How to pray in a time of upheaval.

The nations of Europe are still reeling from the results of the EU parliamentary elections. It is not only Britain that has produced surprise results; all over Europe people have expressed their frustration with the establishment and looked for alternatives. The battle for power between Macron and Merkel may now be in full swing, but in both their countries voters have expressed their discontent with their rulers and their desire for change.

In Britain the Brexit battle continues relentlessly with more Conservative hopefuls throwing their hats into the ring to be the next Prime Minister – even though the role is a poisoned chalice. No doubt each of them thinks they could do better than Theresa May, who bravely went to Brussels this week to greet other crestfallen leaders facing uncertain futures.

Tory leadership hopefuls. PA/PA Wire/PA ImagesUndoubtedly the Lord is fulfilling his promise to shake all the nations! The prophecy in Haggai 2 includes shaking the physical universe as well as the structures and foundations of the nations. I’ve quoted it many times, but it is so central to contemporary issues that we need to keep it in the forefront of our discussion of what’s happening today:

This is what the Lord Almighty says: in a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty. (Hag 2:6-7)

I know that our political masters don’t recognise that God has any place in what is happening among the nations, but God actually laughs at their stupidity and blindness. It would do all our leaders good to read Psalm 2 and meditate on it for a few minutes each day before they open their mouths in public.

The plain fact is that God is not only in charge of the climate upheavals that are causing such anxiety to many people (witness the unprecedented 500 tornadoes that have ripped through the USA just in the past 30 days¹), but he is also allowing the incredible levels of uncertainty and anxiety in the social and political lives of the nations.

Undoubtedly the Lord is fulfilling his promise to shake all the nations!

Admitting the Problem

If we share the beliefs of the biblical prophets, who saw the hand of God in everything that happened around them, we have to ask: why is God shaking everything? – from our weather patterns to the major institutions in society: our familiar high street stores, our banks and post offices, our social services and our health services, our political parties and even our churches, where we see ‘For Sale’ notices on great old buildings where our parents were married and their children were blessed.

With all the familiar things in life being shaken, it is small wonder that the levels of mental health problems are overwhelming our health authorities. In Britain we have such a crisis of mental health that even Royalty have joined in to share their stories in an attempt to reassure the public that there is really nothing wrong - that we all have times when our minds are sick, when we are unable to think clearly and give way to our fears and anxieties.

When are we going to wake up to the fact that there is something seriously wrong, and we ought to be concerned? We ought to be asking major questions about what is happening in our lifetime. Why is there such dissatisfaction, such anger, such disagreement and such division in society? The dissatisfaction is not just among the deprived who envy the rich and the powerful. It is also among those who have plenty and who have good jobs and homes and cars and multitudes of gadgets, none of which gives them real satisfaction.

The uncomfortable truth is that there is something in our human nature, put there by the God of Creation, that makes us long for a relationship with the Creator. We are lonely in the universe without any connection with its Maker. But, collectively, Europeans have abandoned that connection. They have chosen to discard their spiritual heritage and to go it alone, so they are at the mercy of the spiritual forces of darkness that roam the universe and plague its occupants.

When are we going to wake up to the fact that there is something seriously wrong, and we ought to be concerned?

Deserving of Judgment

In Britain the European Parliamentary election (that we did not want!) has dramatically highlighted the division in the nation. We may expect to see an increase in conflict during the next five months as those who are determined to prevent Britain leaving the European Union intensify their activities.

As we get nearer to the deadline of 31 October and the parliamentary battle advances, it will be reflected upon the streets. The worst possible outcome would be the revoking of Article 50 and a second referendum, which would undoubtedly inject further hatred and violence into the public sphere.

Let’s face the facts: we are part of a nation richly deserving judgment. Every working day a black bag full of babies is taken out of the back door of our hospitals and thrown into the incinerator. We are just like the Moabites, who threw their babies into the fire - a heinous sin that God roundly condemned.

The latest sin is the grooming of our children, which is a national act of child abuse! Just last month an Education Bill was nodded through our Parliament, too occupied with Brexit to study it carefully, which brainwashes juniors and presents pornography to senior students; even advocating ‘threesomes’ for getting the most exciting sexual experience – with cartoon illustrations.²

We may be near the final point of depravity described by Paul:

Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity…they invent ways of doing evil… (Rom 1:28-32)

Nevertheless, there is still a powerful remnant of Bible-believing Christians in Britain who could stand in the gap between God and the coming disaster if they were fully aware of the situation and understood how to pray into it.

There is still a powerful remnant of Bible-believing Christians in Britain who could stand in the gap between God and the coming disaster if they were fully aware of the situation and understood how to pray into it.

How to Pray

We must not ask God to stop shaking the nations just because we don’t like what’s happening today. We have to recognise why God is shaking the nations.

It surely has to be to warn the nations that we are heading for self-destruction, and that only repentance and turning that can save humanity from unbelievable disaster. Perhaps it was with this in mind that Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, saying: “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8).

All Christians in the Western nations can see (if they open their eyes) that our civilisation is crumbling. But we have yet to realise that there are no political solutions to the problems facing humanity! Only God can heal the nations! But the greatest fault lies in the blindness of the Church, whose silent leaders do not declare the word of the Lord with the first call to Christians to repent. The writing is on the wall and judgment is already starting at the household of God.

As we approach the season of Pentecost, we should all be praying for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God to open eyes that are blind and bring a fresh spiritual awakening – beginning with ourselves.

