Most Christians who take an interest in the affairs of the nation know that Britain is in a mess! This has been increasingly evident over the past 10 years as we have stumbled from one crisis to another.

7 July this year will be the 10th anniversary of the London bombings when 55 people lost their lives and hundreds were wounded. This showed that God’s protection had been removed from over the nation.

God Speaks

God always gives us forewarnings. The Prophet Amos said “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plans to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). But we have to be looking and listening, and able to interpret the signs that God sends.

The great hurricane in October 1987 was a dramatic warning that God sent. 15 million trees were felled, disrupting road and rail transport around the rich commuter area of London. It was followed 3 days later by a dramatic fall on the stock market. Both of these signs were rightly interpreted in the magazine Prophecy Today, but the warnings were not heeded.

When warning signs are ignored God says, “I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen” (Isa 65:12). There are inevitable consequences when we do not listen. Some more recent ones are listed in the article “What Is God Doing?”.

Consequences

The history of Israel recorded in the Bible shows the consequences when a nation refuses to heed the warnings that God sends to them: things start to fall apart in the life of the nation. It was at one of these times that the Psalmist cried out “Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbour; their flattering lips speak with deception” (Ps 12:1). In another of David’s Psalms he asked “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps 11:3).

The response of Christians should be, “Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jer 37:17) This was the question King Zedekiah asked the Prophet Jeremiah when the Babylonian army was surrounding Jerusalem. But it was too late then. He should have asked this question much earlier.

Is it too late for us? Is Britain already in a time of judgement?

Foundations Crumbling

Certainly, the Judaeo-Christian foundations of our nation have been steadily eroded over the past 40 years! We have passed one law after another that has undermined the biblical values of the nation:

• the Abortion Law has killed millions of unborn babies,
• the Sunday Trading Act has turned every day into a day of commerce with no time for the family, for quiet reflection and worshipping God,
• the Divorce Laws that the Bible says God hates have devastated family life (Mal 2:16), and most heinous of all political crimes:
• the Same-Sex Marriage Act, which actually dares to 'redefine' marriage, part of God’s act of creation!

So what can Christians do? The General Election gives an opportunity to eject ungodly MPs. But where are the godly men and women to replace them?

Here are a few things we can do.

1. Use your vote. Be determined to use your vote. And use it wisely.
2. Find out who your local candidates are and find all you can about them. If you have a sitting candidate discover how he or she voted on key questions such as the Same-Sex Marriage Act. Information on this is available on the Marriage Foundation’s website. Ask the candidates questions – for help look at the special election websites provided by Christian Concern and CARE.
3. Meet with other Christians and discuss the local situation and arrange to meet candidates. If there is no local meeting – organise one!
4. Read the Bible; study the word of God with other believers, especially the prophets.
5. Pray together: ask the Lord what should be done and decide on a plan of action. Agree to meet both before and after the election to pray for candidates and pray for the new MPs.
6. Get involved in local action instead of leaving it to the secular humanists. Paul says the whole “creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” (Rom 8:19).

Time for Action

Surely it’s time for Christians to make the word of the Lord heard in this land! With Paul, we should be saying, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). If we remain silent at such a time as this we will be accountable to the Lord for the mess in our nation.

Now is the time to awake from sleep; to rise up in the power of the Lord and declare the truth to a corrupt generation!

We need to pray for boldness and the power of God’s Spirit and he will certainly respond with the promise “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty” (Zech 4:6).

The current election promises to be one of the closest – and most important – in a generation. Polls have been remarkably consistent for a long time, all predicting a ‘Hung Parliament’. How have we got here?

Why No Clear Winner?

Surely the Conservatives ought to have won an overall majority in 2010 against a weak and ineffective Labour administration that had run out of steam – and thus ought to be able now to win a second term outright. Conversely, why have Labour been unable to position themselves as a Government-in-waiting, as in 1995-7, given the Coalition’s rather modest achievements?

