The Church is in danger of not recognising God’s hand in Israel’s restoration

Abortion Bill reflects spirit of death gripping the nation

Frances Rabbitts reviews ‘Israel Rising: Ancient Prophecy / Modern Lens’ by Doug Hershey with Elise Theriault (2018, Citadel Press).

Britain’s position before God.

In this deeply significant phase of Britain’s history, it is of the utmost importance for us to be clear on our nation’s standing with God. In this article we consider some passages from the Prophet Jeremiah that are directly relevant to our situation.

Speaking First to Judah

Jeremiah spoke for around 40 years to Judah, often through tears, up to the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. As a young man, Jeremiah saw the best of days for Judah. He began to prophesy in the days of Josiah (Jer 1:2), whose account is in 2 Kings 22-23. Josiah led the people of Judah to return to the Law of Moses, cleansed the land of idolatry, restored the Temple and celebrated the Feasts of the Lord in Jerusalem. It was said of him:

Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his might, according to the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him. (2 Kings 23:25)

As a young man, Jeremiah would have experienced these good and blessed times in his nation. These would have stood in stark contrast to the days of decline that followed – but these were inevitable. Judah had already fallen so far, prior to King Josiah, that God’s anger was turned back only temporarily, during Josiah’s reign:

Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger was aroused against Judah, because of the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. (2 Kings 23:26)

Britain: Hope or Concern?

There are applications from this period of Judah’s history that we can apply to modern Britain.

In Jeremiah’s day, blessings on the nation as a whole depended on how they were led. It was the King’s responsibility to lead the nation according to God’s laws. In our day and our nation, the monarch has a prominent role, but so do the Government and all the institutions that exercise authority on behalf of the Crown.

The Prophet Jeremiah experienced good and blessed times in his nation – which would have stood in stark contrast to the days of decline that followed.

Our current leaders are rapidly descending into the ways of King Manasseh, discarding belief in the God of Israel, opening the way for any and every form of idolatry, rejecting God as Creator, sacrificing our unborn babies and many other things that displease and bring sorrow and anger to Almighty God.

We have also had our good days – days when the truth of the Gospel rang out from our shores and when the Laws of God were engrained in our national heritage. Yet, no more than Judah could rest on the blessed days of Josiah can Britain rest on the blessed days of the past. Just as in the latter days of Judah, there is hope, should we raise up uncompromising leaders like Josiah, but there is also real concern over the extreme vulnerability of our current position.

Conditions for Blessing

When Jeremiah went to the potter’s house (Jeremiah 18) he was shown a principle which applied not only to Judah but to all nations:

If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.

And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. (Jer 18:7-10)

The British Empire in 1897 / See CreditsBritain was once in the former of these situations. Once we were a pagan nation not knowing the ways of God, but gradually, over many years, the laws of God were made central to our culture and national life: the Lord did not destroy us, but built us up.

Now, we are deeply into the latter part of this message. Disaster of some sort is inevitable - likely precipitated by the hardship following a mighty collapse of the economy. What follows remains to be seen. God’s judgments can be redemptive - but it depends on how the nation responds.

No more than Judah could rest on the blessed days of Josiah can Britain rest on the blessed days of the past.

Contrasting 2 Chronicles 7:14

Centuries before Jeremiah’s day, God’s covenant heart for Israel and Judah was shown to Solomon at the time of the dedication of the Temple. Solomon realised that a time would come when his nation would turn from God and he interceded with God in advance to make a way back. That way back, a specific promise for Israel and Judah, was summarised in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

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 heal their land.

It is time for Christians in Britain to fine-tune their understanding of this and realise that, though we hear the heartbeat of God through this passage, it is nonetheless a promise given directly and only to Israel. We have to twist the meaning of the words “my people” and “their land” to make it read that if Christians pray, God will heal Britain. The Jeremiah 18 passage quoted above requires more than this: namely, repentance across the entire nation.

Of course Christians must pray, but repentance must sweep across the entire nation, especially among its leaders, not just in the Church. We can intercede for others but they themselves must repent (turn from their own sin). Even Jeremiah could not repent on behalf of his nation – hence they went eventually into Babylonian captivity.

Our Responsibility to Israel is Key

There is yet another key passage in Jeremiah that affirms how deeply serious the days are for Britain. In Jeremiah’s day, Babylon was the empire that took Judah into captivity, so the words spoken by Jeremiah were first applied to this empire. Babylon was God’s chosen instrument for judgment but the Babylonians also had responsibilities towards the Jews whilst they were in exile:

This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbours who seize the inheritance I gave to my people Israel, I will uproot them from their land and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country.

And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’ – even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal – then they will be established among my people. But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord. (Jer 12:14-17)

The words also speak of the exile of the Jews among the nations since AD 70 right up to today. A positive consequence of this diaspora is that the lands where the Jews were scattered have been given opportunity to know the God of Israel. In following his ways, foreign nations could be counted among the commonwealth of Israel.

But, if instead these foreign nations reject the God of Israel, especially once he has gathered his people back from exile to their land, the foreign nations will be plucked up and destroyed.

If foreign nations that have hosted Jewish exiles reject this opportunity to follow the God of Israel, they will be plucked up and destroyed.

This is the condition of many Western nations today, having influenced many Jews over the years with their philosophies and false gods. Consider, for example, the way many Jews during recent years have been turned to the New Age movement in both Europe and America.

Now, at the time of the re-gathering of Israel, there is an increased turning to those false gods as the God of Israel works to fulfil his final covenant promises to Israel. The above passage from Jeremiah applies! Britain, America, Russia, Germany and all other countries that have known him and his way, in turning now away from the God of Israel, are setting themselves up for eventual utter destruction.

