Disaster unless repentance.

“‘Flee for safety, people of Benjamin! Flee from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa! Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem! For disaster looms out of the north, even terrible destruction.’” (Jeremiah 6:1)

The whole of chapter six is of great importance for an understanding of the nature of God that is revealed through Jeremiah’s writing. There is probably no other chapter in the Book of Jeremiah that more clearly encapsulates both the justice and the love of God, and also the tenderness of his care for his covenantal people.

The Heart of God

In his times of standing in the Council of the Lord, Jeremiah senses the grief in the heart of God as he looks at what is happening among the people with whom he established a covenant relationship of love.

The chapter begins with the command to sound the trumpet warning of the approach of a mighty army that will bring destruction upon the cities of Judah. Then there follows: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Look, an army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bow and spear; they are cruel and show no mercy’” (Jer 6:22-23).

Jeremiah then adds his own plea: “We have heard reports about them, and our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us,… Put on sackcloth, my people, and roll in ashes; mourn with bitter wailing as for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us” (Jer 6:24-26).

Although these reports are clearly about the Babylonian army being on the move, it would be a mistake to think that this was a warning from God telling them to prepare the defences of Jerusalem and put the army of Judah on red alert to resist an invasion. Certainly, this was an accurate description of the international situation. But the whole purpose of this chapter is not to warn about a Babylonian attack even though Jeremiah could see it as vividly as though it were already taking place.

Jeremiah senses the grief in the heart of God over his covenant people.

The Real Danger

The danger is not from the Babylonians. The danger is that God will withdraw his covering of protection over the land and over his covenant people because they have broken the covenant and poured out wickedness, violence and corruption like a fountain gushing out water from a well (Jer 6:7). The next verse delivers the heart of the message: “‘Take warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you and make your land desolate so that no one can live in it’” (Jer 6:8).

This is a poor translation that fails to express the heart of the message that Jeremiah is trying to convey. The Authorised Version gets closer to the Hebrew for this verse – “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.” The command to ‘be instructed’ (Hebrew ysr) or to ‘learn a lesson’ is not a warning or threat as the NIV states. It is a cry from the heart of God for the people he loves who are so unfaithful to him. It represents an element of indecision in the heart of God that is similar to that reflected in Hosea: “‘My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I devastate Ephraim again. For I am God, and not a man – the Holy One among you. I will not come [in wrath]’” (Hos 11:8-9).

That was said shortly before God withdrew his covering of protection over the northern Kingdom of Israel and allowed the Assyrian army to ravage the land and take the people into exile. Jeremiah was constantly aware that this same tragedy could fall upon the southern Kingdom of Judah where the people were just as idolatrous and unfaithful as their northern brothers and sisters had been. The fate that befell Israel was now looming over Judah.

The danger is that God will withdraw his covering of protection over the land because his people have broken the covenant.

Words of Warning

It was Jeremiah’s prophetic calling to blow the trumpet in Jerusalem, but all his words of warning were ignored, “To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so that they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. But I am full of the wrath of the Lord, and I cannot hold it in.” (Jer 6:10-11).

Jeremiah’s dilemma was a reflection of what he saw in the heart of God. He knew God’s great love for his people, yet he knew God to be a God of righteousness who was utterly faithful in keeping his promises. Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had delivered his people from slavery in Egypt and had brought them into the Promised Land, had established a solemn covenant: so long as people were faithful to him, worshipping no other god and putting their trust in him, he would watch over them, protect them, bless them and give them prosperity.

But if they were faithless and turned away from him to the gods of the world, he could do no other than withdraw his presence and the power of his protection. This was the fate that had befallen Israel and was now about to fall upon Judah. Jeremiah sensed a moment of indecision in the heart of God: the fate of Judah did not depend upon Nebuchadnezzar or the army of Babylon. It depended entirely upon God.

Jeremiah knew God to be a God of righteousness who is utterly faithful to his covenant promises.

The Need for Repentance

There was still just the faintest chance that Judah would be spared the inevitable disaster. God had not yet declared: “‘Hear, you earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law’” (Jer 6:19).

If there were the slightest sign of repentance – a recognition of their wrongdoing and a willingness to seek the forgiveness of the Lord and put their trust in him, God would remain faithful to keep his word. The Babylonian army would be powerless to put a foot upon the soil of Judah: Jerusalem would be safe because God is a God who keeps his word and he is the God of Creation who could wipe out the Babylonian army at a stroke.

