Persecution calls for joy in hope, patience in affliction and faithfulness in prayer.

Imagine feeling a shot of panic every time you hear a motorbike go past your home. Or waving your spouse off to the shops, or your children off to school, knowing there is a distinct possibility they may be abducted or slaughtered. Or wondering every time you go to a church service whether you and your loved ones will come out alive.

This is the grim reality for Christians in many parts of northern and central Africa, where Islamist militant gangs like Boko Haram and al Shabaab are spreading terror, inspired and supported by better-known groups like Al Qaeda.

This month alone, the Barnabas Fund has reported that Islamist gunmen have been on a killing spree in northern Burkina Faso, storming church services, rounding up congregants and shooting them dead. In predominantly Muslim Niger, a pastor has been shot and a church looted, following a spate of attacks on churches. In mainly Christian Cameroon, two Christian villages have been ransacked.

In Nigeria, one of the deadliest countries in Africa for Christians, 17 church-goers were abducted by Boko Haram last weekend whilst at their choir practice. ISIS-inspired Boko Haram are intent on establishing a caliphate from north-eastern Nigeria to northern Cameroon.

Writing this on a beautifully sunny spring day in England, it’s difficult to imagine what these believers and their families are going through. The long night of Islamist persecution in Africa (particularly in the Sahel region) grows ever darker, with no sign of dawn.

Great is the Darkness

The vast regions of western Africa provide sadly plentiful examples of the persecution of the faithful but, as Open Doors unveils every year with its ‘World Watch List’, Christians are being discriminated against and abused, imprisoned and murdered all around the globe.

The Easter Day attacks in Sri Lanka made shocking headlines, but the fuller list is exhausting: Christians are being targeted by hard-line Islamists in Indonesia and Pakistan, communist state pressure in North Korea, China and Vietnam, radical Hindu attacks in India and Nepal, radical Buddhists in Laos and Myanmar, and Islamic persecution in virtually every country in central Asia, the Middle East (save for Israel) and north Africa.

Christians are being discriminated against and abused, imprisoned and murdered all around the globe.

Such a bleak map spurred the Bishop of Truro to claim in his recent report to the Foreign Secretary that persecution of Christians in some areas is at ‘near genocide’ levels, though political correctness has generally stopped it being reported in the mainstream Western press.

Open Doors' 2019 World Watch List map, showing in colour the 50 worst countries for persecution of Christians.Here in Britain, we may justifiably be concerned about the erosion of free speech, or the gradual encroachment of secularism or Islam, or the threats posed by a Corbyn government. But even with the recent spate of Islamist terror attacks on people and churches in Europe, Christians in the West do not yet face anything like the danger being faced on a daily basis by our brothers and sisters elsewhere around the world.

Refining Fire

In Matthew 24, speaking to his disciples, Jesus said that in addition to deception, wars, famines and earthquakes, one sign of his imminent return would be that “you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Matt 24:9). But just because these things ‘must happen’, it does not mean that Christians in the comparatively safe West should turn a blind eye, or fail to speak up on these issues, or withhold their prayers. It may not be long before we are next.

Mark well Jesus’ subsequent words: “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (emphasis added).

High levels of persecution lead to a flourishing underground Church; the Gospel has always, paradoxically, produced most life in the fires of hardship. These fires are refining: strengthening faithful believers and removing their impurities through testing.

But they are also refining in another sense, purging the dross from the Body of Christ. As persecution increases, we see the less committed falling away, their attachment to Christ not strong enough to withstand threats to their personal safety or dignity. Still others become ensnared by the smooth words and enticing promises of false prophets, who provide a tempting diversion from harsh reality.

I believe that we are seeing the beginnings of this refining in the Western Church today, where false teachings have already ensnared many and where an increasingly stark division is apparent between Christians who cleave to Scripture and to their Lord (whatever the cost), and those who have accepted a syncretistic or worldly gospel which cannot save.

Just because these things ‘must happen’, it does not mean that Christians in the comparatively safe West should turn a blind eye.

Momentous Drama

It may be that one day soon, believers in the old heartlands of Christianity will face the same long night as our brothers and sisters are currently enduring elsewhere around the world. We must pray that if and when it comes, we will be found faithful.

The wonderful news is that a worldwide surge in persecution will be accompanied by the worldwide spread of the true Gospel and the adding of many more believers to the true Church, who is being prepared as a Bride for her Husband (Matt 24:14).

As this momentous drama unfolds, we are enjoined by the Lord Jesus to guard our hearts and not let our love grow cold – which I take to mean both our love for him, and our love for each other. May this dreadful news from west Africa this month fan the flame of love in our hearts, especially for our persecuted family, in the knowledge that one day soon, our Lord will return and justice will be done (Rev 6:9-11).

Here are several ministries through which you can stand with the persecuted Church. If you know of others, please post them below.

• Barnabas Fund https://barnabasfund.org/en
  
• Open Doors https://www.opendoorsuk.org/
  
• Release International https://releaseinternational.org/
  
• Samaritan’s Purse https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/article/help-persecuted-christians/
  
• Sat-7 (satellite network reaching the Middle East and North Africa with the Gospel) https://www.sat7uk.org/
• Morningstar News (news service focusing exclusively on the persecuted Church) https://morningstarnews.org

God’s warning to humanity.

“I looked at the earth and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone. I looked at the mountains and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying. I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away. I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger. This is what the LORD says: ‘The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.’” (Jeremiah 4:23-28)

This is not an easy passage to understand but it has a message of immense significance for us today. It is essential to recognise that in the Hebrew this is poetry and it is not intended to be read as literal prophecy. It is a prophetic vision given to Jeremiah to enable him to perceive the eschatological truth embedded into God’s act of creation and his purposes for humanity.

“O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved”

The poem has to be seen in the context of the warnings given in this chapter of the impending destruction that will befall the whole land of Judah and Jerusalem unless the people heed the trumpet call and repent of their evil ways. Jeremiah expresses this previously in verse 14: “O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved”. In the next verse he spells out the physical danger facing the nation from the advance of the Babylonian army.

An Urgent Message for Jerusalem

Jeremiah describes the northernmost tribe of Dan seeing the advance of the Babylonians and sending an urgent message to Jerusalem from the hills of Ephraim, warning them that a cruel enemy is on the war-path who will overwhelm all the small nations around Judah before eventually attacking Jerusalem itself: “Tell this to the nations, proclaim concerning Jerusalem: ‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah’” (Jer 4:16). Jeremiah is given a specific warning from God: “‘They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me,’ declares the LORD” (Jer 4:17).

