Our final study on the non-writing prophets in Scripture.

In 2 Kings 22, and in its parallel in 2 Chronicles 34, we read the account of how the ‘book of the Law’, or the ‘book of the Covenant’, was found in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Josiah the Reformer

The boy king Josiah, son of the reprobate Amon who had been assassinated by his own officials, came to a living faith in God when he was only 16.

By the time he was 20 he set out to reform the religious life of Judah, breaking down the high places where the Lord was worshipped illicitly, and destroying the pagan shrines that had proliferated under his predecessors.

At the age of 26, in the 18th year of his reign, he began to tackle the repair and purification of the Temple in Jerusalem. We should not underestimate the difficulty of this task. The Temple, now nearly 400 years old, was as much a heritage site as St Paul’s Cathedral or York Minster, and its sacrilegious additions were considered memorials to the history of the nation. The kings of Judah had been defenders of faiths, rather than defenders of the Covenant of God, since Solomon’s time.

To reverse all this required considerable courage from the King and his supporters, and no doubt he was regarded as much a bigot as any king would be today, were he to try to purify the Church of England. As 2 Kings tells, the holy city contained numerous shrines, some requiring human sacrifice. Even the Temple entrance contained horses and chariots (statues?) dedicated to the Sun, and there were two pagan altars in the very courts of Yahweh’s Temple. Traditionalists must have been appalled at their destruction.

No doubt Josiah was regarded as much a bigot as any king would be today, were he to try to purify the Church of England.

Re-discovering the Book of the Law

Then came the incident, so beautifully told, when the King sent his secretary to liaise with Hilkiah, the high priest on the rebuilding work. At the end of their business, the priest, a little diffidently, said, “I have found the book of the Law in the temple of the LORD.”

Most scholars agree, probably rightly, that what he found was essentially the Book of Deuteronomy, though the liberal stream built their whole structure of Old Testament criticism on the assumption that Hilkiah or his allies actually wrote the book. However, Deuteronomy is constructed like a typical political treaty, or covenant, document of a much earlier age. Like such secular treaties, a copy was ordered to be kept “as a testimony at the heart of the nation, that is beside the ark of the covenant” (Deut 31:26). Perhaps Hilkiah found it there, or perhaps abandoned in some storeroom of the Temple.

Shaphan, the secretary, was as reticent as the priest. He mentioned the book to Josiah almost as an afterthought to his report, though it is clear he realised its importance. Josiah’s response, however, was anything but laid back. Hearing Shaphan read the curses attached to the covenant, he tore his robes. He realised how angry God must be against the nation that had reneged on their treaty with the Lord, the consuming fire, the jealous God (Deut 4:24).

Huldah the Prophetess

The King sent a delegation, including the high priest and his most important officials, to consult the Lord through Huldah. She too instantly recognised the book of the Law as the word of the Lord. Her response is an oracle prophesying disaster to Judah, according to the warnings in the book, noting Josiah’s own humility and weeping, and promising that he himself would be buried in peace before this destruction. It is a short oracle and we hear no more of the prophetess. But there are important lessons here.

This incident raises important questions about the function of prophecy, and its relationship to Scripture. The book of the Law was the written word of God to Israel, as the Bible is to us. When it was re-discovered, the leaders of the nation, especially the King, recognised it as such. Its message was clear, as we can see by looking at Deuteronomy itself.

Josiah realised how angry God must be against the nation and responded in a spiritual way, by repentance.

God's laws and standards were explicitly set out in writing, as were the curses attached to them for disobedience. Josiah, with a heart set ’to seek the God of his father David' (1 Chron 34:3), understood its implications immediately, and he responded in a spiritual way by repentance. Why then did he feel it necessary to consult a prophet as well?

It was not for greater knowledge, for Huldah’s words added very little to the plain words of Scripture except some personal words of comfort to the King. It was not for practical application either, for she gave none — and Josiah’s further reforms appear to have been his own response to the words of the Law. The answer must surely be that the prophet was the one authorised by God to confirm the truth of God's words to the people of that generation.

The prophet’s anointing seems not so much to bring understanding of God's ways, as certainty about their application, and communication of that certainty to the people. The prophet may tell us what we have already seen in God’s word (and never anything that we haven’t), but in a way that truly confirms to us that it is God who has spoken in that word.

This has much to teach us about not only the prophet of today, but the preacher as well. Indeed, faithful ministry of the word of God is prophetic by its nature. The preacher should not be looking for something new to say, but to make what, in one sense, is clearly stated in Scripture speak with the voice of God to his hearers. This is why it is the word proclaimed, and not simply the word read, that is the central ministry of the Church of Christ.

Huldah’s oracle is a good demonstration that it is the word proclaimed, and not simply powerful proclamation, that makes for a prophetic ministry.

The prophet’s anointing seems not so much to bring understanding of God's ways, as certainty about their application, and communication of that certainty to the people.

Huldah the Woman

No examination of Huldah, especially in our times, can ignore the fact that she was female! It is unwise to speculate on how she received her prophetic gift. She was a woman of social standing - a royal official’s daughter-in-law. But status is not a necessary qualification for prophecy. We know that Old Testament prophets received their call direct from God, but we know precious little about how that call came to be recognised ‘officially’.

