The nation is reeling – but why, and what can we do about it?

I have had a few days up in the Austrian Tyrol, walking, praying and breathing fresh mountain air. It was a little glimpse of paradise – physically and spiritually refreshing. Coming back to Britain there was a palpable sense of heaviness and depression hanging over the nation. Even the immigration officer inspecting my passport at London airport gloomily referred to the state of the nation and commented that I would have done better not to have come back!

We reached home at 1 o’clock on Wednesday morning, which was just the time the terrible fire broke out in the Kensington tower block. The tragic news in the morning could only add to the depression hanging over the nation like the thick black cloud of smoke drifting over London.

Since then I’ve been searching for good news – something I could say in this editorial that would lift the hearts of our readers. The last thing I want to do is to add to the doom and gloom coming out of Westminster and filling our news media. Then, with the still burning Grenfell Tower in the background, the TV news showed crowds of people bringing food and clothing and toiletries and a multitude of gifts for the survivors of the inferno.

The spontaneous generosity and goodness of the ordinary people of London who immediately sprang into action on behalf of their neighbours was a wonderful reminder that love and goodness are not dead in our nation. People were coming from every part of the multi-ethnic community in Kensington, which was a powerful testimony to the latent goodness of human nature that goes beyond race, colour, class, nationality and every other human distinction.

Nation Under Judgment

This outpouring of love and generosity is a true picture of our nature created in the image of God. But we reserve this outpouring for special occasions; we do not carry it over into our everyday lives, where we display our fallen human nature marred by selfishness and corrupted by personal ambition.

This gives us a clue to the central problem affecting the nation. Everyone is asking why the nation is in such a mess. The plain and honest answer is that we are a nation under judgment.

The spontaneous generosity of the ordinary people of London was a wonderful reminder that love and goodness are not dead in our nation.

No-one really wants to face this unpleasant truth because Christians who firmly hold to biblical values are scorned and labelled, ‘right-wing’, ‘homophobic’, ‘Islamophobic’ and all the other clichés and invectives invented by secular humanists to try to discredit those who stand firm against the liberalisation of the nation and the rejection of our Judeo-Christian heritage. Sadly, some who call themselves Christians have adopted this language to abuse those who remain true to the Bible.

God’s Ultimate Authority

Just look at the facts: our Prime Minister had a perfectly workable majority in the Commons which she gambled and lost through putting her trust in the polls. It is probable that she also trusted advisers who elevated her to ‘celebrity’ status, basing the election campaign around her rather than the ‘strong and stable’ government we were promised. So the hoped-for landslide fell into the valley of disaster.

This is where Scripture comes to our aid in understanding what has happened in the political sphere. Paul’s teaching is very clear: “There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” (Rom 13:1).

Then in Deuteronomy 28:20 we read what God does when a nation deliberately turns their backs upon biblical truth: “The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.”

But this harsh statement is tempered by the solemn promise of God in Jeremiah 18:7: “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.”

Call to Remain Faithful

We should always be careful not to apply biblical statements literally to our contemporary situation, but look at the situation when they were written. The Deuteronomy quote was specifically to Israel, a nation in a covenant relationship with God. The promise given in Jeremiah was to all nations at any time. Paul’s teaching was designed to re-assure the Roman authorities that the small company of Christian believers had no political ambitions or desire to challenge the authority of the Emperor.

We are a nation under judgment – but nobody wants to face this unpleasant truth.

Again, look at the facts: Britain is a self-declared Christian nation in which our monarch pledged on behalf of us all to be faithful to the Protestant religion and to uphold the word of the Lord. So long as we, as a nation, remain faithful to uphold biblical values and the Lord’s name, we can be sure of his protection and blessing. When we forsake the Truth, we put ourselves outside God’s protection. That is judgment.

Although the Conservatives have the most seats in the new Parliament, the only way they can form a Government is by co-operating with the DUP, whose distinctive feature is their commitment to upholding biblical beliefs and values. Surely we have to conclude that God is speaking to our nation through this situation.

Time for Christians to Rise Up

Disasters will continue to happen unless we acknowledge that as a nation we have departed from the ways of truth and earnestly seek God’s forgiveness and blessing, which he is more than eager to bestow upon us. We cannot expect the whole nation to understand this situation and to respond rightly: but surely Christians can understand the ways of God! Now is the time for us to steady the nation with the word of the Lord. God’s love has not been withdrawn and never will be, but we have brought this situation upon ourselves.