Motivating Voters

An important factor in winning an election is the degree to which voters can be motivated and engaged. Reviewing the key achievements of the last five years of the Conservative/LibDem Coalition, it is hard to see much to praise from a biblical standpoint. Modest progress has been made to reduce the deficit, and although many more people have a job than five years ago, we should not ignore the reality that Chancellor Osborne has been as addicted to debt as was Chancellor Brown.

Coalition’s Record

The deficit is less than it was five years ago, but the National Debt is vastly higher. Some disincentives to work and bureaucratic control over education have been reduced. However, from a biblical perspective, the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013 and the non-binding vote on recognising Palestine are of great concern. Both are symptomatic of the change in values that characterise 'modern' Britain today: the abandonment of traditional Judaeo-Christian understandings of sexuality and personal behaviour, and the rejection of Israel, both in favour of humanistic values and worldview.

A Good Manifesto

Political manifestoes are intended to set out what a party will do in office. A good manifesto will state the sort of policies that the party will seek to implement. Some party manifestoes reflect timeless values; others seek to reflect changes in society. Given the huge changes in the past decade we should not be surprised that the main party manifestoes are quite similar and reflect humanism rather than traditional Judaeo-Christian values.

The Present Manifestoes

Of the major parties, the Liberal Democrats have the most humanistic manifesto, but the Conservatives’ and Labour’s are also essentially humanistic. The Green Party’s values are a mixture of humanism and paganism. The SNP’s values combine humanism with nationalism; whereas UKIP’s combine nationalism with traditionalism. None of the major parties show any concern for biblical values.

Political Chaos

The key reason for the present political impasse is that our politicians have pursued a humanistic agenda, while neglecting the biblical values that were at least acknowledged by former generations of politicians. A measure of God’s judgement on us as a nation will be a change from the two-party stability that 'first past the post' gives to us, to a chaotic situation after 7 May in which the only two parties that can form a coalition together will be the Conservatives and Labour. In such a scenario government will be very difficult indeed, with each vote potentially requiring its own coalition to enable it to be passed.

Judgement

While such a scenario might be the natural end for a campaign without a clear winner, it should also be seen as judgement by God on a country and in particular on a parliament that has been greatly blessed by him in times past but which has rejected him, his word, and his values.

Such a scenario does not take into account the wider global situation and the likelihood of a multi-dimensional crisis affecting us all and requiring an urgent Government response. What will it be? Will it be humanistic, or can it be more in line with biblical values? The challenge will be for Christians both to pray and to witness actively in the public square, before the election and beyond.

We are thrilled that just one week before the publication of Prophecy Today UK, the project was birthed in prayer with an all-day meeting at Regent Hall (The Salvation Army), Oxford Street, London.

This was sponsored by Issachar Ministries, with supporters coming from as far away as Cornwall and Northumberland, and other prayer groups meeting around the country. The event was filled with the presence of the Lord and a wonderful sense of expectation.

Amidst the prayer and worship, we had the honour of welcoming three fantastic guest speakers: Wale Babatunde, Paul Szkiler and Rachel Wagstaff (Christian Concern), who each used their specialist knowledge to highlight prophetic insights into:

• The global economy
• The moral and spiritual state of the nation
• The effects of current legislation upon the lives of Christians in Britain.

Members of the Editorial Board also took it in turns to introduce different sections and themes that the new Prophecy Today UK magazine will cover. Their suggested starting points for prayer are listed below.

Please continue to pray for these issues and for Prophecy Today UK’s coverage of them, as the Lord leads you.

Topics and suggestions for prayer

Society and Politics

Prayer for this section of the magazine focused on the upcoming General Election, and included the following points:

• That the result will be fully in line with the will of God
• For the election of godly MPs
• That Britain will have a Government that understands the world scene, and pursues justice and righteousness both at home and overseas

Prayer also focused on the threats currently facing Christianity and its expression in British public life:

• For Christians to be visible and vocal in the public square
  • That the witness of Christians who are suffering under Equality Laws will impact the nation positively
• That Britain’s Christian heritage will not be totally lost

For resources on how to pray and witness in the General Election period see the special election websites of Christian Concern and CARE.

