time-space continuum completely outside of our control. This raises a question: How does relationship with our timeless God, who holds our times in His hands (Ps 31:15), affect our time-bound lives?

Shared Humanity

These verses in Leviticus provide some answers. First, although existing outside of ‘time’, God is aware of its existence and constraints upon us. When God became Man, He stepped down into ‘time’: “he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself” (Phil 2:7-8).

This means that He was subjected to the pressures and limitations that we have to endure in respect of ‘time’. He even had to follow the requirements regarding those ‘times’ set out in Leviticus, which He Himself had instituted through Moses!

Godly Rhythms

Secondly, God knows our need to structure and mark the passage of ‘time’ with regular events of specific spiritual significance. ‘Time’ was not allowed to pass in ancient Israel without those occasions providing a sense of rhythm or ‘beat’ to life that helped people to re-focus on God.

As we follow God, it is still His requirement that we keep in step with His ‘timing’, regularly focusing on Him and His work in our own lives.

Important Reminders

Thirdly, those Festivals acted as powerful reminders of ‘times’ when God had clearly and wonderfully intervened in the past. Those interventions were not to be glossed over or ignored. The Festivals were to prompt God’s people on a regular basis to recall His gracious and ongoing dealings in their lives.

This week that lies ahead of us may seem to be just another period of seven days. But, perhaps, it is a good ‘time’ to pause and reflect on God’s work in our lives at specific times in the past. Are you also remembering that He continues to hold your future ‘times’ in His hands as well?

Author: Stephen Bishop has written several books, including on the subject of time from a biblical perspective. Click here and here for our reviews.

Persecution calls for joy in hope, patience in affliction and faithfulness in prayer.

Imagine feeling a shot of panic every time you hear a motorbike go past your home. Or waving your spouse off to the shops, or your children off to school, knowing there is a distinct possibility they may be abducted or slaughtered. Or wondering every time you go to a church service whether you and your loved ones will come out alive.

This is the grim reality for Christians in many parts of northern and central Africa, where Islamist militant gangs like Boko Haram and al Shabaab are spreading terror, inspired and supported by better-known groups like Al Qaeda.

This month alone, the Barnabas Fund has reported that Islamist gunmen have been on a killing spree in northern Burkina Faso, storming church services, rounding up congregants and shooting them dead. In predominantly Muslim Niger, a pastor has been shot and a church looted, following a spate of attacks on churches. In mainly Christian Cameroon, two Christian villages have been ransacked.

In Nigeria, one of the deadliest countries in Africa for Christians, 17 church-goers were abducted by Boko Haram last weekend whilst at their choir practice. ISIS-inspired Boko Haram are intent on establishing a caliphate from north-eastern Nigeria to northern Cameroon.

Writing this on a beautifully sunny spring day in England, it’s difficult to imagine what these believers and their families are going through. The long night of Islamist persecution in Africa (particularly in the Sahel region) grows ever darker, with no sign of dawn.

Great is the Darkness

The vast regions of western Africa provide sadly plentiful examples of the persecution of the faithful but, as Open Doors unveils every year with its ‘World Watch List’, Christians are being discriminated against and abused, imprisoned and murdered all around the globe.

The Easter Day attacks in Sri Lanka made shocking headlines, but the fuller list is exhausting: Christians are being targeted by hard-line Islamists in Indonesia and Pakistan, communist state pressure in North Korea, China and Vietnam, radical Hindu attacks in India and Nepal, radical Buddhists in Laos and Myanmar, and Islamic persecution in virtually every country in central Asia, the Middle East (save for Israel) and north Africa.

Christians are being discriminated against and abused, imprisoned and murdered all around the globe.

Such a bleak map spurred the Bishop of Truro to claim in his recent report to the Foreign Secretary that persecution of Christians in some areas is at ‘near genocide’ levels, though political correctness has generally stopped it being reported in the mainstream Western press.

Open Doors' 2019 World Watch List map, showing in colour the 50 worst countries for persecution of Christians.Here in Britain, we may justifiably be concerned about the erosion of free speech, or the gradual encroachment of secularism or Islam, or the threats posed by a Corbyn government. But even with the recent spate of Islamist terror attacks on people and churches in Europe, Christians in the West do not yet face anything like the danger being faced on a daily basis by our brothers and sisters elsewhere around the world.

Refining Fire

In Matthew 24, speaking to his disciples, Jesus said that in addition to deception, wars, famines and earthquakes, one sign of his imminent return would be that “you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Matt 24:9). But just because these things ‘must happen’, it does not mean that Christians in the comparatively safe West should turn a blind eye, or fail to speak up on these issues, or withhold their prayers. It may not be long before we are next.

