North Korea is causing international consternation, Europe is covered in confusion and the outlook for the Middle East seems bleak. Can Isaiah 24 shed any light on the world this week?

In every region of the world there is increasing tension and growing conflict. In the Far East North Korea has launched an intercontinental ballistic missile soon after testing what they claim to be a hydrogen bomb. Even China is expressing concern at their inability to restrain the renegade state thirsting for war.

In the Middle East the civil war in Syria has entered a new and highly dangerous stage with the Russian bombing of Aleppo. And the whole of Europe is covered in confusion through the mounting migration crisis triggering both economic and social instability.

Failed Peace Talks

The UN-brokered peace talks bringing together the warring parties in Syria broke down after only three days. This was seemingly the result of the Russian bombing of Aleppo which is said to have infringed UN Resolution 2254 mandating the talks, which required an end to air-strikes and the provision of humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones.

In every region of the world there is increasing tension and growing conflict. But what is God doing?

The Russians, in support of Bashar al-Assad's forces, are attacking the so-called 'moderate rebels' who have been trained by the USA and supplied with American arms to overthrow Assad. This is increasingly drawing the Western powers into conflict with Russia and the Iranian/Iraqi alliance which is supporting Assad. Also in the midst of this confused conflict there is the Islamic State which is against them all – pursuing its own radical Islamist objectives.

Migrants attempt to cross from Macedonia into Serbia.America and Europe

With America now fully involved in an internal battle for the White House between such unlikely contenders as Trump and Sanders (not the Colonel!) on opposite wings of the political chicken, there is unlikely to be any firm foreign policy initiative coming from Washington as Obama free-wheels through his final year.

Meanwhile, the crisis in Europe intensifies as the social backlash grows against the 1,000,000-plus migrants who poured into the EU last year as people react to incidents such as the Cologne sex attacks. Today some 400,000 Syrians are trying to get into Turkey after fleeing the bombing of Aleppo and the advance of the Syrian government army.

The migrant crisis in the Middle East is rapidly becoming a vast humanitarian disaster, with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan all saying they cannot cope with any more refugees and the European Union desperately trying to organise its border defences and establish 'Fortress Europe'.

But God...

But what is God doing in all this mess? Is God no longer in control of the nations as the Lord of history? Isaiah claimed the opposite, saying that God holds the nations "in his hands as a drop in a bucket" and that he "brings princes to nought and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing" (Isa 40:15, 23). Did this just refer to a bygone era - has God now withdrawn his power over the nations, leaving them to work out their own salvation?

Is God no longer in control of the nations as the Lord of history? Far from it! He still holds the nations in his hands as a drop in a bucket.

The Bible actually prophesies a time of intense instability throughout the world. Whether God simply allows it or actually initiates an era of vast conflict between nations and instability in the world of nature with earthquakes, hurricanes and storms, is not made clear. But there are three passages in the Bible where a great shaking of everything – the natural order of creation and the nations – is foretold. Isaiah 2:12-22 speaks of God "humbling the arrogance and pride of human beings". It says "The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted and they will be humbled." That was probably written in the eighth century BC.

Haggai, writing two centuries later in 520 BC, was more specific in stating that God would "shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land". He would "shake all nations" (Hag 2:6-7). Written over 500 years later, about AD 90, Hebrews 12:26 says that the great shaking of everything will be a prelude to God establishing his kingdom on earth.

The Little Apocalypse

There is another passage of Scripture that is rarely read in church and is usually neglected by biblical scholars because its message is too difficult to handle. It is found in Isaiah 24, which scholars traditionally have referred to as 'The Little Apocalypse' because its language is extreme. It speaks of the whole earth being shaken and split asunder which former generations of biblical scholars have always classified as symbolic. It was never imagined that there ever could be a force capable of shaking the whole of the earth.

Today we know different. The splitting of the atom and the production of hydrogen bombs has caused us to revise our biblical theology. We now know that among the nations there are sufficient nuclear weapons to destroy the world if they were all detonated at the same time and in the same region in an international conflict.