References

1 Read more at Sky News.

2 This can be seen online, though I will not give the link here.

Or is it a deceptive plot to keep us tied to Europe?

As votes are counted in an election that should never have taken place in the UK, suggestions of conspiracy and betrayal abound amid feelings of being in Alice in Wonderland territory, where the Queen of Hearts and her entourage turn out to be nothing but a pack of cards.

Why, after a majority (17.4 million people) voted to leave the European Union nearly three years ago, are we still so committed to this Tower of Babel project that we are spending over £100 million to choose representatives who will only be sitting in Brussels for a couple of months?

Unless, of course, that was never the plan! For the message we have been consistently giving to Euro leaders - acting collectively like a petulant Pharaoh - is that we are not really serious about leaving. We prefer to be enslaved to their godless laws, and we just love the leeks and onions.

A Fait Accompli?

A secret document witnessed by someone I am assured is a reliable source suggests that our future in Europe was stitched up at a meeting between British Prime Minister Theresa May (now shortly to vacate her post) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before being presented to the Cabinet at Chequers last summer as a fait accompli.

The two leaders are said to have agreed to ‘appease’ Brexit voters while at the same time keeping as close to the EU as possible, leaving the door open for re-joining the club at a later stage.

The message we have been giving to Euro leaders - acting collectively like a petulant Pharaoh - is that we are not really serious about leaving.

In other words, it is claimed that both leaders agreed that the only realistic future for the UK was as a member of the EU and that the likely course of events is that Britain would re-join in full at some time after the next general election.

So it transpires that the Withdrawal Agreement presented at Chequers was essentially a German production, with the original draft completed in Berlin last May.

Theresa May announces her soon departure as Prime Minister, 24 May 2019. Alastair Grant/AP/Press Association ImagesDeath Blow for Democracy

Of course this whole sorry saga got off on the wrong foot from the word ‘go’ when, in the wake of the 2016 Referendum, Mrs May – a Remainer – was charged with the task of taking us out, against her own convictions. It was a death blow for democracy, and hardly a recipe for job satisfaction, to expect someone clearly convinced that our best interests lie with Europe to spend the next three years negotiating our way out.

Unless, of course, as our information suggests, that is not what she has really been doing. It would explain why Brexit has turned into such a chaotic, crazy circus in which clowns are trying to tame the tigers.

It would seem that the long and tortuous route to freedom has been blighted by deceit and double-dealing to make it look like we are doing one thing when we are really doing quite another.

I’m very suspicious of the message the mainstream TV media are trying to convey by repeatedly showing Mrs May coming out of church, as if to assure us that she means no harm and is doing her best – perhaps even seeking God’s will – to fulfil her promise that ‘Brexit means Brexit’.

The long and tortuous route to freedom has been blighted by deceit and double-dealing.

But in her days as Home Secretary, she was a key figure pushing the same-sex marriage agenda, helping to turn our centuries-old Judeo-Christian values on their head and presiding over the ruin and destruction of a society once the envy of the world.

Now we are a nation, like Israel in Isaiah’s time, that has been separated from God by our iniquities, with hands “stained with blood” (particularly through abortion) and tongues that have muttered wickedness, where “truth is nowhere to be found” as we rely on “empty arguments” (Isa 59:2-4, 15).

A Modern Moses

A leader of integrity is a rare find these days, but Nigel Farage strikes me as such, passionately committed to the single issue of getting out of Europe. I am aware that his popularity could open the door for Jeremy Corbyn if it were repeated in a general election, but unless we regain our sovereignty forthwith, we may forever remain in the manipulative hands of our bureaucratic puppeteers in Brussels.

I am not alone in comparing Brexit to the exodus from Egypt of the enslaved Jews in ancient times. It was hard enough for Moses, and it took ten plagues before a stubborn Pharaoh would let his people go.

But we don’t even have a Moses, unless things change dramatically when Mrs May is replaced. For our leader has no conviction either about the necessity of our exodus or of God’s involvement in the process.

God’s Awesome Sovereignty

But I am a little encouraged by the newly-postponed date for departure – 31 October. Yes, I know Hallowe’en has come to be marked by darkness amid ghostly goings-on, but it was originally celebrated as the eve of All Hallows (or All Saints), a period of the church year dedicated to remembering the faithful departed. More to the point, it was the date in 1517 when Martin Luther sparked the Reformation with his personal revelation of faith in Christ.

It was also the date, exactly 400 years later, when the British Government (through the Balfour Declaration) promised to help restore Jews from around the world to their ancient land, made possible on the very same day when brave soldiers from Australia and New Zealand triumphed against the odds in the Battle of Beersheva.

I am a little encouraged by the newly-postponed date for our departure – 31 October.

And it was also the date, in 1940, of a British victory over Nazi forces that proved a crucial turning-point of World War II. Its cropping up again as the next proposed date for our deliverance from the EU is a small reminder that the Lord – who answers prayer - holds all our times in his hands, and exercises sovereign rule over the nations as he pleases.

But while I do believe that Brexit is crucial, it will not be the turning-point of our present spiritual battle against the forces of evil unless, as a nation, we repent of the heinous sin of turning our back on the God who brought us through the dark years of the 1940s, in answer to the prayers of people all over the country who queued outside churches to seek him for deliverance (see also Isaiah 59:13).

As the great Prophet urges us, “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near” (Isa 55:6).