Mark well Jesus’ subsequent words: “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (emphasis added).

High levels of persecution lead to a flourishing underground Church; the Gospel has always, paradoxically, produced most life in the fires of hardship. These fires are refining: strengthening faithful believers and removing their impurities through testing.

But they are also refining in another sense, purging the dross from the Body of Christ. As persecution increases, we see the less committed falling away, their attachment to Christ not strong enough to withstand threats to their personal safety or dignity. Still others become ensnared by the smooth words and enticing promises of false prophets, who provide a tempting diversion from harsh reality.

I believe that we are seeing the beginnings of this refining in the Western Church today, where false teachings have already ensnared many and where an increasingly stark division is apparent between Christians who cleave to Scripture and to their Lord (whatever the cost), and those who have accepted a syncretistic or worldly gospel which cannot save.

Just because these things ‘must happen’, it does not mean that Christians in the comparatively safe West should turn a blind eye.

Momentous Drama

It may be that one day soon, believers in the old heartlands of Christianity will face the same long night as our brothers and sisters are currently enduring elsewhere around the world. We must pray that if and when it comes, we will be found faithful.

The wonderful news is that a worldwide surge in persecution will be accompanied by the worldwide spread of the true Gospel and the adding of many more believers to the true Church, who is being prepared as a Bride for her Husband (Matt 24:14).

As this momentous drama unfolds, we are enjoined by the Lord Jesus to guard our hearts and not let our love grow cold – which I take to mean both our love for him, and our love for each other. May this dreadful news from west Africa this month fan the flame of love in our hearts, especially for our persecuted family, in the knowledge that one day soon, our Lord will return and justice will be done (Rev 6:9-11).

Here are several ministries through which you can stand with the persecuted Church. If you know of others, please post them below.

• Barnabas Fund https://barnabasfund.org/en
  
• Open Doors https://www.opendoorsuk.org/
  
• Release International https://releaseinternational.org/
  
• Samaritan’s Purse https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/article/help-persecuted-christians/
  
• Sat-7 (satellite network reaching the Middle East and North Africa with the Gospel) https://www.sat7uk.org/
• Morningstar News (news service focusing exclusively on the persecuted Church) https://morningstarnews.org

Or is it a deceptive plot to keep us tied to Europe?

As votes are counted in an election that should never have taken place in the UK, suggestions of conspiracy and betrayal abound amid feelings of being in Alice in Wonderland territory, where the Queen of Hearts and her entourage turn out to be nothing but a pack of cards.

Why, after a majority (17.4 million people) voted to leave the European Union nearly three years ago, are we still so committed to this Tower of Babel project that we are spending over £100 million to choose representatives who will only be sitting in Brussels for a couple of months?

Unless, of course, that was never the plan! For the message we have been consistently giving to Euro leaders - acting collectively like a petulant Pharaoh - is that we are not really serious about leaving. We prefer to be enslaved to their godless laws, and we just love the leeks and onions.

A Fait Accompli?

A secret document witnessed by someone I am assured is a reliable source suggests that our future in Europe was stitched up at a meeting between British Prime Minister Theresa May (now shortly to vacate her post) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before being presented to the Cabinet at Chequers last summer as a fait accompli.

The two leaders are said to have agreed to ‘appease’ Brexit voters while at the same time keeping as close to the EU as possible, leaving the door open for re-joining the club at a later stage.

The message we have been giving to Euro leaders - acting collectively like a petulant Pharaoh - is that we are not really serious about leaving.

In other words, it is claimed that both leaders agreed that the only realistic future for the UK was as a member of the EU and that the likely course of events is that Britain would re-join in full at some time after the next general election.

So it transpires that the Withdrawal Agreement presented at Chequers was essentially a German production, with the original draft completed in Berlin last May.

Theresa May announces her soon departure as Prime Minister, 24 May 2019. Alastair Grant/AP/Press Association ImagesDeath Blow for Democracy

Of course this whole sorry saga got off on the wrong foot from the word ‘go’ when, in the wake of the 2016 Referendum, Mrs May – a Remainer – was charged with the task of taking us out, against her own convictions. It was a death blow for democracy, and hardly a recipe for job satisfaction, to expect someone clearly convinced that our best interests lie with Europe to spend the next three years negotiating our way out.

Unless, of course, as our information suggests, that is not what she has really been doing. It would explain why Brexit has turned into such a chaotic, crazy circus in which clowns are trying to tame the tigers.

It would seem that the long and tortuous route to freedom has been blighted by deceit and double-dealing to make it look like we are doing one thing when we are really doing quite another.

