One of the things I enjoy about summer in England are the country fairs. This year we sampled Chale fair on the Isle of Wight. There were many shows and stalls but my favourites were a display of big old steam engines parading around the ground, a show of prize cockerels and chickens and a tasty ploughman’s lunch in the tea tent. And the sunshine was broken by just one small rain shower.
At times like these I find it easy to think that despite the problems with which we are bombarded by the news media, all is actually safe and well in our beautiful British Isles.
Divided, Unfaithful Israel
To give some balance to my romanticism, I have been reading the Bible’s historical accounts of divided Israel under the various kings, good and bad, and the associated prophets of their times.
What has come across to me is that for both nations under these kings, in spite of empires growing around them with resulting international disputes and their awful consequences, and this together with times of national hardship, there seemed to be a pervading self-satisfaction and sense of prosperity amongst national decision-makers, leading to a false sense of security (Amos 6:1-6 for instance). Meanwhile, for the many, there was increasing poverty and hardship, often as a result of unfair business practices (Isa 10:1-2).
Spiritually speaking, it was a time when folks were apparently very religious, choosing for themselves various non-gods to go alongside Adonai God (Isa 10:10-11, Hos 3:1, etc.). The majority of people would not seek the one true God wholeheartedly, paying Him the same sort of attention that they paid their idols - making the appropriate sacrifices at Passover and other feast days, but all the while anxious to get back to making the next business killing.
Don’t get me wrong. There were several times of great revival under such kings as Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 17-20), Hezekiah (2 Chron 29-32) and Josiah (2 Chron 34-35), with memorable feast day celebrations and times of worship that would have been the subject of reminiscence around the meal table for generations afterwards, together with memories of the times God miraculously saved each nation from apparent disaster.
But then there were the ‘doomsayers’, those prophets like Isaiah, Hosea and Jeremiah who were considered wet blankets on any self-advancement of or within Israel and Judah. They warned everybody of the disasters awaiting if they didn’t turn back to God in total trusting obedience.
Stronger Measures
Now in spite of my romantic picture of English summers, I can see another picture surfacing, similar to that of the divided Israeli kingdom. Have you noticed the way that some of our traditional summer events now include an element of multi-faith worship? This is just one of the many signs of our humanistic age.
For the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, history shows that the prophets were right. God’s patience came to an end and He used the stronger measures of conquest and exile to bring His holy, set apart nation of Israel back to Him in repentance.
Our British Isles could once be described as a God-fearing nation. We can reminisce around our meal tables about great times of spiritual revival and survival from enemies against all odds. But now that we have drifted into humanistic paganism, can we expect God to be any more lenient with us than He was with Israel?
The era of Britain as a great Christian nation is over. It is now the time for each of us to seek God for His mercy and to do all we can to bring the lost, one by one, into the protection of our Heavenly Father’s sheepfold as times of hard testing come upon our nation.
Author: John Quinlan