World Scene

Prayer for this section of Prophecy Today UK focused on the following countries and issues:

• USA – particularly its relationships with Russia and Israel
• Russia – its recent military build-up and the violence in Ukraine
• Iran - its recent nuclear activity
• World-wide terrorism and the rise of Islamic State
• Global persecution of Jews and Christians, the Gospel going out

Prayer was also offered that Prophecy Today UK’s coverage and analysis of these complex topics would be biblical, insightful and Holy Spirit-inspired.

The Economy

During this section, prayer focused in on the following select economic issues:

• Debt problems in the UK, their enormous cost and impact on quality of life. Efforts like CAP that are helping people to become debt free.
• Greece’s current economic problems. The unemployment and economic suffering which are accompanying this.
• Nigeria’s presidential election and need for a Government that will wisely manage its oil-rich economy.

Church Issues

Prayer for the British Church focused on the following points:

• Thanking God for the rise of small fellowship groups around the country and praying for their increase and prosperity
• The twin challenges of secularism and Islam: that Christians will be equipped to respond
• The need for strength, courage and resources:
  • For witnessing as a minority group in increasingly difficult times
  • For passing the truth of the gospel on to the next generation
  • For remaining true to the Church’s biblical roots
  • For the Church to fulfil its prophetic role in British society

Israel & Middle East

Prayer in this section focused on the following issues:

• The rise of anti-Semitism in the UK and Europe, related to the conflict in and around Israel (Ps 121:4)
• The need for fair, balanced media reporting about Israel
• Unity and wisdom for Netanyahu and new Israeli Government (Pro 21:1)
• The rise of Islamic State (Ps 68:1, Matt 5:44)
• Muslims rejecting extremism and seeking answers (Jn 14:6)
• Building bridges between communities (Eph 2:15)

Prayers were also offered that Prophecy Today UK’s coverage of this difficult set of issues would be biblical, balanced and loving, for the prospering of its public voice and role in raising awareness both within and outside of the Church, and for its analysis to be directed and inspired by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Teaching

Prayer was requested for:

• Wisdom and insight for the writing team
• The development of a long-term strategy for Prophecy Today UK’s study materials.

Resources

Prayer was also requested for:

• Sifting resources and choosing the right titles
• Clarity in writing, and for sensible, balanced, helpful reviews
• Finding wise reviewers
• Building good relationships with publishers.

The Prophecy Today UK team are extremely grateful to all who attended the meeting, and to all who were with us in spirit.

Among the prophecies spoken at the two gatherings, the prediction of the impending collapse of the Soviet Union was the first to unfold. Since then, the modern phase of the great shaking of the nations has certainly begun. It has extended to the natural world of creation in storm and tempest, famine and plague, earthquakes and tsunamis, droughts and disease.

Socially, the Western nations have been shaken through family breakdown and widespread social unrest. The shaking of the economy in 2008 that destroyed a number of seemingly impregnable financial houses plunged the world into financial crisis from which it is only slowly recovering today.

Beginning with the fall of the Twin Towers in New York in 2001, many acts of terrorism and violence have been loosed among the nations. In the Middle East the Arab Spring began a revolutionary movement that has kindled civil war in Syria and Iraq, and the current establishment of the Islamic State that threatens to engulf the whole region- and beyond -in violence.

Future Direction

What lies in the future? Is there any good news to lighten the sombre tidings that fill our TV news screens? We look to the many prophecies given 30 years ago that the great shaking would be the prelude to a harvest time for the kingdom: that God would actually use the shaking of the nations to prepare the way of the gospel. This is what we will be exploring in the future through Prophecy Today UK. This is why we believe God has urged us to begin publishing Prophecy Today online at this crucial time in world history.