At the end of chapter 4, in verses 29 to 31, Jeremiah returns to the theme of warning about a physical attack coming from an army on horseback as well as infantry and archers. He says the attack is coming upon every town, and he sees people taking flight into the countryside, hiding among the rocks, and leaving the towns deserted. But the people of Jerusalem ignore the warning signs and behave like a prostitute would; looking at herself in the mirror, admiring her beauty, putting on her scarlet dress, adorning herself with heavy make-up and jewels, unaware of the danger about to descend upon her. Then it happens! She is brutally raped. She is in great pain. She cries out, gasping for breath, but it is too late – “‘Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers’” (Jer 4:31).

In the midst of these dire warnings of an actual attack from the Babylonians, Jeremiah is given this apocalyptic poem that should not be read as predictive prophecy, but rather as divine revelation of the ultimate purposes of God the Creator of the Universe.

The Creational Purposes of God

In the biblical account of the creation of human beings, God gave them freedom of will and the ability to exercise dominion, or power, over the whole order of creation, both animal and material. In due time God revealed his teaching (Torah) through Moses to the people of Israel whom he called into a covenant relationship of servanthood and through whom he would reveal his nature and purposes to humankind. The poem we are studying today from Jeremiah 4:23-28, is prefaced by a single statement in verse 22. It is in the first person singular and comes from God himself to his covenant people: “‘My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.’”

There comes a point in the history of the world when the wickedness of humankind becomes so intense that their evil deeds threaten the well-being of the whole of creation.

This is the tragic history of Israel. Apart from a remnant throughout the ages (Rom 11), they have never understood the creation purposes of God. They have never understood the reason why God called them into a covenant relationship with himself in order to carry out his missionary purpose of taking his salvation to all nations.

The Consequences of Rebellion

In this prophetic poem Jeremiah is shown the consequences of the rebellion of human beings and their rejection of the good purposes of God. There comes a point in the history of the world when the wickedness of humankind becomes so intense that their evil deeds threaten the well-being of the whole of creation. The poem envisions a time when the entire universe is affected; the earth returns to its original formless chaos at the beginning of Creation. The light of the sun and moon and stars are dim; the mountains are shaken, the hills sway and the birds of the air disappear. The fruitful land becomes a desert and the towns lie in ruins as God carries out his purposes of judging the nations that have grossly misused the power God gave them at the Creation.

Final Judgment

Jeremiah is the first to receive this prophetic revelation of the ultimate purposes of God. Some 70 years later, at the end of the Exile, the Prophet Haggai was given the revelation that the day would come when God would “shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land” and would “shake all nations” (Hag 2:6-7). Jesus speaks of the time coming when “there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now” (Matt 24:21). At that time Jesus says, he will return to earth and “all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt 25:32).

The moral and spiritual pollution of humanity is the root cause of the damage done to the physical creation.

There are other passages in the New Testament that speak of the days when God will deal with the lawlessness and wickedness of human beings “who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thess 2:12). And Peter describes, in apocalyptic terms, ‘The Day of the Lord’: He says that day “will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare” (2 Pet 3:10).

These words should give us insight as to how God looks with horror at the wickedness of our civilisation and the way we have misused and polluted the whole created order, and corrupted the human nature that he gave us.

The United Nations has issued a strong warning that a great many species are threatened with extinction due to human activity¹, but what they fail to notice is the moral and spiritual pollution of humanity that is the root cause of the damage done to the physical creation. Jeremiah’s poem is a revelation from God intended to bring a severe warning to humanity of the consequences of our wickedness – and that the day will undoubtedly come when God will judge the human beings he created in his own image – a message that is desperately needed to be heard today!

The day will undoubtedly come when God will judge the human beings he created in his own image.

References

1 Planet on 'path to catastrophe' as million species threatened, warns UN report. Sky News, 6 May 2019.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

We must face the truth about Islam.

How are Christians to understand the merciless slaughter of those who were celebrating the Risen Christ in churches last Sunday? Is there anything in the Bible that leads us to an understanding of what is happening in our world today? We will come to this in just a moment - but first look at how the events have been reported.

The terrible attacks on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka are still very much in our minds, but it is notable how quickly they disappeared from the Western media or were relegated to personal stories of those who lost family members. It took a long time for major news agencies to report that those who were responsible for these terrorist attacks were Islamic fanatics – NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama’ath) - and our leaders and reporters have generally been reluctant to call the attacks what they were: Muslims attacking Christians.¹

Getting the Balance Right

By contrast, the Western media maintained focus for many days upon the Christchurch mosque murders carried out by a white Australian. He was heavily denounced as a white supremacist whose views were not representative of any mainstream Western institutions.

Photo: Alan Hamilton

The Prime Minister of New Zealand went to great lengths to identify herself with Muslims, declaring how she had abandoned her Mormon religion because of their narrow views.

Churches across the Western world also went out of their way to declare their love for their Muslim friends and neighbours. Churches in Luton still have posters such as that to the right in front of their buildings.

Our leaders and reporters have generally been reluctant to call the attacks what they were: Muslims attacking Christians.

Of course, it is right that we should love our neighbours, including those who hate us. The teaching of Jesus is unequivocal – “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” (Matt 5:43-44). But this does not mean that we should be unaware of the dangers that face us in the modern world as we try to live our lives in accordance with Kingdom values, rather than those values forced upon us by our secular humanist politicians.

The fact of the matter is this: despite the heavy focus in our media and culture on Islamophobia, Christians remain the most persecuted religious group² – and the vast majority of the persecution they face comes from the Muslim world.

Avoiding the Truth

Yet, Western political leaders will go to any lengths to avoid criticism of Islam. The British Government downplayed criticism of Saudi Arabia’s mass beheading of 37 members of the Shia minority this week, probably to protect oil interests. The Western mainstream media regularly portray Muslims as the victims rather than the aggressors.

They avoid the simple truth that suicide bombers who indiscriminately slaughter Christians and any others who may be around them are carrying out the commands of Muhammad in the Qur’an, who tells them in numerous places to kill ‘infidels’, especially Christians and Jews.

Young Muslims are brainwashed with this teaching by fanatical imams who quote passages in the Qur’an such as Surah 9:111 and tell them that they go straight to paradise if they lose their lives by killing Christians. Such a promise is attractive to young people growing up in poverty who see little prospect of improving their life chances, but the Sri Lanka bombers are reported to come from wealthy, middle-class families. Their hatred obviously goes much deeper.

Western political leaders will go to any lengths to avoid criticism of Islam.

Christians are facing danger in every part of the world, because these beliefs are fundamental to Islam. They are not just the beliefs of a small fanatical minority; they are the teaching of the founder of Islam and are inseparable from the religion and its texts.