Isaiah 24 speaks of the whole earth being split and shaken by human sin. Until modern advances in weaponry, there was never a force capable of such a thing - but there is now.

This could literally fulfil the prophecies of Isaiah 24:

The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls – never to rise again.

The reason this will happen is given in Isaiah 24:5-6.

The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore the earth's inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.

But is this a warning of the inevitable – or of what COULD happen? Is there still time for human beings to heed the warning and change the course of history?

Hope for the Future

The Bible also speaks of a time of peace. Isaiah 2, which foretells a day of judgment quoted above, begins with a beautiful picture of the word of the Lord going out from Jerusalem. It foresees swords beaten into ploughshares and nations no longer training for war.

The New Testament is full of hope for the future – that hope is founded on the return of Jesus to judge the nations and to bring a time of peace and justice which is what Hebrews 12 refers to as "the kingdom of God". Jesus himself spoke of this in Matthew 24 saying that there would be a great conflict among the nations, followed by a cosmic shaking which will be a prelude to his Second Coming.

These eschatological passages of Scripture often draw vastly different interpretations – but they nevertheless show that God is still the Lord of history! He holds the nations in his hands. He has allowed us free will to run the affairs of the nations until the time he intervenes through the Second Coming of Jesus.

How near that is, nobody knows; but the Bible says that he will come when least expected. That may be much sooner than anyone anticipates!

Prophecy given by David Noakes at the Intercessors for Israel Conference, Jerusalem, January 2003. It was specifically addressed to the nation of Israel and was accepted by the ministers and leaders to whom it was given in 2003. We are publishing it having tested it ourselves. However, we also encourage you to weigh it thoroughly yourself too. 

Strengthen my people in the knowledge of their God and of his Word. Bring to them the whole Counsel of God that they may not be taken by surprise or deceived in the days to come.

Do not fear Islam for this principality shall not prevail. It has thrown down the gauntlet of challenge to the God of Israel and I have accepted the challenge.

This power will be put to shame and destroyed for I have taken the battlefield. Stand with me and fight for I am with you to overcome. Islam will fall, but not at once for the cup of iniquity is not yet full to the brim. There will be a lengthy struggle and it will involve many nations.

Do not fear the conflict or the hardships. There will be shaking and upheaval and turmoil but I have warned you in advance in my Word that this will be so. In the battle set your eyes on Me and remember that this is not your lasting home. Your destination and your inheritance is in the Kingdom cut out of the Rock without human hands and in the Eternal City that has unshakeable foundations whose Builder and Maker is God.

Comfort yourselves with the knowledge of this truth and let your encouragement come from Me alone. Do not fear the wars that must yet come but rather fear the peace that will finally result. It will not be My peace but a counterfeit peace inspired by the spirit of Babylon.

Prepare my people for these days with the knowledge of my revealed truth. Teach them the whole Counsel of God and pray that they and many others will not be deceived in the time before the 'lamb of peace' is revealed in its true colours as the 'dragon of destruction'.

The strategy of the adversary is to wear down by continual attrition to the point where in the weariness of conflict that desire for rest will make your people willing to accept a false peace which will prove in its working to be the deadliest weapon of all. Your nation will desire this peace and the world will desire to impose it upon you but do not be deceived. Prepare my people to watch and pray and keep alert: strong in the knowledge of the whole revelation of my Word until I come, for only then will your nation receive true security.

About the author: David Noakes was a solicitor in London until he joined Clifford Hill’s ministry in 1984. He has been part of the Prophetic Word Ministries/Prophecy Today team since that time, although he has also exercised an independent ministry speaking at conferences both in Britain and overseas. He has visited Israel many times and until recently was chairman of Hatikvah Film Trust, working with Hugh Kitson making films about Israel. He is a well-known Bible teacher with an established ministry and remains an official advisor to Issachar Ministries (Prophecy Today UK's parent charity).

As this is the last issue this year of Prophecy Today and in a somewhat festive spirit, we thought that we would publish a humorous piece in contrast to our usual comment articles. We hope you find it thought-provoking!

In case you don't know what's happening in the Middle East...

