The West has not discerned the spirit of Islamic Jihad

God will hear the cries for justice – but will we?

It seems that our divided, weakened, chaotic Government is able to unite, occasionally, over things that really matter. Like matters of life and death. Last week, the Commons voted overwhelmingly to pass a measure which included the imposition of legalised homosexuality and abortion on Northern Ireland, where a strong biblical stance on the latter has hitherto saved 100,000 lives.

This week, despite impassioned speeches from pro-life peers and outcry from tens of thousands of Northern Irish citizens, the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill passed through the House of Lords with ease, including a further amendment from Baroness Barker agreeing even more relaxed abortion rules. The amended version was passed by the Commons on Thursday, 328 to 65.

The bill was intended to allow more time for Stormont to reconvene its devolved government, but has been hijacked to serve both pro-abortion and LGBTQ+ agendas. Taking advantage of Stormont’s political crisis, politicians in Westminster have displayed utter contempt for devolution by taking Northern Ireland’s social matters into their own hands (an amendment to give members of Stormont a say was not passed).

In a display of flagrant political opportunism, our MPs have fast-tracked through Parliament the imposition of one of the world’s most extreme abortion laws on Northern Ireland presumably because, like the BBC and the rest of the metropolitan liberal class – they genuinely believe they are morally right. They have a duty, in the ominous words of the BBC, to make sure that Northern Ireland is ‘brought into line’ with the rest of the UK.¹ They must ‘force the people to be free’.

On the Altar

Two biblical incidents have come to mind in these last few days as I have been pondering this truly terrible state of affairs. One is the infamous time in the history of Judah when the nation had degenerated to such an extent that even the kings began to sacrifice their children in pagan fire – affirming a practice for which Israel had already been judged (2 Kings 17:17) and which the Lord detests.

Both Ahaz and Manasseh sacrificed their sons to the Canaanite god Molech (see 2 Kings 16, 21), incinerating them just as today’s aborted babies are incinerated, looking to safeguard their own prosperity just as today’s parents choose abortion because children are considered too expensive, too inconvenient.

These kings provoked the Lord’s fierce anger and helped to seal his judgment upon Judah, with the promise that Jerusalem would be wiped out “as one wipes out a bowl – wiping it and turning it upside-down” (2 Kings 21:10-15, 23:26).

Both Ahaz and Manasseh provoked the Lord’s fierce anger and helped to seal his judgment on Judah by sacrificing their sons.

If this was the case for God’s covenant nation, how much more is judgment inevitable for Britain? To the Lord “a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Pet 3:8). Here children have been sacrificed on the same altar of convenience and prosperity for more than 50 years – and now we are exporting this detestable practice around the world – not just to Northern Ireland, but to poorer nations through our international aid and development programmes.²

Cries Drowned Out

When children were sacrificed in the flames to Molech, priests standing around the family would bang and clap, making so much noise that the child’s screams were drowned out.³ Just so today, the moral claims of the unborn are being drowned out by a cacophony of voices affirming to parents that they are doing the right thing – that it is their right to choose.

Meanwhile, the majority of people in the UK (who support a reduction in the upper limit for abortion, not its extension) are also being distracted from the cries of the unborn by a chattering, chaotic media class determined to keep all the focus on Brexit, on money matters, on Trump, on climate change, on sport…on anything else, really. “‘But I have been watching!’ declares the Lord” (Jer 7:11).

Your Brother’s Blood

This brings me to the second passage that has been on my mind this week: the story of Cain and Abel. Abel may not have been murdered in the womb, but he was murdered in secret, where his screams could not be heard, and by a blood relative, Cain. Adam and Eve may not have witnessed the attack, but the Lord saw, and the Lord heard:

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. (Genesis 4:9-11, emphasis added)

The word used for ‘cries out’ in this passage is the same word that is used to describe the Israelites crying out to God for deliverance from Egyptian slavery and from the oppression of the Canaanites. It connotes a screaming out for justice, for help, for intervention. In that vein, it is also the word used to describe the summoning of fighting men to go to war (e.g. Judg 7:23, 10:17) – a rousing call for aid in a time of distress. The implication in the story of Abel is clear – the spilling of innocent blood shrieks out to God’s sense of justice, summoning a fierce response.

As our MPs and peers casually nod through contemptible, murderous legislation, you can be sure that the blood of the innocent will scream out to the Lord – and that it has been doing so, from British soil, since 1967. How long will the Lord delay his response? Surely the chaotic turmoil of our current Parliament is the very least that we deserve – and likely only the beginning of judgment to come.

The blood of the innocent has been screaming out to the Lord from British soil since 1967.

Saving Souls

Elsewhere in this week’s issue of Prophecy Today, our editorial comments on the importance of Britain changing her attitude towards Israel and taking opportunities to confess our historic failure to support the Jewish people. This is indeed of vital importance to our nation’s future. But before God, do we not also deserve to be torn apart for what we are doing to these little ones – and for all the other ways in which sin is being allowed to pervade and corrupt our culture? If we supported Israel wholeheartedly, but did not repent in these matters, would he let us go unpunished?