It is, of course, a fact that most Muslims choose to ignore the jihad passages in the Qur’an and live their lives peacefully, accepting Jewish and Christian neighbours and business associates. But until the Muslim scholars and imams declare that the jihad teaching is no longer valid for today, all Muslim communities potentially present a risk.

Persecution Foretold

How should Christians understand what is happening in the world today? Regular readers of Prophecy Today UK will be familiar with the prophecy in Haggai 2 that speaks of God shaking all the nations and even the natural environment. We are certainly seeing evidence of that today.

The next book in the Bible is Zechariah, who was a contemporary of Haggai. He had a vision of four horses sent from Heaven and going throughout the earth. That vision was picked up by John in the revelation given to him when in exile on the island of Patmos.

John foresaw a time coming upon the earth when there would be great turmoil, warfare, famine, disease and death. The fourth horse of the Apocalypse was a pale horse that brought a spirit of death that would lead to a time of great persecution of Christians with an increase of martyrdom – many being killed for their faith in Jesus.

Blessed Assurance

The 20^th Century was the bloodiest in the history of humankind, with more people dying in warfare and political upheavals than at any previous time. But what we are seeing in the 21^st Century is not so much open warfare as political, economic and social upheaval bringing enormous uncertainty, instability and fear for the future.

Cyber-attacks, terrorist bombs, vast changes in technology mixed with economic volatility, political corruption and social upheavals have created a climate of chaos and confusion. Changes in the weather and reports that the future of the earth is threatened by climate change add to the general sense of unease in the world.

On the island of Patmos, John foresaw a time of great persecution of Christians with an increase in martyrdom.

But God has sent us forewarning of these times, which will intensify as we get nearer to the return of the Lord Jesus. The message in the Book of Revelation is one of woe to the great city of Babylon with its wealth, power and corruption that human beings love. But for Christians there is the firm assurance that believers in Jesus will never be separated from him in life or death and that God’s good purposes will triumph over evil in the end, when there will be great rejoicing in Heaven as the multitude of believers join in singing ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!’

Yes, we can expect plenty of difficulties ahead for Christians: but the firm promise of God is that “nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39).

References

1 E.g. see articles from Maajid Nawaz at LBC and Rod Liddle for The Spectator (£).

2 According to figures from the Pew Research Centre. Read more here. Open Doors estimates that violent attacks on Christians doubled between 2017 and 2018.

Reflections a year on from Grenfell and Manchester.

This week we were reminded of two tragedies in our nation. On Monday the media carried harrowing reports of the tragic loss of life at Grenfell Tower, as the main inquiry into the cause of the disaster began.

On Tuesday, memories of the 22 lives lost and the multitude injured in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack replaced memories of Grenfell.

I heard no-one in the media asking the obvious question, “Where was God in all of this?” Indeed, God has been so sidelined in the thoughts and lives of the majority of our nation that we no longer even hear the question, “Is there a God?”

Yet, we still live in a nation whose Queen, at her Coronation, swore an Oath to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who has protected us beyond our deserving over many years. Central to that Oath was the commitment to maintain his laws and the true profession of the Gospel. Over a generation, this commitment to God has largely been forgotten by the nation’s leaders and is rarely mentioned by the leaders of the established Church.

Unprotected Children

As far back as the 1980s, I was waiting one day in the playground of the school where our youngest two children were about to finish their school day. I watched as the classes were dismissed and as a crowd of children emerged, each looking for a parent to take them home safely. I thought I heard the voice of God in my mind saying that these children were no longer under his protection.

Over a generation, our national commitment to God has largely been forgotten.

I wondered if I had imagined it, because these were simply innocent children, embarking on their lives in a country God has greatly blessed and protected. I recalled the wonderful protection of my own childhood when, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, family and community co-operated to re-build our nation after the devastation of war, thankful for God’s deliverance from the evil that so easily could have engulfed us.

Yet, since that day when I thought I heard that voice of God, one disaster has followed another in our nation, making me think that God was indeed speaking, in the early stages of removing his hand of protection.

Let me say clearly, however, concerning both the Manchester and Grenfell disasters that God was not punishing those who had assembled there, any more than those who lost their lives when the Tower of Siloam fell in Jesus’ day. The picture is bigger: that, whilst we must also recognise that God allowed these disasters, they serve as signs to our nation – warning signs that we will not live in safety if we choose to live outside of his protection.

Knowing God’s Ways

If, as we should, we search our Bibles to discover God’s ways, we will see that God does take his protection away from his people if they do not seek him with all their heart. At the time of Samuel, for example, when the religious framework of the nation had decayed under Eli the priest and his wicked sons, the Philistines prevailed over Israel.

Again, when the kings of Israel and Judah led the people astray (kings whom God warned his people they should not desire), the troubles of the nations soon followed. Ultimately, God’s protection was removed: first from the Northern Kingdom of Israel which fell to the Assyrians, and then from the Southern Kingdom of Judah which fell to the Babylonians.

Disasters like Grenfell are warning signs that we will not live in safety if we choose to live outside of God’s protection.

God’s sadness was displayed through the weeping of the Prophet Jeremiah, as recorded in the Book of Lamentations. Similarly, Jesus wept over Jerusalem when he foretold the coming second fall of the City.

God knows what will happen when the doors are allowed open to the evil adversaries of the people of this world – adversaries both physical and spiritual. God weeps when the time comes for him to remove his protection from a people who do not seek him, who choose to try to live without him under the beguiling principles of humanism and false religion, where false gods are honoured. But he is willing to remove his protection.

We are reaping the consequences of this in Britain today despite the fact that we have had sign after sign that should bring us to ask, “where is our God?”

The Prime Minister adds her condolences to a 'Tree of Hope' in Manchester. See Photo Credits.The Power of Testimonies

The testimonies of those who lost loved ones at Grenfell and the memories of the fatal night in Manchester are profound. But they should not only be sparking human sympathy and attempts to celebrate and unite a community (such as in Manchester where a concert has been held), but be compelling those who have responsibility for our nation to lead us in seeking God in repentance.¹

God is a loving Father to those who seek him with all their heart and protects his loved ones beyond their deserving – always. But he is also a strong God who will not bend from the eternal balance of justice and mercy. He is Judge of the entire earth and cannot compromise in the ‘big picture’ of his eternal covenant purposes throughout history.

God weeps when the time comes for him to remove his protection from a people who do not seek him.

If he did not spare his own Son in these eternal purposes of overcoming sin and offering eternal redemption to those who would accept it, he cannot continue to protect a people who reject him and choose lives of sin.