Through the old printed magazine Prophecy Today we sought to publish the truth – that was our criterion. We cannot promise to publish nice popular platitudes, but we do promise to publish the truth. The truth is always good news even when it is warnings of danger: because the truth is the word of the Lord for our times. And God loves his people. His purposes are for our salvation, not for our destruction.

This is why we can look forward to the future with confidence knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God. In the words of St Paul:

I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38-39)

Back

The following words regarding Israel and the Church were reported at the Jerusalem International Gathering in April 1986.

The word of the Lord given through Lance Lambert:

It will not be long before there will come upon the world a time of unparalleled upheaval and turmoil. Do not fear for it is I, the Lord, who am shaking all things. I began this shaking with the First World War and I greatly increased it through the Second World War. Since 1973 I have given it an even greater impetus. In the last stage, I plan to complete it with the shaking of the universe itself, with signs in sun and moon and stars.

But before that point is reached, I will judge the nations, and the time is near. It will not only be by war and civil war, by anarchy and terrorism, but by monetary collapses that I will judge the nations but also by natural disasters: by earthquakes, by shortages and famines, and by old and new plagues and diseases. I will also judge them by giving them over to their own ways, to lawlessness, to loveless selfishness, to delusion and to believing a lie, to false religion and an apostate church, even to a Christianity without me.

Do not fear when these things begin to happen, for I disclose these things to you before they commence in order that you might be prepared, and that in the day of trouble and of evil you may stand firm and overcome. For I purpose that you may become the means of encouraging and strengthening many who love me but who are weak, I desire that through you many may become strong in me, and that multitudes of others might find my salvation through you.

"Do not fear when these things begin to happen, for I disclose these things to you before they commence in order that you might be prepared, and that in the day of trouble and of evil you may stand firm and overcome."

And hear this! Do not fear the power of the Kremlin, nor the power of the Islamic Revolution, for I plan to break both of them through Israel. I will break down their pride and their arrogance, and shatter them because they have blasphemed my name. In that day I will avenge the blood of all the martyrs and of the innocent ones whom they have slaughtered.

I will surely do this thing for they have thought that there was no one to judge them. But I have seen their ways and I have heard the cries of the oppressed and the persecuted and I will break their power and make an end of them. Be therefore prepared for when all this comes to pass; to you will be given the last great opportunity to preach the Gospel freely to all the nations.

In the midst of all the turmoil and shaking, and at the heart of everything, is my church. In the heavenlies she is joined to me in one Spirit and I have destined her for the throne. You are my beloved whom I have a redeemed and anointed – you are mine. I will equip and empower you and you will rise up and do great things in my name, even in the midst of the darkness and evil: for I will reveal my power, and my grace, and my glory through you.

Do not hold back nor question my ways with you for in all my dealings with you I have always in mind that you should be part of my Bride and reign with me. Do not forget that this requires especial discipline and training. So yield to me that I might do a work in you in the time which is left for I plan even during all this shaking that the Bride will make herself ready.

"Yield to me, that I might do a work in you in the time which is left, for I plan even during all this shaking that the Bride will make herself ready."

And in the midst of nations on earth, seething with unrest and conflict, I have set my Israel. Yes, I say my Israel, even though they walk in disobedience and transgression, in the stubbornness of their hearts, divorced from me through unbelief. Nevertheless, always remember that I made them enemies of the Gospel for your sake.

I the Lord, I myself, blinded them and hardened them that salvation might come to the Gentiles in fullness. Yet they are still mine, beloved of me with a tender and undying love. They are my kith and kin and I love them. Shall I give them up for all that they have done to me, says the Lord? Yet I have surrendered them to sorrow, to anguish of heart and to continuous suffering. But I have never given them up. In all their affliction I was afflicted though I neither delivered them nor saved them from death.