President Assad (who is bad) is a nasty guy who got so nasty his people rebelled and the Rebels (who are good) started winning (Hurrah!). But then some of the rebels turned a bit nasty and are now called Islamic State (who are definitely bad!) but some continued to support democracy (who are still good).

So the Americans (who are good) started bombing Islamic State (who are bad) and giving arms to the Syrian Rebels (who are good) so they could fight Assad (who is still bad) which was good.

By the way, there is a breakaway state in the north run by the Kurds who want to fight IS (which is a good thing) but the Turkish authorities think they are bad, so we have to say they are bad whilst secretly thinking they're good and giving them guns to fight IS (which is good) - but that is another matter.

Getting back to Syria...

So President Putin (who is bad, 'cos he invaded Crimea and the Ukraine and killed lots of folks including that nice Russian man in London with polonium poisoned sushi) has decided to back Assad (who is still bad) by attacking IS (who are also bad) which is sort of a good thing?

But Putin (still bad) thinks the Syrian Rebels (who are good) are also bad, and so he bombs them too, much to the annoyance of the Americans (who are good) who are busy backing and arming the rebels (who are also good).

Now Iran (who used to be bad, but now they have agreed not to build any nuclear weapons and bomb Israel are now good) are going to provide ground troops to support Assad (still bad) as are the Russians (bad) who now have ground troops and aircraft in Syria.

So a Coalition of Assad (still bad), Putin (extra bad!) and the Iranians (good, but in a bad sort of way), are going to attack IS (who are bad) which is a good thing, but also the Syrian Rebels (who are good) which is bad.

Enter Britain...

Now the British (obviously good, except that nice Mr Corbyn in the corduroy jacket, who is probably bad) and the Americans (also good) cannot attack Assad (still bad) for fear of upsetting Putin (bad) and Iran (good / bad) and now they have to accept that Assad might not be that bad after all compared to IS (who are super bad).

So Assad (bad) is now probably good, being better than ISIS. And since Putin and Iran are also fighting IS, that may now make them good. America (still good) will find it hard to arm a group of rebels being attacked by the Russians for fear of upsetting Mr Putin (now good) and that nice mad Ayatollah in Iran (also good) and so they may be forced to say that the Rebels are now bad, or at the very least abandon them to their fate. This will lead most of them to flee to Turkey and on to Europe or join IS (still the only constantly bad group).

Sunnis vs Shias

To Sunni Muslims, an attack by Shia Muslims (Assad and Iran) backed by Russians will be seen as something of a Holy War, and the ranks of IS will now be seen by the Sunnis as the only Jihadis fighting in the Holy War. Hence many Muslims will now see IS as good (doh!). Sunni Muslims will also see the lack of action by Britain and America in support of their Sunni rebel brothers as something of a betrayal (mmm-might have a point) and hence we will be seen as bad.

A Helpful Summary

So now we have America (now bad) and Britain (also bad) providing limited support to Sunni Rebels (bad), many of whom are looking to ISIS (good / bad) for support against Assad (now good) who, along with Iran (also good) and Putin (also, now, unbelievably, good) are attempting to retake the country Assad used to run before all this started.

So now you fully understand everything, all your questions are answered!!

Thousands of refugees and migrants continue to pour into Europe every day, fear of terrorism grows daily and the nations struggle to find a long-term solution. What does the future hold?

The boats keep coming. Overcrowded, unsafe boats flounder and capsize in the rough seas of the Aegean and still they keep coming – this autumn the number reaching Lesbos and other small Greek islands topped 7,000 per day.¹

People smuggling from Turkey to Greece across the dangerous seas is a multi-million dollar business. The people smugglers care nothing for humanity. They are making a fortune from the human misery of those who have lost everything in the war zones of Syria and Iraq – people so desperate that they will risk their lives boarding unsafe boats.

Looking for a Solution

Thousands are plucked from the sea every day and hundreds more simply drown, nameless victims of the greatest tragedy the Middle East has ever witnessed. This is the scene at the Eastern extremities of Europe.