Postscript

On another positive note, a Doncaster primary school used for polling purposes nevertheless went ahead with an assembly in which I took part (in a second hall) declaring the power of the Gospel – the real need of the nation - to hundreds of children!

European nations pay for defiance of God’s plan

As Christmas draws near, the gloomy prospects of Brexit proposals are somewhat overshadowing the bright lights of Britain.

Virtual civil war has broken out within the ranks of the political class, but there is a general blindness to the real cause of our troubles, which lies with our relationship – not with Europe – but with Israel.

Nations are trying to tamper with God’s dwelling-place on earth and are suffering serious injury as a result.

As writer and theologian Frank Booth reminded me, after Donald Trump moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2017 in recognition of the obvious, European leaders May, Macron and Merkel joined the voices raised against the decision. Look at them now!

Zechariah 12:3 says: “I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock [or heavy stone] for the nations; all who try to move it will injure [or grievously hurt] themselves.”

And Booth asks: “How can anyone who knows the slightest thing about the history of Israel deny Jerusalem as her natural historic capital?”

Signs of the Times

In the bleak midwinter, a popular carol, seems an apt description of the view ahead of us in the UK. But the hymn should also remind us of what life is really about, especially of how – 2,000 years on – we are still profoundly affected by the Christ child who came into the world to save us from our sin.

Bethlehem may have been his birthplace, but Jerusalem – just six miles away – was and is the key to the world’s future. It was there that our Lord died as the perfect sacrifice for sins, where he rose from the dead three days later, where he subsequently ascended to Heaven after appearing to more than 500 witnesses, and where he will return - probably in the very near future judging by the many signs of his coming already being fulfilled.

Nations are trying to tamper with God’s dwelling-place on earth and are suffering serious injury as a result.

The most obvious of these has been the re-birth and rise to prominence of the State of Israel, symbolised in the Bible as the fig tree (see Matthew 24:32-34). The blossoming of the fig tree has come about as a result of the return of Jews from every corner of the world to the land promised them some 4,000 years ago. All the world has witnessed this phenomenon, fulfilling an abundance of ancient prophecies (e.g. Jer 23:7f; Jer 31:16f; Ezek 36:24; Isa 43:5-7).

But as the scriptures also predicted, they would not be welcomed back to their homeland by their neighbours – hence the current upheaval in the Middle East.

So how does this affect the UK and why is this issue – and not Brexit – the source of our difficulties?

Britain’s Capitulation

Britain has been granted the inestimable privilege (by God himself and through international treaties) of facilitating Jewish repatriation. This was thanks to godly men like Wesley, Wilberforce and their evangelical successors, whose influence caused the Government of 1917, led by David Lloyd George, to issue a promise to do all it could to make this possible through what came to be known as the Balfour Declaration (signed by Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour).

Despite later reneging on this pledge and betraying the Jews – even refusing entry (to then British-controlled Palestine) to thousands of would-be immigrants trying to escape the Nazis – we at least got the ball rolling which enabled a reborn Israel to rise from the ashes of the ‘Valley of Dry Bones’ (Ezek 37) that was the Holocaust.

But as we kept caving in to Arab intimidation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict worsened and our great empire – on which the sun never set – began systematically to fall apart in direct fulfilment of Genesis 12:3, promising blessing to those who bless the seed of Abraham and cursing to those who don’t.

In addition, Joel 3:2 guarantees judgment on the nations that have scattered his people and divided up their land. All the talk now is of a ‘two-state solution’, carving up territory designated (both by God and international treaties) as belonging to the Jews.

Jerusalem the Key

Jerusalem is the key to all this. Plans for dividing the city into east and west in order to achieve peace are actually a recipe for further bloodshed, as Israel’s enemies want all of it.¹ The last great war, the Bible says, will be over the status of Jerusalem, not Europe or the Far East.

Australia’s lukewarm attempt to please both sides of the divide by only recognising West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and holding off acceptance of East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital until a two-state solution is found, will cut no ice with God, who spits such lack of commitment out of his mouth as English folk might do with tepid tea (see Rev 3:16).

Australia’s lukewarm attempt to please both sides of the divide will cut no ice with God, who spits such lack of commitment out of his mouth (Rev 3:16).

While this position might be seen as a step in the right direction, Australia’s Pentecostal Christian Prime Minister Scott Morrison should note what has happened to Britain, Germany and France since Donald Trump’s brave decision to move his embassy to Jerusalem.

Taking their cue from the politically correct secularists, May, Merkel and Macron defiantly refused to follow Trump’s example, and all three are now in grave difficulties.

Open warfare over Brexit threatens to bring further chaos to Britain including the distinct possibility of a Government led by Jeremy Corbyn, an ally of terrorist groups wishing to obliterate Israel and who shows no sign of lancing the boil of anti-Semitism within his party.

Merkel, meanwhile, has a fragile hold on power as Germans express great frustration with the problems caused by mass immigration, and deadly street riots – led by a movement reported to be grossly anti-Semitic – have erupted in Paris in protest at Macron’s ‘reforms’.

Reaping the Whirlwind

Such a triple calamity can be traced back, quite simply, to defiance of the God of Israel and of his commandments which have formed the basis of Western civilisation.

We are reaping the whirlwind of anti-Semitism and godlessness after shamefully turning our backs on the God who bought our redemption when his Son was brutally murdered in his very own city (Ps 48:1-3).