Nevertheless I have been present; I, the King of Israel, I have been present, although unnoticed and unregarded, in all their sufferings. There was no gas chamber, no massacre in which I was not present. But now the time has surely come when I shall receive them, for I will reveal myself to them and with astonishment they will recognise me.

"For in the midst of these judgements multitudes upon multitudes will be saved from the nations. You will hardly know how to bring the harvest in, but my Spirit will equip you for the task."

And to Israel will I also turn in that day, and I will melt the hardening which has befallen her. I will turn her blindness into clear sight, and tear away the veil on her heart. Then shall she be redeemed with heart bursting joy, and will become a fountain of new and resurrection life to the whole company of the redeemed.

Do not fear for these days, for I have purposed that you should stand with me and serve me in them. Fear not, for I love you and I will protect you and equip you. I, the Lord, will anoint you with a new anointing and you will work my works and fulfil my counsel. You shall stand before me, the Lord of the whole Earth, and serve me with understanding and with power, and you shall reign with me during these days. Above all I call you to be intercessors.

The word of the Lord through David Noakes:

I have called you to enter into the throne room of the universe, the place where I, who am high and holy and who dwells in eternity, have my seat from which to give counsel and instruction.

I have many who call themselves my ambassadors, but who do not come to my throne to receive my anointing touch and to hear the message which they are to bear; and so they go forth uttering words which are not my words and are without the anointing power of my Spirit.

But to you I say, consecrate yourselves to me afresh this day. Let your heart’s resolve be fixed within you that you will come into my presence and abide there, and that you will not go out from it unless I send you, neither will you utter from your lips in my name anything that you have not heard in the holy place of my throne room. My presence is a place of peace and light and truth; no disorder, nor confusion, nor darkness, nor lies, can abide before my throne. I have not just brought you here in order to give you some special message to bear; but I have brought you here in order to equip you to be the bearers of any and every message which I shall entrust to you in the days to come.

"Let your heart’s resolve be fixed within you that you will come into my presence and abide there, and that you will not go out from it unless I send you, neither will you utter from your lips in my name anything that you have not heard in the holy place of my throne room."

I have brought you here to cleanse you in the waters of repentance, and to touch your unclean lips with a coal from the altar in order that I may make you holy unto me, and fit to speak my words to my people who are perishing for the lack of true vision.

Consecrate yourselves to me afresh this day, therefore. Rid yourselves of all double mindedness and go forth as those whose greatest delight is to be before my throne, both at times when I shall speak and at times when I shall hold my peace.

Come out from the worldliness of living that defiles, and enter instead into the dwelling place of your God. Learn as you have never learned before how blessed it is to be a doorkeeper in my house, and forsake the tents of wickedness. Even so, you shall hear my very heartbeat, and you will be able to move beyond the joy of seeing my works into the awesome delight of understanding my ways, for in the place of consecration and holiness I will share my very thoughts with those whom I have called friends and who love me enough to want to draw near and be with me where I am.

When you have come to the point where your whole heart’s desire is to dwell in that place, then you shall have no difficulty in knowing what I am saying, for other sounds will have been excluded. And I will make you a living message, with the very word of life flowing from your heart and from your lips, even as I was in the days of my flesh. Commune with my Father as I did, and I will make you even as I then was, Jesus in the world.

Back / Next: Watching the prophecies unfold

At the Good Friday service in Jerusalem in the final days of the Carmel and Jerusalem events the prophecies of Haggai and Hebrews were being reviewed. The whole company had already received the prophecies concerning the great shaking of the nations that had been foretold at Mt Carmel. During the service one of the leadership team added a further prophecy saying that the first nation to be shaken was going to be the USSR.

USSR

This was received quietly and no doubt with some hesitation because the Soviet Union was at the height of its power. The Cold War between East and West seemed to be never ending and the USSR ruled over the Warsaw Pact countries covering the whole of Eastern Europe.

