The Lord is blessing Israel, but his enemies are cursing her!

Natural signs of a spiritual reality.

‘LEAVE NOW’ screamed the front page of the Daily Mirror yesterday. Did this signal a major political change in the Labour-supporting, strongly ‘Remain’ newspaper? Certainly not! It was referring to the imminent danger of a reservoir bursting in Derbyshire that could threaten the safety of many people in Whaley Bridge in the Peak District.

Strangely enough, Ruth George, the Labour MP for the High Peak district which includes Whaley Bridge, not only voted to remain in the 2016 referendum, but is an outstanding campaigner against leaving the EU. She is out of step with the rest of Derbyshire, which voted to leave the EU by approximately 60:40.

Time to Reflect

Ruth George MP

Mrs George is also out of step with the official position of the Labour Party, who are desperately trying to combat anti-Semitism among their MPs. She jumps onto any opportunity to criticise Israel, although she got her fingers burnt earlier this year when she criticised Luciana Berger, a Jewish MP, for leaving Labour.

Mrs George suggested that financial support for Labour Friends of Israel, which Ms Berger formerly directed, was coming from Israel. Mrs George later apologised saying that she was quite wrong to suggest that there was a conspiracy involving Israel.¹ 

Perhaps Mrs George should reflect upon the ‘coincidence’ of the floods that have swept through her constituency and the urgent command to all the residents of the town she represents to LEAVE NOW!

Watching Signs in Nature

The prophets of Israel always watched what was happening in nature as signs of what God might be saying to the nation. Amos 4 is a classic example, where the prophet details the droughts, floods and plagues that had hit the nation with the much-repeated phrase “‘Yet you have not returned to me’ declares the Lord”. Maybe the floods, which are not only affecting the residents of Derbyshire, should be taken as a sign to all residents of the UK.

What is God saying to us? Surely, we are a nation under judgment, but there is still time for repentance and turning. Is the Lord saying to the people of Britain, “LEAVE NOW and put your trust in me!”?

"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22)

References

1 See Labour MP apologises for suggesting Israel funds Independent Group. The Guardian, 19 February 2019. Ruth George MP has also received criticism for failing to call out a Labour councillor in her constituency who posted anti-Semitic material online. Read more here and here.

Discovering a common thread linking revival, Israel and President Trump

South Africans will tomorrow be praying for rain from Heaven.

On the back of a prayer meeting that drew 1.7 million Christians to intercede for their nation last April, a similar event is now being held in Cape Town.

Led by farmer/evangelist Angus Buchan, It’s Time will again petition God – not only for physical rain to end a crippling three-year drought, but for a Holy Spirit outpouring to end a famine of God’s Word in the land.

And God has promised to answer such a plea. Speaking to Israel, his chosen, he says: “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground…” (Isa 44:3).

First to the Jews

It is well to remember that this pledge was originally addressed to, and still specifically applies to, the nation of Israel. And it’s no secret that the Jewish state has been transformed from a barren wilderness to a fertile garden since its re-birth 70 years ago. And, yes, the promise for Israel can indeed be appropriated for Gentile nations who honour the God of Israel along with his special people, the Jews.

But pleas for rain from Heaven will otherwise go unheeded as such blessing is dependent upon South Africa first blessing his people (Gen 12:3; Num 24:9). Belatedly accepting Israeli offers of help with water technology will not help; it’s the ultimate water supplier South Africans need to call upon in prayer and repentance.

Pleas for rain from Heaven will go unheeded as long as South Africa refuses to bless God’s people.

Outpouring of the Spirit

“I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground…” (Isa 44:3). A refreshing scene at Ein Gedi in the Judean desert, on the shores of the Dead Sea. Picture: Charles Gardner

The above Scripture (Isa 44:3) promising heavenly outpouring on a thirsty land once provided the inspiration to pray for revival in the Hebrides¹ for two elderly ladies, who just happen to be grand-aunts of US President Donald Trump.2 And I believe this has a direct bearing on the way the President has led the way in honouring Israel by recognising Jerusalem as its capital.

Blind 84-year-old Peggy Smith and her 82-year-old sister Christine, who was almost bent double with arthritis, pleaded day and night for God to fulfil his word, and the ripples of the subsequent revival of 1949-52 went all around the world.

Note that the Scripture verse quoted does not stop with the promise of water (both physical and spiritual), but continues: “I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”

Not surprisingly, President Trump is proud of his Scottish heritage and has visited the Isle of Lewis where his ancestors helped to change the world for Christ.