It is time for Christians to steady the nation with the word of the Lord.

The greatest need today is for the mobilisation of Christians to intercede on behalf of the nation. God does not wait until there is a democratic majority before responding – he’s looking for the faithful remnant of believers to break their silence, to ask for the power of his Holy Spirit in making our witness in the nation and to re-affirm our love for him and for Britain. The fruit of judgment will quickly be removed if we are faithful and blessings will flow.

Parliament’s Christian witness will prevail.

As if London hasn’t seen enough tragedy of late, her weary eight million residents woke up to a veritable picture of Dante’s inferno on Wednesday morning. The sight of a West London tower block burning away all night was truly terrible, with all the loss of life, home and family that resulted. Our hearts go out to all the victims.

In truth, we are all reeling in shock, perhaps wondering why things just seem to have gone from bad to worse in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks. And though the Grenfell Tower fire did not fall into the latter category, the cause is as yet unknown.

Nevertheless, we need to take stock, and continue to pray for God’s mercy on our battered nation, now further rocked by the resignation as leader of the Liberal Democrat Party of Christian politician Tim Farron. More of that later…

Biblical Voice in Parliament Maintained

In fact, not everything is gloom and doom; there are real signs of hope, despite a General Election that left confusion and chaos as politicians jostled for power, the Conservatives winning most seats but with no overall majority, and thus in a seemingly weak place for negotiating our exit from the European Union.

The Bible says: “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order” (Prov 28:2).

Christians had been dismayed as they found themselves having to choose between main parties who had all agreed that sexual ethics – and in particular same-sex marriage – was not an issue. So it seemed that the way was left open to continue running the country on secular humanist lines, with no thought for the biblical laws that have underpinned our civilisation for centuries.

We need to take stock, and continue to pray for God’s mercy on our battered nation.

But who would have thought the Conservatives would be forced to ‘get into bed’ with the strongly Christian Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland, in order to secure a still wafer-thin overall majority for carrying out planned legislation? The DUP’s ten seats add up to a coalition fractionally more than all the other parties put together. So they will clearly be beholden to their friends from across the Irish Sea, a fact provoking hysteria from many quarters – not least the Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who is a lesbian.

It could certainly make for a rough passage for any new un-Christian laws. The DUP is thoroughly opposed to same-sex marriage and, in line with their Bible-believing basis, is also unreservedly pro-Israel.

So, for all the humanistic attempts to rid Parliament of its Christian witness, God has ensured that it remains – and that biblical thinking cannot be ignored. God will not be mocked.

The psalmist asks: “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.’ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them…” (Ps 2:1-4).

The fiercely Protestant DUP was founded in 1971 by the Rev Ian Paisley who, when he launched the Northern Ireland Friends of Israel group in March 2009, drew a parallel between his own country’s struggles against terrorism and that of Israel’s. And he also prayed for peace in Jerusalem!¹

Time to Plead with God

Last Sunday evening, as my wife and I contemplated the ongoing political turbulence, we suddenly noticed a worrying crack in the ceiling, with water dripping through. Our hot water tank was leaking and on the blink, and we have since had it replaced (at no small cost). Thankfully, disaster was averted by an emergency plumber.

It was very much a picture of the state of the nation with the drip, drip, drip feed of secularism (and in particular the LGBT+ agenda) on the point of bringing the house down. We are in serious hot water, and poison is leaking into the ship of state, which is on the verge of sinking.

For all the humanistic attempts to rid Parliament of its Christian witness, God has ensured that it remains.

I am sickened by the BBC’s continual obsession with depicting the ‘virtues’ of left-wing propaganda. As the country rocks with uncertainty, and in danger of collapse, a great show is made of a ‘gay pride’ march in York, described as a symbol of unity and love. Of course, I realise this is nothing compared to the 200,000 who marched through Tel Aviv, Israel’s major city, in celebration of the homosexual lifestyle. And that in what is universally known as the ‘Holy Land’! However, this only goes to prove that both Jews and Gentiles are prodigals whom the Father longs to welcome back.

