Clifford Hill discusses the recent hacking of Ashley Madison, the renowned adultery website.

Older readers will remember the saying "cheats never prosper". Perhaps the 39 million people who signed up to the Canada-based Ashley Madison website should have thought about this before putting their emails and their personal details onto the site that guaranteed them privacy. That privacy has now been brutally torn asunder and a generation of adulterers is facing the reality of their secret sexual encounters being exposed, not only to their partners but also to the world.

Untold Consequences

The Ashley Madison website, with its strapline "Life is short. Have an affair", guaranteed complete secrecy to its clients until hackers succeeded in breaking through the site's security. After failing to persuade the owners of Ashley Madison to close down their operation, they first made the hacked information available on the dark internet, but it very quickly went viral. The consequences of this may be serious not only in endangering many marriages, but even putting lives at risk in countries where adultery and homosexuality are capital offences, such as Saudi Arabia.

The Ashley Madison scandal will not only endanger marriages, but could cause further oppression via blackmail and even put lives at risk.

The exposure of the infidelity site is not only threatening to break up marriages and other relationships of trust; the information could be used by blackmailers and others who wish to cause harm to rivals and competitors. A number of the emails that have been published are said to have Government addresses, which could mean that civil servants or MPs are at risk of public exposure of their infidelities.

Unprecedented Scale

Of course, adulterous affairs are not new to this generation and history is full of them, but what makes this latest exposure unique is the sheer scale of those who responded to the opportunity for a clandestine sexual relationship, in the belief that there was complete confidentiality. As a result they not only gave personal details including names, credit card numbers, sexual fantasies and preferences, but some even included nude photographs.

The development of internet dating sites has created the opportunity for unlimited infidelity, plus the offer of casual sex with the promise of availability, anonymity and affordability. This has clearly proved a temptation that millions of people have been unable to resist. In the 14 years that Ashley Madison has been in existence, it has garnered a staggering 39 million clients willing to risk the trust of those who are closest to them (1 million of these clients are said to be based in Britain).

The internet has created the opportunity for unlimited infidelity - clearly a temptation that millions have been unable to resist.

The first step was internet sites that simply offered introductions and dating opportunities, but this soon progressed to more carnal activities with sites such as Grindr offering gay and bisexual relationships. But this has been dwarfed by the massive response of heterosexuals seeking adulterous affairs.

Cross-sector Exposure

The exposure of cheating is not confined to adultery; sport is another recent activity to come under the spotlight, with first cycling and now athletics facing widespread charges of medals having been won by the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Lord Coe, the newly-elected head of world athletics (International Association of Athletics Federations) has vowed to clean up the sport, but it may take a long time to root out all the cheats.

Similar soul-searching is running through the banking sector, revealing cheating on a massive scale in the rigging of the Libor rate. Banks are facing heavy fines for the actions of their dishonest employees who made millions of dollars and pounds for themselves and their shareholders.

As the searchlight of truth is turned onto one institution after another, the sheer scale of cheating being exposed is breathtaking. It is only a generation ago that cheating was considered to be one of the most heinous of sins in sport, in exams, in business and especially in marriage and family life. Cheating sportsmen were drummed out of their sport: cheating students were expelled from school or university: cheating businessmen were thrown out of their employment and cheating in marriage was universally condemned.

The sheer scale of cheating being exposed is breathtaking. Only a generation ago, cheating was considered to be one of the most heinous of sins – whether in sport, education, business or family life.

Crumbled Foundations

So what's gone wrong with Western society today? Surely there can only be one reason why this should happen in nations with a long-standing Judaeo-Christian heritage, where biblical standards of honesty have been the cornerstone of business life and personal behaviour for centuries. The answer has to be that we have abandoned the Bible as the foundation stone of Western civilisation. The result, ultimately, is moral anarchy – everyone making up their own personal ethics, with little care for the lives of those closest to them and no care at all for the good of wider society.

