Finding healing from confusion, narcissism and trauma in Christ the Healer

Parliament is sliding down the slippery slope of Romans 1.

Wednesday 27 March 2019 was a day that will be remembered in history as the occasion when MPs ‘took control’ of the business of the House of Commons in regard to Brexit. With all the attention on the process of Britain leaving the European Union, it is very easy to forget that there is still a trickle of ‘normal’ business being processed.

Earlier that day MPs had participated in four ‘deferred divisions’, recording their votes on paper. One of the votes was in the name of the Education Secretary, Damian Hinds. It sought approval for the draft Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019.¹

Whilst most people, including Christians, have focussed on Brexit, I have found myself asking if there was an element of divine arrangement in the RSE division being held that same day.

The EU and Scripture

Experience suggests that amongst Christians, individuals' responses to the EU are influenced by their eschatology. Here, therefore, I look back in time, rather than forwards, to a Scripture passage that provides an historical perspective through which to evaluate the vision behind a united Europe.

Acts 17 records Paul's speech to the people of Athens, in which he declared that the ‘unknown God’ could be known. He reasoned that this God made "from one blood every nation of men", and ordered "their times and the limits of their lands." He then explained why the Lord had put men in separate nations - "that they should seek the LORD...and find him."

Scripture traces the beginning of nations to the division of mankind at Babel (Gen 11). Their construction of the tower was accompanied by a desire to make a name or reputation for themselves, thus preventing them from being scattered. Their Creator frustrated their proud plans by confusing their speech and separating them. Paul explained how this was actually for mankind's benefit - to put our forefathers, and now us, in situations which would motivate us to seek for the Lord and find Him.

The vision behind the European Union - to eliminate wars by removing national identities - has similarities with the union of tower builders from Shinar. The fatal flaw in the present-day project is that mankind is seeking to achieve peace through their own efforts whilst excluding their Creator. Such a scenario, motivated by a desire to throw off the Lord's ‘fetters’, is described in Psalm 2. This quest turns our attention back to RSE.

The vision behind the European Union has similarities with the union of tower builders from Shinar.

RSE and LGBTQ+

Education Secretary Damian Hinds (left), Philip Davies MP (right).The new guidance should have been approved the previous Wednesday, but at the end of the debate,² one MP, Philip Davies,³ refused to approve the proposals. His action necessitated the following Wednesday's division, when he was joined by 20 others in rejecting the changes, whilst 538 supported them.

What had become clear in the previous week’s debate was that the majority of participating MPs perceived these measures to be promoting LGBTQ+ rights. Essentially, the guidelines distinguish between the ‘relationships’ and the ‘sex education’ aspects of the curriculum. The Government view is that parents' freedom to withdraw children from the latter should not apply to the former. It is under ‘relationships education’ in primary schools that the Department for Education wants children to learn, in Amanda Spielman's words, "that sometimes there are families that have two mummies or two daddies"⁴ and that is alright.

Others have discussed at length the reasons why this is a dangerous direction of travel and why the new guidance should be rejected.⁵ That is not my purpose here. Nor do I want to discuss the clash which this approach has already precipitated with Muslim parents at Parkfield School, Birmingham. Jules Gomes has helpfully highlighted where such secular stupidity will lead.⁶ My objective is to connect the overwhelming support amongst our political elite for forcing LGBTQ+ norms on young children with the failure of the self-same people to deliver Brexit.

Hopefully most Christians realise that Romans 1 is the passage which prophetically describes the judgment process in which Britain finds itself today. We are reaping what we have sown for centuries - the roots go back to the Enlightenment at least. The steady progression which Paul outlines begins with a refusal to recognise the Lord as God, leading to minds being filled with foolish things and senseless hearts being darkened. Idolatry comes next, followed by sexual immorality, as the Lord gives people over to the desires of their hearts.

Romans 1 is the passage which prophetically describes the judgment process in which Britain finds itself today.

The result is a society full of the awful attitudes and actions now bringing death to our streets and emotional and mental distress to many children. The consequences are unavoidable - though they know his law, "that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."

If the same-sex marriage legislation did not convince Christians that Britain is now reaping the fruit of the unbelief it has sown for centuries, then I am not sure that this most recent decision will either - but it ought to!

The Consequences of Damaging Children

When Justin Welby, despite his evangelical credentials, spoke out in November 2017 in defence of Church of England schools allowing pupils to self-identify their gender,⁷ these words of Jesus came to mind; "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea" (Matt 18:6).

With that in mind, consider the ease with which the majority of our MPs agreed last week to teach unrighteousness to the nation's children. What does this say about the foolishness that now grips them?

The evidence is that they have been handed over to delusion, because they refused to receive a love of the truth.⁸ Is it any wonder therefore that they are unable to know what to do about Brexit?