I’m very suspicious of the message the mainstream TV media are trying to convey by repeatedly showing Mrs May coming out of church, as if to assure us that she means no harm and is doing her best – perhaps even seeking God’s will – to fulfil her promise that ‘Brexit means Brexit’.

The long and tortuous route to freedom has been blighted by deceit and double-dealing.

But in her days as Home Secretary, she was a key figure pushing the same-sex marriage agenda, helping to turn our centuries-old Judeo-Christian values on their head and presiding over the ruin and destruction of a society once the envy of the world.

Now we are a nation, like Israel in Isaiah’s time, that has been separated from God by our iniquities, with hands “stained with blood” (particularly through abortion) and tongues that have muttered wickedness, where “truth is nowhere to be found” as we rely on “empty arguments” (Isa 59:2-4, 15).

A Modern Moses

A leader of integrity is a rare find these days, but Nigel Farage strikes me as such, passionately committed to the single issue of getting out of Europe. I am aware that his popularity could open the door for Jeremy Corbyn if it were repeated in a general election, but unless we regain our sovereignty forthwith, we may forever remain in the manipulative hands of our bureaucratic puppeteers in Brussels.

I am not alone in comparing Brexit to the exodus from Egypt of the enslaved Jews in ancient times. It was hard enough for Moses, and it took ten plagues before a stubborn Pharaoh would let his people go.

But we don’t even have a Moses, unless things change dramatically when Mrs May is replaced. For our leader has no conviction either about the necessity of our exodus or of God’s involvement in the process.

God’s Awesome Sovereignty

But I am a little encouraged by the newly-postponed date for departure – 31 October. Yes, I know Hallowe’en has come to be marked by darkness amid ghostly goings-on, but it was originally celebrated as the eve of All Hallows (or All Saints), a period of the church year dedicated to remembering the faithful departed. More to the point, it was the date in 1517 when Martin Luther sparked the Reformation with his personal revelation of faith in Christ.

It was also the date, exactly 400 years later, when the British Government (through the Balfour Declaration) promised to help restore Jews from around the world to their ancient land, made possible on the very same day when brave soldiers from Australia and New Zealand triumphed against the odds in the Battle of Beersheva.

I am a little encouraged by the newly-postponed date for our departure – 31 October.

And it was also the date, in 1940, of a British victory over Nazi forces that proved a crucial turning-point of World War II. Its cropping up again as the next proposed date for our deliverance from the EU is a small reminder that the Lord – who answers prayer - holds all our times in his hands, and exercises sovereign rule over the nations as he pleases.

But while I do believe that Brexit is crucial, it will not be the turning-point of our present spiritual battle against the forces of evil unless, as a nation, we repent of the heinous sin of turning our back on the God who brought us through the dark years of the 1940s, in answer to the prayers of people all over the country who queued outside churches to seek him for deliverance (see also Isaiah 59:13).

As the great Prophet urges us, “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near” (Isa 55:6).

Postscript

On another positive note, a Doncaster primary school used for polling purposes nevertheless went ahead with an assembly in which I took part (in a second hall) declaring the power of the Gospel – the real need of the nation - to hundreds of children!

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘It’s not about the music’ by Dan Lucarini (EP Publishing, 2010)

Subtitled ‘A Journey into Worship’, this is an excellent book for those who want to understand better the nature of worship – especially in relation to what has been happening in our church services in recent times.

In his previous books, the author explained why he left the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) movement. Here Lucarini examines the subject of worship from a biblical perspective and comes to the conclusion that ‘it’s not about the music’. He is aware that this will be a challenging statement for many, but his case is well-argued and well-established from Scripture.

Worship in Scripture

Lucarini warns that people can tell a lot about the God we worship by the way that we worship him. Getting that right should be a priority. In the first chapter, he sets out the aims of his book; primarily, it is to explore what the Bible teaches about worship and from there understand the type of worship that pleases God most. Through this, we will develop a resistance to worldly fashions and styles “that are like viruses infecting our personal and public worship” (p22).

Biblically, the author starts with Jesus’ statement about worship in John 4:21-25. The need to worship ‘in spirit and in truth’ provides the main focus. Here is the ‘strong meat’ of worship that will guide our thinking in coming chapters.

In chapter 3, Lucarini examines the Hebrew and Greek words usually translated as ‘worship’. These words have very specific meanings and should not be changed to suit us. We should change our methods and styles to fit what God has decreed - then we will discover the true essence of worship: namely, the total submission of our minds, hearts and flesh to God.