The fate of Judah depended upon people hearing and heeding the word of the Lord. Disaster was inevitable unless there was repentance. The “UNLESS” was still there: but for how long?

This article is part of a series on the life and ministry of the Prophet Jeremiah. Click here for previous instalments.

Reflections a year on from Grenfell and Manchester.

This week we were reminded of two tragedies in our nation. On Monday the media carried harrowing reports of the tragic loss of life at Grenfell Tower, as the main inquiry into the cause of the disaster began.

On Tuesday, memories of the 22 lives lost and the multitude injured in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack replaced memories of Grenfell.

I heard no-one in the media asking the obvious question, “Where was God in all of this?” Indeed, God has been so sidelined in the thoughts and lives of the majority of our nation that we no longer even hear the question, “Is there a God?”

Yet, we still live in a nation whose Queen, at her Coronation, swore an Oath to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who has protected us beyond our deserving over many years. Central to that Oath was the commitment to maintain his laws and the true profession of the Gospel. Over a generation, this commitment to God has largely been forgotten by the nation’s leaders and is rarely mentioned by the leaders of the established Church.

Unprotected Children

As far back as the 1980s, I was waiting one day in the playground of the school where our youngest two children were about to finish their school day. I watched as the classes were dismissed and as a crowd of children emerged, each looking for a parent to take them home safely. I thought I heard the voice of God in my mind saying that these children were no longer under his protection.

Over a generation, our national commitment to God has largely been forgotten.

I wondered if I had imagined it, because these were simply innocent children, embarking on their lives in a country God has greatly blessed and protected. I recalled the wonderful protection of my own childhood when, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, family and community co-operated to re-build our nation after the devastation of war, thankful for God’s deliverance from the evil that so easily could have engulfed us.

Yet, since that day when I thought I heard that voice of God, one disaster has followed another in our nation, making me think that God was indeed speaking, in the early stages of removing his hand of protection.

Let me say clearly, however, concerning both the Manchester and Grenfell disasters that God was not punishing those who had assembled there, any more than those who lost their lives when the Tower of Siloam fell in Jesus’ day. The picture is bigger: that, whilst we must also recognise that God allowed these disasters, they serve as signs to our nation – warning signs that we will not live in safety if we choose to live outside of his protection.

Knowing God’s Ways

If, as we should, we search our Bibles to discover God’s ways, we will see that God does take his protection away from his people if they do not seek him with all their heart. At the time of Samuel, for example, when the religious framework of the nation had decayed under Eli the priest and his wicked sons, the Philistines prevailed over Israel.

Again, when the kings of Israel and Judah led the people astray (kings whom God warned his people they should not desire), the troubles of the nations soon followed. Ultimately, God’s protection was removed: first from the Northern Kingdom of Israel which fell to the Assyrians, and then from the Southern Kingdom of Judah which fell to the Babylonians.

Disasters like Grenfell are warning signs that we will not live in safety if we choose to live outside of God’s protection.

God’s sadness was displayed through the weeping of the Prophet Jeremiah, as recorded in the Book of Lamentations. Similarly, Jesus wept over Jerusalem when he foretold the coming second fall of the City.

God knows what will happen when the doors are allowed open to the evil adversaries of the people of this world – adversaries both physical and spiritual. God weeps when the time comes for him to remove his protection from a people who do not seek him, who choose to try to live without him under the beguiling principles of humanism and false religion, where false gods are honoured. But he is willing to remove his protection.

We are reaping the consequences of this in Britain today despite the fact that we have had sign after sign that should bring us to ask, “where is our God?”

The Prime Minister adds her condolences to a 'Tree of Hope' in Manchester. See Photo Credits.The Power of Testimonies

The testimonies of those who lost loved ones at Grenfell and the memories of the fatal night in Manchester are profound. But they should not only be sparking human sympathy and attempts to celebrate and unite a community (such as in Manchester where a concert has been held), but be compelling those who have responsibility for our nation to lead us in seeking God in repentance.¹

God is a loving Father to those who seek him with all their heart and protects his loved ones beyond their deserving – always. But he is also a strong God who will not bend from the eternal balance of justice and mercy. He is Judge of the entire earth and cannot compromise in the ‘big picture’ of his eternal covenant purposes throughout history.

God weeps when the time comes for him to remove his protection from a people who do not seek him.

If he did not spare his own Son in these eternal purposes of overcoming sin and offering eternal redemption to those who would accept it, he cannot continue to protect a people who reject him and choose lives of sin.