And since we are talking numbers, it’s worth noting that a recent prayer meeting of Christians in South Africa drew a massive 1.7 million people (equal to Tel Aviv’s total population) to a farm outside the central city of Bloemfontein, where they pleaded God’s mercy for their beloved nation. We too, in Britain, need to pray – and how! Surely it’s time Christians got together, as they have done in South Africa, to plead God’s mercy for our land?

Truth Turned Upside-Down

Tim Farron. See Photo Credits.

Tragically, much of the West has not only rejected God and his laws, but has gone further by turning millennia-old precepts completely upside-down. The Prophet Isaiah, writing 2,700 years ago, said: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks…” (Isa 5:20-22). Ring any bells?

To put it another way, it would be like Monty Don reporting from the Chelsea Flower Show that weeds are the new flowers and rubbishing anachronistic gardeners who insist on showing their beautiful roses and lilies amidst finely-cut lawns and water features.

Exaggerating? Hardly – for one of the most disturbing aspects of the election campaign was the blatant anti-Christian prejudice promoted in much of the media, claiming that Christian candidates were unfit to hold public office because of their biblical views.² Even the Prime Minister was condemned by a major national newspaper for visiting one of the UK’s largest black churches – because the church opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.³

One of the most disturbing aspects of the election campaign was the blatant anti-Christian prejudice promoted in much of the media.

And now Tim Farron is the latest victim. After an insufferable media campaign directed at his Christian faith, in the words of Evangelical Alliance spokesman David Landrum, “he has found himself torn between living as a faithful Christian and serving as a political leader – and so he has resigned. And who could blame him? Politics has always been a tough business and general elections have always been rough rides. Tim was surely prepared for that. What he wasn’t prepared for, and what nobody really expected, was a vicious and sustained assault on his faith. And he wasn’t alone in this.”⁴

The Fields are Ripe for Harvest

Finally, on a more positive note: Rosaria Butterfield, a former lesbian and LGBT advocate, converted to Christ after reading large sections of the Bible as part of research into why the so-called religious right ‘hated’ people like her. Her first book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, details her conversion and the cataclysmic fallout which followed – in which she lost “everything but the dog”, yet gained eternal life in Christ.

We are the people of the Book, which holds the key to life and leads us to the ‘pearl of great price’ which can often cost us everything (Matt 13:46). Pearls are shaped through rough times, and we need to speak up for Christ in the face of the storm.

References

1 Teller, N. The UK balance of power – weighted towards Israel. Jerusalem Post, 12 June 2017.

2 E.g. The Daily Mirror, 4 May 2017, The Spectator, 18 May 2017, Buzz Feed, 27 May 2017. See here.

3 Robertson, D. The Independent, 30 May 2017.

4 Landrum, D. Farron’s fall – neither liberal nor democratic. Christian Today, 15 June 2017.

Clifford Denton discusses Jean Darnall's visions of revival in Britain and Europe.

Jean Darnall's visions of revival in Britain and Europe, originally seen in 1967, may well still be relevant today. They were published more recently in 1993.¹ Information concerning these visions has circulated widely and they have long been accepted as authentic prophecy to our nation. It is fitting, therefore, to include them in this short series leading up to the EU Referendum, as we consider the nation's future from a prophetic perspective.

Conditions on Prophecy

Before reviewing these visions let us first consider the matter of conditions on prophecy. Many visions and spoken words circulating today promise particular events or developments, but seem to lack conditions. It is as if they herald what is inevitably going to happen, irrespective of our response. I would, however, propose that conditions are almost always applicable to prophecies that promise future events.

Consider, for example, God's covenant with Israel. Deuteronomy 28 is a clear statement of blessings that will follow obedience and curses that will follow disobedience. This was summed up in Deuteronomy 11:26-28:

Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God...The curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God... [emphases added]

The principle of conditions applying to God's vision for the future is instilled into the Hebraic mindset - a paradox of two futures simultaneously being set before a people. Which future unfolded for Israel was conditional on the way the people behaved.

The principle of conditions applying to God's vision for the future is instilled into the Hebraic mindset.

I would suggest that this Hebraic mindset should be implicit in our own testing of all prophecy. I am not saying that there are not times when the Lord acts unconditionally, but that we would be wise to accept that most predictive prophecy we receive today has conditions, even if they are not explicitly stated.

