Is there any prophetic significance in the warnings given to MPs that the Houses of Parliament are crumbling?
Just look at the facts. It was back in October 2012 that MPs were first alerted to the serious problems in the Grade 1 listed building, part of which is nearly 1000 years old and is listed as a World Heritage Site. A new report this week gives further urgency to the warnings that unless urgent repairs are carried out the building could collapse in 20 years.
Warnings
MPs have also been warned that if they insist on staying in the buildings whilst repairs are carried out it could take up to 32 years and cost up to £7 billion. The building doesn't just require minor repairs. The whole structure is crumbling. Built on London clay, it is slowly sliding towards the river. There are serious problems with the roof, the walls are crumbling and the foundations are cracking so MPs are facing a number of options. If they move out the work could take up to 10 years and cost about £3 billion, which is clearly the surveyors' favoured option.
But where do they go?
A number of different scenarios have been proposed including moving out of London to Manchester or Birmingham. Most MPs will probably favour staying within London which would certainly be the cheapest option, particularly if they can stay close to Westminster so that all the Whitehall offices can be maintained and the hugely costly movement of the civil service bureaucracy will be unnecessary.
A number of buildings in Westminster and nearby are being considered such as the Methodist Central Hall, or the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, just across from Parliament Square. Other suggestions include moving Parliament into the Olympic Park in East London – which is the downmarket option. The upmarket option is to move into Buckingham Palace. But the Queen might have something to say about this! Another alternative is to build an entirely new building somewhere in London and sell the old building to the highest bidder who would no doubt either be an Arab sheik or the Chinese!
Is there a deeper reason for the crumbling condition of the Houses of Parliament? Is God saying something about the laws passed there that have been anathema to his will and word?
Neglect
Why has the 'Mother of Parliaments' reached such a state of neglect? We have just been celebrating the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta and earlier this year we marked the 800th anniversary of the Simon de Montfort Parliament, the oldest in the Western world. The Houses of Parliament are part of our national heritage. Of course, those responsible for the buildings should have carried out many of these repairs as routine maintenance over past decades. Surely, to allow the buildings to reach such a state of decay shows a failure in caring for the property somewhere along the line. Why has the building been allowed to drop into this desperate state of disrepair?
Why has it happened?
Could there be a deeper reason for the crumbling condition of our Houses of Parliament? Is God saying something to us about the laws that have been passed through both Houses of Parliament in the past 40 or 50 years that have been in direct opposition to biblical standards and the teaching of his word?
As a nation we have acknowledged Christianity to be the faith of our people for more than 1000 years. At the Coronation of each Monarch we expect them to declare their commitment to uphold the Christian faith- and yet we have required the Queen to put her signature to Acts of Parliament that are anathema to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose Bible we claim to revere.
Unholy laws
We have passed laws abolishing the Sabbath and permitting Sunday trading and Sunday sports and entertainment, making it a day like any other day. We have undermined family life through abortion, easy divorce, and same-sex 'marriage'. We have sent our soldiers to fight in wars that had little or nothing to do with our national security. We have passed laws that favour the rich and deny justice to the poor.
Greed and corruption have been exposed in every part of the life of the nation over the past 10 years – among the bankers, among MPs, among newspaper moguls and journalists, among the police, among celebrities and entertainers, among all sections of society – even in the church – because God is shaking the nations as he promised in Hebrews 12:26-27. Now we are seeing our Parliament buildings cracking at the foundations.
The sorry condition of Parliament is a powerful metaphor of Britain's crumbling moral and spiritual state.
So what is God saying to us?
For those who are unwilling to view the sorry condition of Parliament as a prophetic sign, it is nevertheless a powerful metaphor of Britain's crumbling moral, spiritual, economic and political state. Should we not be calling upon our MPs to cancel business in the House for a whole day and get before the Lord in prayer, in humility and repentance, seeking what he is saying to the nation? If the Commons will not do this, surely Members of the Lords, who are ostensibly older and wiser, will recognise the need to seek what God is saying to the nation today? At least the bishops in the House of Lords should lead the way!
But will this happen? Is there any spiritual life left in the great Mother of Parliaments where in former years the word of God was often quoted and always upheld? In the words of King David, "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psa 11:3)