The Bible is clear that our security as nations and individuals depends on our attitude to Jesus, to the Jews and to Jerusalem (John 3:16; Gen 12:3; Ps 122:6).

References

1 See also Senior Palestinian negotiator: all of Jerusalem on table, World Israel News, 18 December 2018.

Hungary’s populist victory and the disintegration of Europe.

The re-election of Viktor Orban in Hungary’s presidential election last week came as no surprise, but it has caused dismay in Brussels where there is a real fear that Orban’s trashing of the EU rules may spread to other states within the European Union. His campaign was built on fear-mongering and anti-immigration which gave his right-wing populist party a vastly increased majority.

Orban’s victory is a direct challenge to the core values of the European Union which, according to Christian Ultsch in the Austrian press,¹ has caused some to claim the EU is being “shaken to its foundations”.

Many Christians may be happy to see the secular humanist ‘core values’ of the EU being shaken and all those who respect the Christian values that have formed the foundation stones of Western nations will have some sympathy for Victor Orban’s endeavour to protect his country from a large influx of Muslims. He has seen the difficulties that have arisen in Germany following Angela Merkel’s opening the door to one million Muslims and within months some of them became involved in highly publicised terror attacks and sexual attacks upon women and girls.

In France the latest Islamist attack that has shaken the nation was the murder of Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old Jewish woman and Holocaust survivor. She was stabbed 11 times before her body was set on fire in an anti-Semitic crime that brought 30,000 people onto the streets in protest.

Equality and Tolerance?

Those who uphold the politically correct EU core values of ‘equality’ and ‘tolerance’ believe that over a period of time integration will take place as people live together and accept one another as equals. But this secular humanist, atheist, Marxist dream of a tolerant society is utterly unachievable and simply reveals the ignorance of those who are the driving force behind the secularisation in Brussels that is seeking to remodel Europe.

They simply do not understand Islam, whose Qur’an specifically forbids Muslims to make friends with Jews and Christians: “O ye who have believed, do not choose Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends to each other; whoever makes friends of them is one of them” (Qur’an 5:51).

Those who uphold the EU values of ‘equality’ and ‘tolerance’ believe that over a period of time integration will take place as people accept one another as equals.

Integration is not on Islam’s agenda. Islam’s short-term objective is to rule Europe and the long-term intention is to dominate the world.

There is no compromise in Islam: which is why there is total deadlock between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The Palestinians do not want peace with Israel: their sole objective is the total destruction of Israel! In Britain we have seen the result of politically correct town councils and secular humanist social workers refusing to believe poor white girls being abused by gangs of immigrant men, so we can understand the widespread indignation in France where similar things are happening and Islamists are particularly targeting Jews.

Islamic Anti-Semitism Exposed

Protests in France against the murder of Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll. See Photo Credits.

A letter signed by more than 300 French dignitaries (including former President Sarkozy) denouncing the new anti-Semitism in France has been published this week in a Parisian newspaper.² It calls attention to the alarming surge in Islamist radicalism that is driving a string of attacks upon Jews.

The French Jewish community of more than half a million - the largest in Europe - has seen a wave of emigration to Israel over the past 20 years at least partly driven by the virulent anti-Semitism of Muslim immigrants. The letter highlights the “quiet ethnic purging” that is taking place in working-class city neighbourhoods.

Against this backdrop, the rise of far-right populist parties is understandable. But it is not just the EU’s values that are being shaken. Orban’s victory in Hungary is linked with divisions that are destabilising the whole of Western society – it represents the rise of a new kind of nationalism that has its roots in racism.

Self-Destructing Society

It is strange how wherever you look in the Western world today, division and hatred are on the rise. It is as if our societies are tearing themselves apart from the inside out. While immigration into the West has imported a plethora of new prejudices, home-grown hatreds are also flourishing - at both ends of the political spectrum.

Wherever you look in the Western world today, division and hatred are on the rise.

In the USA, right-wing populism brought President Trump to power, but already his presidency has seen a rise in anti-black racism as well as a spike in anti-Semitism.

In Britain, the populist movement that brought about the Brexit vote has coincided with a rise in racist incidents. But the focus recently has been upon left-wing anti-Semitism in the Labour Party since Jeremy Corbyn became leader. In a meeting last week with representatives of Jewish communities Corbyn was challenged to do something to eradicate the racism that has become apparent in the Labour Party.

Behind the Division

What is it in human nature that drives people to hatred of other human beings?

The answer can only be that we have turned our backs on God. We have rejected the biblical values that have formed the foundation of Western democracy for centuries. Once we depart from these core values the cracks in the structures of society begin to show and it’s not long before all our social institutions, such as the family, begin to crumble.

In the absence of love, justice and unity that stems from God, humans soon turn to hatred. Barely one generation passed in Genesis before mankind turned to murder, brother against brother. The lesson of history is that rebellion breeds hatred and violence. Today, from end to end on the political spectrum, we see people trying to build a world without God – just like at the Tower of Babel. We cannot be surprised to see hatred and division on the rise as a result.

The Litmus Test

The litmus test of the health of a society is the poisonous presence of anti-Semitism, the “oldest of all hatreds”. Whereas other racisms regard hated groups as ‘inferior’ (e.g. anti-black racism), anti-Semitism strangely blames Jews for being ‘superior’ because of their achievements in finance, business, banking and the arts. Whereas all other racisms have definable roots, anti-Semitism transcends time, geography, politics and social class.

In the absence of love, justice and unity that stems from God, humans soon turn to hatred.

