Lincoln’s stone of sorrow for historic persecution

The dreadful consequences of touching the apple of God’s eye

As we once again recall with horror the terrorist atrocity witnessed by the whole world when New York’s Twin Towers were reduced to rubble in 2001, few will be aware of an earlier 9/11 that destroyed an entire city.

It happened on the night of 11 September 1944, when the German city of Darmstadt suffered a devastating air raid by RAF pilots sent out from my home town of Doncaster, headquarters of Bomber Command.

12,000 residents were killed and many more made homeless amid ongoing controversy even in Britain as to whether it was really necessary as the war was almost won by then.

But as fire swept through the smouldering ruins, a devoted young German Christian wept bitterly over her nation’s terrible sin against the Jewish people – she clearly saw the bombing as the judgment of God.

Sister Thekla (sitting) and Sister Glory pictured at Jesus’ Return, their home near London.Basilea Schlink determined to do something about it and subsequently founded the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, dedicated to confessing the sin of her nation and making restitution with God’s chosen people, chiefly by loving and serving them in whatever way they could.

Touching the Apple of God’s Eye

More than 70 years later, the order is represented in nations across the globe, including Australia and the United States, and I have just spent a weekend at their UK base near London where a coffee-table book on their history recalls that fateful night in Darmstadt:

For years our mothers had prayed for revival in the girls’ Bible study groups they led; now their prayers were answered – far differently than they had ever expected. That night the girls encountered God in his holiness as Judge and Lord over life and death…

Following that night of terror, there was a move among those young girls to bring sin into the light and receive forgiveness…God’s moment had come. Out of the ashes emerged new life.¹

Have we still not learned that there are shocking consequences for those who touch the apple of God’s eye, which is how the Bible refers to Israel?

Not surprisingly, the British-based sisters are deeply grieved at the rise of anti-Semitism all over Europe so soon after this terrible disaster caused by the Nazis’ sickening murder of six million Jews in the death camps of Poland and Germany.

Have we still not learned that there are shocking consequences for those who touch the apple of God’s eye, which is how the Bible refers to Israel (see Zechariah 2:8)?

When and Where to Flee

According to Alex Brummer in a Daily Mail article,² all the talk among British Jews is now focused on which country to flee to if Jeremy Corbyn gets into No. 10 as he has failed miserably to deal with the rise of anti-Semitism in his party, which has traditionally had the support of the Jewish community (and it now appears there has been a cover-up over party members allegedly involved in anti-Semitic hate crimes3).

According to my sources, many have already fled traditionally Jewish suburbs like Golders Green in north London in order to set up home in safer areas following a series of anti-Semitic incidents.

And although British Jews have become accustomed to bias against Israel in recent decades, “never before has a major political party in Britain regarded the creation by the post-war so-called Great Powers (including Russia) of the state of Israel in 1948…as an act of colonialist occupation”, Brummer writes, referring to Mr Corbyn’s stated beliefs.

“But that this [fleeing the country] is even being discussed, just 70 years on from the horrors of Auschwitz; that British Jews should be feeling so insecure in the country they love, is deeply disturbing,” Brummer adds.

And he pointed out that Israel wasn’t necessarily their first choice of destination, because some see it as a move from the frying pan into the fire. But I disagree with that. I go along with a participant on BBC2’s We Are British Jews programme⁴ who said that “It’s the safest place in the world to be”.

All the talk among British Jews is now focused on which country to flee to if Jeremy Corbyn gets into No. 10.

God’s Purposes

Yes, the Jewish state is surrounded by implacable enemies with an insatiable desire to wipe them off the map and, yes, they are threatened once more with annihilation. But Israel’s security is very tight – and effective.

In any case, should physical safety be their only consideration? Isn’t the safest place of all in the loving arms of God – the God of Israel? And his purpose is that they should return to the Land of their forefathers, the Land promised to Abraham as a permanent possession (Gen 17:8). After all, the Tenach (Old Testament) prophets foretold of a great ingathering of Jews from every corner of the globe.

Picture: Charles GardnerAlmost half of world Jewry are now living in Israel and, according to the Bible, it would appear to be God’s will that they should all return (Ezek 39:28). But don’t misunderstand me. I do not wish to encourage persecution so that they feel forced to flee. Jewish contribution to European societies has been priceless – without the ongoing input of their high achievers we would all suffer. But woe to those whose intimidation does cause them to leave; for they will come under a curse (Gen 12:3).

Nevertheless, it is God’s purpose that his chosen people should be back in the Land before Messiah returns. Yes, there will be a battle over Jerusalem, and the nations will come against it, but the Lord will intervene and defeat the enemies of Israel, once and for all (see Zechariah 12-14).

Messiah’s Return

When Jesus ascended to heaven as his perplexed disciples watched in wonder, angels explained to them that he would one day return in the same way he had left – and this took place on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem (Acts 1:11).

The Prophet Zechariah confirms this – that Christ will indeed place his feet on the Mount of Olives and that the Jewish nation will have their eyes opened as they recognise Jesus as the One they had pierced (Zech 12:10).

Almost half of world Jewry are now living in Israel and, according to the Bible, it would appear to be God’s will that they should all return.

The Messiah for whom Jews have longed will appear on earth, and they will acknowledge that he has been here before – as the suffering servant (Isa 53). Although they will mourn over what they did to him (we all need to confess our sin in order to be cleansed), their hearts will be sprinkled clean – and “all Israel will be saved” (Ezek 36:25; Zech 13:1; Rom 11:26).

Jesus is coming again – and the establishing of the people of Israel in their Land is a major sign.