The most common biblical act of worship was to bow down, often flat on one’s face. While this doesn’t have to be a physical action, it should be the dominant attitude in our worship.

Lucarini warns that people can tell a lot about the God we worship by the way that we worship him.

Critiquing ‘Worship Inc.’

In the next few chapters the author explores the role of sacrifice in worship. He shows that the New Testament reveals three sacrifices expected of worshippers: our body, praise and koinonia (fellowship). It is in these pages that we discover what Lucarini means by his title. Praise is not primarily about music, but about “the fruit of our lips” (Hos 14:2). “The words that come from our lips are the most important part of the offering” (p61).

Lucarini goes on to explain how many modern songs start with the music, then add words to fit the rhythms and moods that the music has created. Most songwriters, he claims, are musicians - and so music dominates their output. The words are often secondary and hence trite or misleading (even biblically inaccurate). He compares this to some of the great hymn-writers of the past who started with the words, producing great poems of praise which could stand alone as worship without any music. Only later was a tune written or found as a setting for the words.

The author is particularly scathing of the contemporary Christian worship scene, which has become an industry dominated by the need to produce albums that outsell others. He calls this ‘Worship Inc.’, a market-driven enterprise designed to pour profits into the coffers of those who produce and promote such ‘worship’. Driven by musical performers, this entertainment business uses all the latest gimmicks to stimulate demand for new products. It also introduced the concept of the modern worship leader - someone who produces a ‘track list’ of songs for the rest of the congregation to follow.

In the latter part of his book, Lucarini draws “with much honour and respect” upon the classic writings of AW Tozer, picking up on his theme of worship as ‘the missing jewel’. In line with Tozer, Lucarini believes that prayer, the public reading of Scripture and the breaking of bread should be as much part of worship as songs and musical items.

The author is particularly scathing of the contemporary Christian worship scene.

Plea for Reform

If we have fallen well below the ideals outlined in Scripture, then what should be done to restore biblical worship? Lucarini offers many solutions, but in particular invites us to go on our own journey into worship to discover for ourselves what the Bible teaches.

There is much more to commend in this well-written and thought-provoking book on a vital topic. Each chapter concludes with a summary and the book ends with three very useful appendices. The first two provide a complete list of Old Testament and New Testament verses on worship (110 and 72 verses respectively – plenty to keep you busy!). The third appendix contains guidelines to choosing music for use in church. Eight biblical guidelines are provided, with Scripture references, together with useful questions such as “Does it appeal mainly to the spirit or the flesh?” and “Does it promote the things of this world?”

The author has succeeded in making an impassioned plea for reform wherever our worship practices have gone astray and followed the world rather than the Word. His book should be read not just by worship leaders and pastors, but by everyone involved in worship – which means every one of us!

‘It’s Not About the Music: A Journey into Worship’ (220pp) is available from Amazon for £9.99.

Blow the trumpet!

“Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say: ‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’ Cry aloud and say: ‘gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities! Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay!’

For I am bringing disaster from the North, even terrible destruction. A lion has come out from his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant. So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.” (Jeremiah 4:5-9)

This is Jeremiah at his strongest and most confident; delivering a broadside in the early days of his ministry when news had reached Jerusalem that the Babylonian army was on the march. The whole pronouncement is in poetry, which would no doubt have made it more striking for those who heard it in Jerusalem, at a time of complacency and comparative prosperity.

It is difficult to date this passage but the indications are that it came soon after the untimely death of Josiah and early in the reign of his son Jehoiakim, which puts it in the period 607-600 BC. The Babylonians were busy acquiring sections of the old Assyrian Empire and steadily moving towards Judah (the Northern Kingdom of Israel having already been scattered by the Assyrians).

This proclamation from Jeremiah is a perfect example of the prophetic ministry in action, performing his role as the ‘watchman’ of the nation and messenger of God. It is a series of announcements, each in the imperative to add drama to the news being conveyed: “A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out” (v7). But this was no ordinary piece of news. The Babylonians may have been the army that was threatening Judah and the holy city of Jerusalem, but the agent was God!

Claiming Immunity

Ever since the Temple, envisioned by King David but built by Solomon, was dedicated, it had been more than just a place of worship for the God of Israel. It was a living monument to the covenant between God and the house of David – the dynasty that David founded, that was endorsed and blessed by the Lord.

Hear God’s solemn promise at the dedication: “If My People who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron 7:14).