At the other end of Europe, leaders of the EU nations are meeting to discuss desperate measures to deal with the crisis. How can they cope with the million strong flood of humanity that has descended upon Europe this year? How can such a human avalanche be absorbed among the nations? Even more urgently, how can it be halted, or even put on hold for a period, to give time for dealing with the situation in the war zones?

The humanitarian crisis engulfing Europe has no easy solution: neither is it a short-term problem that will be all over in a few weeks or months. Whole populations are on the move and there appears no end to the conflict that is destroying cities and towns across the Middle East and inflicting homelessness, injury and death on vast numbers of people.

The humanitarian crisis engulfing Europe has no easy solution – neither is it a short-term problem.

Europe on High Alert

The complexity is confounded by the mixture of migrants and refugees. The numbers are so great that it is impossible to discover who are the genuine refugees, who are the economic migrants and who are the jihadis slipped in among them by the Islamic State fighters.

Ever since the Paris atrocities on that notorious Friday 13 November, when at least one of the bombers had entered Europe through Greece posing as a refugee, the whole of the EU has been on high alert. The fact that the Paris bombers were a mixture of home-grown and migrant terrorists has added to the sense of fear and confusion.

Mass Fear

That fear and confusion is not confined to Europe but has spread to America as well. Just weeks after the Paris slaughter, a couple went on the rampage with automatic weapons in San Bernadino, California, slaughtering people as they were eating a meal together. President Obama used the occasion for an impassioned appeal for gun reform in the USA where he said that these mass killings were becoming routine.

The danger facing Europe is that mass killings will also become routine in the EU - unless the source of the problem in the killing-fields of the Middle East is dealt with effectively.

The danger facing Europe is that mass killings will also become routine here – unless the source of the problem can be dealt with.

Islamic 'Alliance'

Saudi Arabia has now announced the formation of a new military alliance of 34 Arab nations to fight terrorism. But who will they fight? Who do they define as 'terrorists'? Saudi Arabia has already beheaded more people this year than the Islamic State.² Their branch of Sunni Wahhabi Islam based upon the strict observance of Sharia law is rejected by half the Islamic world, including the coalition led by Iran which is presently fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a proxy conflict for several years, with Iran backing the rebels in Yemen who the Saudis have been bombing. So the chance of this new initiative bringing peace to the Middle East is virtually nil. The most likely outcome is to extend the conflict between the different branches of Islam.

But could this be within the purposes of God?

Though all-out war between Islam and the Western nations (which in some respects would be a war between Christianity and Islam) looks ever more plausible, it could be that internal conflict between the different sects of Islam will save us from World War III.

All-out war between Islam and the Western nations could be avoided – if Islam implodes due to the internal conflict between its various sects.

Looking Forward

In the New Year's Day issue of Prophecy Today we will look more closely at what is happening in the Middle East, particularly in the context of biblical prophecy. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has gone quiet - the world's attention is upon Syria. But what does the future hold?

References

1 IOM Monitors Mediterranean Migrant Flows: 7,000 Crossing Daily to Greece. International Organization for Migration, Press Release, 10 September 2015.

2 Saudi Arabia Beheads Nearly Twice As Many People As ISIS So Far This Year. MintPress News Desk, 25 August 2015.

Clifford Hill asks: has the UK just joined an unholy alliance?

To bomb or not to bomb? That was the question faced by our Parliament this week and the bombers won the day. But was it really a victory that increases the security of Britain from terrorist attacks? When the Prime Minister decided to call the crucial debate after he'd done his mathematics, I asked the question, "Is there any word from the Lord?" I turned to my Bible and it fell open to Isaiah 30: "Woe to the obstinate children, declares the Lord, to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit."

This caused me to look at the alliance we will be joining. On the one hand there is America, France and Australia and on the other hand there is Russia, Iran and Iraq plus Assad's part of Syria. Together these are strange bedfellows; one might almost say they are an unholy alliance with little in common except a shared opposition to the Islamic State.

Unholy Alliance

What are we doing joining such an alliance? If our intention is simply to add a few more bombs to the thousands already dropped by America and France and Australia and Russia, without any intention of sending in an army to clear IS out of the territory and to establish a lasting peace, there really isn't much point.