The sad truth is that most children and young people under the age of 30 have little or no knowledge of biblical principles of right and wrong, truth and falsehood, so they have no plumb-line of truth for judging personal or social behaviour. Unless there is a moral and spiritual revival and a re-discovery of the Christian faith and its values, things can only get worse. At the present rate of secularisation we face a virtual collapse of family life, which will be followed by the inevitable breakdown of social order.

Grace and Truth

In light of this drastic outlook, how can we respond to the Ashley Madison scandal? It's easy to point the finger at others while ignoring our own faults. The teaching of the New Testament is that "no immoral, impure or greedy person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph 5:5). So our first reaction ought to be to examine ourselves to ensure that we live as children of the light, which means not only exposing deeds of darkness but also being those who uphold righteousness and truth in every situation. If we truly live as followers of Jesus we should be radiating love and goodness to those around us.

Our first reaction ought to be to examine ourselves to ensure that we live as children of the light, which means not only exposing deeds of darkness but also being those who uphold righteousness and truth in every situation.

We ought also to be praying for those whose lives are being shattered by the exposure of their names on the Ashley Madison website. Pray for forgiveness in their marriages and the healing of relationships so that good comes out of evil. Especially pray for the children caught up in broken family relationships. Only God can bring healing, love, forgiveness and true repentance out of our human tragedies. Let's ask the Father to reach out to those in need and transform their lives.

How to pray as the Greek crisis goes global...

This weekend the leaders of all the countries that are part of the European Union have been called together to consider how to deal with the so-called "Greek Crisis". The referendum held by the Greek Government last Sunday produced a resounding 'NO' to the austerity measures which the Euro club countries are trying to force upon them.

The people of Greece have said "Enough is enough"! Years of austerity have done nothing to improve the national economy crippled by debt. It has simply increased the unemployment rate so there are less people able to pay taxes and the country has become poorer and poorer. But the powerful nations of Europe, led by Germany and the European Central Bank, are blindly demanding yet more austerity.

You don't have to be an economist to know that if the present policy is not working it is sheer madness simply to press on enforcing the same policy with even greater stringency! The ordinary people of Greece have recognised this, and they have bravely determined to confront the bankers and say "Can't Pay: Won't Pay!" (It would be even better if they said Can Pray: Will Pray! But of course, you have to know how to pray and what to pray for!).

You don't have to be an economist to know that if the present policy is not working, it is sheer madness to press on enforcing it with even greater stringency."

Underlying Crisis

Of course, there's lots more to it than that! Most Greeks are aware that there is great need for reform in their national lackadaisical approach to the duty of ordinary citizens to pay their taxes, and that there is endemic corruption in their political system. But they have also been the victims of grossly corrupt banking practices on a global scale. Their banks have been used for sharp practices by Russian oligarchs as well as their own wealthy Greeks, whose sudden withdrawal of investments triggered the crisis.

But what began as a problem for a national bank in one country has now become a crisis threatening to unravel the whole of the European Union and the stability of NATO which has an effect upon east-west relationships that is causing great concern in Washington. If Greece leaves the Euro and turns to Russia or China for help in coping with its financial chaos, this will have an immediate effect upon the balance of world power.

The People Revolt

There are similarities here with the peasants' revolt in 18th century Britain over the inflated price of bread, due to imported corn being cheaper than homegrown corn. Their protests threatened to destabilise the nation at a time when Britain was at war with half the world. So too the peasants' revolt in Greece is likely to have far wider ramifications.

It is time to recognise the fundamental weakness of the whole capitalist system that has built up vast sums of national debt that struggling national economies are unable to meet. Greece is not alone in facing a burden of debt that is beyond any possibility of being repaid. If the International Monetary Fund cancels even part of the Greek debt, others will demand equal treatment. Already there are strong anti-austerity protests in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The unfairness of the whole debt-ridden world economy hits the poor harder than the rich. The peasants' revolt in Greece is likely to spread like wildfire across Europe. This is the fear gripping European bankers.

It's time to recognise the fundamental weakness of the whole capitalist system: Greece is not alone in facing a vast burden of debt that is beyond any possibility of being repaid."