There is a Way Back

There is always a way back and those who know the Lord, namely those in the churches of our nation (especially the leaders of the churches), should be his prophetic voice. It is imperative that we take the opportunity while we still have it to call this nation back to repentance and seeking God.

It is time for the leaders of our Government - from the Royal Family through to the executives who are duty-bound to outwork the purposes of the Monarch’s Oath - to take their responsibility before God and lead the nation back to him. This is what the tragic signs are telling us. We are vulnerable outside the protection of Almighty God and that vulnerability is bringing increasing pain, sadness and loss of life - not only to those who lead but to those for whom they are responsible.

Notes

1 And we do not mean just any God. The multi-faith service in Manchester which was part of the memorial activities a year after the attack is yet another symptom of how far our nation has compromised our allegiance to the One True God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

A timebomb of corruption is set to explode across the nation.

This was the warning given at a meeting of the Family and Child Protection Group in the House of Commons on Wednesday this week. The Group was considering the Digital Economy Bill which is at present at the Committee Stage in the House of Lords.

The Digital Economy Bill covers a complex set of regulations surrounding the provision and use of the internet. One of its objectives is to increase the protection of children from exposure to scenes of extreme violence and sexual activity on pornographic sites, but this may be the very thing that is not achieved!

Proposed Derestriction of Prohibited Material

These regulations providing protection are being opposed by a group of Lib Dem and Labour peers who are against all restrictions on public liberty.

The Government has intimated to Peers this week that because of pressure from the Labour and Lib Dem front benches, it will table an amendment next week which means that ‘prohibited material’ (i.e. pornography that is currently beyond age classification, such as violent or child pornography) will no longer be blocked forcibly by the age verification regulator, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

The amendment will mean that so long as prohibited material is behind age verification checks so that children theoretically cannot see it, it will become available legally to adults, unless it meets the much tighter definition of ‘Extreme Pornography’.

The Digital Economy Bill should increase the protection of children online – but this may be the very thing it fails to achieve!

If the amendment is approved in the Lords, the Bill will go back to the Commons where there will be further pressure from MPs who share the desire for full freedom of public access to explicit material. If passed, it will remove regulations that were set in the Video Recordings Act of 1985 that forced all films to be classified according to their content (i.e. for family viewing, age 15, or 18+). Films containing scenes of an explicit sexual nature and extreme violence were banned from public display and could only be viewed in clubs or licensed premises.

Currently, prohibited pornographic material is subject to this same law – but the proposed amendment would change that in the domain of the internet, liberalising the law and increasing the likelihood of children gaining access to such material.

The Impacts of Pornography on Children

I was involved with the Parliamentary Group that campaigned for the 1985 Act that produced evidence showing that anything that is available for the public will be seen by children of all ages. In those days there was no internet, but video films could be purchased or hired and were freely available in most homes. The evidence we produced showed that if these films were available in the home they would likely be seen by children.

Secondly, we produced evidence showing the harm done to children by watching scenes of extreme violence and explicit sex. We showed that anything seen on the small screen affects behaviour which, of course, is the whole basis of advertising. Advertisers would not spend millions of pounds promoting their goods if what is seen on the screen does not affect human behaviour.

One example we presented to Parliament was the witness of a police officer who said that a six-year-old girl had been gang-raped by a group of 10-year-old boys who had been going to the home of one boy at lunchtime to watch pornographic films.

Explicit films available in the home are likely to be seen by children – and watching that kind of material does affect them adversely.

Despite all the evidence, we faced massive opposition from the film industry which, since the dawn of the internet, has grown even bigger and more powerful. Billions of dollars are made in the pornographic industry, which has its supporters in both Houses of Parliament.

Today, research has shown that 47% of 11-16 year olds have accessed some kind of pornographic site, and that one in five 11-17 year olds have seen pornographic images that have upset them.¹

Towards Social Disintegration

If the Digital Economy Bill is changed in accordance with the Government’s proposed amendment, important regulations protecting children from harmful scenes will be removed. A timebomb of pornography and violence would be set to explode which will do untold harm among young people. It will make Sodom and Gomorrah seem like a Sunday School party!

Age verification checks are not enough to protect children from accessing pornographic material. Even if parents install protections on their children’s computers, young people soon find ways of circumventing them. It will mean that even the youngest of children could have access – not only on their computers but also on their phones.

Age verification checks are not enough to protect children from accessing pornographic material.