In fact, it could be a disastrous decision, for Britain already has sufficient resident potential terrorists to create havoc in our cities, as happened in Paris last month. Our bombing might even radicalise some more young Muslims. The security services report that they have recently successfully countered seven terrorist plots; but how much longer will it be before one of these groups evades our counterterrorist forces?

The Search for a Solution

What is the answer? Do we just do nothing and wait for the different factions within Islam to slaughter each other; or do we urge the formation of a united army of which we are willing to take part to confront the Islamic State on the ground? But even if such a united army was successful in defeating IS and liberating those who are suffering under the barbaric mediaeval regime, this will not solve the problem of the Middle East. What we are facing is an ideological and spiritual battle rather than conventional warfare. It is a battle that cannot be won by force of arms.

Of even greater significance is the possibility that by joining this alliance against the Islamic State we might actually be putting ourselves against God!

In the scripture just quoted from Isaiah 30:1 God speaks about "those who carry out plans that are not mine". This is the great danger facing us if we have not truly sought to know and to understand what God is doing today.

Scripture warns us of the danger of putting ourselves against God and trying to carry out plans that are not his.

Exposing the Wickedness of the Nations

In last week's editorial comment Clifford Denton quoted the prophecy from Haggai 2:6-7 which we were quoting back in the 1980s in the old printed magazine Prophecy Today, saying that God had revealed that he would soon be unleashing a great shaking of the whole world of nature; and the political, social, and economic institutions of all nations would be shaken. In numerous articles on the subject we said that God's purpose was to expose the corruption and wickedness of the nations in order to prepare the way for the kingdom of God as stated in Hebrews 12:26f.

We have now reached the point in the history of the world where we are actually immersed in the great shaking – and of course, we don't like it! We are tempted to cry out to God to stop the shaking: but if God says "I am shaking the nations" and we pray for it to stop, we are actually putting ourselves against God! We are praying against his will.

Asking the Right Questions

We have to ask some fundamental questions, "What are God's plans? What is he doing today?" When we discover the answer to these questions, then we will know how to pray and what we should do. We will be like the tribe of Issachar in the time of King David; understanding the times and knowing what to do (1 Chron 12:32). This, in fact, is God's will for his people: those who know him, who love him and want to be his servants.

We need to find out what God's will is and pray it - not be tempted to pray against it by asking for what we want.

God has already provided all the answers to these fundamental questions through the revelation of his nature and purposes in the Bible that climax in "the Word became flesh" at the season of Advent which we are celebrating right now. At Advent we not only celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world but we look forward to his Second Coming when "All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats" (Matt 25:32).

The Preparation is Now

What we are seeing now is in preparation for this event which is clearly drawing nearer. For a number of years God has been turning the light onto the nations of the West who have had the gospel for centuries and who have allowed greed and corruption to distort his purposes in using them to reveal his love and his salvation to all nations. The shaking of the Western nations has intensified in the 21^st century as the proud economic institutions of the bankers crumbled and the misdeeds of politicians and celebrities were exposed.

God also began to use Islam as the 'rod of his anger', allowing atrocities in the great cities of the Western nations such as the fall of the Twin Towers in New York, the bombing of the Underground in London and most recently, the atrocities in Paris.

Understanding God's Purposes

But just as God allowed Assyria and Babylon to bring judgment upon his covenant people of Israel, when that was completed he destroyed both aggressors for their savage cruelty. Today God is allowing the Islamic State to carry out similar atrocities in the very same places (Mosel in the Islamic State was Nineveh the capital of Assyria, and Baghdad was Babylon, capital of the Babylonian Empire).

Just as God allowed Assyria and Babylon to bring judgment upon his covenant people of Israel, when that was completed he destroyed both aggressors for their savage cruelty.

But the barbaric acts of IS are shaking the whole world of Islam and causing millions to question their faith in the teaching of Muhammad. The implosion of Islam has begun. It will gain momentum, particularly as the hundreds of thousands of migrants integrate into Western society and as the acts of terrorism continue to expose the darkness and violence that stems from the Qur'an and lies at the very heart of Islam.