There is a Way Back

There is always a way back and those who know the Lord, namely those in the churches of our nation (especially the leaders of the churches), should be his prophetic voice. It is imperative that we take the opportunity while we still have it to call this nation back to repentance and seeking God.

It is time for the leaders of our Government - from the Royal Family through to the executives who are duty-bound to outwork the purposes of the Monarch’s Oath - to take their responsibility before God and lead the nation back to him. This is what the tragic signs are telling us. We are vulnerable outside the protection of Almighty God and that vulnerability is bringing increasing pain, sadness and loss of life - not only to those who lead but to those for whom they are responsible.

Notes

1 And we do not mean just any God. The multi-faith service in Manchester which was part of the memorial activities a year after the attack is yet another symptom of how far our nation has compromised our allegiance to the One True God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The war in Syria is moving in a very dangerous direction.

With Al Qaeda and associates on one side and Assad on the other, another screw has suddenly turned in this all-out conflict without any rules of behaviour.

It is reported that the chlorine gas dropped upon women and children this week was made in Germany, sold to Iran and used by Assad’s Syrian Government forces backed by Russia.¹ How strange! The rebels had almost been driven out of Douma; Assad was on the verge of victory, why use chemical weapons? Madness! Or is it all fake news? Who can we trust?

What a mess! The Western nations are saying that a red line has been crossed. But how many red lines have been crossed in the past seven years of war in Syria? Are there no limits to the inhumanity and destructive forces that have been let loose in the Middle East?

World War, No Rules?

Today we have reached what is arguably the most dangerous point in world history since the end of World War II, with nations primed with weapons of mass destruction taking sides in a local civil war that could suddenly explode into global destruction.

Neither side can claim to be righteous; both sides have committed terrible atrocities. Whichever side we in the West back, it seems, we are aligning with demonic forces whose adherents have departed from any elements of common humanity in their intensity of hatred and determination to shed human blood.

Today we have reached what is arguably the most dangerous point in world history since the end of World War II.

There are no longer any rules, there is no longer any compassion, no longer any consideration for helpless babies and little children – all are regarded as legitimate targets for unlimited aggression. What has happened to humanity?

Humanity Corrupted

The Bible declares that human beings are created in the image of God. Have we reached a stage in our descent into corruption whereby there is no longer the least hint of the divine recognisable in our humanity? Have we reached the point of absolute degradation?

The Prophet Isaiah foresaw a time when humanity would descend into such depths of utter corruption that God would bring judgment upon all nations.

“Come near,” he said. “Come near, you nations and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world, and all that comes out of it! The Lord is angry with all nations; his wrath is upon all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will send up a stench; the mountains will be soaked with their blood” (Isa 34:1-2)

It’s a terrible picture but it is one that we are already seeing little glimpses of on our TV screens and iPads as news from Syria comes in. But what of the future? Where will all this lead?

With unpredictable leaders at the helm of the nations, no-one can answer these questions. One false move or miscalculation could rapidly escalate the situation into worldwide destruction – such is the depth to which humanity has descended.

Is There Any Hope?

Is there any hope for humanity? Certainly, there is! This is the whole point of the stark warnings that God gave to the biblical prophets. The warnings are there for anyone to read if we want to know the truth and understand the answer to the present dilemmas facing humanity.

Have we reached a stage in our descent into corruption whereby there is no longer the least hint of the divine recognisable in our humanity?

Those warnings given in Isaiah 34 are immediately followed by some of the most beautiful words and promises in the Bible, in the next chapter, which refers to the wilderness blossoming, the glory of Lebanon and the splendour of Carmel already showing the glory of the Lord and the splendour of our God.

This is linked with good news to those who recognise the plight of humanity and turn to the Lord God for help – “strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come’” (Isa 35:3-4).

Sin and its Undoing

In the New Testament Paul recognises the plight of humanity that we all experience: we are all sinners. We all do things that we regret. We behave badly and say things and do things in the heat of the moment that we should not. Paul goes to the heart of the matter when he says “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Rom 7:15).

This is the strange thing about our human nature: the godly side can rise to sublime heights of self-sacrifice and self-giving. But the other part of our nature sometimes drives us to do things that we hate. This is because we are either led by the Spirit of God or we are driven by the forces of darkness.

Paul faces this dilemma and concludes that only Jesus is the answer to this internal battle inside each one of us, because only he can set us free from the forces of sin and death. He says:

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:11)

This brings us to the heart of the Gospel, that God in Christ has done something for us that we could not do for ourselves by actually dealing with the corruption of our human nature: as Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (1 Cor 5:17).

How Should We Pray?

So, what should Christians do in the present dilemma? Clearly, we must pray for our leaders, but how should we pray? Should we not also pray for the Syrian and Russian people and their leaders? It takes two parties to make a conflict (or in this case, many more than two!) and we should be praying that God will bring godly wisdom into the councils of human beings.

Only Jesus is the answer to this internal battle inside each one of us, because only he can set us free from the forces of sin and death.

Should we also be praying for God to hasten the day of the coming of Jesus? World events certainly look as though we are drawing closer to the times described in Scripture as leading up to the Parousia. But his coming will bring judgment upon all the nations and all people. Jesus said that before that time “the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world” (Matt 24:14) so that everyone has a chance to hear God’s truth.

It is not his desire that anyone should be lost and all of us have some loved ones who are not yet in the kingdom. We should be careful of praying for God’s judgment to come quickly: it is far better to trust our loving Father whose timing is always perfect, who knows all the circumstances and cares for all his children.

References

1 Behold Israel, Special update on Syria, April 11, 2018. Youtube.

A plea for clarity one year on from the Westminster attack.

This week members of both Lords and Commons began their day by remembering the terror attack on Westminster Bridge and on the Houses of Parliament. It has been just one year since pedestrians walking across the bridge were mown down by a speeding driver who crashed near the gates of Parliament and ran into the courtyard, fatally stabbing PC Keith Palmer.

People ran from the scene, but one man ran towards the incident: Tobias Ellwood MP, who had both military and medical experience, ran to the dying police officer, trying to save his life while the attack was still underway. One year on, Members of Parliament stood for a minute’s silence in each House and also attended a short commemorative service in Westminster Hall led by the Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Speaker’s Chaplain.

In an emotional interview, Mr Ellwood recalled the day and how, on arriving home, he had to explain to his son what had happened to PC Palmer. He paid tribute to the police for their work in protecting Parliament and the public in a day when things seem “to be getting more dangerous and more volatile”.

He said “These attacks will continue unless we step forward and actually participate, become more proactive in dealing with what is a very changing and dark chapter that we are enduring.”