This proclamation from Jeremiah is a perfect example of the prophetic ministry in action

That promise had become the focal point of a ‘royal-temple ideology’¹ that screened out covenantal reality and permitted self-deception. The aristocratic families surrounding the King who were in charge of the national government, and the priestly aristocratic families who were in charge of the Temple, were all under the deception that Jerusalem (represented by the Temple) was inviolable and that Judah as the Promised Land could never be invaded by a foreign army because it was under the protection of Almighty God. It was this delusion that Jeremiah’s harsh poetic pronouncement aimed to dispel.

Jeremiah alone seemed to perceive that they had failed to recognise that their covenantal relationship with God was conditional! It was conditional upon the people of Israel being totally faithful to the Torah, with the Decalogue at its centre – especially having no other God than Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Judgment Inevitable

The royal-temple ideology assumed that the covenantal conditions were fulfilled through morning and evening prayers in the Temple, conducted by the priests on behalf of the nation. But this was a mere religious ordinance.

This was the message that Jeremiah was called by God to proclaim (hence the imperative in his poetry): “Sound the trumpet throughout the land!” The purpose of sounding the trumpet was not simply to warn of the dangers on the international horizon, but to bring a message of warning from God: “I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction”.

There is no call for repentance in this pronouncement – only a call to put on sackcloth and lament. Jeremiah perceived the inevitability of judgment upon the nation and he knew the hardness of the hearts of the people. He had already called for them to break up their un-ploughed ground - the hardness of their hearts - but there had been no visible response.

Without repentance and turning, the covenantal relationship between God and Israel was dead. In fact, it was worse than that: it was a dangerous delusion that would bring disaster upon all the people, the priests and the prophets as well as the King and his family. No-one would be spared.

But the stark message of this pronouncement was that it was not the Babylonians who should be feared, but the God of Israel who had been deserted through the idolatrous practices of the people. There were even hints of this within the Temple itself, which showed the utter spiritual corruption that had become embedded into the nation.

Jeremiah perceived the inevitability of judgment upon the nation and he knew the hardness of the hearts of the people.

Depths of Conviction

The poetic pronouncement concluded with a declaration from God himself, beginning with the apocalyptic phase “In that day”. It stated the stark reality of the judgment that was about to descend upon Judah: “The King and the officials will lose heart, the priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be appalled.”

The fact that there is no ‘unless’ - no call for repentance or softening of the message - shows the depths of conviction that Jeremiah had received in his time of standing in the council of the Lord. In those moments in the presence of the God of Israel, time had been suspended, the future had become the present, shadow had become reality. The full horror that was about to descend upon the nation had been revealed to the Prophet. Like the Apostle Paul some 500 years later, he could not keep silent: “Woe unto me if I do not declare the truth of the word of God!” (1 Cor 9:16).

Of course, Jeremiah knew that if there were repentance in the nation, the Babylonian army could not penetrate the walls of Jerusalem or bring devastation to the cities of Judah, because there was no power on earth that could defeat the God of Israel. But he also knew the hardness of the hearts of the king and the priests and the leaders of the nation, who were blinded by a powerful spirit of corruption from the world that prevented them from perceiving the truth.

We Need Prophets!

The New Testament has many warnings of a similar blindness coming in the days leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus. 2 Timothy 3 speaks of this and the letters of Peter have strong warnings of the delusion that will drive the nations into a time of darkness and infect the Church with different forms of corruption.

Those who have prophetic gifts today need to spend more time in the council of the Lord, as Jeremiah did, and then to declare boldly what they are hearing and seeing revealed. In these days when the leaders of the Western nations have turned away from truth, and when many church leaders are also blinded by various forms of spiritual delusion so that they are unable to declare the word of the Lord, the greatest need is for the Lord to raise up prophets in our midst.

May those who have learned to stand in the council of the Lord, to recognise his voice, to understand how he is working out his purposes today – be given boldness by the Holy Spirit to declare the word of the Living God in this godless generation that is hungry for truth, but does not know where to find it.

References

1 E.g. Brueggemann, 1999. A commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and homecoming. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read previous instalments.

Will Britain stand?

Last Saturday, 11 May, two marches of quite different natures processed through central London.

One was a Palestine solidarity protest marking what Muslims worldwide call the ‘Nakba’ (the catastrophe), or the formal re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

The march attracted mainstream press attention and some 3,000 protestors, led by Palestinian activist and former convict Ahed Tamimi who proclaimed the genocidal slogan of Hamas and Hezbollah: “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” (i.e. Israel must be destroyed).

The other march, which attracted nearly 5,000 supporters but received no mainstream press coverage, was the March for Life. Standing up on behalf of the plight of unborn children, hundreds of thousands of whom lose their lives silently in the UK each year, the march celebrated and proclaimed the sanctity of human life.

