Most of us were probably pleased to see the end of the year 2022. It was a year that brought us war in Europe, soaring fuel costs, rising inflation, cost of living crisis, strikes, social unrest, industrial and commercial uncertainty, turmoil on the railways, in the airports, and in our hospitals, plus rising levels of poverty, with parents struggling to feed and clothe their children in the long dark cold days of winter.

Yes, we were glad to see the back of 2022 – but what does 2023 hold for us?

This is where we need the word of God to “strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees” (Heb 12:12).

A great shaking

In this magazine since the 1980s, we have been prophesying the coming of a great shaking of all the nations and the natural environment which is foretold in Haggai 2:6–7 and repeated in Hebrews 12: 26f. That great shaking reached new heights with Covid 19 – which swept through the health systems of the nations. It has been followed by unprecedented weather patterns of tropical storms and incredibly high and low temperatures.

In biblical times when unusual things happened, the people looked to their prophets, asking if there was any word from God.

In biblical times when unusual things happened, the people looked to their prophets, asking if there was any word from God. In Amos 4 the prophet listed unusual things that had happened with a little refrain, “‘Yet you have not returned to me’, declares the Lord.” Jesus was asked about the fate of 18 people who died when a tower block fell in the Siloam district of Jerusalem. He saw it as a warning sign to everyone in the city, saying, “Unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:5). This prophecy was tragically fulfilled just 40 years later when the Romans sacked the city.

An unstable situation

Today we turn to sociologists to understand what is happening in society. There are five major pillars of society. Collectively they hold the whole structure of civilisation together. They are:

The Family,
The Economy,
Health and Education,
Law and Government,
Religion

There is a law in sociology that says, when any one of these major social institutions experiences radical change, it affects each of the others.

Today we are in a situation wherein all five of our major social institutions are experiencing change at the same time. Each is generating change within its own sphere of influence, and each is effecting change in the other social institutions.

This is unprecedented in our social history, and it is creating a highly unstable situation – the outcome of which no one can predict.

This is unprecedented in our social history, and it is creating a highly unstable situation – the outcome of which no one can predict. The sociologist has to turn to other sources of wisdom for understanding the volatile forces of change that are sweeping across the world today with war, revolution, plague, famine, climate issues, rising tides, economic problems, and social unrest all hitting the nations at the same time.

This is the outlook for 2023. The plain fact is that no one can predict what is going to happen. Surely it is time to seek the Lord who alone has wisdom to see beyond our human follies.

Only God has the answers

The Psalmist declares that it is God alone who can hold the pillars of society firm and withstand the great shaking of our civilisation. “When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm declares the Lord” (Ps 75:3) and this is reinforced in Psalm 11:3 – “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The Psalmist goes on to speak of God in heaven who alone has the answers.

The salvation of the nation lies in the hands of God and the Bible-believing remnant.

With less than half the population of Britain now acknowledging a Christian faith, we face challenging days ahead. We have largely abandoned our Christian biblical heritage, symbolised by our appointment of a Hindu as Prime Minister. The salvation of the nation lies in the hands of God and the Bible-believing remnant, for it is only He who can save us from disaster.

But there is a cost to declaring truth in Britain today and, radical as it may seem, it’s possible that we may see the blood of martyrs on the streets of our cities accompanying the word of God in the not too distant future, as in the days of the early church under the Roman Empire.

Are we ready to pay the price?

Founder and former Editor-in-Chief of Prophecy Today, Dr Hill was formerly a Senior Lecturer in Sociology in London University