Unjust System

Karl Marx was surely right when he said that capitalism contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. You don't have to be a Marxist or even an anti-capitalist to recognise the truth of this statement. There is something fundamentally unjust in a system that allows 1% of the population to live on vast excesses of wealth whilst the rest of the population struggles to make a living, many experiencing malnutrition and disease which could be eliminated if there were a fairer system of wealth distribution.

The Bible foretells a day when God will deal with this injustice. He will humble the proud and lofty, according to the prophet Isaiah (2:12-21). The oppressors will be overthrown and God's justice will be seen. Maybe the Greek crisis is part of God's plan to allow the whole financial system to collapse, so that his justice can be established. Christians should be careful not to pray against the great shaking of the nations. If this is how God is working out his purposes, we must trust him.

Christians should be careful not to pray against God's purposes being worked out. We must learn to trust him."

Right Prayer

If you pray "Peace, Peace" when God is saying "There is no peace" – you put yourself against God! The next verse in Isaiah 2 says "Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?" If our trust is really in God we can trust him with our lives – even if we are nervous of how we are going to survive the storm.

If God is at work shaking the nations, it is wrong to ask him to stop the shaking. The right prayer is to ask God to fulfil his purposes and to make the shaking effective! He will certainly take care of those who put their trust in Him.

Is there deeper significance in events on and off the football field?

The dramatic arrest of FIFA officials in the luxury Baur au Lac hotel, overlooking Lake Zurich on charges of corruption took the football world by surprise. But allegations of corruption have been levelled at FIFA for many years. In 2011 an independent panel convened to deal with these allegations proposed a number of measures, but their recommendations were ignored. The surprise this time was due to the intervention of American law enforcement agencies investigating crimes of money laundering and corruption involving banks based in America.

Controversy and Injustice

The refusal of 79 year old Sepp Blatter to step down as President of FIFA after 17 years in office is, perhaps, the greatest scandal. Even if he himself is totally innocent of corrupt practices, he has presided over an organisation that has a terrible reputation. It would seem logical to say that as head of the multibillion-dollar organisation he ought to have known what was going on. He is either corrupt or incompetent and in either case he is not the man to clean up such an influential International Association.

Football is no longer just a game: it is a highly lucrative international industry offering huge wealth to both sponsors and players, and is therefore vulnerable to massive corruption. But there are also enormous differences in the rewards paid to players. In some of the developing countries such as Uruguay and Costa Rica professional players earn only a $150 a month¹ whereas in Europe they can earn $150,000 a week! FIFA should be addressing such vast injustices.

The controversy surrounding the President of FIFA has highlighted differences in economics, culture and practices between European nations and those in the developing nations. Sepp Blatter has spent the past 17 years promoting high-level international football (with its huge financial rewards) in Africa and South America, where he has won many friends who have benefited and want him to continue as President.

FIFA already presides over huge injustices, such as massive global disparities in footballers' wages. The latest allegations of bribery and corruption just add insult to injury.

'Shrewd' Business in the Bible

Jesus told a parable in Luke 16 about a shrewd businessman who knew that he was going to be dismissed for incompetence so he called a meeting of all the firm's debtors and reduced their debts so that when he lost his job he would have many friends who owed him favours. The point of the parable Jesus said was that worldly people know how to manipulate financial transactions to their own advantage. Righteous people should take a lesson from this and make sure that their lives produce spiritual fruit for eternal life. This is of far greater importance than ensuring a comfortable lifestyle on earth.

Shaking the Establishment

Daily Herald article, 1963

For Christians, it is important to note the spiritual significance of what is happening in the commercial world, and especially how it throws light on how God is working out his purposes today. We have already seen the shaking of the banks and the exposure of corrupt practices, the shaking of the political establishment in the Western nations, the shaking of newspapers and journalists, celebrities and many others. Now football is the latest of the world's big institutions to be shaken.