Opposing Worldviews

Seeing these marches take place virtually side by side reminded me just how divided our country has become. Every month, all sorts of protests take place in our capital, each one claiming a just and righteous cause. Both the above marches purport to stand for justice on behalf of the oppressed. However, they are undergirded by vastly opposing worldviews.

The pro-life movement is rooted in a biblical worldview, in which human life - from conception - is divinely given, in the image of God, and innately deserving of dignified treatment. While not all within the pro-life movement are believers, the movement is grounded in an understanding that life and death are sacred matters, in which humans must defer to an authority and set of moral standards higher than their own. And so, the pro-life movement champions a culture of respect, non-violence and life.

The March for Life attracted nearly 5,000 supporters but received no mainstream press attention.

Palestine Solidarity March, 11 May 2019. See Photo Credits.By contrast, Palestinianism is rooted in a rejection of the God of the Bible: specifically, his choice of land and people, denying the covenant heritage of the Jews (and its basis in historical and legal fact). It leads people to believe gross distortions and slanders about Israel, regurgitate age-old anti-Semitic tropes and side with terrorist groups who seek to murder innocent Jewish civilians. The result, directly or indirectly, is the championing of a culture of violence and death.

The issues of Israel and unborn life, though seemingly unrelated, are two of the most defining battles of our time. Both are, I believe, particularly close to God’s heart. Both are also modern spiritual litmus tests: telling indicators of the spiritual condition of our nation before God. With this in view, pondering Saturday’s marches I was reminded of Jesus’ sobering words that “a house divided against itself cannot stand” (Mark 3:25; Matt 12:25).

A Nation at War

This coming week, Britain goes to the polls again for an election which many are calling a ‘second referendum’ on our membership of the EU. Current projections indicate that because the Remain vote will be split across several different parties, Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party will make considerable gains by mopping up the Leave vote, at the particular expense of the Tories. But this does not change the fact that the country is still split roughly 50/50 over Brexit.

Brexit has divided families, neighbours, co-workers and friends. As we have written elsewhere on Prophecy Today UK, these divisions are far more than superficial political disagreements. They are symptoms of an underlying spiritual battle raging for the soul of the nation.

Brexit did not create these divisions; it merely exposed them, albeit starkly and painfully. For this reason, those who hope that a political resolution (deal or no deal) will make everything ‘go back to normal’ are sadly mistaken.

Britain has apparently become a nation of polarised outrage, shouting about a plethora of issues electronically, on the street and at the ballot box. But whether Brexit, Israel, abortion, climate change, President Trump, feminism, LGBTQ+ pride or any number of other causes, follow them to their roots and you will find one single, simple battle over God and his truth, revealed in Scripture.

True Unity

A generation of rebellion against the biblical beliefs and values that once united our nation means that Britain’s social and moral fabric is now rife with division and discordance. While our political and religious establishment call for unity and bridge-building, we must stand back and ask whether unity is possible, or even desirable, in this context.

True unity is a blessing of the Holy Spirit for obedience to the Lord. God will not bless a nation that rejects him. But Britain is a house divided, not knowing whom she really serves. Any man-made unity foisted upon this spiritual backdrop will necessarily be a poor imitation of the real thing; at best a charade, at worst a forcibly-imposed regime.

Britain has become a nation of polarised outrage on a plethora of issues – but follow each to their root and you will find one battle over God and his truth.

The only real answer to our problems is repentance and a return to the Gospel. Thankfully, God desires to use the present division and instability to draw people back to himself. He wants people to come to an understanding that something has gone very wrong in Britain: we are broken, in so many ways, and in need of a Saviour. He wants us to “seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:27). As Christians, are we being faithful in praying and working for this end?

A Hope and a Future

Credit: March for Life UK

I am thrilled by the growing strength of the pro-life movement in this country (and in the USA). But, while protests and goodly debate are vital, these alone will not win the day, because “our battle is not against flesh and blood” (Eph 6:12). As the Brexit polls indicate, Britain as a whole is still split right down the middle: not just politically, but spiritually.

Things cannot remain this way forever: they will tip one way or the other, unless the Lord intervenes in a more drastic and immediate way. Similarly, in 1858, Abraham Lincoln quoted Mark 3:25 to the Illinois Republican State Convention, warning that America could not remain divided over slavery forever. He said: “I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”¹

When it comes to both Israel and abortion, I hope very much that we will see a turning of the tide, with hearts and minds changed nation-wide and righteous decisions at the very top. But the ultimate hope for Britain, including on these issues, remains the Gospel, accompanied by much prayer. That is the only thing that will unite our beleaguered nation and give her a hope and a future.