To verify this point let us read again the conditions that are stated in Jeremiah 18:7-10:

The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in my sight so that it does not obey my voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. [emphases added]

When we see a vision from the Lord or hear a word of prophecy concerning our nation, what lies ahead is conditional on our response to the word. If we have been given a promise of blessing, it is conditional on our continuing in God's ways. If we have been given a warning of woe, its withholding is conditional on our heeding the warning and turning from our wrongdoing.

Let us have this in mind as we continue to assess the situation of the UK before God in terms of the prophecies we are testing. We must also make sure to distinguish between what the Lord is saying about our nation as a whole, and what he is saying about the community of believers within the nation. Depending on what the focus is, the requirement for response may well vary.

Jean Darnall

Now let us turn to the visions for Britain given to Jean Darnall, which were expressly to the British Church. Jean Darnall was one of the influential leaders in the charismatic movement and considered to be a reliable prophetic voice in the nation. She ministered in many other countries too. The background to her ministry is on her website. I quote here the first paragraph of her testimony:

Converted as a teenager, following a miraculous healing, Jean Darnall began her preaching and healing ministry at the age of sixteen. Later, she and her husband, Elmer, went to Panama as ordained missionaries for the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Following their missionary service, they planted Foursquare churches in Canada and the eastern United States.

The visions that she had for Britain are published in the book referenced below.² A useful summary can also be found here.

The visions were seen in 1967 and were possibly fulfilled in the charismatic movement, which was soon to break forth. However, by revisiting the visions we can test whether they have been totally fulfilled or whether there are valid aspects of them that are still relevant for the future, especially concerning Europe.

When we receive a vision or prophecy from the Lord, what lies ahead is conditional on our response to the word.

Visions of Revival

At the time in 1967, Jean Darnall was planning to go from the USA to Hong Kong via England, where she had the third experience of a vision she had seen twice before. On account of the visions, she remained for ministry in the UK.

In the vision, the British Isles were covered in green mist and there were pinpoints of light breaking through in various places which, on closer examination, were seen to be fires breaking out all over the nation, from Scotland to Lands End.

As these fires were joined together they burned brighter. Then rivers of fire flowed from North to South; from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales into England, some crossing the channel into Europe.

The fires were interpreted to be groups of people who were intensely hungry for the word of God and for authentic New Testament Christianity, showing discontent with the Church as it was and coming together in Prayer and Bible study groups in church buildings and in homes.

Jean Darnall asked the Lord about the vision and had the distinct impression that there would be two moves of God. The first would be the renewal of Christian faith and fullness of the Holy Spirit within the Church.

This would be followed by renewal of life in the church through a fresh awakening which would move into every aspect of the nation's life, including universities, colleges, schools, and into the media and the government.

Jean Darnall saw visions of successive moves of God – renewing the Church, the nation and beyond into Europe.

The character of the nation of Britain would be transformed and be followed by a move of God in Europe. Every part of the nation's life would feel the impact of the spiritual awakening and God would move in signs and wonders. Gifted communicators would address the nation through the media, including the arts, journalism, radio and television. Actors, singers, teachers and other powerful communicators would be called to this ministry and the Lord would also call many of the younger generation to it.

Weighing and Testing

This is a very brief summary of the visions, which in 1967 were received by many as prophetic. This was a prophecy to the Church at the time, but with a vision for the nation as well.

No conditions were stated so, in the light of what was said at the beginning of this study, we must consider what the conditions might be.

• How were/are the fellowships represented by the lights to come about? Was/is it conditional on prayer, and were/are the praying groups those whom the Lord would first awaken to be those lights?
• What are the conditions that would lead to the great move of the Lord across Britain and Europe also mentioned in the prophecy?
  • Reviewing the history of the Church over the decades since 1967, the charismatic movement could be seen as a fulfilment of this prophecy, but we have not yet seen a greater awakening in our nation and across Europe. Indeed, some would say, on overall reflection, that the charismatic movement has borne considerable good fruit, but also some bad fruit.
• This prophecy does not stand alone - perhaps it is part of the fulfilment of the Mother Barbara prophecy, which we highlighted two weeks ago. Also consider how it overlaps with the prophecy given by Smith Wigglesworth, which we highlighted last week. Perhaps the move of God's Spirit did not (or has not yet) merged with a thirst to study the Scriptures. Is that a condition that has to be fulfilled, and will it be fulfilled?