Christians should recognise that we share a responsibility for what has happened. Mixture in the churches has meant that over the last two centuries we have collectively squandered multiple opportunities to challenge secularism. We too are reaping what we have sown. There is no room for us to point the figure at politicians when we have failed to stand for righteousness. Within ‘Bible-believing’ circles today there are those who are embracing unrighteousness, whilst the majority of the remainder remain silent.

Could the reason why it is Muslim parents who are rising up to challenge the secularism of the political classes be that Christians have forfeited their responsibility? If so, the outlook is far from good.

If as God's people we are no longer fit for his purposes, we need to seek him seriously to discover what we should do. When Israel lost its flavour, it was twice thrown out of the land. If the churches have lost their saltiness, then no amount of campaigning will rescue society.

Through Joel, the Lord told his people that it was time to "Return to Me with all your heart," adding "Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate...Who knows whether he will not turn and relent?" Christians need to do this earnestly, not to save the nation, but to ensure they are anchored firmly in Christ and prepared for what lies ahead.

Further update: The RSE guidelines are currently going through the House of Lords, where hundreds of letters of complaint have prompted a floor debate instead of just a vote. Read more on the Barnabas Fund website.

References

1 Find out more here.

2 Approval of Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019. 20 March 2019, Hansard, Volume 656. Watch on Parliament TV here.

3 Philip Davies, MP for Shipley.

4 Ofsted says schools should teach pupils about same-sex couples. BBC News, 21 February 2019.

5 Why the Draft Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education Act 2019 should be rejected. Gavin Ashenden, 20 March 2019. And Izzy Montague, "parents are part of the problem" and why RSE is so controversial. Christian Concern, 29 March 2019.

6 Teaching Muslim kids gay sex is like force-feeding their fathers pork. 'Rebel Priest' Dr Jules Gomes, 12 March 2019.

7 Roberts, R. Church of England tells schools to let children 'explore gender identity'. The Independent, 13 November 2017.

8 Hardy, R. Receive the Love of the Truth. Amen.org.uk.

9 Hosea 10:12: "Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek The LORD until He comes to rain righteousness on you."

The 'Mother of Parliaments' is in disarray - where is God?

Today, the eyes of the world are upon Britain, especially Westminster. Everywhere there is amazement that the British Parliament – the ‘Mother of Parliaments’ – is in disarray.

Why is this? In simple terms, it is because our Parliament, which is supposed to represent the people, is opposed to the people! The nation voted to leave the European Union and in Parliament, of 650 MPs, about 500 of them voted Remain.¹ Most of them will do everything possible to oppose the will of the people they represent, and keep Britain locked into the European Union. Clearly, it is the death of democracy when those elected to represent the people no longer do so.

There are, of course, many additional factors that go to make up the incredibly complicated situation in our House of Commons today. There are leadership ambitions on both sides of the House, and great dissatisfaction with their respective leaders. Among both Labour and Conservatives there is a desire to change the leader. Conservatives know that it would be disastrous to force Mrs May to stand down in the midst of a national crisis and Labour MPs know that Jeremy Corbyn has the backing of many of their new members and there is no outstanding leader to challenge him.

But our task at Prophecy Today UK is not simply to analyse the facts, but to see beyond them to the forces that are shaping our destiny, and to ask pertinent questions such as “What is God doing in the midst of all this chaos?” It is my belief that God is not simply sitting on the side-lines watching what is happening, but he is actually orchestrating the chaos in our Parliament.

Ever Seeing, Never Perceiving

Throughout the Bible we can see how God actively intervenes and creates a chaotic situation to which there appears no simple answer, in order to force people to recognise the utter folly of what they are doing. God actually uses disaster as a means of working out his purposes.

Just look at a few examples: God said to Moses “Go to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart…” (Ex 10:1). God put a “lying spirit” in the mouths of the prophets (1 Kings 22:23). He put “hooks in the jaws” of Gog and Magog to make them carry out his will (Ezek 38:4). He told Isaiah that he was hardening the hearts of the people so that they would be “ever seeing, but never perceiving” (Isa 6:9).

Throughout the Bible we can see how God actively intervenes and creates a chaotic situation - he uses disaster as a means of working out his purposes.

Jesus said the same about the people of Jerusalem, “If you, even you had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42).

One of the signs of judgment coming upon the people is “madness, blindness and confusion of mind” (Deut 28:28). And when the level of corruption in a nation reaches crisis point, God removes his cover of protection, “Therefore God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts” (Rom 1:24). He sends a “powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie” (2 Thess 2:11).

A Lying Spirit

Today, we are not only seeing our Parliament but the media, the means of communication, being infected with a lying spirit. It is an age of fake news and deception. Even our national broadcaster, the BBC, that was founded upon biblical truth and the objective of transmitting it to the world, can no longer be trusted.

Radio 4, the bulwark of news broadcasting, has since the beginning of the year been pushing consistently for a second referendum, with the objective of reversing the decision to leave the European Union.