References

1 'House Divided' speech, Springfield, Illinois, 16 June 1858. Read the full transcript here.

How the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform UK is working to make abortion unthinkable.

Editorial introduction: Despite the legalisation of abortion in Britain and the US several decades ago, debate about this issue is far from over. Now, a new and vibrant generation of pro-lifers on both sides of the pond are determined to make history by changing hearts, minds and laws.

This week Alabama became the latest US state to pass pro-life legislation, in anticipation of Roe vs. Wade being overturned one day in the Supreme Court. In both the US and the UK, the March for Life is gaining momentum with each passing year.

And in the UK, pro-life organisations are being set up to reach the public about this vital issue. One such group is the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform UK, which we heartily commend to you and are pleased to introduce with the article below. N.B. Contains one graphic image of abortion.

Social Reform, Abortion and Images

A brief journey through history shows that wherever civilisations have been established, human beings have committed great injustices against one another. Sadly, today is no exception, and one people group in particular is systemically targeted. Every working day, 800 unborn children are killed in the UK through abortion, provoking little outcry.

Worth a Thousand Words

Picture, if you can, the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Imagine the plight of natives in the Congo Free State in the late 19^th Century, where terrible atrocities were being committed against them. Hands were cut off for the crime of insufficient rubber collection; children were eaten by soldiers, in full view of their fellow villagers to terrorise them. Think of how, in the early 20th Century, American children were forced to labour in dangerous mines and factories, suffering malnutrition and a host of other health conditions.

What do these events have in common? Yes, they were systemic injustices that took great effort to overturn. But did you know that these atrocities were all ended by exposure through the use of images?

Lewis Hine's images helped to change public attitudes towards child labour. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and the history of social reform has proven this to be true. Wilberforce could not have abolished slavery without Clarkson’s tireless campaign to turn the tide of public opinion through visual aids. The introduction of the Kodak brought an end to the crimes committed against the Congo natives. Thanks to investigative photographer Lewis Hine, child labour in the US was halved by 1920 from what it had been in 1910.

Even the Civil Rights Movement was largely sparked by a single image: that of teenager Emmett Till, whose mother deliberately held an open-casket funeral to expose his horrific murder to the world. Sometimes, merely talking about injustice (especially systemic, state-approved injustice) just cannot trigger the emotional response necessary to instigate change.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and the history of social reform has proven this to be true.

Exposing Injustice

Time and again, society couldn’t see the injustices being committed against fellow human beings without being forced to look. And today, our blind spot is abortion. The Centre for Bio-ethical Reform UK (CBR UK) is a pro-life organisation intent on bringing this injustice to an end. CBR UK believes that if abortion can be seen for what it really is, it will become unthinkable.

CBR UK has a singular aim: to make abortion unthinkable simply by showing it for what it is. CBR UK does not protest abortion. Rather, the organisation argues, when revealed - abortion protests itself.

Using graphic imagery to expose abortion has a bad reputation – some consider it crass and sensationalist. Even some Christians view those who use images as a nuisance or a menace. It’s a comfort to those who do such thankless work, then, that historically, people reacted similarly when exposed to the hidden injustices of their time. When Lewis Hine shocked America with his series of photographs, some people were more upset with his work (which was bad news for factory owners!) than with the realities of child exploitation itself.

An 8-week-old aborted baby.Why do we react so strongly to abortion imagery? It’s true, of course, that the images are shocking and unpleasant. Yet we expose ourselves to all kinds of graphic content; some of us may not balk at TV dramas or movies featuring graphic sex, violence and other disturbing themes. And in case we argue that this is different because it’s fiction, let’s not forget that many of us happily watch medical procedures on television, some of which are bloody and gross.

The gore is not our deepest objection to images of abortion. Rather, it’s the pinprick of our consciences when we are forced to acknowledge that these are innocent human beings.

When we are forced to look at an injustice that is tolerated by society for the convenience of its citizens, we are forced to acknowledge that we might just be a little bit responsible.

But such discomfort is necessary to shift us from denial to action, and CBR UK has many examples of the effectiveness of this strategy.

Why do we react so strongly to abortion imagery? It’s the pinprick of our consciences when we are forced to acknowledge that these are innocent human beings.

Taking a Stand

Not long ago we celebrated Easter weekend, reminding ourselves that Jesus Himself died a very public death, being beaten and crucified for the whole city to witness during the biggest festival of the year.

It is not un-Christlike to take a stand for those who are rejected and considered least by today’s society; in fact, it is a command of God – to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed” (Prov 31:8-9).