Nevertheless, it is remarkable that in such an epoch-making matter as the re-discovery of the Bible, the King should seek the counsel of a woman. It is all the more remarkable when one considers that both Zephaniah and the great Jeremiah were prophesying at this time.

My explanation is perhaps over-simple: Huldah was consulted because she was close by and other prophets were not. Clifford Hill says that Huldah was an older woman, much respected for her prophetic ministry, whereas at that time Jeremiah was a very young man, who had not long been in ministry. But she must have been equally respected, for it would not have been impossible to send for one of the others.

No particular comment is made about her gender in the text, and to the inspired writer it was clearly a matter of indifference: what mattered was her mantle of prophecy.

Huldah’s oracle is a good demonstration that it is the word proclaimed, and not simply powerful proclamation, that makes for a prophetic ministry.

From this passage in isolation, then, it would be easy to see support for the contemporary supposition that gender in ministry is not an issue, since “in Christ there is no longer male nor female” (Gal 3:28). The only problem is, this example is before Christ, whereas the ‘difficult’ biblical teaching on male authority is after Christ.

I will not attempt to cast much light on these questions here, not least because the story of Huldah is not actually about these issues. But one or two points may be worth noting for further study:

• It was the King who consulted the prophetess, and not she who sought him out, and she remained subject to him, as indeed to Shallum her husband.
  
• The words she spoke bore only God's authority, and none of her own.
  
• Her ministry to Josiah did not involve teaching him, for as we have seen, he had already understood the implications of God's Law for himself. Hers was a confirmatory word.

The implications of these points for the Church today are for others to consider, but one thing should not be controversial: the role of women in prophetic ministry is in this story given clear scriptural sanction. Only let us never forget, whether we are male or female, that our ministries are far, far less important than the message we bring, and its effects on the hearts of people.

This study was first published in Prophecy Today, Vol 15(6), 1999.

Paul Luckraft reviews the Tree of Life version of Scripture (Baker Publishing/Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society, 2015).

The Tree of Life Version of the Holy Scriptures is well worth investigating and then investing in. There are several versions of the Bible available now which attempt to recapture something of the original Jewish authenticity - so what makes this different?

Its main selling point is the claim that this is a brand new translation produced by both Messianic Jewish and Christian scholars. This, the publishers say, makes it the first of its kind, and by incorporating the translational skills of Messianic Jews it highlights the rich Hebraic roots of the Christian faith to a greater extent. And by working together as One New Man, they believe they have provided a Bible for a new era.

A Jewish-Friendly Voice

The translators have gone back to the original Hebrew (Masoretic Text) for the Old Testament and the original Greek (the 27^th Nestle-Aland Novum Testamente Graece) for the New. Naturally they have preserved the original Jewish order of the books of the Old Testament (Tanakh) and have also used transliterated terms such as shalom, shofar, Shabbat, and the Jewish name of the Messiah, Yeshua.

This is a brand new translation produced by both Messianic Jewish and Christian scholars working together as One New Man.

The translation project was headed up by Jeffrey Seir, a professor of Bible and Jewish Studies at Kings University, USA, who served as the Project Manager and Chief Theologian. A full list of the translators is available on their website.

Their aim is to provide a version that speaks with a decidedly Jewish-friendly voice, a voice like the Bible authors themselves, and to show the connections between the covenants God made with his ancient people and those now grafted in through the new covenant with Yeshua.

Versions and Resources

In addition to the full Biblical text there are some useful extras, including a week Torah reading programme and some Jewish prayers and blessings in Hebrew, transliterated Hebrew and English.

There is also a short glossary and a couple of maps. Don’t expect too many extras, this is not a study Bible as such but a new version to be read in order to gain fresh insights from the text itself.

One aim is to show the connections between the covenants God made with his ancient people and those now grafted in through the new covenant with Yeshua.

Produced by the Baker Publishing Group in partnership with the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society, the Tree of Life Version can be ordered online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ChristianBook.com and various other websites and stores. It is available in several formats, from the cheaper Thinline Edition (if you don’t mind very thin pages!), produced in both softback and hardback forms, to the more expensive imitation leather covers. It is also available on Kindle.

Find out more about the Tree of Life version on its official website (US), which also houses relevant articles and resources.

How to pray for a nation that has turned its back on God.

Today, 8 September, is being observed as a day of prayer by many Christians throughout Britain. Exactly 77 years ago, on 8 September 1940 (a Sunday), King George VI called the nation to a day of prayer.

It was intended to be a day of thanksgiving for what had become known as the ‘Miracle of Dunkirk’, when some 330,000 troops were evacuated safely with the help of an armada of little boats to get them off the beaches in France and back to England. But 8 September, as if by some prophetic foreknowledge, came at the height of the Battle of Britain, with thousands of enemy bombers darkening the skies of England.

The prayer day was perfectly timed and the Spitfires and Hurricanes of the RAF took a tremendous toll of the German air force. Then, for no rational reason, Hitler suddenly ordered the Luftwaffe to cease attacking RAF airfields. By 17 September 1940 the German Supreme Command issued an order saying that the invasion of England was postponed “until further notice”. The Battle of Britain was won and Winston Churchill addressed the nation with his iconic speech, declaring, “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.”

Exactly 77 years ago today, the King called the nation to a day of prayer.

How to Pray?

I am on record as saying that I can no longer pray for the health and wellbeing of the United Kingdom. That does not mean that I do not pray for the nation - but I am careful how I pray. I need to pray in line with what I’m hearing from the Lord.