It also transcends religion. Islamic anti-Semitism is widespread around the world, stemming right back to Mohammed who turned on the Jews and viciously slaughtered them when they refused to accept his new religion. Christian anti-Semitism has flourished through the ages as Jews have been blamed for killing Jesus and punished for rejecting the Gospel, while Replacement Theology has been manufactured by the Church to write Jews out of God’s purposes altogether.

When people rebel against God and reject his word, this manifests most virulently in a spiritual hatred for the Jews as the covenant people of God, through whom he chose to reveal his nature and purposes to the world. But the Bible says that “The word of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and settle disputes for many peoples” (Isa 2:3-4). This has never been rescinded; and is still God’s intention to fulfil.

The cracks and divisions in our society today have one common root: rebellion against God. This is surely the major problem of our humanity that only the Gospel can cure.

References

1 Die Presse, Vienna, 9 April 2018.

2 Click here for the original letter (in French) or here for the translated page. Please also see this article from Jihad Watch.

People power and the hand of God.

This week we have seen the fall from favour of two powerful politicians – Mugabe and Merkel. They have each held power in very different societies but their downfalls are both linked to the rise of people power.

People power signals the awakening of ordinary people to the misuse of power among the ruling elite that has been the source of oppression for far too long. It is now even affecting cruel dictatorships such as the Mugabe regime, which has dominated Zimbabwe for decades.

The popularist backlash has begun: where will it end?

Angela Merkel’s problems stemmed from her unwise single-handed decision to welcome more than one million asylum seekers from the Muslim world and to try to force other EU nations to follow the same policy. Her nearest neighbours - Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria - have all resisted this pressure.

Populist Revolts

Other parts of the EU are experiencing something similar - a populist reaction against decisions made by those in power. In France, Macron’s sudden rise to prominence reflected a workers’ revolt against both left and right traditional political parties. But his failure to please the workers has brought them out onto the streets in protest.¹

It remains to be seen whether a similar pattern will be followed in Zimbabwe if the vast army of unemployed do not see radical change with their new President, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Politicians in traditional parties throughout the EU are watching the growth of anti-establishment, populist movements with trepidation.

And what about the European Union itself? The cracks we have been forecasting in Prophecy Today UK are beginning to widen. The corruption at the heart of this evil institution with the gross rewards it pays to its unelected officials is becoming widely known and will bring its inevitable consequences. Politicians in the traditional parties throughout the European Union are watching the growth of anti-establishment, populist movements with trepidation.

The God Factor

Angela Merkel announces the failure of her coalition talks. See Photo Credits.

But the major factor that the Establishment does not recognise is the God factor!

Yes, certainly, the forces of social change that are sweeping Europe and other parts of the world, including traditional monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, are of sociological significance, but they also have theological significance! They are not simply generated by human ambitions or discontent: they all show signs of the guiding Hand of God!

The Prophet Haggai prophesying in the year 520 BC may not have known God’s timetable, but he certainly received a clear revelation of the purposes of God when he declared, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: in a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations…”.

We are certainly seeing a great shaking of the world of nature through storms, hurricanes, floods, droughts and earthquakes – arguably more than in any other period in recorded history; and we are also seeing a great shaking of the nations.

The forces of change that are sweeping Europe and other parts of the world all show signs of the guiding Hand of God.

This is where we need our Bibles more than sociological and political theory to give us a steer about what is happening and the likely outcomes of the forces of change that are driving the nations.

When we get a clear view of the nature and purposes of God, we have the necessary tools of analysis to enable us to understand what is going on in our world today. Without this knowledge we are left with our secular human frailty; alone in the universe, facing the gathering storms with winds of change reaching hurricane force and no compass or rudder to guide.

The two fundamental assets of the biblical prophets were: revelationary knowledge of the nature and purposes of God; and understanding of the sovereignty of God - that everything that happened was either because God directly willed it, or because he allowed it.

Exposing Injustice

So, what’s happening among the nations today? Certainly, we can see that in Europe and the West, God is exposing the corruption, injustice and oppression exercised by the ruling elite who misuse their riches and their power to pursue selfish aims and objectives.

As Jeremiah stated in his famous ‘Temple Sermon’ (Jer 7), God hates injustice and oppression. There is something in our fallen human nature that still reflects the image of God, in which we were created, that enables us to recognise injustice and oppression and to reject them. This is what is happening today as God turns on the light, exposing the corrupt financial, political and social systems of the modern world.

Mrs Merkel’s fall from power is likely to trigger elections in the new year which will benefit the far-right nationalist ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD) party, or even the ex-Communist Left Party. This will further destabilise Germany and could possibly trigger the collapse of the European Union, already under threat because of Britain’s withdrawal.

The two fundamental assets of the biblical prophets were: revelationary knowledge of the nature and purposes of God; and understanding of the sovereignty of God.

This gives an enormous opportunity to Britain to review the whole policy of offering enormous sums of money to the EU to allow us to come out from under its oppressive regulations.

But is the British Government sufficiently spiritually aware of what is happening in the world that political decisions can be made in line with the purposes of God? This is evidently not the case – unsurprisingly, given how few MPs are biblical Christians. This is where Christians are greatly needed to make their voice heard in the nation and to bring a ‘God-perspective’ into national decision-making.

Church, Arise!