As we prayerfully test each of these prophecies and put them alongside others, does an overall picture emerge - of both vision and conditions for fulfilment? This is a sensitive issue and will not be resolved unless we turn to the Lord in prayer, so that is what we must do. This is a key moment in the history of the Church and of our nation.

Next time: Paul Slennett's vision concerning a coming financial earthquake.

References

¹ Black, H. Revival, Including the Prophetic Vision of Jean Darnall, New Dawn Books.

² See note 1.

True prophets are those who have been set on fire by the Spirit of God.

When God began to reveal himself to Moses he chose to do so in flames of fire enveloping a bush. As Moses came upon the scene he was puzzled to see that, although the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. So he decided to look into the matter more closely. When the Lord saw that he had gone over to investigate, God called to him from within the bush.

What do we learn from this encounter about the nature of the God we worship, and what have today's prophets to learn from the fact that the God they proclaim is a consuming fire? (Ex 3:1-6).

Lessons at the Burning Bush

Moses was mystified to observe that, although the bush was obviously on fire, it was not consumed. This showed him that Yahweh, the God who had chosen to reveal himself to Moses, was completely self-sufficient. The flames needed no fuel. This God needed no help from anyone else. He was self-perpetuating. Therefore, he could be trusted absolutely.

Another lesson was that mortal man must not approach Yahweh. For God had said to Moses, "Do not come any closer...Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground". Moses had become aware that he was in fact being confronted by none other than God himself. "For Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God" (Ex 3:6).

The burning bush that was not consumed shows that God is completely self-sufficient and needs no help from anyone else – and therefore he can be trusted absolutely.

God subsequently told Moses that he was aware of the suffering of his people at the hands of their Egyptian overseers, and that he had come down to rescue them (Ex 3:7-8). By the conclusion of this encounter, Moses knew that God was totally self-sufficient, and that he was holy and must not be approached by sinful man. But he also knew that God cared about his people Israel and intended to rescue them from their Egyptian slavery in fulfilment of his covenant relationship with their fathers (Ex 3:6).

Other Revelations of God by Fire

The first incident in which God appears in fire comes at the end of the story of the fall of man, when God had to banish Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden and placed "cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life" (Gen 3:24). The Garden of Eden was closed to man because of his sin, and the flaming sword disclosed the wrath of a holy God on all who, like Adam, are disobedient.

However, the method of navigation in darkness which God gave to his pilgrim people reveals the beneficial use of fire. "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night" (Ex 13:31). The same God who had banned them from Eden now took his place at the head of their wandering tribes to lead them by the pillar of fire until they reached their promised land.

The same God who banned his people from Eden with a flaming sword took his place at their head in Exodus, leading them by fire to the Promised Land.

Offerings Made by Fire

The Levitical offerings which prefigure the saving work of Christ and enable us to understand the way of salvation are listed in the book of Leviticus chapters 1 to 7, and it contains one phrase which repeats over 40 times. The offerings were made to the Lord "by fire" (Lev 2:3).

This fire, which was kindled by God himself, was never to be allowed to die. "The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out" (Lev 6:13). We are told that this "fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering, whereupon the people shouted for joy and fell face down" (Lev 9:24). The two sons of Aaron the high priest, Nadab and Abihu, dared to offer unauthorised fire on God's altar, and perished for their presumption (Lev 10:1-2).

Charles Wesley had the right attitude to the place of sacred fire in our reverence and esteem when he wrote, "O thou who camest from above the pure celestial fire to impart, kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of my heart. There let it for thy glory burn with inextinguishable blaze".

In Leviticus we read about the sacred altar fire, kindled by God himself, which shows that he demands reverence and esteem.

Commandments Through the Fire

It was through the medium of fire, Moses told the people, that God spoke his commandments. Communication of the Law in this manner must have impressed Moses, for he refers to it at least nine times in the book of Deuteronomy:

Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. He declared to you his covenant, the ten commandments which he commanded you to follow. (Deut 4:12-13)

The impression it had on Moses can be judged by his challenge to the people, "Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have and lived?" (Deut 4:33).