References

1 A Celebration of God’s Unfailing Love, published by the Evangelical Sisters of Mary.

2 Daily Mail, 30 August 2018. According to a Jewish Chronicle poll, almost 40% of UK Jews would ‘seriously consider’ leaving if Corbyn became PM (Times of Israel, 5 September 2018).

3 Daily Express, 5 September 2018.

4 A two-part series screened last week (on 4 and 5 September).

Clifford Hill asks: has the UK just joined an unholy alliance?

To bomb or not to bomb? That was the question faced by our Parliament this week and the bombers won the day. But was it really a victory that increases the security of Britain from terrorist attacks? When the Prime Minister decided to call the crucial debate after he'd done his mathematics, I asked the question, "Is there any word from the Lord?" I turned to my Bible and it fell open to Isaiah 30: "Woe to the obstinate children, declares the Lord, to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit."

This caused me to look at the alliance we will be joining. On the one hand there is America, France and Australia and on the other hand there is Russia, Iran and Iraq plus Assad's part of Syria. Together these are strange bedfellows; one might almost say they are an unholy alliance with little in common except a shared opposition to the Islamic State.

Unholy Alliance

What are we doing joining such an alliance? If our intention is simply to add a few more bombs to the thousands already dropped by America and France and Australia and Russia, without any intention of sending in an army to clear IS out of the territory and to establish a lasting peace, there really isn't much point.

In fact, it could be a disastrous decision, for Britain already has sufficient resident potential terrorists to create havoc in our cities, as happened in Paris last month. Our bombing might even radicalise some more young Muslims. The security services report that they have recently successfully countered seven terrorist plots; but how much longer will it be before one of these groups evades our counterterrorist forces?

The Search for a Solution

What is the answer? Do we just do nothing and wait for the different factions within Islam to slaughter each other; or do we urge the formation of a united army of which we are willing to take part to confront the Islamic State on the ground? But even if such a united army was successful in defeating IS and liberating those who are suffering under the barbaric mediaeval regime, this will not solve the problem of the Middle East. What we are facing is an ideological and spiritual battle rather than conventional warfare. It is a battle that cannot be won by force of arms.

Of even greater significance is the possibility that by joining this alliance against the Islamic State we might actually be putting ourselves against God!

In the scripture just quoted from Isaiah 30:1 God speaks about "those who carry out plans that are not mine". This is the great danger facing us if we have not truly sought to know and to understand what God is doing today.

Scripture warns us of the danger of putting ourselves against God and trying to carry out plans that are not his.

Exposing the Wickedness of the Nations

In last week's editorial comment Clifford Denton quoted the prophecy from Haggai 2:6-7 which we were quoting back in the 1980s in the old printed magazine Prophecy Today, saying that God had revealed that he would soon be unleashing a great shaking of the whole world of nature; and the political, social, and economic institutions of all nations would be shaken. In numerous articles on the subject we said that God's purpose was to expose the corruption and wickedness of the nations in order to prepare the way for the kingdom of God as stated in Hebrews 12:26f.

We have now reached the point in the history of the world where we are actually immersed in the great shaking – and of course, we don't like it! We are tempted to cry out to God to stop the shaking: but if God says "I am shaking the nations" and we pray for it to stop, we are actually putting ourselves against God! We are praying against his will.

Asking the Right Questions

We have to ask some fundamental questions, "What are God's plans? What is he doing today?" When we discover the answer to these questions, then we will know how to pray and what we should do. We will be like the tribe of Issachar in the time of King David; understanding the times and knowing what to do (1 Chron 12:32). This, in fact, is God's will for his people: those who know him, who love him and want to be his servants.

We need to find out what God's will is and pray it - not be tempted to pray against it by asking for what we want.

God has already provided all the answers to these fundamental questions through the revelation of his nature and purposes in the Bible that climax in "the Word became flesh" at the season of Advent which we are celebrating right now. At Advent we not only celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world but we look forward to his Second Coming when "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 Preparation is Now

What we are seeing now is in preparation for this event which is clearly drawing nearer. For a number of years God has been turning the light onto the nations of the West who have had the gospel for centuries and who have allowed greed and corruption to distort his purposes in using them to reveal his love and his salvation to all nations. The shaking of the Western nations has intensified in the 21^st century as the proud economic institutions of the bankers crumbled and the misdeeds of politicians and celebrities were exposed.

God also began to use Islam as the 'rod of his anger', allowing atrocities in the great cities of the Western nations such as the fall of the Twin Towers in New York, the bombing of the Underground in London and most recently, the atrocities in Paris.

Understanding God's Purposes

But just as God allowed Assyria and Babylon to bring judgment upon his covenant people of Israel, when that was completed he destroyed both aggressors for their savage cruelty. Today God is allowing the Islamic State to carry out similar atrocities in the very same places (Mosel in the Islamic State was Nineveh the capital of Assyria, and Baghdad was Babylon, capital of the Babylonian Empire).

Just as God allowed Assyria and Babylon to bring judgment upon his covenant people of Israel, when that was completed he destroyed both aggressors for their savage cruelty.

But the barbaric acts of IS are shaking the whole world of Islam and causing millions to question their faith in the teaching of Muhammad. The implosion of Islam has begun. It will gain momentum, particularly as the hundreds of thousands of migrants integrate into Western society and as the acts of terrorism continue to expose the darkness and violence that stems from the Qur'an and lies at the very heart of Islam.

This is why it is essential that we understand God's plans and we do not enter into an ungodly alliance with those whose ultimate purpose may be to destroy Israel and the Western nations. Isaiah 30 not only has a warning for the West; it also has a lovely promise, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength...Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" (Is 30:15-18)