An Islamic Response

On the same day as the MPs were remembering what happened last year I received two leaflets through the post from a friend in Derby. The leaflets had been put through his front door. One is entitled: ‘ISLAM’S RESPONSE TO EXTREMISM’. Its six pages are devoted to presenting a very different picture of Islam – claiming it to be a religion of peace!

The leaflet says:

The horrific actions of extremists, who conduct their brutality in the name of Islam, have led many to question whether Islam advocates terrorism and violence. The truth, however, is that Islam and terrorism are poles apart as there is no justification in Islam for any form of extremism.

MP Tobias Ellwood, who ran towards the scene of the attack, has described this period of British history as dangerous, volatile and dark.

The leaflet says, “furthermore the Holy Qur’an champions the sanctity of life” and then quotes “whosoever killed a person…It shall be as if he had killed all mankind; and whoso gave life to one, it shall be as if he had given life to all mankind.” (Qur’an 5:33). The bits missed out of this quote are, however, vitally important: they show that it was addressed to the Israelites – to the Jews – not to Muslims!

Moreover, the quoted verse is actually 5:32, not 5:33. 5:33 is quite different – it says “Those that make war against Allah and his apostle [Mohammed] shall be slain or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land”.

The leaflet neglects to mention the many verses in the Qur’an that specifically instruct Muslims to kill Christians and Jews and polytheists – in fact, anyone who does not accept the religion of Islam. It not only says “fight against those who do not believe in Allah…until they are utterly subdued” (Qur’an 9:29), but it also provides a religious justification for the terrorists who do the killing: “You did not kill them but Allah killed them, and when you smote them, it was not you but Allah who smote them so that he might richly reward the faithful. Allah is the one who hears all and knows all” (Qur’an 8:17).

The leaflet also devotes a whole page to denying that Islam practices forceful conversion. It has the headline: ‘IS IT ACCEPTABLE TO FORCEFULLY CONVERT OTHERS TO ISLAM?’ Their answer:

No. The Holy Quran is very clear that mankind has a free choice in the matter of religion. Muslims are encouraged to spread the message of Islam peacefully with respect and love. The Holy Quran is very clear that each person is free to follow or change the faith of his or her choice.

This is the exact opposite of the truth! Mohammed’s practice was to slaughter all the non-Muslim men and take the women and children into slavery, using the girls for sex slavery. This is exactly the practice that has been followed in recent years by the Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq. And the same attitude to non-Muslim girls is repeatedly rearing its head in Britain too, from Rochdale and Rotherham to, now, Telford.

The Ahmadiyya Sect

It is important to note that both the leaflets referred to above were produced and circulated by the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, which mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims regard as heretical.

The Ahmadiyya are committed to spreading Islam peacefully. Their tagline is “Love for all, hatred for none”. It was an Ahmadi Muslim shopkeeper in Glasgow who took to social media in 2016 to wish his Christian customers a ‘Happy Easter’ – and was later murdered by another Muslim who travelled all the way from Yorkshire to stab him for this act of kindness.

The Ahmadiyya are committed to spreading Islam peacefully – but they are regarded as heretical by mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims.

It was regarded as an insult to Mohammed because the Qur’an instructs Muslims not to make friends with Jews and Christians, which is why Britain now has so many cities like Blackburn and Leicester where there are whole areas that are solidly Muslim, and people don’t even speak English. The Qur’an says to Muslims: “Take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship shall become one of their number. Allah does not guide the wrongdoers” (Qur’an 5:51).

There is a clear cultural clash here which undermines our Government’s policy of integration. There will never be integration until the mainstream Muslim and Ahmadi scholars sort out their differences and initiate a public debate of the Qur’an; and their scholars give rulings on which of its content they consider to be relevant for today and which should only be regarded as having been given for the Mediaeval period when Islam was first formed.

A Test from the Lord

Such a modernisation could release all Muslims from the obligations of jihad and would be a tremendous boon to Muslim integration in the West – but is it possible? We must, of course, see the rise of Islam in a proper spiritual context, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12).

Islam, despite its manifold sects and interpretations, remains a spiritual power set up to rival (and counterfeit and invert) the glorious truths revealed in the Bible about the One True God. Beneath Islam’s complicated exterior are demonic spirits – not least of violence and tyranny – which accounts for its total conflation of religion and state.

Its growing influence in the West – gradually through immigration and demographic growth, and more immediately through terrorisation – is being allowed to happen by our Sovereign God. Why? To test us, to know what is in the hearts of this ‘post-Christian’ generation.

Islam, despite its manifold sects and interpretations, remains a spiritual power set up to rival the glorious truths revealed in the Bible.

Will our politicians and leaders wake up and realise that the ascent of Islam represents a direct assault on what has been the bedrock of our Judeo-Christian culture for centuries – a faith and a set of biblical values which have no equal on this earth – and never will?

Will the public (including the Church!) recognise that our great Christian heritage is worth defending and celebrating, not ignoring and compromising?

And will believing Christians take the great opportunity to witness to the truth of the Gospel which has now, like the Ahmadiyya leaflets, arrived on our very doorstep?

East-West relations hit a new low.

The attempted assassination of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury last week has created dangerous worldwide repercussions.

Theresa May’s forthright condemnation of Russia as being responsible for the attack upon British soil has quickly led to the support of other Western nations, creating the possibility of an East-West split such as we have not seen since the end of the Cold War.

There were heated exchanges in the UN Security Council in which Russia strongly denied any involvement in the Salisbury incident that also left a policeman seriously ill. Russia demanded absolute proof of the material in the attack as claimed by Britain. Speaking on behalf of the United States, US ambassador Nikki Haley said:

Let me make one thing clear from the very beginning: The United States stands in absolute solidarity with Great Britain. The United States believes that Russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the United Kingdom using a ‘military-grade’ nerve agent.

Earlier, in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Theresa May had said that there were only two possible explanations for the nerve agent being used in the UK: either Moscow was directly responsible for the attack, or it has lost control of its stockpile of chemical weapons.

A Defining Moment

This is clearly a defining moment in East-West relationships as Britain is a member of NATO and under that agreement, an attack upon one member is regarded as an attack upon the whole organisation. The four major NATO nations - Britain, the USA, France and Germany - have jointly declared Russia to be guilty of the attack.

There is mounting anti-Russian propaganda in the Western press and on social media which could get out of hand and even escalate into war with Russia. I know this sounds highly improbable but we live in unstable times, and there are some very unpredictable politicians currently leading the nations.

This is a defining moment in East-West relations that could easily escalate.