Powerful figures such as John Humphrys have undoubtedly added to the division in Britain that threatens every part of our national life – the economy, trade and industry, and law and order - because another referendum would create a level of national division not seen in Britain since the Civil War four centuries ago. This is especially so given the spirit of violence that is currently driving social media, contributing to knife crime, gang warfare, race hatred and terrorism.

Under Judgment

The plain fact is that as a nation we do not know what we are doing – we are blindly heading for disaster, led by our MPs, so many of who are driven by lying spirits, because we are a nation under judgment.

Today, we are not only seeing our Parliament but the media, the means of communication, being infected with a lying spirit.

Theresa May is under judgment in the same way as David Cameron was - and for the same reason. They both conspired to drive the Same-Sex Marriage Bill through Parliament against the wishes of more than 100 of their own MPs and against the wishes of the majority of the British people at that time. She was Home Secretary; he was Prime Minister.

Both of them claim to be Christians, therefore they know the word of God and they deliberately chose to defy biblical commands and lead the nation astray. David Cameron swiftly brought judgment upon himself that ended his career. Theresa May cannot succeed in anything to which she puts her hand (Deut 28:20) and she can only be the instrument of bringing further judgment upon the nation.

The 11^th Hour

It gives me no pleasure to write these things - but they are the plain, unvarnished truth. Is there any way of avoiding the deepening judgment that is coming upon the nation? Yes, of course there is! There is always, in the mercy of God, up to the 11^th hour, the offer of forgiveness and redemption - if there is repentance and turning.

We are now in the 11^th hour. But if the nation were prepared to put their trust in God and walk away from the secular humanist constrictions of the European Union without a deal, it would surely be pleasing in God’s sight. It would also lead to great opportunity for spiritual revival - for biblical truth to transform the nation through the prayers and the witness of the faithful remnant, who understand the times and are prepared to tell the nation the truth.

It may be that God is actually answering the prayers of the faithful remnant by increasing the chaos in our Parliament, so that Britain falls out of the EU by accident rather than by design. Despite voting against leaving without a deal, it is still possible that this is precisely what will happen on 29 March 2019. Is this God’s intention for Britain?

Please respond to our poll below:

References

1 Jacob Rees-Mogg’s estimate.

We can’t close our eyes to the serious state of the nation.

Twice this week I’ve used the train for journeys to London and Manchester and seen at first hand the chaotic state of our railways. On Monday I went to our local station from which I can usually get a fast train to London – a half-hour journey which took nearly 4 hours and included going part of the way in a bus calling at a succession of local stations.

The ticket office said the bus was provided because they had no idea when the next train would come! My journey took about the same time as the stagecoach took in Queen Victoria’s reign - oh, what great progress we have made in 200 years!

Then I listened to the report of Yesterday in Parliament where the nation’s political leaders were discussing Brexit. Were these really responsible adults dealing with the nation’s affairs shouting abusively at each other? The words ‘chaos’ and ‘confusion’ were the only way of describing the scenes in the House of Commons as everyone was speaking at the same time and no-one was listening.

I picked up a newspaper and glanced at the headlines: High-Street Meltdown, TSB Banking Crisis – Customers’ Accounts Forged, Carillion Costs Taxpayers £1½ million, Sexually Transmitted Diseases Increase, Criminal Justice System Breaking Down, NHS Facing Funding Crisis. I could go on with a catalogue of bad news stories guaranteed to leave us all depressed. But we cannot simply close our eyes to the serious state of our nation. We can’t all take antidepressants and pretend that all is well. At some point we have got to face up to what’s gone wrong.

In this magazine our objective is to tell the truth - even when it is not politically correct to do so!!

In this issue of Prophecy Today we are publishing two significant articles – one is about our Prime Minister Theresa May and the other is about the plague of political correctness that is polluting the whole value system of the nation. These are both must-read articles which I hope our readers will recommend to their friends. In this magazine our objective is to tell the truth - even when it is not politically correct to do so!!

At the Root

At my meeting in Manchester we were talking about the problems facing young people in inner-city areas. One social worker said, “The root of all the problems with the kids is family breakdown – fatherlessness, insecurity, lack of identity, poverty, drugs, guns, knives, gang warfare – the whole cycle comes back to family breakdown”.

But family breakdown is just one result of the nationwide abandonment of our Christian faith, along with the biblical values that were part of the foundations upon which the nation was built and gave guidance and direction to our behaviour: to the way we treat each other, to the way we do business, to life in the home, in school, in the workplace, and among our friends and neighbours.

The problems in our nation are not economic, or political, or educational, or mental health, or physical health, or all the other things we blame like poverty, discrimination and injustice. At root, all these problems come back to the same cause: it is the spiritual state of the nation.