Proof by Fire

Centuries later the prophet Elijah brought a challenge to the prophets of Baal with the proclamation, "You call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers by fire - he is God!" (1 Ki 18:24). After hours of fruitless praying and screaming to their god, and at the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah stepped forward and quietly asked that God would vindicate his confidence and act. "Then the fire of the Lord fell...When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, 'The Lord - he is God. The Lord - he is God!'" (1 Ki 18:38-39).

Two Words for 'Burning'

There are at least nine words in the Hebrew Bible which can be translated 'burn', five of which occur only two or three times. One word, alah, means 'to ascend', but the other two are interesting because of the way in which they are used. The word qatar is reserved for those offerings, whether of incense or of sacrificial animals, the smells of which ascend to God as a pleasant aroma. On the other hand, the term saraph is reserved for destructive burning.

It is important to note this distinction, for the Bible throughout is careful to differentiate between the fire of God that destroys and the fire that blesses. Amos says, "This is what the Sovereign Lord showed: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire" (Amos 7:4). On the other hand, according to the prophet Zechariah, "Jerusalem will be a city without walls...I myself will be a wall of fire around it", declares the Lord" (Zech 2:4-5).

The different Hebrew words translated as 'burn' distinguish between the fire of God that destroys and the fire that blesses.

So the God of the Bible who is revealed to us in contrasting ways is both the consuming fire of Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29 and the refining fire of Malachi 3:3-4 that purifies us until we are like gold and silver.

The Burning Heart of the Prophet

In the prophecy of Jeremiah, we have three examples of how the prophet reacted to his particular situation.

1. "Therefore this is what the Lord God almighty says: 'Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.'" These people had been saying that Jeremiah and other prophets were wind-bags (Jer 5:13) and that, despite their rebellious spirit, "no harm will come to us" (Jer 5:12). But God promises that he will make their words disappear like a pile of dry sticks when they are set alight.
2. "But if I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name. His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones...'" Jeremiah had decided that he could no longer serve as a prophet. He is not thrilled with the message God has given him, and bares his heart as he tells that the flame burning in his heart compels him to carry on despite all the problems (Jer 20:9).
3. "'Is not my word like fire', declares the Lord, 'and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?'" (Jer 23:29). In contrast with the false prophets and their powerless words, God's truth is like fire and like a hammer. It is both penetrating and purifying, and so should encourage all who have experienced frustration and pointlessness to begin again with new confidence in the fire of God's presence with them. Jeremiah's experience is beautifully expressed in the words of Psalm 39:2-3: "when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue."

To Jeremiah, God's word was like a fire burning in his heart and mouth, powerful and compelling.

His Servants Like Flames of Fire

These words from Psalm 104:4 indicate what God wants his servants to be. He wants them to blaze. This is why part of the experience of Pentecost is that of being completely immersed in the fire of God (Matt 3:11). On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God came upon the disciples, and the visual manifestations that accompanied his presence were tongues of fire.

We can therefore conclude that a true prophet is someone who has been set on fire by the Spirit of God. He is one who has made a complete offering of himself to God, one who not only proclaims the fire of God's love but also reverences the God who is a consuming fire. He is one whose heart has been strangely warmed, and who can keep on speaking even when this makes him unpopular and unacceptable with the false prophets who are content to prophesy only what people want to hear (Jer 23: 16-18).

Seeing God as Fire

The prophet Ezekiel writes, "While I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. I looked and saw an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The centre of the fire looked like glowing metal..." (Ezek 1:1, 1:4). Ezekiel continues, "...he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him" (Ezekiel 1:27-28).

A true prophet has made a complete offering of himself to God, and proclaims the fire of God's love whilst also reverencing the God who is a consuming fire.

The experience of sitting among the exiles by the river for a week overwhelmed Ezekiel. Every prophet has times when all he can see is the disaster, the difficulty and the discouragement all around. How good if at that time we can also be envisioned to see Jesus "crowned with glory and honour" (Heb 2:9). Suddenly we experience the light and heat which streams to us from the God who is never cold and
forbidding but is always welcoming like a warm fire.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 7 No 1, January/February 1991.