At present there is very little indication that God-centred direction will come from the Church. But it is the Church that should be the prophet to the nation. In the absence of the word of God thundering through the naves of our cathedrals and from the pulpits of our churches, perhaps people power may yet emerge from the pews!

It is surely time for Bible-believing Christians to find every opportunity in this media-saturated world to declare the word of the living God to this godless generation!

The authorities in Israel were forced to take note of the disciples: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). May the backlash not only be seen on the streets, but in the churches as well!

Notes

1 E.g. Read more here.

'Angela Merkel: The Authorized Biography' by Stefan Kornelius (Alma Books Ltd, 2014, available from the publisher for £7.99 + P&P, or £5.99 on Amazon Kindle)

For those who have but a sketchy knowledge of European politics, this is a well-written book which will educate the reader. It describes the Chancellor of Germany and the eight turbulent years she has spent as the most powerful woman in Europe.

A Brilliant Student

The biography details Merkel's childhood, spent in East Germany (GDR) where she grew up the daughter of Horst Kasner, the founder and Head of the Pastoral College in the town of Templin. She is portrayed as a brilliant student, a serious young woman with a biting sense of humour.

At school she excelled in Russian and mathematics, and learnt to "keep quiet" during the GDR period. "It was one of our survival strategies", she said many years later. Using church channels to gain access to the highest authorities, Angela's father paved the way for her to begin studying physics at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig in 1973.

Following further studies at the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, in 1974 she met her first husband – Ulrich Merkel – during an exchange programme to Leningrad and Moscow. They married in 1977. Four years later the marriage broke down but Angela retained her husband's name - a surname which has become a household name in international politics.

For those who have but a sketchy knowledge of European politics, this is a well-written book that will educate the reader.

Rise to Power

As a young East German, knowing that the GDR was collapsing and now working politically in the Democratic Awakening Party, Angela had three aims: a unified Germany, a market economy and to sit in the Bundestag (German Parliament).

Kornelius tells how she set about realising her ambitions with dedication, hard work and a great sense of timing, catching the political eye of her future mentor and political hero – Helmut Kohl. After the Berlin Wall came down, he offered Merkel the post of Women and Youth and she was sworn into the Bundestag on 18 January 1991. She quickly rose through the political ranks. In the 2005 federal election she defeated Gerhard Schroder to become the first female Chancellor of Germany.

Behind the Credentials

Beyond the details of her life to date, the book also asks deeper questions: what makes Merkel tick? What are the foundations of her beliefs? How does she manage the coalitions that she heads up? How do her relationships with foreign countries play out?

She is portrayed by Kornelius as pragmatic, analytical, discreet, logical and a workaholic, who takes the time to assemble all the possible facts pertaining to problems before working her way steadily, step by step, to solve them. One of her favourite maxims is a simple one: "If you say you are going to do something, then you must do it".

Kornelius portrays Merkel as pragmatic, analytical, discreet, logical and a workaholic.

Connection with Israel

The biography does not shy away from discussing Merkel's strong connection with Israel. Her understanding of German history is inextricably bound up with the Shoah (Holocaust), when the Germans sought the annihilation of the Jews.

Consequently, her policy towards Israel, her love of the country and her support for the Jewish way of life is firm and binding. Whenever Merkel speaks of Israel, it is always in the context of German responsibility and guilt. Crucially, she recognises the Jewish character of the State of Israel.

Looking Forward

First released in 2013, this biography understandably argues that the greatest crisis of Merkel's political career to date is the Euro and its economic traumas - rather than the more recent migration issue. Nevertheless, it provides an illuminating guide to how Merkel may well steer the course into the future. Highly recommended.

Germany's welcome to the refugees seems to go above and beyond the call of duty. What is driving it?

Europe is facing an unprecedented population influx of refugees and economic migrants. Increasingly, it is becoming a melting pot of race and culture as thousands flee to what they perceive to be a safe political and economic haven.

But what is the European Union? Is this increasingly uneasy grouping of nations a truly safe and welcoming haven for migrants? Perhaps the only common driver for governments and citizens (and migrants hoping to become citizens) is our relative economic security and a desire to live in peace, or at least the absence of war.

Is this increasingly uneasy grouping of nations a truly safe and welcoming haven for migrants?

Merkel's Faith

The country leading this federation has the worst track record when it comes to treatment of outsiders. Yet Germany is unquestionably Europe's leader and Angela Merkel its most influential premier, perhaps deservedly so. The former scientist with a doctorate in Physics is the daughter of a Lutheran pastor and has declared:

I am a member of the Evangelical Church. I believe in God, and religion is also my constant companion, and actually has been my entire life. I find it very liberating that as a Christian, one can make mistakes, that one knows there is something higher than just human beings, and that we are also called on to shape the world in responsibility for others. This is a framework for my life, which I consider very important.¹

Merkel may belong to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party but public declarations of personal faith are rarely uttered by German politicians. However, Merkel's biographer, Volker Resing, called her life story The Protestant,² illustrating the centrality of faith for the German Chancellor. He reveals that in 2009, when Angela Merkel and Barack Obama met in Dresden they sat together in quiet prayer in the Frauenkirche, an event most Germans remained unaware of because Merkel did not allow pictures.³

Germany may have the worst track record when it comes to treating outsiders, but it is unquestionably Europe's leader and Merkel is its most influential premier – perhaps deservedly.