President Putin has recently been boasting that Russia’s latest weaponry is capable of detecting and destroying American Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and in an interview with NBC, and he said that nuclear retaliation would be immediate for any attack on Russia or its allies - nuclear or 'conventional'.¹ Fighting words! He has been raising the temperature of international relationships. All of this is highly dangerous in a world with so many nations having weapons of mass destruction.

Fears of Armageddon

Inevitably, fears of some kind of Armageddon are being raised. There are many warnings in the Bible of worldwide destruction. The Prophet Isaiah speaks of the earth being broken up: “The earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind” (24:19).

In former generations, biblical scholars usually interpreted these scenes of mass destruction as being metaphorical, because it was unimaginable that destruction on such a scale could ever become a reality. Today we know that the weapons of mass destruction now in the hands of the nations, if they were actually used, could in a few minutes cause the widespread devastation described by Isaiah.

The Day of the Lord?

The difficulty we face is that there is no timeline linked to the eschatological passages in the Bible. Sometimes it is unclear whether descriptions of destruction refer to the time leading up to Jesus’ return, or God’s final act of wrapping up the whole of Creation at the end of Jesus’ thousand-year reign on the earth. This is the case for 2 Peter 3:

The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare…That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.

Historically, biblical scholars usually interpreted scenes of mass destruction in the Bible as metaphorical – but now weapons of mass destruction have made them a distinct possibility.

Jesus himself spoke of times of great distress in the period leading up to his own Second Coming when he will establish the Kingdom. He said “There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars. On the earth nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world for the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (Luke 21:25). And this is elaborated in Matthew 24 where Jesus speaks of “nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom”.

What are we to make of all these predictions of worldwide destruction? The big question we have to face when dealing with biblical prophecy is whether or not the events revealed are given as foretelling facts that will undoubtedly happen, or whether they are given as signs to give human beings the opportunity of changing direction - in accordance with God’s promise in Jeremiah 18 – to avoid the massive devastation foreseen.

I personally believe that some of the threats of judgment such as Isaiah 2:12-22 and Isaiah 24 are given to us in the Bible as warnings of what could happen. My reason is because I believe in the sovereignty of God – that he holds the nations in his hands “as a drop in a bucket” as Isaiah says (40:15). Despite all human activity, God is still in ultimate control and he is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:13).

To the Ends of the Earth!

It may be that the times in which we are living, when there is increasing risk of the nations plunging into the horrors of World War III, God is saying something very special and very urgent to those of his people who are watching and listening.

God is drawing our attention to the warnings that he has given through the prophets and through Jesus and the apostles. And through the Holy Spirit, the Father is empowering us, his children, to warn the world of the direction in which it is heading and to bring a message of salvation that points to “a new and living way”. This is the message of the Gospel that has been entrusted to us, his people.

God’s stated intention is that his message of salvation should be taken to the ends of the earth. If ever there were a day when those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour should each be active in our own sphere of influence to declare the truth of the Gospel, it surely is today!

Author’s Note: I know that this brief excursion into biblical eschatology is far from adequate; but my major intention here is simply to open up the subject of the great threat that confronts our world today, to stimulate discussion among our readers in the hope that the Gospel message may reach many, including the leaders of the nations.

References

1 See the full interview transcript here. Excerpts are available on Youtube.

Las Vegas, gun control and the Bible.

The USA’s latest multiple shooting atrocity in Las Vegas has hit the world headlines as the worst in a long line of similar incidents of rogue gunmen mowing down innocent civilians. As mourning once again overtakes the US, the big question occupying the media is whether or not President Trump will order a review of the gun laws that allow citizens the right to bear arms.

It will not be an easy decision as during his presidential campaign, Donald Trump was reported to have received financial support from the powerful gun lobby groups,¹ which historically have resisted every attempt to change the gun laws. Why do Americans regard it as a sacred right to carry a gun?

The Right to Bear Arms

I remember being shocked when we exchanged churches with an American minister in Los Angeles. He came and took pastoral responsibility for our church in London while I and my family moved into his home in LA and pastored his church for six weeks during the summer holiday. I have done similar exchanges with churches in New York, Vermont, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts and California, and I have a great love for my many American friends. My shock was when the LA minister said that he always carried a gun into church under his cassock and I should do the same!

I had been the minister of a church in Tottenham, a tough district of London, for 10 years: I’d seen street riots and I’d been involved in many violent situations, but I had never handled a gun. In inner-city areas of London with which I’m familiar, gun crime is rare and the majority of our policemen do not carry guns, even in these days of mounting terrorism.

As mourning once again overtakes the US, the media is asking whether or not President Trump will order a review of the gun laws.

Why is it that in the USA, where so many are Bible-believing Christians, even believers not only carry guns, but fiercely defend their right to purchase weapons, carry them in public and use them in self-defence? Is it something to do with their heritage?

Las Vegas Strip.In addition to our prayers for the American people, I would like to offer what I hope is a thought-provoking contribution to the gun control debate that is taking place in America amidst all the suffering and grief of this latest tragedy.

Taking Up the Gun

The USA, unlike Canada, was born in blood. Both the US and Canada were British colonies. Both the US and Canada had issues with Britain and rightly wanted to assert their freedom to determine their own future. The Canadians settled these issues by negotiation, remaining in the British Commonwealth, but the Americans took to the gun in a war that ended in independence in 1776.

Nearly a hundred years later there were issues between the northern and southern states. Once again Americans took to the gun in the bloody civil war of 1861-1865 in which thousands of young men were slaughtered or left carrying life-changing wounds.

Why do Americans regard it as a sacred right to carry a gun – is it to do with their heritage?

In the 20^th Century Hollywood took up the theme of heroism displayed in war and bloodshed, and perpetuated the American romance of conquering the Wild West and playing cowboys and Indians. John Wayne became the ideal type of American manhood with tough talk and a fast gun to settle disputes. Arguably, President Trump is continuing this image of American manhood with his threats to completely obliterate North Korea while pouring scorn on the idea of negotiating with Kim Jong-un.

Inconsistent Ideologies

In complete contrast, Americans are also proud of their historic Christian roots in the coming of the Pilgrim Fathers from Britain who were seeking a place where they could be free to practise their biblical Christian faith. This is recognised in the dollar bill that still bears the inscription ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’.

But the one-dollar bill also bears the image of the Great Seal of America that carries the insignia of the all-seeing-eye of pagan mythology. This symbolises an inconsistency in the American psyche that sees no contradiction in putting together two contrary ideologies.

At root here is a failure to recognise that you cannot be both a Bible-believing Christian whose trust is in God, and one who embraces the values of the world - including solving disputes by conquest and brutal force. The same contradictory attitude is seen in the realm of business and commerce, where monopolist values that trample upon small traders have come to dominate, even spreading into politics (as demonstrated to an extent in the election of Trump - the ideal global capitalist).

