Like the birth of a newborn baby, a new year (especially one which begins a new decade) is greeted with much joy and hope for the future. So, we greet 2020 with a spirit of optimism in the nation that is abounding in the media where hopes for the future, for the healing of divisions and for greater prosperity are being expressed. But is this optimism well-founded?
In Prophecy Today UK we always ask – “Is there any word from the Lord?” What I’m hearing is a mixture of caution and hope. Inevitably I’m taken to the Prophet Jeremiah who is the most relevant of all the biblical prophets for the times in which we are now living.
In a time of great threat to the city of Jerusalem, where he lived and which he loved, Jeremiah did something of enormous significance. The whole land was being ravished by the Babylonians: his own birth-town of Anathoth was already in enemy-occupied territory, but nevertheless Jeremiah bought a piece of land as a sign of his confidence in the future (Jer 32). It was a bizarre thing to do. All his friends must have thought him to be mad, but what he did was because God had told him that he had good plans for the future of Jeremiah’s people: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer 29:11).
I believe God is saying something similar to the faithful remnant of believers in Britain today. But looking to the future, there are plenty of ominous signs as well as hopes. The two major international signs being carried over from 2019 into the new decade are the wildfires in Australia and the rise of anti-Semitism in the USA and Britain. Both of these have huge significance for the future.
Looking to the future, there are plenty of ominous signs as well as hopes.
Disaster of Biblical Proportions
The massive destruction of forest land in Australia through fires caused by searing temperatures and driven by fierce winds is causing loss of life and property, with homes and businesses destroyed as well as huge areas of land, foliage and wildlife, and tens of thousands of trees. It is an indescribable disaster for the Australian nation where many people have had to flee to the beaches and even walk into the ocean to escape the flames, sparks and smoke. Our hearts go out to our Australian cousins: surely what they are witnessing is a sign of biblical proportions.
In Prophecy Today since the 1980s we have been warning of the consequences of all kinds of sin, including the pollution of the atmosphere, rivers and oceans by the reckless actions of our consumer-driven civilisation. When God created the universe, he gave the stewardship of the earth to human beings, but particularly since the second half of the 20th Century we have shown an utter disregard for that responsibility.
There are many prophetic warnings in the Bible of what will happen if we continue to abuse the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land on which we depend for our food.
Isaiah says, “The earth is defiled [polluted] by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant” (Isa 24:5). The Apostle Peter says that judgment will suddenly come upon humanity: “the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Pet 3:10). Surely what is happening in Australia is a sobering physical picture of this coming reality.
Undying Hatred
Anti-Semitic graffiti in London, left during Hanukkah
The second major sign of the times is the rise of anti-Semitism - across the world but especially in the USA and Britain. The particular significance of this is that although Jews have been subjected to persecution for many centuries in different parts of the world (especially in the Middle East, central Europe and the old USSR territories), in Britain and America they have enjoyed a relative safe haven (that has not always been so in Britain, but it has been true for most of the past 800 years). In the USA especially, Jews have prospered in all parts of society, especially in industry and commerce, also playing a significant part in government. So, the recent outbreak of violence against worshippers in a New York synagogue and in the home of a rabbi celebrating Hanukkah with his family and friends has sent shockwaves throughout American Jewry.
Despite measures to tighten up security around Jewish property and places of worship, many people in these communities are beginning to feel increasingly uneasy in the countries and cultures that have been their homes for centuries.
In one sense this reflects the increasing godlessness and strengthening anti-biblical spirit in both nations, which will be further cursed by their attitudes towards the Jewish people unless the tide is quickly turned. But on the other side of the coin, is this a sign to Western Jews that it is time to go home? Is it likely to trigger a movement from the USA to Israel, as is already happening in France where Jews have been more obviously under threat in recent years? There are plenty of biblical references to the re-gathering of Jews in their ancient homeland of Israel as a feature of the times leading up to the day of the Lord. Maybe the second coming of Jesus is nearer than any of us imagine!
Both the wildfires and the rise of anti-Semitism in the West are signs which have huge significance for the future. But both have been overshadowed by the New Year American assassination of an Iranian General in Baghdad, which has the potential of unsettling the whole of the Middle East and increasing the risk of an Iranian-inspired attack upon Israel from Lebanon and Syria.
Jews across the US and Britain are beginning to feel increasingly uneasy in the countries and cultures that have been their homes for centuries.
Breakdown in Britain
But what is happening in Britain? Here, aside from the political upheaval over Brexit, there are two major signs of the times – one secular, the other spiritual. On the secular side the destructive social effects of the breakdown of family life, fatherlessness, gangs, guns and drugs are being compounded by an increase in mental health issues among young people and a new wave of gender insecurity, exacerbated by the new sex and relationships teaching in schools. These are likely to cause major problems in the breakdown of law and order during the coming decade.
In the spiritual life of the nation an increase in the number of unbelieving church leaders in positions of power in the denominational churches is already having a salutary effect. The appointment of an unbelieving Bishop to the Diocese of York is a further sign of apostasy in the Church of England, while in the Methodist Church a Bible-believing minister (a friend of mine) has been told there is no future for him in Methodism unless he is prepared to marry same-sex couples (the official change of position upon which is expected to be approved at their annual conference later this year).
Maybe God intends to allow sections of the Church to die so that new life can thrive. It is what Jesus called separating the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25. This certainly does not mean that God has condemned the whole of his Church – it is unbelief that is coming under judgment!
On the positive side there are significant signs of growth in churches where there is inspired, Bible-believing leadership, which indicates the spiritual hunger there is in the nation. I know a church in Southampton that has grown from 20 to 400 in the past 18 months! There are great opportunities for evangelism at this time when the nation is seeking healing of divisions. I believe this is a direct result of the increased level of prayer among Bible-believing Christians and the continuing growth of small groups of intercessors for Bible study and worship.
Much depends upon maintaining this level of prayer and active commitment to sharing our faith with our neighbours. The message we have to share with those who are seeking truth is the same promise God gave to exiled Israel: “'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the Lord” (Jer 29:13-14).