We have no absolutes anymore. Our previous absolutes – TRUTH, JUSTICE, LOVE – these were derived from the nature of God as revealed in the Bible. But when we abandon these absolute, basic values, the bottom drops out of our lives: we have no firm foundation upon which to base anything.

When we abandon the absolute, basic values revealed in Scripture, the bottom drops out of our lives: we have no firm foundation upon which to base anything.

Facing Up to Reality

There is a telling passage in the Bible found in Deuteronomy 28 that God gave to his covenant people Israel. From this we can learn some lessons for ourselves: It tells us what happens when we turn away from God’s teaching:

The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. (Deut 28:20)

We can see all these things taking place right now in the life of our nation – and in all those nations in the Western world where our Judeo-Christian heritage of many centuries is being despised and rejected with devastating consequences.

We will never solve the problems in the economy, or in politics, in health, or in marriage and personal relationships – until we face up to the spiritual issues that are the root causes.

Transformation is Still Possible!

The Prophet Haggai back in the year 520 BC got it right when he told the people of Jerusalem, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it” (Hag 1:5-6).

He went on to say that the cause of all their problems was because the people had turned away from God – if they would get God back into the centre of their own individual lives and in the corporate life of the nation, all these things would change dramatically.

God is saying the same thing to us today – to our political leaders, to our educators, to our businessmen, to our community leaders and to each of us personally. If we truly seek to get into a right relationship with God, he will respond to us immediately; just as the father ran to greet the prodigal son when he returned home in the story that Jesus told. The transformation of the nation begins with each one of us.

Amongst all the trouble, God is doing something among his people.

In last week’s editorial, ‘Days of Confusion’, we looked at the complex forces of change that have created the strife and uncertainty in the nation today.

During the past week we have seen George Soros, the arch secular humanist, adding to the confusion by trying to undermine the democratic vote of the British people to get out of the European Union. Volatility on the stock market and demands for Brexit clarity from the business world have all added to the clamour in the nation. But, of course, none of our leaders ask the most obvious question – “Is there any word from the Lord?”

I was really encouraged by the comments on last week’s editorial. They confirm my own sense of excitement that despite all the bad news and the trouble in the nation, God is doing something among his people – those who are not just praying, but who are also listening to him.

I’ve been drawn to Psalm 127 with the familiar words “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain.” The second part of that verse is of great significance for us today: “Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” From this we can derive the biblical truth that unless the Lord watches over the nation we will be wide open to every spiritual attack of the enemy.

This is precisely what happens when a nation such as Britain has a heritage of centuries of biblical truth; but in a single generation discards that truth, turns its back upon God to go its own way, and then is surprised when everything goes wrong.

What Can We Do?

What can we do about this? Well, first we can turn to what the Bible says about a nation that is facing disaster. A significant promise was given by God to the Prophet Jeremiah:

If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. (Jeremiah 18:7-8)

This promise was not just for the nation of Israel in a covenant relationship with God, but for any nation at any time, which makes it the most significant promise in the Bible for Gentile nations. It is of particular significance for nations such as Britain, the USA, Europe and other Western nations that have a Judeo-Christian heritage.

Unless the Lord watches over the nation we will be wide open to every spiritual attack of the enemy.

The reason for this is that the promise speaks about God having warned the nation.¹ It is only nations that know the God of the Bible that could recognise a warning from God. It is only nations that have known the truth that could justifiably be charged with having deliberately turned their backs upon truth and embraced false values.

Just look at the values that our politicians are promoting as ‘British values’: “equality, tolerance and the rule of law”. These are not British values! They are an invention of secular humanists drawing on atheist philosophers such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant and Marx!

Traditionally, British values have been drawn from the Bible. They are: JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS, TRUTH and INTEGRITY, FAITHFULNESS and LOVE. These used to be the values upon which all our political relationships, our business relationships and our personal relationships were founded! They are fundamental and eternal: not the trivial rubbish peddled by politicians!

One Example: Britain and Israel

Today, I want to take just one example of the way Britain has forsaken godly standards of truth, leading to the situation in which we now find ourselves.

It’s a well-known fact that the British Foreign Office is anti-Semitic and always votes with the Arabs against Israel in the United Nations. They even voted against the USA when President Trump had the courage to declare that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, which every Bible-believing Christian, every Jew and every educated person knows is simply a plain statement of fact: Jerusalem has been Israel’s capital since the time of King David, 3,000 years ago!

Traditionally, British values have been drawn from the Bible – they are not the secular humanist rubbish being peddled today.

Records show how the Foreign Office civil servants fought against Churchill in the 1920s when, as Colonial Secretary, he strove to implement the 1917 Balfour Declaration that the historic land of Israel should be a homeland for the Jews. In 1938 and ‘39 when the Jews were being murdered on the streets in German cities, Britain refused to let Jewish families come as refugees. We took several trainloads of Jewish children but let their parents go to Auschwitz to be murdered in the Nazi gas chambers.