I cannot pray “peace, peace”, if the Lord is saying “There is no peace”! And I cannot pray for revival and blessing if I know the Lord is saying there will be no revival until there is repentance – at least repentance in the Church, if not repentance in the nation.

If there were repentance in the Church, there would undoubtedly be an outpouring of the Spirit of God. This could be the spark that ignites evangelism to the nation as a whole, with the potential of widespread revival. But that is unlikely, because there is so little understanding among Christians of the nature of the battle we are facing.

Political and Religious Red Lines

In Jeremiah’s day both the politicians and the religious leaders were in rebellion against God. They each crossed a red line and that was why Jeremiah was told to stop praying for the wellbeing of the nation and concentrate instead upon praying for those things that would lead to the fulfilment of God’s good purposes.

Jeremiah was appalled by the actions of the king and his political advisers when the envoys of all the nations surrounding Israel met in Jerusalem to hatch a plot to revolt against the Babylonian Empire (Jer 27). Zedekiah had sworn an oath in the Name of the God of Israel to be loyal to Nebuchadnezzar when he was appointed king, so Jeremiah saw this plot as dishonouring to God. He knew that it would lead to disaster for Jerusalem and the whole nation - it was a political red line.

Jeremiah knew that both politicians and religious leaders had crossed red lines – which was why he was told to stop praying for the nation’s wellbeing.

The religious red line was in the rejection by the priests of what’s known as Jeremiah’s ‘Temple Sermon’ (Jer 7), where he outlined the sins of Jerusalem and followed this with a vivid description of the way whole families were involved in idolatry on the streets of the city: “The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven.”¹

All this was going on under the noses of the priests and Temple authorities, who were so convinced that God would never allow the Gentiles to destroy the Temple or the Holy City that they did not care what the people were doing. They were deaf and blind to the dangers facing them.

Britain’s Red Lines

In Britain, there have been successive warnings to both Church and State as we have drifted farther away from biblical truth as a nation and embraced secular values that are directly against the word of God.

As far back as 1985 we began our warnings in Prophecy Today, commenting on the lightning strike on York Minster the previous year, which had occurred only hours after the consecration of David Jenkins as Bishop of Durham. Jenkins had famously described the resurrection of Jesus as a “conjuring trick with bones”. His lack of belief in the Bible shocked the nation, but he was appointed by Archbishop Runcie, who also had little respect for the Bible and was more interested in forming a one-world religion. He led the Anglican Church for 10 years while the forces of secular humanism were gathering momentum in the nation and there was a great need for a strong Christian presence.

In Britain, there have been successive warnings to both Church and State as we have drifted farther away from biblical truth as a nation.

We believe that the political red line was crossed in the UK when David Cameron came back from an EU leaders’ meeting in 2010 determined to be a good European and obey their directive that all member states should accept same-sex marriage by the year 2013. Cameron managed to meet that deadline by driving the Act through Parliament, against the wishes of more than a hundred of his own MPs.

Judgment immediately fell upon Maria Miller, the Minister who had steered the Act through Parliament, who lost her job within weeks. Cameron was spared long enough to call the Referendum enabling Britain to get out of the godless EU, but Brexit immediately ended his political career.

The Church of England Synod in July this year breached a religious red line when it rejected an amendment committing the Church to be more active in evangelism and sharing the Gospel with people of other faiths in Britain, while at the same time agreeing to devise a service to celebrate the new gender of transgender people. This committed the state Church to supporting the objectives of the LGBTQ movement, which is determined to destroy the family and human identity as men and women created by God.

God’s Good Purposes

I believe the Lord has now removed his cover of protection over the land which has already resulted in an increase in acts of terrorism and disasters such as the Grenfell Tower fire. So how do we pray for a nation that has deliberately put itself against God?

I believe the Lord has now removed his cover of protection over the land.

Again, Jeremiah gives us the answer. He says, “The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord” (Jer 24:1). One was full of good figs and the other full of rotting fruit. Through this picture God revealed his long-term purposes for the good of the nation.

We need to discern the purposes of God for Britain – for the Church and for the nation as a whole. I am convinced that in the long-term God does have good purposes for the nation that will bring blessings and prosperity, but we will have to go through a difficult time which will truly test the dwindling faith of the nation.

This is where the faithful Christian minority has a vital role to play, to do what Ezekiel calls ‘standing in the gap’ (Ezek 22:30): to seek the Lord together, to intercede for those who do not know how, to discern how the Lord would help us recover what is being lost to our spiritual enemy and to pray positively into these issues.

This is where the wisdom of the Holy Spirit is vital and where mature, Bible-believing Christians can play an historic part in reviving the Church and bringing the nation back under God’s protection.

Notes

1 The ‘Queen of Heaven’ was a title for Ishtar, an Assyrian and Babylonian goddess (also known as Ashtoreth/Astarte).

How disastrous events can have more than one prophetic theme.

This article is a brief follow-up comment on last week’s two lead articles. One was by Clifford Hill in the wake of the hurricane in Texas (also reminding us of the 1987 hurricane in the south of England). The other was by Charles Gardner, looking behind the sad death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

This is a further reflection on interpreting signs, a process which takes time, patience and a willingness to look at events from multiple points, in order to achieve a balanced understanding.