The power of the Communist Empire seemed unbreakable and the tensions between the USA and Russia were as great as they had ever been. Both countries were fully armed with nuclear weapons capable of devastating most of the Northern Hemisphere if an armed conflict should develop.

Chernobyl

Just three weeks after that prophecy was given in Jerusalem, the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union blew up scattering radioactive dust over a wide area of Europe, as far west as the Welsh mountains. Many in the West saw this as an act of judgement because “Chernobyl” in the Ukrainian language meant “wormwood” or “bitterness”.

Christians remembered that 'wormwood' is mentioned in the book of Revelation:

The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water – the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. (Rev 8:10-11)

Jewish Pogrom

It was recalled that Chernobyl was a town where a large number of Jews lived before the Communist era but in the 1930s when the Nazis were murdering Jews in Germany the Russians did the same and at Chernobyl there was a massacre. The Communists dug a mass grave and buried those whom they had slaughtered in the pogrom.

After the Second World War when they were looking for a suitable site for a nuclear power station they decided to build it directly on top of the Jewish burial ground. Chernobyl became doubly bitter for the Jewish population in the Soviet Union and the springs and rivers of the whole area did indeed become wormwood.

Far-Reaching Effects

But the fallout from Chernobyl had much wider and far-reaching effects.

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster had widespread social and political repercussions throughout the USSR and Eastern Europe which would redraw the map of Europe and change the history of the world.

Chernobyl was near Kiev in the Ukraine. That area was known as the breadbasket of the USSR. It was badly polluted: food could not be produced here. It was just at the time when the Soviet armies were being withdrawn from Afghanistan and there were many more mouths to be fed. The Communist Government faced famine and had to buy grain from the USA, which required dollars. This in turn meant establishing friendly relations with the West and appealing for the cooperation of their own citizens at home.

This led to major changes on the international political front and on the domestic social front. The key words introduced at that time by Mikhail Gorbachev were ‘Glasnost’ and ‘Perestroika’, ‘Openness’ and ‘Reform’. Gorbachev became President of the USSR in 1985, inheriting a struggling economy and a range of social problems at home due to weak leadership from ageing senile leaders in the Kremlin.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Looking back on the Chernobyl power plant disaster, Gorbachev saw it as the single most significant event that led to the end of the Communist Empire in Eastern Europe. He wrote:

The nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl even more than my launch of perestroika, was perhaps the real cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union five years later. Indeed, the Chernobyl catastrophe was an historic turning point: there was the era before the disaster, and there is the very different era that has followed...The Chernobyl disaster, more than anything else, opened the possibility of much greater freedom of expression, to the point that the system as we knew it could no longer continue. It made absolutely clear how important it was to continue the policy of glasnost.¹

George Kennan

A similar view was expressed by George Kennan who was the American Ambassador to the USSR in 1952. He was one of the architects of the U.S. strategy in the Cold War. Kennan wrote that, in reviewing the entire "history of international affairs in the modern era", he found it:

hard to think of any event more strange and startling, and at first glance inexplicable, than the sudden and total disintegration and disappearance…of the great power known successively as the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union.²

But the downfall of the USSR is only inexplicable to those who have no concept of God’s sovereign power over history. The new phase of the great shaking of the nations began in April 1986 just three weeks after the word of the Lord went out from Jerusalem. It was 70 years after the Bolshevik Revolution that established the USSR and began the Communist era.

"The downfall of the USSR is only inexplicable to those who have no concept of God’s sovereign power over history."

Many of those who were at the Jerusalem event remembered how God had said through the Prophet Jeremiah that when 70 years were completed for the Babylonian Empire he would destroy Babylon because of their bloodshed and cruelty and all they had done to his people Israel. Was God using Chernobyl to say the same for the Communist Empire?

End of European Communist Era

Major political changes quickly followed the Chernobyl disaster and the shockwaves ran right across Eastern Europe shaking the shackles that bound the satellite nations of the Warsaw Pact together. Internal revolutionary forces were let loose in each of the nations that led to the collapse of the Communist Empire, the fall of the Berlin wall, and the opening up of the Eastern European nations to the Western world.