Attitude to Refugees

In September, speaking at the University of Bern, Switzerland, the German Chancellor was asked about the "dangers of the Islamisation of Europe". In response, she encouraged Christians to embrace their identity: "I would like to see more people who have the courage to say 'I am a Christian believer'. And more people who have the courage to enter into a dialogue".

In Germany where, as in most of Europe, church attendance has declined, Merkel suggested people should go back to the "tradition of attending a church service now and then, and having some biblical foundations". She pointed out that many do not have an understanding of Christian concepts like Pentecost. She suggested that the debate about Islam and the identity of Europe, "could lead us to deal again with our own roots and to know them better."⁴

Angela Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, has been encouraging church attendance and calling for Christians to embrace their identity.

Commenting on those who have responded with trepidation to the numbers entering Germany, she said, "Fear was never a good advisor" and "Cultures that are marked by fear will not conquer their future."⁵

The Sins of the Past

Some fear is surely healthy, such as fear of repeating the sins of the past. Merkel has always been quick to own up to German responsibility for the Holocaust. "The Shoah fills us Germans with shame. I bow before the victims. I bow before the survivors and before all those who helped them survive," she said in her address to the Israeli Knesset (parliament) in 2008. "The mass murder of six million Jews, carried out in the name of Germany, has brought indescribable suffering to the Jewish people, Europe and the entire world."⁶

However, anti-Semitism is on the rise in Germany once again. According to one report, "Scrawling swastikas on synagogues, Jew-baiting during demonstrations, desecration of Jewish cemeteries", are taking place today. Apparently, the word 'Jew' is once again an insult and bullying of Jewish schoolchildren comes from Arab children but mainly from those influenced by the far right.⁷

Is it this history and re-emergence of intolerance in sections of German society that is encouraging Angela Merkel to take the lead in the migrant crisis and allowing huge numbers to enter Germany? Germany needs migrant workers, but the scale of immigration surely far exceeds its need. Germany is expecting 800,000 to 1 million by the end of 2015 and its Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has said Germany can take 500,000 a year for several years.⁸

In welcoming so many refugees, is Merkel seizing the chance to show that Germany has repented for the Holocaust and its past intolerance towards outsiders?

Repentant Democracy?

In the face of what many in the Jewish community today are likening to the Jewish flight from Nazi Germany, is this former dictatorship proving itself to be the kindest-hearted democracy of all? Is Germany being given a second chance? Angela Merkel is perhaps seizing the opportunity to show that Germany has learnt the lessons of its history of intolerance and hatred towards the outsider.

It may be that this openness, directly from the seat of power, is a result of the various acts of repentance over Germany's responsibility for the Holocaust initiated by German Christians, such as the Protestant community of nuns known as the Evangelical Sisters of Mary.⁹

Opportunity for the Gospel

European Christians have struggled to take the gospel to the Muslim world, but that world is now coming to Europe and Germany in particular: the former graveyard of Europe is yielding new life and spiritual hope for a wave of ethnic and religious outsiders, as German churches open their buildings to refugees amid reports of mass conversions to Christianity.¹⁰

European Christians have struggled to take the gospel to the Muslim world, but now that world is coming to us.

The pastor of a Berlin church has seen his congregation at the evangelical Trinity Church grow from 150 to more than 600 in just two years, describing the number of conversions as a miracle. Some have raised the concern that these conversions are not genuine but are made in hope of increasing their chances of staying in the country. In Afghanistan and Iran conversion from Islam is a capital offence and so they trust that the German government would not send them back to certain death. However, Angela Merkel has said that Islam "belongs in Germany" and that conversion is no guarantee of asylum.¹¹

Fear or Faith?

Many also fear a stealth or soft jihad, a sleeper population of Muslim insurgents who will in time out grow their host population. However, should we not see the current crisis as a God given opportunity to bring the gospel to those whose national borders have kept them as spiritual prisoners? We need to ask ourselves if God is more interested in preserving our national borders or in the salvation of people groups.

Is God more interested in preserving national borders or in saving people?

In Britain, we too have opportunities to show kindness to refugees and migrants. Do we retreat in fear or welcome in faith? Britain and Europe have squandered their Christian inheritance, but we, the remnant Church, must rise to the challenge to bring comfort and hope to the stranger in our land. Our nation offers prosperity, political freedom and cessation of war, but the Church now has the opportunity to offer true freedom and peace.

References

1 Angela Merkel Believes in God. Dialogue International, 29 November 2012.

2 Resing, V, 2009. Angela Merkel: Die Protestantin. St Benno, Auflage.

3 Warner, M B. Merkel raises eyebrows by raising religion. Global Post, 27 November 2012.

4 'Courageous Christians with biblical foundations' needed, says Merkel. Evangelical Focus, 7 September 2015. 

5 Ibid.

6 Tom Chivers and agencies. Germany is 'filled with shame' over Nazi holocaust, Angela Merkel tells Israel. The Daily Telegraph, 18 March 2008.

7 Asche, C. Anti-Semitism Is On The Rise In German Schools. Huffington Post Germany, 3 April 2015.

8 Migrant crisis: Germany 'can take 500,000 asylum seekers a year'. BBC News, 8 September 2015.

9 See Faithful, G, 2014. Mothering the Fatherland: A Protestant Sisterhood Repents for the Holocaust. OUP.

10 Huggler, J. German churches open the doors to refugees under protection of ancient custom. The Daily Telegraph, 15 March 2015.

11 Taylor, F. Hundreds of Muslim Refugees convert to Christianity in German church. Christianity Today, 7 September 2015.