On 23 May, CBR UK is showcasing its journey so far at London’s Emmanuel Centre. Whether you’re convinced of their strategy or on the fence, come and hear powerful stories of lives saved, minds changed and groups impacted. Book your free place now at cbruk.org/showcase. Or head to their website to see if you can support the work in anyway.

Sharing in the joy of Jesus, the Jews and John Wesley

As Israel celebrates another independence day, I look forward to a special birthday of my own in a few weeks.

Yes, the magic milestone reached last year by the modern Jewish state means I was conceived in Cape Town just a few months after Israel’s re-birth.

My own re-birth came nearly 23 years later – on 20 May 1972, at around 10:30pm. And I remember how this rather precise dating of my encounter with Christ proved of great fascination to Labour peer (and former deputy leader of the Party) Roy Hattersley.

Identifying with Wesley

We were showing South African friends around the small Lincolnshire town of Epworth, famous as home of the Wesleys and only 13 miles from where we live in Doncaster, when I noticed a familiar figure striding up towards me.

I immediately recognised him as he was often rolled into TV studios for political comment, but I also knew him from way back, when, as Fleet Street correspondent for the South African Press Association, I would often report on his Dispatch Box statements about Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) or apartheid during his time as Foreign Office minister.

Although claiming to be atheist, Hattersley is a great admirer of Wesley, and of the Salvation Army founders for that matter, and has written biographies on both counts.

He was busy doing research for his Daily Mail column on why people like me made pilgrimages like this. I began by telling him that, though I was not a Methodist, I identified with Wesley in the sense that I had come into an experience of the risen Christ, just as he had done.

Though not a Methodist, I identify with Wesley in the sense that I have come into an experience of the risen Christ, just as he had done.

In fact, just as with the legendary preacher, I too could name the exact time and place where the change had taken place.

Furiously taking notes (as I used to do when he was speaking in Parliament), Lord Hattersley’s eyes grew wider with amazement. Like Wesley, I explained, I had felt my heart ‘strangely warmed’ as Jesus, at my invitation and at the prompting of another South African friend, came into my life in the north London home of my half-Jewish grandmother.

Great Awakening

Wesley’s re-birth took place on 24 May 1738 – also in London – after hearing an explanation of Luther’s introduction to a commentary on the Book of Romans. He was already a clergyman, as was his brother Charles, following in the footsteps of their father, who was rector of Epworth for some 40 years.

But now Wesley knew for sure that his sins were forgiven and that, by faith alone, he was accepted by Christ. The strange warming turned into a raging fire as he passionately proclaimed the Gospel for the next 50 years, riding a quarter-of-a-million miles on horseback in the process.

Historians are agreed that the subsequent awakening, also involving George Whitefield and others, averted a revolution of the kind that brought chaos to France.

My Own Testimony

Running with perseverance: Charles Gardner completes a 10K cross-country ‘trail’ around Yorkshire’s famous Castle Howard estate in 2010. Photo: Linda Gardner

Although I can’t claim a Damascus Road encounter of the sort that caused the Apostle Paul to fall off his horse, my own conversion was preceded, just seven days earlier, by an experience in which I was stopped in my tracks during a marathon race in Scotland – on the road to North Berwick, as it happened.

At 22 miles, the same point in the 26.2-mile race that Paula Radcliffe came to an abrupt halt in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, I too ‘hit a wall’, so to speak. But the disappointment paved the way for my greater openness when my friend, Brian Jackson (an accomplished athlete), challenged me to follow Christ.

I have never looked back, and have become increasingly aware of our debt to the Jewish people, which is why, upon my retirement from full-time work in the newspaper industry, I began serving as a volunteer for the Church’s Ministry among Jewish people (CMJ).

Wesley passionately proclaimed the Gospel for 50 years, riding a quarter-of-a-million miles on horseback in the process.

I am also proud of my own Sephardic Jewish ancestry, and was especially helped in my early Christian life by a lovely Jewish lady called Helen Macintosh, who effectively became a spiritual mother to me.

Helen became a believer through Billy Graham’s 1954 meetings at Haringey in London and always afterwards described herself as a ‘completed Jew’. Like her, I long for the widespread spiritual restoration of the Jews promised in the scriptures (e.g. Zech 12:10; Rom 11:26) following their much-prophesied return to the Holy Land.

Beautiful Sound of the Gospel

To complete this season of birthdays, I will be heading for Epworth on Saturday 25 May at 2:30pm to watch a play on the Wesleys being performed by friends from Sheffield.

Oh that these islands would ring once again with the passion – in words and music – that awoke sleeping hamlets all over England to the beautiful sound of the Gospel!