Good Can Come from Disaster

When we prayerfully consider events in the world around us, we are often alerted to other perspectives on them that expand our thinking.

For instance, in relation to the recent storms and floods in Texas, the Caribbean and around the world, it is too simplistic to see these events as God dealing a hammer blow of judgment to punish a particular community. Indeed, great good is stirred up when disaster falls.

Back in 1987 when trees were ripped up in the south-east of England, blocking roads and damaging property, I recall many encouraging stories of how people immediately worked together to clear the debris and get life going again. Chainsaws were brought out from garden sheds and soon roads were unblocked as communities came together in common cause. This was surely pleasing to God, even though he had allowed the storm to bring general devastation to warn against corruption in society.

It is too simplistic to see events like the recent hurricanes as God dealing a hammer blow of judgment to punish a particular community.

Many indications of such a God-pleasing response to the Texas emergency have been shared in the news and on social media, as help for people and animals affected by Hurricane Harvey has arrived from all corners of the US and from further afield.¹ As one ministry leader put it, “Today…all of America are Texans”.² Such a prompt and earnest desire to assist will have been widespread across the States. Surely, again, God is pleased with this.

It seems that God’s signs, whilst carrying warnings and sometimes judgments, also stir up the best in us. Such responses were also seen in the Grenfell Tower disaster and after the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester. Surely there would have been similar care for neighbours after the collapse of the Tower of Siloam in Jesus’ day.

What then of the warnings that are the reason for God taking away his protection and allowing such shocks to strike communities in the first place, devastating so many? How do we read the signs when we are caught up in a shaking from God?

Fashion, Diana and the 1987 Storm

Madonna and Cyndi Lauper - two 1980s style icons. See Photo Credits.

By coincidence, as last week’s Prophecy Today articles were being finalised for publication, the BBC ran a programme on Radio 4 entitled ‘The Reunion’, which looked back at the development of the UK fashion industry in the 1980s. I found this to be a useful behind-the-scenes look at an example of what God was intending to say to our nation at the time of the 1987 hurricane.

In summary, the fashion world of the 1980s was gaining immense momentum as favourable exchange rates with the USA fostered trans-Atlantic trade. From a human perspective, Britain seemed to be a success story, its burgeoning pop culture generating huge revenues as an obsession with celebrity and fashion overtook the nation.

Those of us who were watching this at the time may recall becoming concerned as image-building became a high priority for many (particularly young) people and pop stars became worshipped as icons, their outlandish clothing and behaviour attracting cult followings. If this worried us, we can be sure it was also of concern to God.

God’s signs, whilst carrying warnings and sometimes judgments, also stir up the best in us.

Diana's famous Travolta dress. Of course, Princess Diana became a focus of the fashion industry. Her dresses were dazzling and she wore them like a model, being presented by the media as a sort of fairy princess from a Disney film – even a goddess. In her case, the media helped raise her up and in the end were partly responsible for her tragic death, although the greed and ambition of the fashion houses may also have had a part to play.

Somehow in all this there was a sense that things were getting out of control and contributing to the nation’s departure from the ways of God. Prior to the 1987 storm and financial shaking there were some warning signs in the financial markets because of some strain in the dollar/sterling exchange rate. When the hurricane hit and the financial markets reeled, the fashion industry slumped just as did, no doubt, many other areas of the business world.

Putting On a Biblical Mindset

As I watched the BBC’s account of this one industry at the time of the 1987 crash, and became aware of how it overlapped with both of last week’s lead articles, it made me think again about interpreting the signs that came from the severe weather of both 1987 and 2017, which were of course on my mind as well. It was interesting to hear this secular presentation on fashion and filter it through a biblical and prophetically-inclined mindset – something every prayerful believer can do.

By looking in detail at what happened in this one area, I have this week become aware that the Lord allowed the storm to make us think through and turn back from what was not pleasing in His eyes – which undoubtedly included the growth of a fashion-conscious, celebrity-obsessed culture.

I believe the Lord allowed the storm to make us think through and turn back from what was not pleasing in His eyes – which undoubtedly included the growth of a celebrity-obsessed culture.

This does not mean that good did not also come from the storm, as communities rose up to help one another in ordinary, everyday ways. But more broadly, this prophetic sign was sadly not heeded; the industry found ways to pick up and move on, remaining quite deaf to what the Lord was saying.

Understand the Heart and Purposes of God

Surely there are aspects of the Texas hurricane that speak of corruption in US society, whilst God will also be pleased with those helping victims recover. It is ‘both/and’, not ‘either/or’ – and by balancing these different aspects of the disaster we can understand the heart and purposes of God better.

Will the prophetic word to the US get out in such a way that the nation emerges better off than it was before? Human beings have the ability to deafen themselves to the word of God, pick themselves up and carry on in defiance, which can only lead to further shaking.

Similarly, we have written in Prophecy Today for some time that further shaking will come to the UK. From time to time we hear of warning signs from within our financial institutions (see, for example, here). In anticipation of greater shaking ahead, let us continue to become mature in the reading of the signs. Our Bible reference is Hebrews 12:26:

Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. Now this “yet once more” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.

Therein is the balance.

References

1 Even the President has not hesitated to join the fray, serving meals to victims at a relief centre in Houston - read more here.