Being a Peacemaker

Jesus rightly perceived that we cannot serve two masters with diametrically opposite values. You cannot be a peace-maker if you also have your finger on a gun. The teaching of Jesus was, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (Matt 5:21).

Jesus was also consistent in rejecting all forms of violence for the settlement of disputes. He even went so far as to say “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’” (Matt 5:43-44).

Jesus not only taught this but practised it in his own life, deliberately choosing crucifixion rather than allowing his disciples to take to the sword (though Simon Peter tried!) or calling down a legion of angels for his defence.

You cannot be both a Bible-believing Christian whose trust is in God, and one who embraces the values of the world.

Recognising the Danger

I have no doubt that I will be told that the teaching of Jesus is utterly impracticable for nations today, and particularly that if other nations have nuclear weapons, we must too.

But such a policy can only end in an Armageddon-type conflict, which is prophesied in the Bible: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Pet 3:10).

Though we do not know when the ‘day of the Lord’ will come, it may be that Peter also intended this prophecy as a warning of what will inevitably happen if human beings do not pause to reflect upon their actions and repent, calling upon God for his help. There is a promise in Jeremiah 18:7 that if the nations repent, judgment will not fall upon us. But disastrous destruction is inevitable if we do not change our ways. Then, the scenario described by Peter and Isaiah (chapter 24) will actually happen.

The dark clouds of judgment are already gathering on the world’s horizons, with so many nations, groups and individuals being driven relentlessly by the same evil spirit that motivated the Las Vegas murderer. Our prayer is that hearts will soften before it is too late.

We would love to hear from our readers – particularly those in the US - in response to these thoughts.

References

1 E.g. see here and here.

The Editor-in-Chief responds to the Manchester atrocity.

I’m torn between grief and anger. I’m grieving for the people of Manchester and all those who have suffered in any way from the terrible atrocity that has engulfed the city – the appalling loss of life and the hideous wounds inflicted upon children and young people, as well as mothers and fathers who came to meet their children from a fun night out.

But I’m angry with the hypocrisy of the media, politicians, commentators and community leaders – none of whom are willing to face up to the truth.

They all pour out platitudes and meaningless slogans about unity and standing together and not letting this tragedy make any difference – and they express amazement that a boy born and raised in Manchester could have done such a thing. ‘How did he become radicalised?’, they cry.

What utter hypocrisy! All our leaders know perfectly well that he became radicalised by learning the Qur’an!

Salman Abedi learned Arabic in the local mosque and he was encouraged to learn the Qur’an by heart. It was there he learned that all Muslims are at war with the rest of the world and they should fight against unbelievers, “strike terror into the enemy of Allah” (Qur’an 8:60) until they submit to Allah and his religion. They are not to make friends with Jews or Christians and they are to kill them by any means, whenever there is an opportunity. All this is in the Qur’an that Salman Abedi learned by heart.

What Muhammad Didn’t Learn

This is the teaching of Muhammad – but Muhammad drew heavily upon the stories he learned in his early years as a merchant listening to Jewish travellers around the campfire in the evenings. He would have undoubtedly learned stories of the Hebrew tribes – the great stories of how God delivered them from slavery in Egypt; the crossing of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army. Muhammad was illiterate but he remembered these stories and re-told them later; so a version of them appears in the Qur’an.

Sadly, what Muhammad did not learn from the Bible was how biblical teaching progressed through God’s revelation to the prophets of Israel.

I’m angry with the hypocrisy of the media, politicians, commentators and community leaders – none of whom are willing to face up to the truth.

For example, Moses had to deal with a dire situation where some false prophets were trying to persuade the Israelites to worship other gods and burn their sons and daughters in the fire (Deut 12:31). He said:

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you…and he says, “Let us follow other gods (gods you have not known) and let us worship them,” you must not listen...The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul…That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God…Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. (Deut 13:1-6)

Today we certainly would not put such false prophets to death by stoning them! But all the tribes of Israel were living in tents in the desert. Moses had nowhere to put someone in prison or send them to a re-education centre!

Also God’s people were in danger of being corrupted and led astray, which would lead to their destruction. They had to remain a distinctive and godly people following God’s laws, in order to be ready to receive God’s rescuer, their Messiah, the one who would ultimately bring salvation to all humanity as the Prince of Peace. This is why the punishment for leading Israel astray had to be severe and absolute - because the salvation of the whole world was at stake.

New Testament Times

Over the years, rabbis had made laws about stoning to make it less likely and even then, there were many conditions that could halt a stoning. And we know Jesus’ view on stoning - let him who is without sin cast the first stone (John 8:7).

The teaching of the New Testament on what to do with offenders is very clear – they are to be rebuked and restored if possible, or else expelled from the fellowship, but they are certainly not stoned or put to death. Jesus said, “You have heard it said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, but Jesus said, “I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt 5:38).

This is very different teaching on what to do with those who do not agree with you or who have a totally different philosophy of life. It was at the climax of the ages when Jesus' sacrifice was made on the Cross, that this transformation from retribution to forgiveness was at last made possible by the power of God's Spirit released among his people.

It was at when Jesus' sacrifice was made on the Cross that the transformation from retribution to forgiveness was at last made possible by the power of God's Spirit.

God’s Love and Compassion

But you don’t have to jump straight from Moses to Jesus to see a change of emphasis in the Bible. You can stay in the Old Testament and just go some 500 years later to the time of the Prophet Hosea, and you see that his teaching and whole lifestyle is very different. Hosea’s own wife left him and went to work as a ritual prostitute in a pagan temple; but he still loved her and paid the redemption price to get her back.

This helped Hosea to understand the love and compassion of God who still loved and forgave his people even when they deserted him and worshipped other gods. Hosea expressed the word of God beautifully in chapter 11: “When Israel was a child, I loved him…But the more I called Israel, the farther they went from me…All my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man – the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.”

Sadly, Muhammad was unable to study the Bible himself and he may never have heard the Gospel from Christians. The Qur’an was not written during his lifetime, it was written by his friends from their memory of his words after his death, hence the striking difference between accounts of the same incidents in the history of Israel between the Qur’an and the Bible.

Need for Honesty About Islam

I am certainly not suggesting that Muhammad’s policy of forced conversion and violence against Christians and Jews in any way came from the Bible, I’m simply saying that Muhammad may have heard that corporal punishment was permitted under some extreme circumstances during the time the Israelite tribes were encamped in the desert.