God truly honours his word, and responds to faith in his promises. But please note the Zionist connection!

Saved by the Blood

As I contemplate tomorrow’s gathering in Cape Town, city of my birth, I picture the majestic mountainous landscape surrounded by the waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans – all that sea and yet no rain – and imagine the waves piled high to make way for the faithful to walk through in prayer and petition, rather like the Israelites of old passing through the waters of the Red Sea as Moses led them out of slavery towards the Promised Land.

Jews everywhere will be celebrating Passover this coming week, recalling how the angel of death ‘passed over’ their firstborns, but did not spare Egypt’s sons, paving the way for their exodus as Pharaoh had his fill of plagues.

God truly honours his word, and responds to faith in his promises.

The Jews were saved, however, not just by the water that subsequently drowned the Egyptian army, but by the blood of the sacrificial lamb daubed on the lintels and doorposts of their homes.

The Only Way

Has South Africa – and its leadership in particular – not had its fill of plagues – of sin, corruption, poverty, violence, unemployment, disease and drought?

The way out of this trap is the blood of the ultimate Passover Lamb, Jesus the Messiah, sacrificed on a hill outside Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, who said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no-one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Fellow South Africans: mark your hearts with the blood of the Lamb, and He will send water on a thirsty land!

References

1 A group of islands off the west coast of Scotland.

2 World Tribune, 18 October 2017, and sapphirethroneministries.com, 20 October 2017.

In the first of a series on the non-writing prophets, Chris Hill looks at Elijah.

Ahab was without doubt the most evil king to rule the northern kingdom of Israel. Nearly one third of I and 2 Kings is devoted to his reign and that of his two sons. A period of 34 years.

Prompted by the influence of his pagan wife, Jezebel, Ahab had led God's people into grotesque idolatry. The Canaanite gods of Baal and Asherah had been installed and were being worshipped as Israel's redeemer.

Yet, strangely, vestiges of the old faith were still around. Ahab had named two of his sons Ahaziah (which means ‘the Lord grasps hold of’) and Joram (‘the Lord is exalted’). The confusion in his own mind had had a knock-on effect in the nation. King and people alike were in a terrible state of indecision (not unlike our own leaders and people today), limping between several opinions as to who was the true God.

The Lord has always hated such syncretism — the ’blending’ of false religion and biblical revelation. He still hates it. Syncretism invites his wrath just the same now as it did then.

The Lord has always hated syncretism — the ’blending’ of false religion and biblical revelation. He still hates it.

To look at Israel in the ninth century BC, you could be forgiven for thinking that Jezebel’s annihilation of the Lord’s prophets and servants had been so thorough that there was no voice of protest left in the land. That would be a mistake. 1 Kings 18:4 indicates that one man alone, Obadiah, had sheltered a hundred of the Lord's prophets from these purges. The Lord himself later says that there were seven thousand people in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18).

These are extraordinary statistics. To see the state of the nation, you would never have dreamt these anonymous people existed. They must have been active at some level, in spite of the prevailing conditions, but their impact upon society was nil. No-one heard the word of the Lord because the Lord's people refused to speak it out.

It took a man of singular faith to change things. That man was Elijah from Tishbe on the eastern side of the Jordan river.

The Representative Prophet

EIijah was more than ‘an average prophet’. It is significant that when our Lord was being prepared for his passion (Luke 9:31), he was ministered to by Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets). It was not Isaiah or Jeremiah, Ezekiel or Joel, but Elijah. This would seem to be confirmed by the attitude of the angel towards John the Baptist, who came "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17). A view later reflected in our Lord's own words (Matt 11:14).

Thousands of the Lord’s people remained in pagan Israel – but no-one heard the word of the Lord because they refused to speak it out.

It is important, at this point, to note that there is no biblical warrant for saying that the ministry of prophecy in the New Testament is any different from that in the Old Testament. Consequently, the ministry of Elijah, who we may regard as the 'representative prophet’, should act as an indicator of the nature of prophecy today.

In common with his fellow prophets, Elijah was a communicator of the mind, will and heart of God. He was, we might say, a ’law enforcement officer’ and a ‘guardian of the covenant’. He spoke forth the word of the Lord to his people, and his heart beat with the heart-beat of the Lord for his people.

We see this demonstrated in three ways.