In these ways, embedded in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we can discern the deeply vulnerable situation before God, of Britain today. We must seek him whilst there is still time.

‘Straight’ staff at the BBC will be isolated by new recommendations

Brexit’s woes in spiritual perspective.

I knew I had to write about Brexit in this week’s editorial, so this morning I listened to the news more carefully – a depressing experience. I turned to my Bible for a word of comfort.

It fell open to the fall of Jerusalem and the Lamentations of Jeremiah. The word of the Lord came to me strongly, “This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips…The Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath” (Jer 7:28-29).

Of course, that was written to Israel, a nation in a covenant relationship with God, but Jeremiah was also given a promise for all nations: “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned” (Jer 18:7).

With these scriptures in mind we can turn to Brexit and ask what God is saying to us and to the people of Europe. What is God doing to work out his purposes today?

Rebellion Leads to Destruction

We cannot deny that Britain and the nations of the European Union have all turned away from the word of God. Though they have had the Gospel for more than a thousand years, each of these nations has been invaded by secular humanist philosophies that have devoured their good Judeo-Christian heritages. Europe has adopted an atheistic culture and God-denying policies that have, in large measure, brought us to the disastrous situation we face today.

The European Union is imploding under the weight of multiple crises. Its leaders are terrified of seeing Hungary, Poland, Italy and other key nations breaking away from the union as populist movements gain momentum across the continent.

The European Union is imploding under the weight of multiple crises.

In desperation, the Brussels gravy train, frightened that it is going to lose power and wealth, is trying to close ranks, punishing Britain in order to frighten off rebel elements in other nations. Of course, British politicians should know that they will never get a good deal from Brussels! The EU’s tactic now is to delay and delay – always holding out the hope of a deal but never actually concluding one, so that Britain continues to pay vast sums into EU coffers, but never actually walks away free.

The EU elites are exploiting the confusion they know surrounds British politicians of all persuasions in Westminster. But Christians should not be surprised at this confusion - because it is a classic sign of the judgment of God promised upon those who deliberately turn away from his truth: “The Lord will inflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind…You will be unsuccessful in everything you do” (Deut 28:28-29).

The Shaking of the Nations

For those who are familiar with the whole word of God in the Bible, it is obvious that we are going through a period which was revealed to the great Prophets of Israel more than 2,500 years ago. God said that there would come a time when he would bring judgment upon all the nations by shaking everything – the world of nature, politics and every structure of society: which is precisely what we are seeing today (see Haggai 2:6-7, cf. Hebrews 12:26-27).

As well as economic and political turbulence and societal breakdown, we are also seeing incredible storms, hurricanes and tsunamis hitting many parts of the world – as well as earthquakes and famines. The terrible wars and bloodshed in Syria and much of the Middle East, the upheavals taking place in Venezuela, Brazil and many other parts of the world, are all evidence of the great shaking of the nations.

Jeremiah’s Revelation

The great revelation that was given to the Prophet Jeremiah is one that we ought to be studying today. Jeremiah was facing the destruction of his country and the demolition of his city, Jerusalem, by the Babylonian army. His prayer (Jer 32) enabled him to see beyond the immediate tragedy and understand what God was doing: how, through it all, he was working out his purposes.

It is obvious that we are going through a period of worldwide shaking, revealed to the great Prophets of Israel more than 2,500 years ago.

The prayer began with the words, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” Then Jeremiah came to his central conundrum: although he knew that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed, he had been told by the Lord to buy a field at Anathoth - already enemy-occupied.

In his prayer Jeremiah said to God, “Though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, you, O Sovereign Lord, say to me, buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed” (Jer 32:25). God’s response revealed to Jeremiah the significance of this symbolic act: “As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. Once more fields will be bought in this land…because I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord” (Jer 32:42-44).

Jeremiah realised that God had to allow a whole generation to suffer judgment before they would repent and be open to the truth. This is the way that God has always dealt with nation-wide rebellion – starting with Israel’s grumbling in the wilderness. And it enables us to understand what he is doing today in allowing the turmoil that is enveloping the nations.

God’s ultimate purpose, of course, is to see as many as possible come to a knowledge of salvation in Jesus – restored to right relationship with God and able to enjoy all the blessings he has to bestow upon his children. But persistent rebellion only brings more destruction.

If we are truly to understand the ‘Brexit Battle’, we have to see it in the context of the purposes of God revealed to us in the Bible. This is not just a little political wrangle. We are at a major crossroads in the history of the world and the unfolding and working out of the purposes of God.

Being Careful in Prayer

This is why Christians need to be very careful how they pray. We have said many times before on Prophecy Today that if we pray “Peace, Peace” when the Lord is saying “There is no peace!” we will actually put ourselves against God. We have to understand God’s nature and purposes and ensure that our prayers are aligned with what he is doing today.

Jeremiah’s prayer enabled him to see beyond the immediate tragedy and understand what God was doing: how, through it all, he was working out his purposes.

If we do this, declaring God’s truth and his good purposes to our godless generation so that people can understand what has gone wrong, and if this leads to a spirit of repentance and turning away from the ways of darkness, Britain will undoubtedly see days of revival come through this time of great shaking. This is the other message we have been emphasising recently on Prophecy Today.

Bible-believing Christians will undoubtedly ask, where does the Second Coming of Christ fit into this scenario? The answer is that it is not for us to know the times the Lord has set in his own timetable: but we may be nearer to that event than any of us knows. We have to obey the command of Jesus to “Watch and pray”.