The ultra-libertarians among our lawmakers in both Houses of Parliament seek to remove all regulations out of a misplaced desire for full individual freedom. They have already succeeded in breaking down traditional family life to an extent that endangers the health and well-being of millions of children living in re-constituted families. Unless there is a reversal of current trends that are undermining the value system of the nation, we will experience social disintegration on a scale that is impossible to contain.

Lynda Rose, CEO of Voice for Justice UK, responds: “The adverse effects of pornography are so clearly established by research, that it is difficult even to conceive anyone today calling for liberalisation of current provisions and easier access."

“That a Labour/Lib Dem coalition in the House of Lords should, therefore, be pushing for amendments to restrict application of the proposed age verification provisions contained in the Digital Economy Bill seems recklessly perverse. Children will inevitably be put at increased risk - and inevitably they will suffer.”

Reaping the Whirlwind

Sadly, already we are beginning to see the harmful effects of these trends. We have children as young as 6 and 7 self-harming and becoming suicidal, with social media and other online content playing a central role in worsening this trend.

We have mental health problems at epidemic levels among adults. We have teachers on long-term sickness with mental health problems generated by the misbehaviour they have to contend with daily in the classroom and the playground.

All this stems from the deliberate abandonment of our Judaeo-Christian heritage and the biblical values that historically kept society stable and healthy.

The current trends are undermining our national value system, and if left unchecked will lead to untold social disintegration.

It is surely time for Christians who love this nation to speak fearlessly about the problems facing us. We have to speak about the ‘justice’ of God as well as his love. God is calling his Church to be a prophet to the nation. That means warning of impending judgment in the same way as the biblical prophets did when they saw danger. The Prophet Joel was told to “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming” (Joel 2:1).

Jeremiah was told to stand at the crossroads and declare the word of the Lord, “I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law” (Jer 5:19). The same could be said of Britain and other nations in the Western world. We have had the truth for centuries and we have turned our backs upon it. We have sown the wind and now we are reaping the whirlwind!

What You Can Do

There are two things Christians can do right now. First, tell other Christians and mobilise prayer. Pray that the Government’s amendment will not succeed; pray anyway the Lord tells you – even if it’s to pray confusion into the House of Lords. Secondly, on a practical note, send an email to any member of the House of Lords you know (or even pick some from the list on the internet) asking them to vote against the amendment.

Above all – pray! Pray for the Lord to protect the nation from the clouds of darkness that are gathering to overwhelm us, even if you believe that the nation does not deserve God’s protection. Pray that he does not ‘hand us over’ to the forces of evil, as Paul foresaw the consequences of “the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom 1:18-32).

References

1 New blocking powers to protect children online. Department for Culture, Media & Sport.

Why didn't God intervene in Aberfan? Greg Stevenson offers some thoughts on the classic question of why suffering is allowed.

Many people suffer disasters from external events that come unbidden into their lives, from illness or injuries (whether caused by ourselves or by others), to overwhelming events such as volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, or extremes of weather like flooding. The natural question that is always asked is: Why? - as if we know that there must be a reason!

The Bible tells us clearly that God is in complete control of his world and its events. There is no god beside him (Isa 45:14, 21). Indeed, he intervenes in many situations to save, to heal, to deliver. So it's a good question to ask when disasters happen - where is God? Why does he allow it?

God Calls and Forewarns

The Bible tells us that God is righteous in all his works and holy in all his ways (Ps 145:17). So this means that everything God does and allows is for righteous reasons. What were the righteous reasons for which he allowed the terrifying tragedy in Aberfan 50 years ago?

When we look at God's dealings with his people Israel, we find that he gave them teaching and instruction (Torah) by which to live, so that the nations roundabout could see a righteous lifestyle that resulted in prosperity and security. When his people failed to live up to this standard, he disciplined them in all sorts of ways (1 Chron 21:13) to bring them back to him, and maintain this witness.

Many of these efforts to discipline were Sovereignly-ordained events (storms, pestilence, earthquakes, enemy attacks, etc), but several were the product of the people's own sin, including their blindness or deafness to his teaching/commandments.

Yet we see that God gave his Name (his character) to his people so that they might know him (Ex 34:6 – the most quoted verse in the Tanakh): "The LORD, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished". This speaks of the love and justice of God. So in each case of their turning away from him through sin (and consequently stepping outside of his blessing and protection), he gave them warnings about the consequences of their actions – Choose whom you will serve!

God is righteous and holy in all his ways, so this means that everything he does and allows is for righteous reasons.

