The Boris factor has bounced onto the world stage, adding a new dimension to the Brexit debate. But DEAL OR NO DEAL has never been the core issue. It is only a useful peg on which to hang the real issue, which remains our membership of the European Union – we either love it or loathe it!!

Why is this such a massively controversial issue? The answer can only be discerned through spiritual eyes. There are some mysteries that cannot be unravelled with human logic. As Paul says “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14).

This is true of the great Brexit controversy, at the heart of which is an enormous spiritual battle between the powers of darkness and the Spirit of God. We will unravel this mystery in a moment, but first let us look at what is happening on the political scene.

Tempers Running High

It is an inescapable fact that though a small majority of the nation voted to leave the EU in the 2016 Referendum, a much larger majority of our elected MPs voted to remain. So, we have a democratic freak of a Parliament that is opposed to the will of the people who elected them. This can only be changed by a General Election which none of our political parties welcomes just now. The polls all paint an uncertain picture. No-one wants to risk it.

The Prime Minister has been likened to Hitler and the proroguation to an assault on democracy. See Photo Credits

So, what can be done? Boris has seized the initiative by proroguing Parliament, firing the starting gun to the most acrimonious period of debate since the days when Charles I marched into the House of Commons playing the nuclear card of his divine right to rule the nation. Opposition MPs say that Boris is doing something similar.

Tempers are running so high; it would not be surprising to see acts of violence inside the Commons in the coming days, and already politicians are calling their supporters onto the streets this weekend. The grapes of wrath are being trodden right across the media from The Guardian and The Independent to Facebook and Twitter.

The controversy of Brexit cannot be unravelled with human logic – it can only be discerned through spiritual eyes.

Parliament Prorogued

But let’s just look soberly at what the Government has done. It has recognised that this Parliament cannot agree on anything, as Theresa May found to her cost. So, it has prorogued Parliament a few days earlier than scheduled and fixed the date of the Queen’s speech for 14 October. This will be just three days before the EU summit on 17 October which is the last chance to get all the EU leaders together to agree any changes to a leaving deal with Britain.

That leaves only two weeks before 31 October when Britain is due to leave the European Union (with or without a deal), lessening the chance of the Remainers finding a Parliamentary way to prevent Brexit.

Dark Days

We all know that leaving without a deal will cause some temporary difficulties in Britain; but it is the European Union that will suffer far more – especially Germany, which has a large trade imbalance with Britain. If they cannot send their BMWs to Britain without paying large tariffs, Germany’s economy is going to be hit heavily. This is no doubt the reason why Mrs Merkel offered a glimmer of hope to our Prime Minister when she suggested that he should see what he can achieve in 30 days.

The proroguing of the Westminster Parliament will undoubtedly exercise the minds of the Brussels negotiators and make them more willing to do a last-minute deal. Rewriting all the complexities of the leaving arrangements is impossible in a few weeks, although there could be significant changes to the Northern Ireland border agreement. This is probably the most that Boris can hope to achieve.

But of course, this does not make it any easier to achieve agreement on this side of the Channel. The Remainers do not want any agreement!! The spiritual battle is very like that which Britain faced at Dunkirk, when the dark clouds of Nazi oppression were enveloping the continent and Britain stood alone. In some ways it is an even darker day today, because the opposition is on both sides of the Channel. The globalist powers that are at the heart of Brussels are determined to keep Britain chained to the EU in one form or another; and their counterparts in Britain will do anything in their power to achieve the same objective.

The spiritual battle is very like that which Britain faced at Dunkirk, except today the opposition is on both sides of the Channel.

Understanding the Spiritual Fury

Why is this? What is the spiritual dynamic creating such fury?

We have often spoken on Prophecy Today of the need for Britain to be free from the EU in order to retain not only our national identity and hard-won democratic freedoms but also the possibility of our returning to faith in God. This is, of course, true. But there is another dynamic at work, which rarely features in debates over Brexit. In one word, it is Israel.

There is nothing that generates more hatred than Israel. Normally rational human beings become apoplectic with rage over the Jewish nation, exposing their irrational anti-Semitic hatred.

The European Union is full of this anti-Israel spirit¹ which, at root, is a hatred of God. Furthermore, if Britain can shake off the EU’s chains, we can freely acknowledge that after the First World War we broke our word and did not carry out our 1917 pledge of creating a homeland for the Jews. In 1920 the San Remo Agreement of politicians and international lawyers gave the mandate to Britain as a sacred trust, which we broke.

The 100^th anniversary next April gives Britain the opportunity to acknowledge this before God and to the world. This, I believe, could be the beginnings of the repentance that is essential before the spiritual cloud over Britain will lift. Only then can we hope for new days of prosperity under the blessing of Almighty God.

The spirits of darkness in Brussels recognise such a possibility and this fuels the irrational fury against Brexit, which is not simply grounded in social or economic arguments but in dark spiritual roots. This is why Bible-believing Christians should be mobilised to pray, day and night, from now until 31 October (and beyond!).

Notes

1 This article from The Tower illustrates the anti-Israel sentiment which permeates the EU’s bureaucracy. It was written in 2016, but we have little reason to believe that things have changed in the last three years.