Clifford Hill suggests that God might be offering European Christians a great opportunity through the refugee crisis.

There are no signs of stemming the flow of people seeking to escape war and poverty in the Middle East. Nearly half a million people have crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe this year, and this is just a fraction of the millions who may be heading for Europe. EU leaders meeting on 23 September decided to "tackle the dramatic situation at our external borders and strengthen controls at those borders".¹ So Europe's open door is soon to be closed in face of the tide that has overwhelmed Italy, Greece, Macedonia, Hungary, Serbia and Croatia and created problems throughout Europe.

Even Germany is struggling to cope with the sheer numbers involved and the nightmare task of registering people with no passports or personal papers. But these numbers could lead to a vast inflow from the 60 million displaced people worldwide according to UN estimates.

Germany has at last realised that continuing to signal welcome signs could have catastrophic effects upon the social and economic health of Europe and they too say they must limit numbers. But Germany is now facing other problems.

Germany is finally realising that continuing to signal welcome signs could have catastrophic effects upon the social and economic health of Europe.

German DominationGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel.

For a number of years Germany has been boasting of its riches and flexing its power muscles in Europe; dominating the European Central Bank, forcing disastrous policies upon Greece and directing EU economic and political policy.

Suddenly the VW scandal has broken on the scene. The motor company with the world's largest sales has been caught cheating with a device that gives a false reading of its engine efficiency when on the test pad. Millions of euros were wiped off the value of the company within 48 hours and the scandal is so enormous that it has the potential of bankrupting the firm and seriously affecting the German national economy. Germans need to ask what God is saying to them through such a humiliation.

Quota System

Meanwhile meetings of EU heads and officials this week struggled to agree a quota system for those already in Europe, in the face of fierce opposition from East European nations who do not want an influx of Muslims into Christian countries. Having triggered the large inflow of migrants, Germany is now agreeing with others who believe the right way to deal with this crisis is to put EU funds into helping Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, where they are struggling to cope with the 4 million displaced Syrians already in their countries. In addition there are 11 million homeless Syrians in their own country, displaced by a brutal war.

Russian Involvement

A further complication to an already confusing situation is the evidence that Russia is becoming involved in military action in support of President Assad. There seems no chance of the rebels in the Syrian civil war being victorious. But Russia's fears are of the real possibility of an Islamic State victory, which would undoubtedly destabilise already troubled relationships within Russia with its own large Muslim minority.

This is presenting the USA with a dilemma: their bombing missions over many months have been unable to deter the advance of ISIS in the region, but they have no wish to see Russia establish a base in Syria and become a dominant force in the Middle East.

Russia's growing military support of Assad is presenting another Middle East complication, as the US has no wish to see Russia a dominant force in the region.

Israel Anxiety

Sitting on the sideline, people in Israel are watching the situation developing on their doorstep with growing anxiety. Lance Lambert believed that solving the Syrian crisis would not bring peace and security to Israel. In fact he believed that once the Muslim nations stopped fighting each other they would turn their attention to Israel because their ultimate objective is the annihilation of the Jewish State (see Part 2 of his 1988 interview with Gary Clayton, here).

International negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme, March 2015.

This is why the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been so strongly opposed to the deal with Iran agreed by Obama that allows the continuation of Iranian nuclear ambitions. He knows that their aim is to build a nuclear bomb for an attack upon Israel.

Is there any word from the Lord?

How will it all end? Is there any word from the Lord to guide us in these chaotic days? One of the things that Jesus said would be a sign that we are approaching the time of his Second Coming is what we've often described as the "shaking of the nations". This is prophesied in a number of places in the Bible, notably Isaiah chapters 2 and 24, as well as Haggai 2 and Hebrews 12. The main places in the Gospels are in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.

Luke records the teaching of Jesus on this subject, saying that it will not only be the earth and the nations that will be shaken but that "Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken" (Luke 21:26).

But Jesus also said, "When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:28). So, far from being nervous, we should be excited when we see these things beginning to happen in our own lifetime! But it is most essential both to study the word of God and also to learn to use our prayer times for listening to the Lord and not just for speaking. We need to know what God requires us to do.

Jesus said that when we see things prophesied in Scripture coming to pass, we should stand in hope – not faint from fear – for his Second Coming draws near.

False Religion

One of the things that Jesus says will be a feature of the end times is that there will be a lot of false religion around. He warns about being deceived, "for false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible" (Matt 24:24).

The greatest threat from false religion today is Islam, whose militant leaders are deceiving many to give up their own lives and take those of others. Right across the world, Christians are being persecuted by Muslims. This is most intense where militant Islamists operate and in areas where multitudes of Muslims are converting to Christianity (such as in Indonesia, where two million Muslims a year are leaving Islam and accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour). Militant Muslims are carrying out a savage persecution of Christians. Churches are being attacked and Christians beheaded, but all this is only causing more conversions to Christianity.

Indonesian Spiritual Awakening

Until recently, Indonesia was known as having the largest Muslim population in the world. But since the 1980s there has been an escalating growth in Christian churches right across the land. Our team from Issachar Ministries has ministered there many times in the past 20 years and had a small share in this. In the 1990s the Muslim Government became worried about this growth and they introduced a programme of mass resettlement – moving large numbers of Muslim families out of overcrowded Jakarta into islands that were solidly Christian.

Something amazing happened! The Christians welcomed the newcomers with open arms and great generosity; helping them to settle, find work and be part of the local community. They were shown so much love which the Christians said was "the love of Jesus" that most of the families converted to Christianity. The Imams complained that the policy was disastrous and so the Government stopped the resettlement after about 10 years. But news of what had happened spread like wildfire across Indonesia, fuelling the great spiritual awakening and move from Islam to Christianity that is now gathering momentum.

God's Purposes for Europe

Could it be within the purposes of God to bring large numbers of Muslim migrants into Europe in these days in order for them to be released from the spiritual darkness of Islam?

We've not done a very good job with the four million Muslims from Pakistan who have arrived in Britain since 1960. But that's due largely to our immigration policy that makes no attempt to integrate them into society and teach them our language and Judaeo-Christian heritage. It allows them to form closed communities where many women live in virtual slavery and there are few opportunities for Christians to have any contact with their neighbours.

Could it be part of God's purpose in bringing large numbers of Muslim migrants into Europe today is for them to be released from the spiritual darkness of Islam?

The migrants coming from Syria come from a very different culture to that in rural areas of Pakistan and there will be greater openness to integration and opportunities for Christians to share their faith. At the same time God has allowed the Islamic State to perform the same barbaric practices as the founder of their religion in the seventh century, exposing to the world the spirit that drives this religion.

Opportunity for Christians

This is giving Christians in Europe the opportunity of showing the difference between the god whom Mohamed served and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whereas Mohamed insisted on forced conversions at the point of the sword and beheaded those who refused, Jesus said:

You have heard that it was said, 'love your neighbour and hate your enemy'. But I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven... (Matt 5:43)

There can be no greater contrast than this between the two religions. This is the opportunity that God is presenting to Christians in Europe through the great migration currently taking place.

References

1 Press release from the informal meeting of EU heads of state or government on migration, Brussels, 23 September 2015.