The Exodus, after the British boarded in 1947. Public domain.An even more horrible crime was committed immediately after the Second World War, when the survivors of the death camps from around central Europe fled to Palestine but were prevented from entering by the British army. A leaky old ship called The Exodus carrying 4,500 survivors was rammed by two British cruisers and forced to turn away from Haifa. The most heinous crime was that all these people were deported back to prison camps in Germany! This was at the time when Britain was beginning to reject its biblical heritage and its values of truth and righteousness.

It was just at this time that the British Empire began to unravel. The greatest Empire the world had ever known began to collapse when it started to despise its own heritage, despite the miracles we had seen during the war that saved Britain when we stood alone.

Of course, I’m not saying that the Empire was perfect – we made lots of mistakes, but from my extensive travels around the world I have seen at first hand some of the good things that British rule brought to those countries. Also, today there are countless millions who embrace the Gospel because it was brought to them through the British Empire: that in itself is a godly heritage.

The Way Ahead

The peace and prosperity Britain enjoyed until the present generation was the fruit of a nation that honoured its biblical heritage. God watched over this nation because of its faithfulness.

This is surely significant: the hope for the future lies in the chaos and confusion in the nation forcing a recognition that we have departed from the ways of righteousness and truth.

If this recognition leads to repentance, there is no doubt that God will honour his promise not to destroy the nation, but to restore times of peace and prosperity…“If that nation that I warned repents of its evil…” As I said last year: I cannot just pray unconditionally for God’s blessing on the nation. But the promise of Jeremiah 18:7-8 is something worth praying for!

Notes

1 A possible exception to this is Nineveh. But there were significant settlements of Israelites in the region around Nineveh since the time of Shalmaneser in 722 BC (See 2 Kings 17:6). So the Ninevites might have known the God of Israel from them which would have prepared the way for Jonah’s warning.

Top-level turmoil is a biblical sign.

Day after day the news media is filled with reports of confusion in Whitehall, disagreements within the Cabinet and discontent among backbenchers.

Nobody is quite sure what’s going on and the general uncertainty at the top of the political spectrum is rapidly communicated, not only to the nation but also to leaders of the 27 other nations in the European Union with whom we are trying to negotiate an exit treaty.

The Bible tells us that ‘confusion’ is a direct consequence of turning away from God – rejecting his truth. Deuteronomy 28 lays out the great benefits and blessings that flow from being in a right relationship with God and keeping his commands to walk in his ways. It also sets out the consequences of rejecting the word of God.

Of course, these things were specifically written for the guidance of Israel, a nation in a covenant relationship with God. Nevertheless, the spiritual principle here is one that applies to nations such as Britain and the USA. They have publicly declared themselves to be nations that accept the Bible as the revealed word of God, which sets the standard for truth in the public square as well as in personal and corporate morality and ethics.

Having publicly recognised God’s truth, we have to bear the consequences of our rejection which are spelt out in Deuteronomy 28:20: “The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.”

Departing from the Truth

The Prime Minister’s latest flying visit to Brussels will do nothing to rescue the Brexit negotiations with the EU unless there is public recognition of the way we have departed from the truth and despised the word of God.

However much we may have had sympathy for Theresa May in her ill-fated speech to the Conservative conference, it is hardly surprising that she choked on her words when in the same speech she declared that the greatest recent achievement of the Conservative Government was in changing the definition of marriage, defying the word of God and his created order.

Having publicly recognised God’s truth, we have to bear the consequences of rejecting it.

There is nothing more certain to bring judgment upon the nation than such an action. But God has not acted hastily. Successive governments in Britain have been conspiring to turn truth upside-down for many years. Despite Tony Blair’s personal acknowledgement of the importance of moral and spiritual values in society, the influence of secular humanist ideologies within the New Labour movement were strong.

Blairites and the Battle for the Family

Jack Straw, see Photo Credits.Notably, the rising influence of LGBT interests were seen in the Blair Government, where powerful Cabinet posts were given to homosexual individuals such as Chris Smith,¹ who took control of Culture, Media and Sport. This was exactly the area where LGBT values could be injected subtly into public life and was a notable triumph for the LGBT movement. Women in the Blair Government with strong feminist and secular humanist orientations, such as Clare Short and Harriet Harman, also opened the way for the promotion of ideologies harmful to the family.

Disputes within the Cabinet reflected this ideological battle for the preservation or destruction of the family. Jack Straw’s endeavour to promote measures that would strengthen family life were thwarted within the Cabinet and resulted in his failure to produce the White Paper he promised in his speech on 15 July 1998, when he welcomed the publication of the report ‘Family Matters’.²

All this underlines the reason why Britain is in such dire straits today. Many Conservatives were amazed when David Cameron gave his support to ‘same-sex marriage’ (SSM) in 2013. But this was not his brainchild: he had been present at a meeting of European leaders in 2010 when it was agreed that all EU member states should aim to legalise SSM by 2013.

