Yes, it is a sign.

Confusion came to Israel and Judah when they turned from God’s covenant, according to the clear statements of what would bring curse and what would bring blessing in Deuteronomy 28 – an increasingly severe set of circumstances besetting the nation, eventually resulting in the Babylonian captivity.

Early in the return from the captivity, Ezra summed it up:

Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. (Ezra 9:7 KJV, emphasis added)

The UK is not Israel, but the principles of the Bible are there for us to study. Indeed, we are a nation that has sought to covenant with God and to live by biblical constitutional principles developed over many centuries. These principles have been behind God’s favour and protection in past times - but they have been broken piecemeal through the present generation.

Escalating Signs

In this magazine, just as Amos warned Israel by interpreting the signs (Amos 4), we have highlighted the escalating signs in our nation for more than 30 years. Now, in the context of an election founded on the need to withdraw from an alliance with the EU, with terrorist acts of violence in the background, we have emerged with a hung Parliament and confusion abounding.

We are a nation that has sought to covenant with God and live by biblical constitutional principles – until the present generation.

We have recognised a period of grace from the Lord to withdraw from the EU and many of us hoped that this withdrawal would be enabled through a clear election result. But even then we would have recognised it as, at best, a beginning of potential recovery to the Lord’s favour – and by no means a guarantee.

However, it is not going to be that easy! God’s judgment, in whatever way Almighty God has brought this about in our nation, is not to make this path easy. If we could read the signs clearly, we would hear His voice calling, “return to me wholeheartedly and I will return to you and help you.”

Call for Repentance

At the time of writing, there is still an ongoing assessment of the fall-out of the election - discussions which go this way and that to try to understand the factors at work and the way forward. For the moment the Conservative Party holds the ground of leadership, though weakly, but change of the entire political landscape is very close.

Through the election campaigns, even from a human perspective there have been clear undercurrents in the country that mark a transition in our nation. There has been an undercurrent from young people, fired up by what seems like a faint light of hope from the leader of the Labour party. New forms of social media evident across the world have been playing a significant role, signalling a new form of democracy - he who captures the moment will capture the future. Yet despite high levels of voter engagement and turnout, the rallying cries from politicians have been on principles that are far from centred on the ways of the God of Israel.

God’s judgment is not to make this path easy.

The themes of the election campaigns have focussed on important issues, including Brexit, the NHS, social care, pensions, tax, education, Scottish devolution and defence. No-one would say that the party manifestoes were completely devoid of righteous ideals, but equally there has been no talk of honouring or rescuing the biblical underpinnings of our nation, or of reversing the laws that have been passed in our nation over this generation that are 100% against biblical principles.

The abounding confusion is a clear sign that God is calling for repentance and things will not get better unless and until there is a turning back to him. However righteous the words of the electioneering may seem, they will fail unless they are enabled through the righteousness of God.

Time to Unite

But what about the Christian community in Britain? Where was our voice in the public arena throughout these past two months of electioneering? Indeed, where has a united Christian voice been over the last generation of the UK’s falling away from God? We must admit that we are diverse and disjointed. We seek to highlight our concerns but we only talk to one another – to our relatively small groups of like-minded Christians.

Surely now is our time to unite together before God in watching and praying, so that we might hear from God together what we, his Priests of the New Covenant, are called to do with one heart and one voice. We, among all the people of the nation have the resources to find the way of calling the nation to God in repentance.

Surely now is the time for believers to unite together before God in watching and praying, that we might hear from God together.

By coincidence my reading this morning was from Hosea 10, which features principles that we have highlighted over many years and which could not be more appropriate for our nation today. I leave them here as a prompt to prayer:

For now they say, we have no king, because we did not fear the Lord. And as for a king, what would he do for us? They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgement springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field. (Hosea 10:3-4)

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till he comes and rains righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12)