Is Euroscepticism a sign of a deeper dissatisfaction with the direction in which Britain is heading?

Over the next few months the question of whether Britain should be in or out of Europe is no doubt going to occupy a great deal of the news media. David Cameron's publication of the demands that he intends presenting to the European Council were a surprise only for the mildness of what he expects to achieve.

Mild Demands

In his letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister set out his four key objectives for the re-negotiation of Britain's place in Europe. They are: –

1. Protection of the single market for Britain and other non-Euro countries
2. Boosting competitiveness by setting a target for the reduction of the 'burden' of red tape
3. Exempting Britain from 'ever-closer union' and bolstering national parliaments
4. Restricting EU migrants' access to in-work benefits such as tax credits

With such a mild set of demands an impartial observer could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about! In any case, to get any meaningful changes in the EU's governing treaties before 2017, when Cameron has promised a referendum, is quite impossible. His demands are far too modest to satisfy those who want to see substantial differences in Britain's relationship with Europe.

The demands will be formally debated by the EU leaders at a summit next month, although no doubt most of the EU leaders were already well aware of what our Prime Minister is asking. He has had extensive talks with Angela Merkel, who has already indicated that she would go a long way to make concessions that will keep Britain in the EU - provided nothing infringes on the free movement of people within the Union.

Battle for Greater Independence

One thing David Cameron has already made clear to the rest of Europe is that Britain is totally opposed to any closer political union within the EU. But whether he can achieve greater independence and - in particular – freedom to control our own borders, is very doubtful. Perhaps the greatest danger is that the EU leaders will collectively conspire to make the achievement of even the smallest concessions look extremely difficult so that Cameron is able to claim a magnificent victory in the face of fierce opposition.

David Cameron might have made it clear that Britain opposes closer political union within the EU, but will he manage to achieve greater independence for the UK?

Our Prime Minister could then put his 'hard-won' victory to the British people and achieve a 'Yes' vote for staying in the EU without actually ever having achieved what the Eurosceptics want – greater independence so that we can make our own laws and re-gain our national sovereignty, for which we fought two world wars. They want to be able to trade with Europe without being under the heel of Brussels.

Deeper Dissatisfaction

But is there not a deeper reason why so many people want freedom from the European Union? A recent poll reported on the Conservative Home website says that more than two-thirds of Conservative Party members are likely to vote for Britain to leave the EU. Why is this? What is making people so dissatisfied with the present situation?

Could the reason for this dissatisfaction be the vague sense of having lost our national heritage? The older generation, in particular, has lived through the most incredible period of social change in our history. The changes have not only been in technology and scientific discovery that have given us space travel, the internet, heart transplantations and weapons of mass destruction; but also radical changes to our whole culture and national way of life. It is now hard to define 'British values'– what it is to be British.

What is making people so dissatisfied with the present situation? Could it be the vague sense of having lost our national heritage – what it means to be British?

Change of Pace

Even our humour and entertainment have changed beyond all recognition in the past decade or so - as looking at old films from the 1970s or 80s confirms. I was never very keen on films such as the 'Carry On' series, but at least they were harmless slapstick nonsense - although many of their subjects would fall foul of our politically correct restrictions today. Moreover, you could take the children to see them without blushing at the filthy language that litter so many films and TV programmes today!

Many of today's Eurosceptics are really looking for 'the good old days' when life was a lot simpler and the pace was not so hectic. One of my friends who works on a TV news programme told me the other day that she has on average 500 emails a day! I usually have 40 or 50 a day (plus 2 or 3 scam phone calls) but even that I find a drain on my time and a huge test of my patience and endurance!

Abandoned Foundations

We are not going to be able to put the clock back or make radical changes to our national way of life whether we stay in the EU or whether we wave goodbye. The plain fact is that as a nation we have abandoned the most valuable part of our heritage that has been part of the foundations of this nation for hundreds of years. What I'm referring to is our biblical heritage: the values and principles that were enshrined in the nation that gave us freedom and justice and schools and hospitals and welfare programmes. Rights and obligations were built into our unwritten national code: respect for other people, plus honesty, truthfulness, integrity, faithfulness, loyalty, love and generosity.

All these things were part of being a good citizen; they were taught in church and school, so that they became part and parcel of being 'British'. They were taken for granted as part of the national character. This is what we have lost through the onslaught of secular humanism and the aggressive campaigning of cultural anarchists who care nothing for truth and integrity, but care only for themselves and the achievement of their destructive objectives – especially destroying family life.

Our biblical heritage enshrined principles of freedom and justice into our nation – but we have taken these things for granted as part of 'British' character, and now they are being lost.

Spiritual Rebirth

Whether we stay in the EU or get out may not make much difference to the cultural life of the nation. The only way to bring about fundamental change is through a spiritual rebirth: the rediscovery of the spiritual dynamic that can set us free from the powers of darkness that are driving us towards an ever greater national catastrophe. Our young people are being threatened by indoctrination with evil and corrosive values that, if left unchecked, will spread a social cancer across the nation. Many people no longer recognise ultimate values of truth and integrity but are being seduced by the nihilistic hedonism of the age.

But the tide could still be turned if all the Christians in Britain would be active in sharing their faith! Angela Merkel recently spoke of her strong evangelical Christian faith and called upon German Christians to be more active in speaking about their faith with their new Muslim neighbours coming from the Middle East in such large numbers. It would be great to hear more of this kind of witness from our national leaders.