2 Pastor John Looper, Restoration Fellowship International. Email to supporters.

The wind of the Spirit is the key solution for the nations.

Winds of change are once more blowing across Africa. And as South Africa’s Tshego Motaung has well illustrated, it is her own country that is again resisting the phenomenon.

When British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan made his famous ‘Winds of Change’ speech to the Cape Town Parliament in 1960, he was talking of the reality of national liberation sweeping the continent.¹

South Africa’s political elite, however, were in denial of it, resisting the inevitable for 30 years until God intervened in answer to much prayer – specifically in Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk being reconciled through their common faith in Jesus Christ.²

Now there is a new movement of change, writer and political economist Tshego points out – a growing recognition of God’s purposes for Israel among African nations. And the irony is that the black majority government of South Africa is actually moving in the opposite direction again, downgrading their ties with the Jewish state while being taken in by Palestinian propaganda.

Fulfilment for Isaiah 19?

Nevertheless, Tshego is clearly excited by the fulfilment of ancient prophecies as African nations forge closer ties with Israel. As MC for the recent Africa Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) pre-launch event in Johannesburg, Tshego³ was reminded of the Isaiah 19 prophecy of a time when a highway of reconciliation would link Egypt, Israel and Assyria (Isa 19:23-25).

And she believes that what was described at the time (700 BC) as Egypt refers to most of what we know as Africa today.

“Initiatives like the AICC are some of the tools for bringing fulfillment to these prophecies,” she wrote in a recent online article for Gateway News (South Africa).⁴ “However, it is fascinating to notice how the current South African political leaders are acting in the same way their predecessors did in 1960, when they resisted the winds of change.”

There is a new movement of change sweeping Africa – a growing recognition of God’s purposes for Israel.

A further irony, in my opinion, is that a huge swathe of churches in South Africa are pro-Israel – and are in fact in revival because of that (as I believe the two are directly connected). The wind of the Holy Spirit is clearly blowing across the nation - what other explanation is there for nearly two million people turning up to a prayer meeting on a farmer’s field on 22 June this year?⁵ But the political leaders are trying to avoid the spiritual climate by sinking their heads in the South African sand (of which there is plenty). Like true believers down the ages, the country’s Christians are being counter-cultural and we should pray that their courage will not fail them at this desperate hour.

It is worth remembering that the Church also led the way for change in the apartheid era. Through much prayer and witness and a determination not to back down, they eventually won the battle. If the pattern is repeated today, political leaders will undoubtedly succumb. Perhaps it’s just a matter of when – not whether – the South African government repents; not only of its corruption, but of its anti-Israel stance.

Winds of Change – for Good and Ill

Winds of change have also blown through Britain since the 1960s – and on the whole they have wreaked havoc (rather as Hurricane Harvey has done in the USA) as family life has been seriously undermined and the Church has remained largely silent.

As the social structure of the UK continues to collapse, my prayer is that we will cease to resist the wind of the Spirit that is willing and wanting to rebuild our shattered society. The wind that blew on the Day of Pentecost changed the world (see Acts 2:2). Jesus spoke of a blowing of the wind, and of our response to it, when referring to the need for people to be “born again” in order to enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:8). This wind also came in the form of Jesus breathing on his disciples (John 20:22).

Winds of change have also blown through Britain since the 1960s – and on the whole they have wreaked havoc.

But the blowing of wind can also be negative, as I’ve intimated with my reference to havoc-wreaking hurricanes. St Paul writes about those who are easily led being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14) and when Jesus summed up his amazing Sermon on the Mount, he talked of destructive winds that would topple houses of thought and ideology built on the sand of lies and propaganda (Matt 7:24-27).

Word and Spirit Together

There is a growing movement dedicated to a coming together of the Word and Spirit in our churches which I believe holds out a very precious hope of future restoration. Too many of our churches (in the UK at least) favour one over the other, concentrating on preaching the Bible on the one hand or emphasising the gifts of the Spirit on the other. But many are now recognising that the time has come to weave both streams together.

The result, certainly according to legendary early 20^th Century evangelist Smith Wigglesworth in an extraordinary prophecy made shortly before his death in 1947, will be spiritually explosive.

He said at the time:

When the Word and the Spirit come together, there will be the biggest move of the Holy Spirit that the nation, and indeed the world, has ever seen. It will mark the beginning of a revival that will eclipse anything that has been witnessed within these shores – even the Wesleyan and Welsh revivals of former years. The outpouring of God’s Spirit will flow over from the United Kingdom to mainland Europe and, from there, will begin a missionary move to the ends of the earth.⁶

Notes

1 Harold Macmillan actually said: “The wind of change is blowing through the continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.”

2 See elsewhere in this issue.

3 Tshego Motaung holds an MA in Global Political Economy from Sussex University, has spent years in corporate South Africa and also worked as Trade and Investment advisor for UK Trade and Investment.

4 Motaung, T. Winds of change blowing again in Africa, but will SA get it? Gateway News, 4 August 2017.

5 The actual estimate is 1.7 million.

6 See the full word here. See also Cooper, J, 2015. When the Spirit and Word Collide. River Publishing.

In the face of so much instability in our nation, here’s a lesson in what brings peace.

South Africa was saved at the cross of Jesus – where enemies are reconciled to one another¹ – when threatened by civil war at the time of the transfer of power to majority rule in the early 1990s.

