Turmoil on the streets, in schools and in matters of state: what has gone wrong?
Two chaotic scenes shown on television this week speak volumes about the state of the British nation today. One was a short film about a school for excluded pupils showing young people whose behaviour was so disruptive they had been banned from mainstream education. They were some of nearly 50,000 dysfunctional or ill pupils taught in alternative provision schools.
The second was Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons with 600 representatives of the people all shouting at the same time and no-one listening to anyone else. This was the Mother of Parliaments in action – the oldest and most respected political institution in Western democracy. Brexit fever had spread its pernicious toxin across the House and sanity had fled the building. Chaos reigned supreme.
I went into my study and wept. What has gone wrong with the nation I have loved and served throughout my working life? Is there any word from the Lord? Isaiah 31 came to me. The Assyrian Empire was at its height and many in Israel feared invasion. In Jerusalem there was a strong pro-Egyptian party who had persuaded the king to send emissaries with lavish gifts to sign a treaty binding them with Egypt. The word of the Lord came to the Prophet Isaiah,
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strengths of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord…But the Egyptians are men and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, he who helps will stumble, he who is helped will fall; both will perish together.
How apposite this is for our current situation! When do we ever hear any of our political leaders ask if there is any word from the Lord? Of course, it should be obvious that if M. Barnier and the European Union are happy with the deal, it must raise doubts as whether it will be good for Britain. But the greatest need among our Members of Parliament is for spiritual discernment, which is woefully lacking at present.
When do we ever hear any of our political leaders ask if there is any word from the Lord?
Facing Turmoil
No-one, however, could fail to admire the resilience of the Prime Minister facing a baying pack of critics in the House of Commons with insults and jibes thrown at her from all sides, yet she answered each one with dignity and confidence. At the end of the day she held a televised press conference in the full view of the nation and defended the deal she had struck with Brussels, saying that her major objectives had been achieved and Britain would be leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019.
Her objective has been to seek an arrangement that would ensure frictionless trade with the rest of Europe while at the same time taking back responsibility for our borders; but safeguarding the position of EU workers in Britain and British citizens resident in Europe.
Her objective has also been to get out of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fishing Policy which have favoured foreign producers. Above all, a major objective has been to ensure that Britain is free from the rules and regulations of the European Court of Justice and all the other legal impositions of Brussels. This is where there are major doubts among those who have fought for many years to be free from the EU and return sovereignty to the British Parliament.
Anti-Brexit protestors in Westminster this week. NurPhoto/SIPA USA/PA ImagesAlongside all these objectives has been the complication of the border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. No one wants to return to a hard border, but the DUP, whose 10 votes in the House of Commons are needed for a Government majority, do not want Ulster to be treated any different from other parts of the UK.
Most of the politicians shouting abuse at Theresa May had not read the 580-page document jointly agreed by the negotiators from Britain and Brussels. It will no doubt be argued over for a long time and there will still be hardline Brexiteers who will prefer Britain to leave the EU with no deal than one that keeps Britain tied to European laws and customs-regulations for an ill-defined period.
The weakness of all those opposing the EU deal is that they have no rational alternative. They all appear to be a bunch of individuals peddling their own political ambitions - in contrast to the statesmanlike conviction of the Prime Minister.
The greatest need among our MPs is for spiritual discernment, which is woefully lacking at present.
Nation Under Judgment
The turmoil in the House of Commons and out on the streets of Westminster is something never before seen in my lifetime. There is a simple reason for this: we are a nation under judgment. Since the 1950s, one law after another has been passed in our Parliament that violates biblical values and teaching. The final red line was the passing of The Same-Sex Marriage Act in 2013.
This was not only directly against God’s act of creation in making human beings male and female in his own image, but it also further undermined the central importance of marriage and family in the social structure of the nation. This, together with all of the other laws which have enabled and encouraged family breakdown, is why we are now seeing so many children and young people who have no understanding of right and wrong and whose behaviour is uncontrollable. And this is why so many young people are dying on our city streets in a wave of knife crime, drugs and gang warfare.
Our politicians are infected with the same spirit of rebellion that we see among young people. Once you reject the word of God, ultimate standards of truth and righteousness disappear from the nation. If Parliament rejects the deal offered by the EU and agreed with the Prime Minister, the only alternatives are a ‘No Deal’ or another referendum. But a second referendum would only increase division and bring utter disaster, releasing uncontrollable anarchy on the streets.
It is important to remember that the European Union is also under judgment for having rejected the word of the Lord and scorned its centuries of Judeo-Christian heritage. In the near future, I believe we will see one nation after another enveloped in turmoil across Europe with rising nationalism tearing aside the false unity created by Brussels with their one-size-fits-all, secular-pagan politics.
The turmoil in Westminster is for one simple reason: we are a nation under judgment.
Pray for Mercy
If Britain were a godly nation we should simply leave the European Union, with or without a deal, and put our trust in the Lord, who would undoubtedly respond with protection and prosperity. But without faith we are likely to be driven by spirits of darkness.
The future of Britain is at greater risk today than at any time since the darkest days of Dunkirk in 1940. Will God have mercy upon us for the sake of our godly heritage and the faithful remnant of believers who are still interceding at the throne of grace?
Christians: Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong (1 Cor 16:13). And pray: pray for a spirit of repentance to fall among our politicians. Pray for eyes to be opened to the realities of what has gone wrong. Pray for prophetic voices to arise to call the nation back to God. Pray for mercy in the midst of judgment.