Thus ended the Empire of the most monstrous malevolent cruelty in the history of the world. Between 1917 and the end of the Communist era the USSR killed 69,700,000 of its own citizens in successive political purges. In addition, at the end of the war in Europe in one year, 1945 to 1946 the Russians killed 2,923,700 German civilians as they wreaked revenge for the invasion of Russia.³

Back / Next: The Lord's message: Israel and the Church

References

1 Quoted by Vidal, J. The long shadow of Chernobyl, The Guardian, 4 July 2014.

2 Quoted by Aron, L. Everything you think you know about the collapse of the Soviet Union is wrong, Foreign Policy, 20 June 2011.

3 All statistics published in: Hill, C, 1982. The Day Comes, London: Fount Paperbacks, p184

Warning, Equipping and Encouraging

By both word and deed at the Carmel Gathering, God emphasised that the world was heading for a time of unprecedented shaking that would affect the political, social and economic stability of the nations. It would also be seen in the realm of technology where new inventions would bring both opportunities and challenges.

This global shaking would be God’s way of allowing humanity to bring judgement upon themselves through their own sinfulness and wilful rebellion against him . But God’s purposes are for good and not for evil, for salvation and not for destruction. Jesus bore witness that he had not come to judge the world but to save it. He also said that it is his word that brings judgement because when people refuse to hear the word of God they bring judgement upon themselves.

Just as God has been forewarning his saints, he has also been equipping them for the coming days.

It was reported at Carmel that God was encouraging his people and telling them to lift up their heads to see him. They would actually rejoice because he would be among his people and his presence and power would be seen with increasing clarity in the coming days.

Day of Harvest

It was reported that God was encouraging his church to see the shaking of the nations as a time of harvest and reaping for the Kingdom. It would be a day of immense opportunity for the proclamation of the word of God to an unbelieving generation.

God also showed the Gathering at Carmel that the great shaking coming upon the world would shake the confidence of human beings in themselves, which would create a great opportunity for the Gospel. The prophetic word that blows a trumpet of warning also serves notice of judgement upon the old order of humanity. It actually performs the evangelistic task of bringing new believers into the Kingdom.

The shaking of the nations would prepare the way for bringing into the Kingdom vast numbers from many nations. The words of Jesus would be fulfilled that Sower and Reaper will go forth together and rejoice when the fields are ripe for harvest (John 4:36).

Back / Next: The Lord's message: the end of Soviet might

Clifford Hill reported on seeing a strange weather phenomenon with two banks of cloud moving across the sky in opposite directions: a white bank coming from the East and a dark bank coming from the West. They met right over Mount Carmel resulting in a period of swirling turmoil in the sky.

At that point he believed God had spoken to him saying that the world is moving into a period of unprecedented turmoil and he was drawn to the prophecy in Haggai 2:6, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: in a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty.”

A number of the 153 leaders gathered at Carmel were also given prophetic words through which we recognised that God was warning us of a coming time of international turmoil. This led us to study Hebrews 12:26-29 where the prophecy of Haggai is repeated and is linked with the coming Kingdom of God.

We knew that Hebrews was written late in the first century AD, so that this prophecy was still in the future at the end of the Apostolic Age. A number of other significant prophecies were given and it was agreed that these could be reported in Jerusalem (see links below).

Back / Next: The Lord's message: shaking the nations

The Carmel event brought together men and women with prophetic ministries from more than 40 nations around the world. They were each invited to bring a trusted intercessor so that there was someone to pray with them in their own language. The objective was to share what each of them was hearing from God in their own nation, and secondly to wait upon the Lord collectively, to discern what God was saying to his church and to the nations in the mid-1980s.

The Jerusalem gathering, meanwhile, was open to Christians around the world to come together for a week of teaching focusing largely upon the message of the biblical prophets and their relevance for today. A second purpose was to hear from those who had been at Carmel the previous week.