This is the claim of a former South African Navy officer who was chaplain to Nelson Mandela and his fellow prisoners on the infamous Robben Island.

He said that if civil war had broken out in his adopted country in the immediate aftermath of apartheid, it would have been “every bit as bloody” as the current strife in Syria.

“FW de Klerk [South Africa’s last white president] became a committed Christian. And he and Mandela found each other as Christians,^”2 Rev Colin Chambers told a Doncaster audience, attending an event now known nationally as Life Stories at Lunch.

He went on to explain how the Christian education Mandela had received from Methodist missionaries had taught him the value of forgiveness, which became more precious during his time serving a life sentence for plotting acts of violence against the state. The young Mandela was head-boy of his school, where he led a Bible class and prayed daily during assemblies.

Former chaplain to Nelson Mandela has claimed that South Africa was saved from civil war in 1994 by the cross of Jesus.

Opportunity to Bring Hope

A pastor for an Assemblies of God church at the time, Chambers, now 73, befriended Mandela and his fellow ANC (African National Congress) inmates during regular visits to the island, just a few miles from Cape Town.

On one occasion he found himself speaking about the Jewish patriarch Joseph; how he was imprisoned in Egypt and then released to serve as Prime Minister under Pharaoh, saving two nations in the process (through relief from famine).

He then realised he might have overstepped the mark and apologised to Nelson, begging his forgiveness for insensitivity. But the ANC leader insisted: “Not at all; you give me hope!”

When the job offer was first put to him, Chambers didn’t think – as a white officer of the South African Defence Force – that he had much chance of being accepted by the prisoners, who had been fighting against the apartheid regime. But he was amazed when first introduced to their iconic leader, who said: “The name’s Mandela. You’re very welcome. How was the sea? [It can be a rough passage] And how’s your father?”

Puzzled, he thought he might have known his dad, who was the same age, but later discovered that in the Xhosa culture in which Mandela had been nurtured it was an expression that meant you were accepted.

Learning About Forgiveness

“The general narrative among my acquaintances was that he was a terrorist getting what he deserved. He was, after all, arrested with bomb-making equipment and given a ‘free and fair trial’ by the standards of Amnesty International. “But when I told my congregation at Muizenberg (near Cape Town) that ‘Mr Mandela sends his greetings’, they were initially offended. Some people called me a traitor; even a ‘Pinkie’ [meaning Communist]. But I used to say: ‘If he’s ever released, you’ll see who he is.’”

Chambers once found himself speaking about Joseph imprisoned in Egypt and then released to serve as Prime Minister under Pharaoh, which Mandela received as a message of hope.

“We chatted about forgiveness (around 1980/1) and how Joseph, when he met his brothers who had thrown him down a well and then sold him into slavery, had said: “You meant it for evil, but God intended it for good…” (Gen 50:20).

See Photo Credits.Mandela is on record as saying that refusing to forgive is like “drinking poison and hoping it poisons your enemies”. He also said: “I knew that if I didn’t leave all my resentment behind, and forgive, that I would be walking out of one prison and entering another.”

Reconciliation Made Possible

South Africa is once more at the crossroads, with allegations of corruption at government level dividing the country, but Colin is encouraged by the response to a call for prayer that saw nearly two million people³ meet on a farmer’s field on 22 April this year to intercede for the nation before God.

It had happened before, in 1994 – at the cross, where Jesus’ death brought reconciliation between the nation’s black and white leaders – and it could happen again, he said.

Asked what he believed was Mandela’s legacy to the world, he replied in just three words: “Forgiveness brings reconciliation.” He added: “Forgiveness and reconciliation is the only way real peace can come.”

Chambers is “absolutely convinced he (Mandela) made a commitment (to Christ)”, adding that Jesus’ own test, “by their fruit you will know them”, certainly applied in his case. “We all have the right to change. I saw a change, and I would challenge anybody to say that Nelson remained a terrorist.”

Mandela is on record as saying that refusing to forgive is like “drinking poison and hoping it poisons your enemies”.

God’s Word Does Not Return Empty

One of Mandela’s great friends, apart from former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was Assemblies of God leader Nicholas Bhengu, once dubbed the ‘black Billy Graham’.

During his time as chaplain on Robben Island, Mr Chambers got some of his ‘flock’ – Nelson and other ANC leaders including future provincial premiers – to write their names in his Bible. And he showed me the evidence.

The British-born pastor, who grew up in East London, South Africa, and now lives in Portsmouth (Britain’s naval base), said it was after he became a born-again Christian that he felt it right to stay in the Navy. “I wanted to pilot the ship, fire the guns and preach the gospel, but the Lord in his wisdom allowed me to be a prison chaplain.”

His first assignment was at Polsmoor, where Mandela was to spend the final years of his sentence, and it was due to a security breach at Robben Island that he was offered a post there.

With Mandela’s Christian education in mind, Chambers encouraged his audience to trust the assurance of Isaiah that God’s word will always achieve the purpose for which it was sent (Isa 55:11).

Notes

1 Ephesians 2:14-16 explains how men are reconciled to each other, and to God, through the crucifixion of Jesus.

2 They both won the Nobel Prize for Peace for their efforts towards reconciliation.

3 Actual estimate 1.7 million.

The anonymous prophet who told of the fall of the House of Eli.