For many fans, football plays a large part in their lives and has almost become a religion. When Spurs won the league and European Cup double in 1963, the team paraded through the streets of Tottenham North London, with their fans displaying placards saying "HALLOWED BE THEIR NAMES" and "O COME LET US ADORE THEM" (see right). At the Wembley cup final it is traditional to sing the Christian hymn 'Abide with me', though it is doubtful if many in the crowd sing it to the glory of God. Maybe this is the reason why football is the first major sport to come under judgement!

What we are seeing today is in line with the Bible's prophecy of a great shaking of the nations recorded in Haggai 2:6-7, where it is said that this will be accompanied by a great shaking in the world of nature. In the New Testament the writer to the Hebrews interpreted this great shaking as preparing the way for the Kingdom of God; the end of the age, which is generally believed to be the second coming of Jesus (Heb 12:26).

We are living in an incredible period of world history with nations in every part of the world being shaken. As each great event hits the headlines, corruption is revealed as the norm, and dishonour the standard, in the lives and careers of many. As we make a stand for faith, let us stand in the love and strength of Christ, which provides a new way- a way of justice and righteousness -for those who choose to accept him.

References

1 Reuters, 'This should've happened long ago', First Post, 28 May 2015.

The ministry of Prophecy Today has its roots in two significant conferences which were held in Israel climaxing at Easter 1986. First, a leadership group of 153 met in an isolated location on the eastern summit of Mount Carmel. This was followed by a large international conference of 5000 in Jerusalem.

These two conferences were foundational in setting the direction for the early years of the magazine Prophecy Today. We have been witnessing the Lord accomplishing His revealed purposes in the nations ever since - and are still doing so today. We are therefore publishing a brief review of those events and their immediate aftermath here.

Review

Strategic Purpose
The Lord speaks to His people
The Lord's message -- shaking the nations
The Lord's message and the end of Soviet might
The Lord's message -- Israel and the Church
Watching the prophecies unfold

People often say they don’t watch the news because it’s too depressing. But it’s only depressing if you don’t understand what’s happening. If you know what’s going on and you can see some purpose being fulfilled, it takes away fear.

Understanding God's deeds...

The problem with most people is they don’t know the purposes of God and what he’s doing! Throughout the Bible God is known through what he does – the prophets called this “the deeds of the Lord”. They often reminded the people of Israel how God had brought them out of Egypt, saving them from slavery, and the many other times he had blessed the nation.

But the prophets also taught the nation that God is not only a God of love but also of justice, who expects his people to follow his teaching which sets boundaries for right behaviour. When we ignore the teaching and things start to go wrong he sends warning signs. If they are ignored we bring trouble upon ourselves.

When God commissioned Jeremiah to the prophetic Ministry he said, “See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer 1:10). There are six verbs in this sentence, four are negative (tearing down and destroying); two are positive (planting and building up). From this Jeremiah knew there was a lot in the nation that had to be uprooted before anything creative could be done.

"When greed, corruption and lies are widespread in national life, God lifts his cover of protection allows us to do as we please until we get into such a mess that we cry out to him for help."

When greed, corruption and lies are widespread in national life, they have to be faced and eliminated for the well-being and prosperity of society, otherwise destructive forces drive the nation. When we do nothing about it ourselves God lifts his cover of protection from a rebellious people and allows us the freedom to do as we please until we get into such a mess that we cry out to him for help. That’s what happened to Israel many times in history as recorded in the Bible.

God's allowance of disaster

The prophets did not distinguish between the direct will of God and his allowable will: the things he actually did and the things he allows to happen. They were so convinced that God is the Lord of history that they didn’t bother to distinguish between his actions and his permission. Hence you get statements such as:

“I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things” (Isa 45:7).

Of course, we don’t like to think of God creating disaster! But Isaiah was giving the reason why God had allowed the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the exile of many people from Judah to Babylon. In the same chapter he said that God was going to anoint Cyrus, the pagan ruler of Persia, to overthrow Babylon and let his people go back to rebuild Jerusalem. They went back totally cured of idolatry and with a new commitment to prayer and teaching in the family and local community, rather than relying upon the rituals of animal sacrifice in the Temple.