This is why it is essential that we understand God's plans and we do not enter into an ungodly alliance with those whose ultimate purpose may be to destroy Israel and the Western nations. Isaiah 30 not only has a warning for the West; it also has a lovely promise, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength...Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" (Is 30:15-18)

Clifford Denton turns to Haggai to understand the crises currently filling our news broadcasts and feeds.

'I admit it – Iraq was a mistake. But that shouldn't stop us intervening in Syria'

This was the heading of a Times' article on Tuesday 24 November in which William Hague, a former Foreign Secretary, argued the case for the UK bombing chosen targets to defeat ISIS in Syria.

Day by day the global crisis escalates. Last week the world responded to horrendous terror attacks in Paris. France went immediately to war in Syria. This week a missile from Turkey brought down a Russian plane on combat duty in Syria. Russia promises retribution. Brussels is on high alert for terrorism. What next - and where do we stand?

Britain is bracing up for potential terrorist attacks in coming days. What should we do? Should we unleash our airborne weapons of war in Syria? That is this week's question. Experienced politicians can argue convincingly for or against involvement in armed aggression. Iraq was horrendous, Syria is devastating. But is there a word of prophecy? Does the Bible have a relevant word for today?

Haggai Foresaw the Circumstances of Our Day

Haggai was told to stir up the returning exiles so that they would rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of Zerubbabel. He and Zechariah prophesied together at that time. Haggai's ministry seemed more practical, while Zechariah saw mystical visions and was caused to reach out into the heavenly domain. Together they understood that the God of Israel was restoring favour to Judah.

At that time there was a re-building programme, but they both also saw into the distant future, beyond the immediate, to God's far-reaching purposes for his people. The future that they foresaw includes our present day. Perhaps their words are what the nation's leaders should be reading as they consider how to respond to our shaking world.

In 1986 at the prophetic gathering on Mt Carmel, God revealed that he is now shaking the nations, in line with Haggai's prophecy. Where does the present crisis fit into this context?

The Mount Carmel Gathering

Haggai spoke prophetically in words that are easy to understand. At the 1986 gathering on Mount Carmel, it was Haggai's prophecy that was brought into focus.

The writer to the Hebrews, writing several centuries later, understood that Haggai spoke of the future: "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens" (Heb 12:26; Hag 2:6). The Lord showed this to the prophetic gathering of 1986 and since then the world has indeed been subject to shaking – a shaking that goes on and on. These things have been highlighted in Prophecy Today since then.

Where, therefore, does the present world crisis - with its scattered outbursts of terrorism and a major conflict in the Middle East - fit into this prophetic context? Let us revisit the prophecy.

Haggai in Focus

Haggai re-stated his prophecy towards the end of chapter 2. Consider how clearly this describes today's escalating conflict among the nations:

I am going to shake the heavens and the earth.
I will overturn royal thrones
and shatter the power of the foreign [Gentile] kingdoms.
I will overthrow chariots and their drivers;
horses and their riders will fall,
each by the sword of his brother. (2:20-22)

The weapons and armoury of Haggai's day were chariots, horses and swords. These are symbolic of the more powerful weaponry of our day - the day of fulfilment. Haggai's prophecy is being fulfilled today: God has set this time for dealing with the Gentile nations, overthrowing their power, and humbling them.

Plans for Harvest

Elsewhere in the Bible we read of God's redemptive purposes for Israel, his plans for strengthening all his covenant family across the whole world, and the great ingathering for the Kingdom that will result from the shaking – all with the return of Jesus in focus.

God has set this time for dealing with the Gentile nations – this is a day of fulfilment.

Plans for Judgment

In this particular passage from Haggai we read of the way God will deal with unrighteousness among the nations – this is what God is doing in the world conflict that is escalating today. These are not just chance happenings, it is God saying: I am bringing this about.

Plans for Humbling

The final phrase of this prophecy is especially relevant when we consider current debates on whether to wage war in Syria. This is the day where God's judgement will be outworked by Gentile nations being brought low – each by the sword of his brother.

It is no wonder that, humanly speaking, there is no clear way forward to defeat terrorism. The nations will bring one another down in the escalating conflicts of our day - one way or another. This is what is happening before our eyes - and Almighty God has given us plenty of time to consider this, as he spoke through his prophet Haggai roughly 2,500 years ago.