In the historical books 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings, we find accounts of unnamed prophets who are individually referred to as ‘a man of God’ (cf 1 Kings 13:1; 2 Kings 6:9) who suddenly appear to speak powerfully to rulers.

During the time of the Philistine wars prior to the monarchy one such ’man of God’ appeared and prophesied against Eli and his generations (1 Sam 2:27), that the strength of the family would be broken, that none of his descendants would live to an old age and that the line would be displaced from the priestly leadership and reduced to poverty.

The account of Eli and his house is related in the first four chapters of 1 Samuel. Eli is suddenly introduced and his story provides a backcloth for the Samuel cycle, the end of the period of the Judges and the end of the sanctuary at Shiloh, anticipating the decline of the Eliad line of priests in favour of the Zadokites (1 Kings 2:26).

Eli functioned as ‘the priest’ by which we may assume he was the high priest, if such a term is correct at this time, at the ’house of the Lord’ in Shiloh, some 20 miles north of Jerusalem, where the tabernacle containing the ark and possibly some ancillary structures were present (1 Sam 3, 7, 9).

Use of the term hekal (temple) does imply that there was something more of a permanent structure, that at least had door posts and a door. Eli and his sons are introduced without genealogy or indication of how they came to hold their position in opposition to the line of Ele’ezer (1 Chron 6:4-15). It would seem that the family were descended from Aaron through Ithmar, his youngest son (1 Kings 2:27 cf. 1 Chron 14:3). The tradition that they had seized the priesthood from Uzzi is considered to be a later Samaritan invention.

A ‘man of God’ appeared and prophesied against Eli and his generations, that the family strength would be broken and the line displaced from priestly leadership.

Eli’s Leadership

Eli had led Israel (‘judged’, KJV) for 40 years and at the time of the visit of the unnamed prophet he is described as being aged, blind and heavy in his body. How long his degenerate sons Hophni and Phinehas had been the main functionaries is not made clear.

The sons' behaviour, which included sexual misconduct with female attendants who served at the entrance (cf. Ex 38:8) and abuse of the sacrificial system, including violent actions by third parties on their behalf, showed not only disregard of the prescribed behaviour of a priest, and misappropriation of parts of the sacrifice that they would not be entitled to (Lev 7:34), but also utter contempt for the Lord whom they were supposed to be serving.

Eli it seems had attempted to rebuke them for their conduct but with little or no effect. He should have disciplined them, or removed them from the priesthood altogether. It is all too easy to let your children run amok because you are afraid of the consequences of correction or simply intimidated. The message of the prophet concerning the decline of the house of Eli and its subsequent confirmation by the child Samuel found fulfilment in the deaths of Eli’s sons on the same day (1 Sam 4:11) and the slaughter of the priests at Nob (1 Sam 12:9-20):

I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family — from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’ (1 Sam 3:12-14)

Eli’s sons’ behaviour showed disregard of the prescribed behaviour of a priest and utter contempt for the Lord, whom they were supposed to be serving.

Weak Leadership

The emphasis in the introductory passage is that ‘he knew’ and ‘he failed to restrain them'. A second tension was that Eli appeared to have had little faith that any intercession could be made for them, and chose to bury his head in the sand (1 Sam 2:25).

Hophni and Phinehas. See Photo Credits.The message of the prophet sounds a warning today to church leadership and particularly those in leadership of groups of churches and denominations. Paul writing to Timothy describes a time of great stress in the last days and lists characteristics that resemble the behaviour of Hophni and Phinehas, which included being lovers of themselves, abusive and disobedient to their parents (2 Tim 4:1).

In the West we largely live in an orphan society where fatherhood has not been exercised in the home and leadership within the church has lost its fathering role. Fatherhood in leadership is an expression of the Fatherhood of God and as such contains the elements of correction and discipline. If one is not disciplined by one’s father one is not a son and therefore, functionally is illegitimate (Heb 12:8).

Part of the decline of the Church as an effective witness and weakness in its discipling programmes has been caused directly by what may be termed the ‘Eli effect’ of taking lines of least resistance, confronting weakness and tolerating deviant behaviour or simply ignoring problems and hoping that they will go away. The problem is that the issues left unchallenged seldom depart and if they do depart they take root elsewhere. Transferring the tension to another is not a godly solution.

Major denominations and groups that have tolerated deviant teachings and behaviour have weakened the Church from within. There has been an insidious move away from Bible teaching to a pattern that is founded in psychology and first line management that has eroded the essential character of the Church as a protector of the apostolic faith and a moral influence upon society.

Part of the decline of the Church’s witness has been caused by the ‘Eli effect’: taking lines of least resistance, tolerating deviant behaviour or simply ignoring problems and hoping that they will go away.

Take These Words to Heart

In a similar manner, weak leadership caused by a fear of confrontation and a move away from strong leadership to local consensus have undermined the responsibilities, direction and effectiveness of Church leadership. We have failed to present a fatherly [not paternalistic] model based upon the Fatherhood of God.

If leaders do not keep their house in order, albeit through fear of the face of man, misguided loyalties or fear of personal rejection, internal division and party spirit, the accusation that came through the prophet remains — “why do you honour your sons more than me?”

A similar accusation resonates against the church in Thyatira (Rev 2:20) with the words “I have this against you...you allowed…”, in this case allowing false prophecy, sexual misconduct and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. It is important to remember that to maintain silence in the face of deviant behaviour or teaching is to tacitly approve of it.