1) Elijah was jealous for the Lord (1 Kings 19:10)

The Hebrew word may be translated as ‘zealous’ or ‘jealous’. Both were true of the genuine prophet. To be filled with zeal for the Lord is to be wholeheartedly for Him. Elijah was jealous for the Lord. Jealousy is a virtue and not a sin. Otherwise, the Lord could not reveal himself as "a jealous God" (Ex 20:5).

To be ‘envious’ is to want what belongs to someone else, but to be ‘jealous’ is to want something back that is truly mine, but which has been taken away from me. Elijah felt what God felt. His heart beat with God’s heart-beat. He put God’s interests above his own, even though it would threaten his very life.

The true prophet of the Lord is not interested in his own reputation or the popularity of his message because he values God above all else. He is the messenger of the Lord and in consequence communicates the heart of God as well as his word. When God's prophet brings a blistering tirade to God's people, he does so with tears - tears for the people and tears for God. God's prophet longs to see repentance and reconciliation where there is rebellion and estrangement.

Elijah felt what God felt. His heart beat with God’s heart-beat and he put God’s interests above his own.

2) There was a reason for Elijah's confident prophesying (1 Kings 17:1)

It takes a remarkable kind of faith to enable a man to stride into the audience chamber of a pagan king and state unequivocally that it will not rain for the next few years. We can but wonder at the profound certainty (or folly) of such a move. It seems to leave Ahab speechless. The question is: how did Elijah know that God was actually saying this? How did he know he had a prophetic word to give?

ln these ‘enlightened’ times we might suppose that Elijah had an 'inner witness’, a nervous twitch, or maybe a sudden sense of warmth and an increase in heart-beat. Perhaps he had an uncontrollable urge to rush into the king‘s presence and say the first thing that came into his mouth.

None of these is correct. There is only one reason why Elijah spoke those fateful words. It may be found in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, which states:

Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them [an apt description of Israel under Ahab and Jezebel]. Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.
(emphasis added)

Elijah’s confident announcement was made on the basis that he was thoroughly familiar with his Bible (or rather those parts God's word which had been committed to writing in his day). He knew that the secret of prophecy is simply this: if the conditions fit the situation, God is saying now what God has always said in his word.

Elijah knew the secret of prophecy: that if the conditions fit the situation, God is saying now what God has always said in his word.

True prophets have a deep understanding of Scripture. They understand that to test what they believe God is wanting them to say, they must be entirely convinced that this is in complete accord with his word. They understand that without a profound grasp of the scriptures they must not dare to speak out as it they have a word from him.

The prophet recognises with holy awe that if any part of his (or her) utterance is not in accordance with the Bible then to that extent he is prophesying falsely. Such a challenging matter should not deter but rather drive him to read the word.

3) Elijah prayed earnestly (James 5:17)

It is inconceivable that a true prophet could be anything less than a 'prayer warrior’. The question is how did Elijah pray?

James 5:17 says that in consequence of his praying it did not run for “three and a half years”. The reference in 1 Kings 18:1, however, appears to indicate only three years of drought. There is a six-month difference. What are we to make of this?

It looks as if there was already a six-month drought before Elijah prayed that it would not rain. In other words, Elijah prayed that the situation in the land would get worse.

This is odd. Most of the modern ’prophets’ prophesy nice things, and this is what we are used to. Any ‘prophet’ prophesying and praying that things in the nation (or church) might get worse would be considered in most Christian circles as unloving, insensitive, and not communicating God's word, let alone his heart!

The truth is that Elijah prayed the way he did because he loved the people and wanted to see them brought back to the Lord. It broke his heart to see the estrangement between God and Israel. He prayed that the drought would continue in order to bring the people back to their faithful God.

Most modern ’prophets’ prophesy nice things - any who prophesy that things might get worse would be considered in most Christian circles as unloving or insensitive.

What does the Lord think about us? What does he feel about us? What does he want of us and how does he want us to be? These are the matters which Elijah dealt in, the essence of the prophetic ministry.

The well-known prophecy of Joel 2:28-32, quoted in Acts 2:17-18, indicates that the last days will see a release of the prophetic ministry. As surely as John the Baptist spoke the word of the Lord at his first coming, so we shall see the release of the 'spirit and power of Elijah’ as his return approaches. Many believe we are well into those days. Jesus is coming soon. The mantle of Elijah will cost us what it cost him — complete faithfulness to God because we love him and complete faithfulness to his people because we love them. Courage to tell it like it is — in love, integrity and vibrant faith — come what may.

First published in Prophecy Today, 1997, Volume 13(4).