"The objective at the Carmel gathering was to share what each of us was hearing from God, and to wait upon the Lord collectively"

These two events were an outcome of conversations between a number of leaders with intercessory and prophetic ministries. A small group of seven leaders took overall responsibility for calling and organising the two events. They were Johannes Facius (Denmark), Clifford Hill (England), Cecil Kerr (Northern Ireland), Lance Lambert (Israel), Steve Lightle (USA), Gustaf Scheller (Switzerland), and Kjell Sjoberg (Sweden).

Gathering locations

The Carmel Gathering was held at the Yaarot Ha’Carmel, originally built as a healing and rehabilitation centre for the survivors of the European Holocaust. It was provided by the German Government as part of their reparations after the Second World War. The number of Holocaust survivors entitled to use its facilities was diminishing so it was gradually being transformed into a hotel. We were the first Christians ever to use the building and there were about 20 elderly Jewish men and women in residence. The building was in an isolated position on the eastern summit of Mount Carmel not far from the site where we believe that Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18), with its spectacular views across the Valley of Jezreel (Armageddon).

In Jerusalem guests were scattered across many hotels but the meetings were held at the Binyanei Ha’Ooma Israeli National Conference Centre. There was a full programme of seminars during the day with large meetings in the Assembly Hall in the evenings. The stage was dominated by a spectacular model of Two Olive Trees with Seven Candlesticks and a Golden Bowl as described in Zechariah 4, which illustrated the theme verse, “Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty” (Zech 4:6).

The Carmel Gathering: described by one of the Leaders

It is difficult to describe the experience of those who met at Carmel. It was a mixture of a sense of awe and an intense struggle with our own emotions. We had agreed that there would be no formal speeches. We were there to hear from God, not from each other, so there was no agenda and no formal programme. We took it in turns to report what we were hearing from God in our own part of the world. But this led to people making speeches. We were all preachers! We were used to speaking – not listening to others! We were also from many different cultures, so it was not easy to achieve unity.

Confusion

By the middle of the week there was considerable anxiety in the leadership group. We had heard nothing that we could clearly identify as being from God. We knew that at the end of the week there would be 5000 people in Jerusalem waiting for us to report what we had heard. The pressure was intense. We were all leaders; used to exercising leadership, but here nobody knew what to do!

It was at this stage that we realised the significance of the fact that we were 153 in number. That was the number of the 'big fish' in the net which Simon Peter and the disciples pulled from the Sea of Galilee when they had breakfast with Jesus (John 21:11). It slowly dawned on us that we ourselves were the blockage to hearing from God – it was a humbling experience and we wept before the Lord in penitence.

Fast of Words

That morning we received a message from a young Messianic believer in Jerusalem who said she felt the Lord was calling for “a fast of words”. We had never heard of such a thing but we knew this to be a word from God. He was telling us to shut up and listen! We declared 24 hours of silence.

It was during this time of silence that many words were received. They were shared in an orderly fashion at a time of worship and there was a clear pattern in what was reported and there was full agreement in accepting the words. At last, we had heard from the Lord and we had something to report in Jerusalem.

Back / Next: The Lord speaks to his people

The ministry of Prophecy Today has its roots in two significant conferences which were held in Israel climaxing at Easter 1986. First, a leadership group of 153 met in an isolated location on the eastern summit of Mount Carmel. This was followed by a large international conference of 5000 in Jerusalem.

These two conferences were foundational in setting the direction for the early years of the magazine Prophecy Today. We have been witnessing the Lord accomplishing His revealed purposes in the nations ever since - and are still doing so today. We are therefore publishing a brief review of those events and their immediate aftermath here.

Review

Strategic Purpose
The Lord speaks to His people
The Lord's message -- shaking the nations
The Lord's message and the end of Soviet might
The Lord's message -- Israel and the Church
Watching the prophecies unfold