The story also demonstrates that when the fear of the Lord is absent in the leadership it percolates downwards. The emphasis moves away from essential trust in God to reliance being put on artefacts (e.g. the ark — 1 Sam 4:4), institutions (e.g. the Temple - Jer 7:3) or individuals.

It is important to remember that to maintain silence in the face of deviant behaviour or teaching is to tacitly approve of it.

In the modern era it is tragic to see members of the Church following individuals in order to ‘hear a word from the Lord’ or in the belief that their own church, group or denomination have little or nothing to offer. The star status accorded to some speakers has gone a long way to undermining some individuals’ faith when some of the so-called celebrities have been shown to be all too human.

The leaders after suffering a defeat on the battlefield assumed that the mere presence of the ark of the covenant would assure them victory against the Philistines (1 Sam 4:4). The result was that in fulfilment of the prophecy, Eli's two sons were killed at the battle of Aphek (1 Sam 4:11). Upon hearing the news Eli fell off his chair and broke his neck, resulting in his own death. Archaeological evidence indicates that the sanctuary at Shiloh was destroyed at this time and the priesthood moved to Nob.

In conclusion the words which the prophet spoke to Eli should be taken to heart. “I respect those who respect me but those who despise me will meet with contempt” (1 Sam 2:30, CJB).

Originally published in Prophecy Today, 1999, Vol 15(4).

Greg Stevenson reviews ‘Rebel Church’ by Peter Sammons (Glory to Glory Publications, 2013).

This timely book is a sensitive and hopeful challenge to Christians about the condition of some sections of Jesus' Church today that are, in various ways, in rebellion against their Lord. It is written clearly as both a warning and an encouragement for the believer in the truth of the Bible, especially those who find themselves in liberal or institutional churches that in some way reject God's word, or change the truth to accommodate modern worldly mores.

The author begins with reminders of Jesus' warnings of deception, false gospels and false messiahs as signs of the end times, and of Paul's strong caution about teachers who would present another Jesus, another spirit, another Gospel, and of people who would not put up with sound doctrine, but embrace ideas that their itching ears want to hear (2 Cor 11:4; 2 Tim 4:3). These are key texts for this much-needed book, for this disease is very evident in our day, from ordained archbishops to 'atheist' churches.

The book points out that Jesus spoke much about rebellion and its consequences, both in the generic and individual sense. Sammons reflects on shocking recent actions of the comfortable institutional Church, especially in Western nations, detecting three currents of rebellion:

• Syncretism through compromise with other religions;
  
• Sexual licence presented as 'love' or 'equality';
  
• Termination of life as a norm, presented as a choice, a right or as medical 'treatment'.

This timely book is a sensitive and hopeful challenge to Christians about the condition of some sections of Jesus' Church today that are, in various ways, in rebellion against their Lord.

Sammons recognises a distinction between the true ekklesia (those believers called out to new life in the Spirit, set apart from the world for God's Kingdom) and the lukewarm, institutional structures that many churches have become, focused on repetitive ritual, dualistic 'clergy and laity', or top-down career positions. He points out that disciples of the King are called into the 'Kingdom', not into the 'Church'.

Itching Ears

The chapter on 'Itching Ears' presents a serious picture of the Church giving out to a wide audience (church-goers and non-believers) the message it wants to hear, subject to worldly relativity and to vocal pressures from secular anti-God lobbies. Sammons shows clearly the major influence of Greek philosophy in the presentation of the Gospel and the Platonic divergence from biblical truth that has been carried over into post-Reformation Protestant church thinking.

He demonstrates the growing compromise with the demands of liberal, non-Bible-believing leaders in both Church and state that are clearly in rebellion against God's revealed truth. Many examples are given, as warnings, of secular influences in the Church.

A Prodigal Church?

How to address these increasingly apostate changes over the past 50 years, and turn back to live under God's law? It is an urgent challenge.

The last three chapters identify key areas in which the Church must become more aware of the warnings in God's word for these days, including the signs of the times and the Bible’s teaching about the return of the Lord Jesus, the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith, study of the whole Bible as one progressive revelation and the call to no compromise with the world.

Sammons recognises a distinction between the true ekklesia, set apart from the world for God's Kingdom, and the lukewarm, institutional structures that many churches have become.

For individual believers, Sammons presents 'steps to 20-20 vision for these days', including exhortations to:

• Listen intently to the Shepherd's voice, as to our first and highest love;
  
• Boldly share the Gospel message in the realities of the end-time world;
  
• Believe God's purpose for Jew and Gentile unity as ‘one new man’ in Christ;
  
• Rejoice in our Hebraic root as Gentiles engrafted into the olive tree;
  
• Engage in prayer and practical works for persecuted believers;
  
• Be fully committed to intercession and Bible study.

Britain is under the fire of God's judgment at present, having repeatedly turned against him in rebellion. Yet the established Church is largely silent. This book, Rebel Church, is realistic, honest and challenging, but also full of hope. It is vital reading for believers who desire to walk with the Master by his Spirit in the terrible times of the last days (2 Tim 3:1).

The author asks, finally: ‘Will the church be prodigal?’ The answer is: yes! – and no!

'Rebel Church' is available from Christian Publications International (formerly Glory to Glory Publications) for £9.99. Also available on Amazon.