The warnings were given so that they knew ahead of time the results of their choice. But when the warnings were ignored, God was patient with them. Again and again he called to them – "I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen. I called you but you did not answer. Day after day, again and again, I sent you my servants the prophets" (Jer 7:13, 25 – Heb. 'rising up early in the morning, and speaking'). He also sent examples of his sovereign power to bless or curse (Amos 4).

Aberfan: Warnings Ahead of Time

According to a recent BBC documentary,¹ the tragic events in Aberfan on 21 October 1966 that killed 116 children and 28 adults were preceded by many warnings:

1. 1939. A few miles from Aberfan, 180,000 tons of a coal waste tip in a privately-owned mine slipped. New guidelines about tipping over a water source were given, but not passed on.
2. 1944. Another tip near Aberfan moved.
3. January 1955. Flooding in the valley below the mountain of tip No 7 above Aberfan. The children presented a petition to their headmistress about the slurry moving, which was passed on, but ignored.
4. 1963. A slurry movement that didn't quite reach the village. Tipping on the site of No 7 tip was continued. No map or guidance was given to the engineers responsible for No 7 tip.
5. July 1963. A letter from Merthyr Tydfil council was sent to the National Coal Board (NCB) concerning the danger from coal waste being tipped above the Pantglas school. Despite assurances that tipping would cease, it was not stopped.
6. January 1964. Again concern was expressed by the council about the slurry - "If the tip moved, the entire school could be threatened"
7. January 1965. A petition was raised by mothers at the Pantglas school, and passed to the council by the headmistress. But there was no NCB action resulted.
8. 26 March 1965. A further slip at a nearby tip nearly went down the mine shaft. Warnings were given but ignored. The memo was sent to the civil and mechanical engineers but poor working relationships resulted in the memo not being followed up. A long list of concerns was sent to a senior NCB official about the tip safety but was not forwarded to the NCB.

Finally, the main reasons given by the NCB for not moving the No 7 tip after the disaster were the cost and the time it would take. In the Tribunal, senior NCB management denied any knowledge of the potential for slips from coal waste tips, but eventually changed their stance and admitted that the disaster was preventable. Of the £1.75 million that was raised for the disaster fund, £150,000 was taken from the fund for removal of the tip, and the NCB agreed to pay £500 for each child who died was offered as compensation (the value of a child's life?).

This list is not given to apportion blame, but to emphasise that God gives many warnings of the consequences of man's selfish and sinful ways. George Bernard Shaw said appositely: "The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. For that is the essence of inhumanity". Much is sacrificed to financial profit, and safeguarded by keeping a distance from the site of responsibility.

Whenever people turn away from God, stepping outside of his blessing and protection, he gives them warnings about the consequences of their sin.

Natural Disaster - or Natural Consequence?

Some of what we call 'natural' disasters are clearly the result of the shaking of the earth (and eventually the heavens also) that God has warned us of in Hebrews 12, and Scripture tells us that these tragedies are part of the birth-pangs that will bring in the end of this age. The whole creation has been 'groaning' as in the pains of childbirth, on account of man's sin.

But many disasters are the result of man's selfishness, or of rebellion against God's laws, and these are especially severe among nations that God has blessed and called to serve him, but which then turn away from him in disobedience.

God is sovereign, but he warns us about the consequences of the choices we make. Paul's letter to the Romans is very clear about this. Those who reject his way, he will give over to their 'shameful lusts' and to the consequences of those choices. But his love is always expressed by warnings first, proclaimed by those who see right action, so that mercy and justice can be evident. This was perfectly demonstrated in the life of Jesus, and ultimately at the Cross.

In order to avoid a potential tragedy from self-seeking in many forms, or from indifference to our fellow-man, we (individuals, families, businesses, governments and nations) simply have to set the choices that we make against the goodness and righteousness of God. In this, Jesus is our model.

We can't always know why God allows disasters (why he brings prosperity and creates disaster – Isaiah 45:7) but we do know that he desires to dwell with us, and that we live in his blessing and under his protection.

We cannot know the whole answer, but God has done all that is necessary to deal with our sin, our self, and our indifference, at the Cross. As we expend time, energy and resources for those who are caught up in the tragedies and disasters that are part of this fallen world, we can remember that what God does is always for righteous reasons, even when it takes the form of allowing loss, pain and death. For he has been there himself also.

References

1 Aberfan: The Fight for Justice. BBC, first broadcast on 18 October 2016. Available on iPlayer.