Cameron knew the pressure would be on and, as an ambitious politician, he simply wanted to be ahead of the game. But in so doing he brought judgment upon himself that ended his political career. When will Western leaders learn that you cannot defy the word of God without incurring inevitable consequences?

Successive governments in Britain have been conspiring to turn truth upside-down for many years.

Understanding Europe’s History

All the confusion surrounding Brexit is a measure of the extent to which we have put ourselves outside the protection and blessing of God and at the mercy of the destructive secular humanist spirits driving the European Union.

There is so much history wrapped up in these Brexit negotiations. Europe has been torn apart by two devastating wars in the past 100 years. Emotions run deep in the national psyche of each of the European nations. Germany has, twice, recovered remarkably from the devastation and destruction of military defeat. Their dream of a united Europe under German domination through the European Union had almost been achieved. But once again Britain is the one nation standing in the way.

Britain has always been the stumbling block – the odd one out – even driving on the other side of the road, not conforming to European standards - a nation of nonconformists! Today, the nations that suffered defeat or the humiliation of five years of enemy occupation (and of having Britain to thank for their liberation) suddenly find themselves in a position of power over Britain. Our Prime Minister has asked for their help in devising a deal that she can sell to her unruly Cabinet and a divided nation.

But mixed into all this are massive spiritual issues, as the whole of Europe has been assailed by a secular humanist onslaught in the past half-century. Britain has been more successful than any other European nation in holding on to its Christian heritage, largely through the influence of our ageing Queen, whose Coronation Oath to uphold the Protestant faith spread a cover of protection over the land.

Brexit is a sign of God’s mercy towards Britain, giving us the opportunity of re-asserting our sovereign independence under the blessing of God. But that can only be achieved through the recognition of how God has blessed us in the past, especially in the lifetime of our parents and grandparents. But we have deeply offended him in our own generation and, sadly, most people in Britain do not understand the nature of the battle and its spiritual dimension.

Bible-believing Christians who do understand the times have a vital role to play in the future of Britain if we are to be successful in getting out of Europe.

We Have Work to Do!

This is where Bible-believing Christians who do understand the times have a vital role to play in the future of Britain if we are to be successful in getting out of Europe. A few months ago, I was told in my times of intercession to stop praying general prayers of blessing and welfare upon the nation, but to engage instead in prayer with a particular focus.

Jeremiah was warned against praying “Peace! Peace!” when God was saying there was no peace (Jer 6:14). We have to learn to pray in line with God’s will. Then our prayers will be a powerful force to bring the nation in line with the purposes of God. That could still happen with the Brexit battle, in which our prayers should be specifically directed by the Holy Spirit. For that to happen, each of us has to learn to listen to the Lord.

References

1 Chris Smith was the first openly homosexual Politician to be appointed to a major Government office in British history.

2 Family Matters, a Report to the Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, from The Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group. Chairman: Lord Ashbourne, 15 July 1998.

Yes, it is a sign.

Confusion came to Israel and Judah when they turned from God’s covenant, according to the clear statements of what would bring curse and what would bring blessing in Deuteronomy 28 – an increasingly severe set of circumstances besetting the nation, eventually resulting in the Babylonian captivity.

Early in the return from the captivity, Ezra summed it up:

Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. (Ezra 9:7 KJV, emphasis added)

The UK is not Israel, but the principles of the Bible are there for us to study. Indeed, we are a nation that has sought to covenant with God and to live by biblical constitutional principles developed over many centuries. These principles have been behind God’s favour and protection in past times - but they have been broken piecemeal through the present generation.

Escalating Signs

In this magazine, just as Amos warned Israel by interpreting the signs (Amos 4), we have highlighted the escalating signs in our nation for more than 30 years. Now, in the context of an election founded on the need to withdraw from an alliance with the EU, with terrorist acts of violence in the background, we have emerged with a hung Parliament and confusion abounding.

We are a nation that has sought to covenant with God and live by biblical constitutional principles – until the present generation.

We have recognised a period of grace from the Lord to withdraw from the EU and many of us hoped that this withdrawal would be enabled through a clear election result. But even then we would have recognised it as, at best, a beginning of potential recovery to the Lord’s favour – and by no means a guarantee.

However, it is not going to be that easy! God’s judgment, in whatever way Almighty God has brought this about in our nation, is not to make this path easy. If we could read the signs clearly, we would hear His voice calling, “return to me wholeheartedly and I will return to you and help you.”

Call for Repentance

At the time of writing, there is still an ongoing assessment of the fall-out of the election - discussions which go this way and that to try to understand the factors at work and the way forward. For the moment the Conservative Party holds the ground of leadership, though weakly, but change of the entire political landscape is very close.