Of course, we have great problems today in discussing these things because Muslims in the Middle East try to re-write history and pretend that the Jews never occupied the land of Israel. What is greatly needed today is honest discussions between biblical and Islamic scholars, which is the only way to change the worldview that Muslims are at war with the world and may use any acts of violence in an attempt to force their religion upon others.

Honest discussions between biblical and Islamic scholars are needed if we are to change the worldview that Muslims are at war with the world.

This is the worldview that is being taught to Muslim boys across the mosques of Britain, the USA and Europe, where they are actually taught to hate the West. We will never stop terrorism until we face the true issue that from its inception, Islam has warped and co-opted parts of the Torah to serve its own ends. Its very foundation is a misunderstanding of truth.

Muhammad desperately tried to persuade Jews to accept his teachings, but when they refused he became filled with hatred towards them and the rest is history.

On Thought for the Day today (BBC Radio 4),¹ Mona Siddiqui said that Muslims have to stop believing that they are at war with the world. She is the first Islamic scholar I’ve heard who is prepared to admit that the problem of Islamic terrorism actually comes from the Qur’an – and she will probably incur the wrath of some Muslims. We should be praying for her protection and for any Muslim imams who are prepared to face the truth about their religion.

Jesus the Stone of Judgment

We must also be careful, in considering what I’ve quoted from the teaching of Moses, to remember that the whole Torah is the unchangeable word of God and was accepted by Jesus. He commanded his followers to follow the teaching of the Pharisees who sat “in Moses’ seat” (Matt 23:2), and most certainly did not reject the Torah, although he did criticise the Pharisees’ practices and interpretations, all while upholding the veracity of the Law.

This is what Jesus was doing when he 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” (Matt 5:43-44).

And yet, Jesus did not shy away from speaking about judgment. He spoke about stoning as judgment, saying that metaphorically he would be the Stone of judgment that would crush or break. He quoted Psalm 118, a psalm known to be about the Messiah, saying: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Ps 118:22). And he added: “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Death at the hands of humans is not what we should fear - but judgment at the hands of the living God, who said that "If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matt 18:6). Anyone who justifies the killing and maiming of children in the name of jihad (as in the Manchester atrocity) should remember that punishment, not paradise, awaits them.

Where was God on Monday night?

In the aftermath of the horrendous terrorist attack in Manchester, Christians might well be asked, “Where was your God?” The answer is not simple, but there has to be an answer. Indeed, where else but God will we find the bottom line answer to these escalating problems in the world?

Questions like this have been asked as long as the world has existed. At the time Jesus was on earth he needed to address contemporary tragedies like the falling of the Tower of Siloam, which killed 18 people. He made it clear that those 18 were no more sinful than others and warned Israel and Judah in the hearing of Rome that “unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5).

These seem harsh words, but Jesus was not willing to compromise his message to a fallen world. This message echoed through the succeeding 2,000 years to us, coming to mind at such times as the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11, the recent Paris terrorism and indeed the Manchester atrocity of this week.

When innocent people suffer such an untimely death, we are not to deduce that they were being punished for their personal sins but we are to consider what God is saying to us all through the incident. There are signs of his presence and word all around us, and these signs are increasing in number and impact.

Where was God on Monday? The answer is not simple, but there has to be an answer.

Where is Our Protection?

When evil abounds we ask why was there no protection. The hard fact is that the protection of God is progressively disappearing from our nation.

Over the years, Prophecy Today has taken the hard path of highlighting the many tragedies that have hit the nation – allowed by God as call after call to turn back to him. This has been through an era when the priorities of our nation have been far from a close walk with him – and many law changes that are against the principles of the Bible.

From the inception of Prophecy Today magazine in the 1980s, we have warned especially about what was then the beginning of the rise of Islamic terrorism. We published articles and sent personal warnings to members of the government. Yet, generally speaking, these warnings were far from heeded. And so, the nation has not been protected as it might have been.

Yet it is not only Islamic terrorism that we are facing when God takes away his protection. We are vulnerable in every area of our society. Surely we all feel this, and despite the massive efforts to gain votes in the coming election, we are not convinced of the strength of man to overcome our vulnerabilities. It is right to increase the presence of the police and the military to increase protection on our streets in this vulnerable time following the Manchester atrocity, but this cannot be the answer alone. Without the help of God, no amount of policing our streets will take away our vulnerability.

God’s Grace and Grief

What, then, is God saying to us? Something like, I have loved you as a nation, but you have rejected my laws and rejected belief in my Son. It was my intention in withdrawing my hand of protection that you should turn to me once more, to reinstate my laws, to seek me in prayer and walk in my ways. I long to restore my protection, but cannot until you turn in repentance: how can I protect a people who do not want to know me? Protection in this transitory world is only effective for a short time. It is your eternal future with me that is of greater importance and you must think on these things. Believe me, when you suffer through the acts of terror of the age I suffer with you, but for the ultimate good I must allow these things to come to pass. Seek me while you can. Only I can protect you against the growing evil in the world.

The hard fact is that the protection of God is progressively disappearing from our nation.

We have highlighted in this magazine the central tenet of the Queen’s Coronation Oath, that to the utmost of her power she will maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel. We have written personally to the Queen and to her ministers to remind them of this at times of law change and at times when the signs of God’s displeasure are evident through the nation.

God was present in Westminster Abbey when the Queen, on all our behalves, made that Oath on 2 June 1953. We may have forgotten this but God has not and grieves to see the consequence of his removing his hand of protection. He grieves with us at what he must allow and at the consequence when 22 people die so painfully, as they did in Manchester. Yet it was we that turned from him first.

His longsuffering ensured that his grace extended to this nation beyond our deserving, even during our drift to apostasy. So when signs abound of protection removed we have sunk further than we realise.

Now: Our Great Responsibility

Christians have a great responsibility in the midst of this. There are some especially called to intercessory prayer and to the ministry of the watchman exemplified in the call of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3 and 33), but all of us are called to this ministry to a certain level in these days of crisis.

Unless the Lord God brings back his protection we will remain vulnerable whatever party wins the General Election, whatever Prime Minister handles Brexit, the NHS, social care, the nation’s finances and so on. The evil that hit Manchester is yet another sign intended to point us back to God. Out of a suffering nation it is time for prayer to rise to the throne of God as it has in past times of crisis in our nation. Perhaps our current crisis is more serious than at any other time in our history.

Frankly, we who know these things have a great responsibility. Through the laws of the Lord and true profession of the Gospel, the country can be brought back under the protection of Almighty God. It is not God who is unjust but it is our hands that are stained with blood if we, once appointed, do not fulfil the call of the intercessor and watchman.