For Christians, juggling these various claims on our prayers can be overwhelming. But the final point that needs to be made is this: the Gospel must head up our struggle for truth in all of these areas. Without the Gospel, we are fighting a losing battle on every issue – from abortion to freedom of speech, from sexuality to euthanasia.

“You have one business on earth,” said John Wesley to his fellow Methodists, “to save souls”. How much was Britain’s godly culture a wonderful outflow of the evangelical labours of such as Wesley? Conserving its last vestiges may buy us some time, but we cannot recoup what has been lost without true revival touching this land once again. This means not just political activism on our part, but Gospel witness. If the cries of the blood of the innocent do not galvanise us to this end, what will?

References

1 See here.

2 E.g. see here and here.

3 According to the Midrash.

With only days to go to the General Election many Christians are still undecided voters. Clifford Denton offers some biblical thoughts on choosing where to place your vote.

There is no such thing as democracy in the Bible. What the Bible offers is theocracy, where God guides the affairs of the nation. Democracy is rooted in Greek philosophy. At best it involves an entire nation deciding who will govern. At worst it appears to give choice, but the choice is limited by what’s on offer, and often leads to weak leaders – puppets of the system.

Democracy in our day is far from a seeking after biblical truth and is usually rooted in humanism, with multi-faith overtones- as when political leaders visit Sikh or Hindu temples, taking off their shoes and bowing to their altars in an attempt to win votes. But which god are they serving?

There is no such thing as democracy in the Bible. What the Bible offers is a THEOCRACY."

Nigel Farage claims, “Sadly, I think UKIP is the only major political party left in Britain that still cherishes our Judaeo-Christian heritage. I believe other parties have deliberately marginalised our nation’s faith, whereas we take Christian values and traditions into consideration when making policy.”¹ But is this simply an election ploy?

What Does the Word ‘Election’ Mean?

The word election has a special meaning in the Bible. It means ‘choice’– God’s choice of a person or a nation who can fulfil a special role in working out God’s purposes. King David was elected by God as an ideal leader. He was a man of prayer who sought guidance from God before making decisions. The Hebrew word for election is bahar and the Greek is eklegomai. Both of them have the basic biblical meaning of choosing. In an election we should be seeking men or women of God’s choosing.

Choices

When Almighty God created mankind He gave us the ability to choose. How do we exercise choice and on what principles? He chooses us and we choose him through an interactive process beginning with God. This is the bottom line for all that God intends in the world today and the world to come.

Choice, in God's terms, is focussed and clear. He invites people of all nations to choose him as Lord and King"

This should be top of the agenda for our national elections, but is far from being so. Choice, in God’s terms, is focussed and clear. He invites people of all nations to choose him as Lord and King and to ask him how to best live as individuals, communities and nations.

How precise is this? It took the Lord Jesus a whole night of prayer before he chose his first 12 disciples. This was not a vague choice on vague, ill-defined democratic principles. This was a personal and careful choice for an eternal purpose.

Serving a Kingdom not of this World

Christians look for biblical principles in the potential leaders of our country. Our choices should reflect Kingdom principles. We sometimes feel alien in trying to do this. What will our nation choose from the selection on offer? Does the choice meet the deep principles and deep needs of the nation?

Even nations like the UK and the USA, once chosen for blessing by Almighty God, are far from seeking to follow him today. The result is weak and unblessed leadership in a world that is “doing what is right in its own eyes”, as Israel did in the times of the Judges when there was no godly national leadership.

Choose this Day Whom You Will Serve

God’s priority for our national election is that we choose to return to him. This is a day as significant for Britain as when Joshua led the Children of Israel over the Jordan (Josh 24:14-15), saying:

Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Where is the leader today with the rallying cry to turn our nation to the Lord – not just to be seen on public election platforms? That cry should be heard coming from prominent leaders in the Church giving guidance to our political leaders who are weak and confused, falling over each other to make promises that they know they cannot fulfil – anything to attract votes.

It is Not Too Late to Seek God

It is not too late, even now, to seek the Lord for what he is asking of our nation. If we desire that God chooses us for blessing then we must choose him – to serve him wholeheartedly as our King.

If we desire that God chooses us for blessing, then we must choose to serve him as our King!"

Where is the politician who will stand up for God’s ways above all else? Let him stand up, let us hear a rallying cry across our nation and let us choose the ways of God once more. Then we will find the path of recovery that we all desire in our hearts. That must be our priority or we will suffer the consequences of the current more superficial priorities with which we are presented.

In elections throughout the Western nations, the trend is to move away from the ways of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob into religious and political compromise. The call on believers is always to choose to follow God rather than man. How will we do this on 7 May?

References

1 Valuing our Christian heritage, UKIP, 2015.