Through the election campaigns, even from a human perspective there have been clear undercurrents in the country that mark a transition in our nation. There has been an undercurrent from young people, fired up by what seems like a faint light of hope from the leader of the Labour party. New forms of social media evident across the world have been playing a significant role, signalling a new form of democracy - he who captures the moment will capture the future. Yet despite high levels of voter engagement and turnout, the rallying cries from politicians have been on principles that are far from centred on the ways of the God of Israel.

God’s judgment is not to make this path easy.

The themes of the election campaigns have focussed on important issues, including Brexit, the NHS, social care, pensions, tax, education, Scottish devolution and defence. No-one would say that the party manifestoes were completely devoid of righteous ideals, but equally there has been no talk of honouring or rescuing the biblical underpinnings of our nation, or of reversing the laws that have been passed in our nation over this generation that are 100% against biblical principles.

The abounding confusion is a clear sign that God is calling for repentance and things will not get better unless and until there is a turning back to him. However righteous the words of the electioneering may seem, they will fail unless they are enabled through the righteousness of God.

Time to Unite

But what about the Christian community in Britain? Where was our voice in the public arena throughout these past two months of electioneering? Indeed, where has a united Christian voice been over the last generation of the UK’s falling away from God? We must admit that we are diverse and disjointed. We seek to highlight our concerns but we only talk to one another – to our relatively small groups of like-minded Christians.

Surely now is our time to unite together before God in watching and praying, so that we might hear from God together what we, his Priests of the New Covenant, are called to do with one heart and one voice. We, among all the people of the nation have the resources to find the way of calling the nation to God in repentance.

Surely now is the time for believers to unite together before God in watching and praying, that we might hear from God together.

By coincidence my reading this morning was from Hosea 10, which features principles that we have highlighted over many years and which could not be more appropriate for our nation today. I leave them here as a prompt to prayer:

For now they say, we have no king, because we did not fear the Lord. And as for a king, what would he do for us? They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgement springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field. (Hosea 10:3-4)

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till he comes and rains righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12)

Prophets of the Old Testament often experienced confusion as they tried to understand circumstances in the light of God's word. What can we learn from them?

It should not surprise us that the prophets of the Old Testament were often perplexed. In the conduct of their ministry it was necessary for them to spend much time both with their God and also with the people to whom they had been sent. What they heard in God's presence was often very different from what they heard in the conversation of their everyday world.

In this study we shall meet some of these perplexed prophets and, as God's prophets today, learn how to prevent ourselves repeating their mistakes.

Moses

When the 12 leaders returned from their exploration of the Promised Land, it was seen that only two were in favour of going on to possess it. The Israelites grumbled and were about to stone Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting. The Lord said to Moses:

How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me...? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you [Moses] into a nation greater and stronger than they. (Num 14:11-12)

What an offer! But was it a privilege? Moses must for a while have been greatly perplexed. On the one hand God's tremendous promise - on the other the people's rejection. But he quickly came to an understanding of the situation, and began to reason with the Lord. That would not be right, he said. "Then the Egyptians will hear about it!...if you put these people to death all at one time the nations...will say 'The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised...so he slaughtered them in the desert'" (Num 14:1-2, 10-16).

What prophets hear in God's presence is often quite different from what they hear in the conversations of everyday life – which can cause confusion.

Moses was concerned about God's name and reputation. Are we today more concerned with getting into the upper echelons of prophetic ministry, or are we determined that all we do shall enhance God's reputation among us?

Elijah

After Elijah's announcement that there would be a serious drought in Israel, he went to stay in the house of a widow in Zarephath. God provided them with a jar of flour and a jug of oil every day. But their peace was about to be disturbed by the sudden death of the son of the house. The prophet's perplexity is evident from his words, "O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?" (1 Ki 17:20).

One testing experience through which prophets and other believers may have to pass occurs when people or resources which we have come to rely upon are suddenly removed.

One testing experience which we may encounter occurs when people or resources we rely upon are suddenly removed.

Job

Here is a man who had to face tremendous perplexity. His book begins by recording a series of catastrophes directly involving him. His donkeys were seized, his sheep and their shepherds were struck by lightning, raiding parties carried off his camels, and to cap it all his children were killed in a hurricane. Even so he did not charge God with wrongdoing.

Then the Evil One was given permission to test Job on a personal level, and as a result his body was covered with painful sores. But still Job did not sin by what he said. Certainly, he cursed the day he was born and groaned under his calamity, but he still did not speak out against God, even when his wife suggested that suicide was the best way out (Job 1:13-22, 2:7-10).

His three friends held forth on Job's situation but were to prove "miserable comforters" (Job 16:2). Their current theological theories did nothing for the sufferer. Their concept of God had collapsed because it was too small. In the end Job was content not with a perfect explanation of the suffering of the righteous but with the greatness of his God.

Job had to suffer tremendous perplexity – in the end he was contented not with a perfect explanation for his suffering, but with the greatness of his God.