The synagogue, which was born in Babylon not in Jerusalem, prepared the way for 2000 years of dispersal. But the experience of the great disaster – 56 years in Babylon (596 BC to 539 BC) was intended by God to produce “a redeemed people”. They would be “a light for the Gentiles” (Isa 49:6). They would teach the world to know the true God who created the universe, flung the stars into their orbits, and created human beings in his own image to have fellowship with him. From them would come a Messiah who would fulfil the purposes of God, making it possible for every individual to enjoy a personal relationship with God as their Heavenly Father.

Final shaking of all nations

This is God’s great purpose revealed in the Bible. But the Bible also teaches us that our human nature has the propensity to destroy us with greed and violence, as we discover more of the secrets hidden in nature and as our technology becomes more sophisticated and destructive. So the warnings that God sends when we are heading for disaster become more urgent.

There is a prophecy in the Bible that many scholars believe is actually being fulfilled in our lifetime. It was first given in the year 520 BC, just after the exile in Babylon. But it was repeated near the end of the first century in the Christian era when it was still in the future. The prophecy says:

“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” (Hag 2:6-7).

The repeat of this prophecy nearly 600 years later says the great shaking will “remove everything that can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain” (Heb 12:26). It also links the great shaking with God preparing the way for his Kingdom.

"The news is only depressing if you don’t understand what’s happening. If you know what’s going on, it takes away fear."

A foretaste of the danger facing us today began with the First World War in 1914 which slaughtered millions of men in the trenches. Millions more were slaughtered only 20 years later in the Second World War and many millions more were slaughtered in the Communist eras of Russia and China, making the 20th century the most bloody in the history of the world.

But the violence of the 21st century could eclipse that of the 20th century with the sophisticated mass-destruction weaponry now available. We have seen the ‘stop at nothing’ atrocities of the Islamic State fighters who mercilessly torture and slaughter: if the chemical weapons of Syria or the nuclear weapons of Pakistan fall into the hands of these terrorists, they could destroy the world.

Signs of the times

Is God warning us of the great danger facing the nation today? Is this the reason why he is shaking the nations and the world of nature? In the past 50 years there have been more earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, droughts, floods and plagues – from AIDS to Ebola – than for centuries past. The nations also are being shaken in their economic, political and social systems. Just look at what’s been happening in Britain in the last 10 years. All our social institutions are being shaken and hidden corruption is being exposed.

• 2008 began the financial crisis, banks went bankrupt, great financial houses collapsed, greed and corruption in the banking system was exposed. The City of London, known for its integrity, was shamed.
• 2009 saw Parliament rocked by the MPs’ expenses and allowances scandal that shook the 800 year old parliamentary system that was a model of democracy and integrity for the world.
• 2010 revealed the Rotherham child abuse scandal with the conviction of a gang of five Pakistani men. Rotherham Borough Council continued in denial until February 2015 when it was taken over by the Government following further revelations, raising questions concerning the integrity of local government in Britain.
• 2011 saw journalists and newspaper moguls shaken with revelations of the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone following her murder in 2002, which led to the collapse of the News of the World and ongoing revelations of media corruption.
• 2012 began the shaking of celebrities with the revelations about the sex crimes of Jimmy Savile in an ITV programme, that led to Scotland Yard launching a criminal investigation which spread across the celebrity world.
• In 2013 the ‘pleb-gate’ Andrew Mitchell row began the shaking of the police revealing corruption among police officers and adding to revelations of police lies in the Hillsborough disaster.
• 2014 saw a great shaking of the NHS, which became a battleground for politicians over long waiting times to see GPs, failing hospitals and overcrowded Accident and Emergency departments.
• 2015 began a shaking of Islam in Europe. This had begun in Tunisia in 2011, spreading across North Africa to Syria and Iraq. The Islamic State atrocities and the Paris shooting of Charlie Hebdo journalists prompted President Sisi of Egypt to call for a ‘revolution within Islam’ to determine its teaching, as Muslims throughout Europe began questioning their religion.

How are we to interpret all the great shaking that is taking place? Is this God warning us of the very grave danger we face? If so, what should we be doing?