It is still true that godly men and women have to face the perplexing question of why God allows them to suffer as he does. Meanwhile Job's book is a resounding protest against current teaching that a God-fearing life inevitably brings success and prosperity.

Hosea

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife...because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord" (Hos 1:2). Did God actually tell Hosea to take to himself as his wife a woman who was already an adulteress? It seems more likely that Gomer was chaste at the time of her marriage and that only later did she leave Hosea for someone else. This would fit the symbolic use God makes of the prophet's domestic situation, for he refers to the days of Israel's youth as a time when Israel was pure in her relation to Yahweh (Hos 2:15).

But however we understand the time of Gomer's immorality it must have perplexed poor Hosea and may have exposed him to the judgmental reactions of other prophets. His only consolation was the assurance that Yahweh himself also suffered intensely when Israel proved unfaithful to him.

It was Hosea's privilege to let his unchanging love for Gomer be a picture for all time of the 'love that will not let us go'. Let all prophets know that they have the understanding and compassion of God himself where his servants have to experience the continuing sadness of life in a broken home or unstable family environment.

Hosea's suffering was a picture of the suffering God himself went through with Israel – so Hosea always had the consolation that the Lord understood what he was going through.

Jonah

There is one thing of which we can be certain: Jonah did not like the people of Nineveh! After receiving his original commission to preach to them, he ran away. It took a strange encounter with a great fish to persuade him to obey the instructions he had received and "Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh" (Jonah 1:1-3, 3:3). Once there, his prophetic preaching was so effective that God's offer of mercy brought the whole nation to its knees in repentance. "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened." (Jonah 3:10).

One would have thought that the prophet would have been thrilled with such a positive response to his message. "But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry" (Jonah 4:1). This was the reason he refused to go to Nineveh and ran away to Tarshish: he believed that if he preached they would repent and that God would then forgive them, and he did not want that to happen.

We may be certain that Jonah laid on heavily the message of judgment, but probably did not encourage the Ninevites in repentance. Today's prophets need to ask the Holy Spirit to help them put forward a presentation of their message in which judgment and mercy are balanced against one another. Jonah made the terrible mistake of begrudging them the mercy that they so much needed. This was the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees in the time of our Lord when they grumbled at Jesus for entertaining publicans and sinners to a meal. "If I have the gift of prophecy...but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Cor 13:2).

Habakkuk

The branch of theology called 'theodicy' was at the heart of Habakkuk's perplexity. The term is made up of two Greek words theos (God) and dike (justice) and it refers to the vindication of God's character despite the existence in the world of physical and moral evil. It all began when Yahweh told Habakkuk: "For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people" (Hab 1:5-6).

At the heart of Habakkuk's confusion was the question of how a righteous, holy God could allow evil in the world.

God created perplexity in the prophet's mind when he went on to say that he would use the Babylonians to punish his own people Israel. 'How could God do such a thing?' was the anguished cry of the prophet. "Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?" (Hab 1:13). The problem of 'theodicy' does not exist among those who have gods whose morals are little better than those of sinful men and women. But those who believe in a holy and righteous God are shocked and upset by some of the actions and decisions of the only living and true God.

What can a prophet do - whether living in ancient Israel or in our modern world? Like Habakkuk, it is right to take the problem to God and to wait until he answers (Hab 2:3). Meanwhile the righteous shall live by faith (Hab 2:4). Ultimately all perplexities will be resolved.

Jeremiah

No-one transcends Jeremiah in the depth of feeling in which he expresses his perplexity:

O Lord, you deceived me and I was deceived, you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long...the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name', his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. (Jer 20:7, 9)

Here is a prophet who has every reason to resign his prophetic mission. After all, he had been beaten and put in the stocks (Jer 20:2). We see here plainly the personal cost of continuing to speak God's word, but Jeremiah could not restrain himself. The Lord's message was burning in his heart and he could not remain silent. How much the church of today needs prophets who will get into the counsel of God and then will speak out fearlessly what he wants them to say, whatever the cost!

Jeremiah spoke God's message fearlessly and suffered greatly for it. How much today's church needs prophets who are willing to do this, whatever the cost!

Ezekiel

The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord upon me. I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar river. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days – overwhelmed. (Ezek 3:14-15)

It would appear that the seven-day period during which Ezekiel remained silent was an expression of his sense of bereavement and perplexity. The silence, the location of the event, and the period involved (cf Job 2:13) conveyed his deep empathy with his people in their affliction. Undoubtedly his silence gave emphasis to the words he was later to utter.

Today's prophets need to give time to the true situation of the Lord's people, instead of shooting off superficial words that carry no weight because they do not have the heart-cry of the totally perplexed behind them.

Whatever perplexities prophets have to face, let them learn that they may complain to God, but they must beware of complaining about him.

Whatever perplexities prophets have to face, let them learn that they may complain to God, but they must beware of complaining about him.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 7 No 3, May/June 1991.