Humanly speaking, there is no clear way forward. But our understanding should be that God is allowing this escalating crisis – in fact, it has long been foretold.

This is Not Pacifism

This is the understanding that should motivate decisions in the UK's parliament. We are on a dangerous path to destruction unless we understand what God is doing in judgment and seek a way forward in prayer together – prayer across the nation.

This may seem to be a call to pacifism, to be anti-war, against involvement in armed conflict. It is not that. We can be pacifist and still not be right before God. We must set ourselves to discover what God is doing today and why – it is a call to the prayer room and separation from a self-destructive world, until we understand the path he desires us to walk.

There are pacifist voices in the current parliament, but not with prophetic understanding. The position of a righteous nation, one that escapes the infighting and mutual destruction of the coming days, is to seek God in all respects. God is outworking the final steps of his covenant purposes and we must walk with him through these days of prophetic fulfilment. We must be doing what he is doing.

God is outworking his covenant purposes and we must walk with him through these days of prophetic fulfilment - we must be doing what he is doing.

What Must We Do Next?

It is likely that however we engage with the current military conflict - even if we withdraw completely - we will not have the right overall objectives. Withdrawal from the conflict is just the first step, recognising that we will not escape God's judgment simply through holding back our military power.

We must pursue understanding of what pleases God so that our nation will be once more protected, once more used for his Gospel and covenant purposes. Central to this is the call for the Church to be the watchman to the nation and to be engaged in intercessory prayer.

Haggai has spoken clearly, not just to the returning exiles of his day but to all countries of the world in the day in which we live. We do have the word of God for our times, spoken around 2,500 years ago to explain to us what God is doing this week and in the coming weeks, months and years.

This week a key question is whether to escalate armed conflict in Syria. Soon there will be other challenges and momentous decisions. Every decision must be guided by the word of God. Nothing else ultimately will succeed in bringing peace and protection.

Ian Farley reviews 'God and Churchill', by Jonathan Sandys and Wallace Henley (SPCK, 2015, 352 pages, hardback £19.99)

This is an extremely thought-provoking book and one that is easy to read. It claims to be the first biography of Churchill to focus on the Christian motivation behind his style of leadership, speeches and eventual success. But it is important to note the title carefully. The order, God and Churchill, is significant, as is the subtitle – 'How the great leader's sense of divine destiny changed his troubled world and offers hope for ours'. Together, title and sub-title lets the reader know what to expect.

The title is not 'Churchill and God'. Those with some knowledge of the wartime prime minister will be aware that he did not express personal faith in Jesus nor particularly call himself a Christian or indeed claim to be religious. If enthusiasts of him are looking to find that actually he was one or all of these things, then this book will disappoint.

Rather the argument of the joint authors (one of whom, Sandys, is Churchill's great-grandson) is that God is active and sovereign in history. In particular, he appoints saving leaders and uses them to achieve his purposes. Churchill, they argue, was one such instrument in God's hands.

Churchill did not call himself a Christian or express personal faith in Jesus. But this book argues that he was still an instrument in God's sovereign hands for a saving purpose.

Churchill had, they believe, a high sense of Christian civilisation and a deep knowledge of Scripture, imparted to him by his nanny whose photograph was still by his bedside at his death. Of particular interest is the claim that as a boy of 16 he was already envisioned with a sense of purpose from God, one that would involve him saving the nation and its capital from invasion. His perseverance in this belief in his destiny, often against all the odds, is at the heart of this story.

Certainly Churchill was preserved from death on several occasions and equipped through the vicissitudes of his life to stand up to the evil of Hitler and Nazism. There are interesting chapters on the sources of this evil and Churchill's different perspective especially on science, the role of the church in society, the philosophy of Utilitarianism and the importance of history.

At the heart of this story is Churchill's sense of destiny and perseverance in his belief that he had great purpose.

All of this is a good read but there is more. As the subtitle suggests, his sense of destiny offers hope for our world too. The authors very expressly link the state of the world today with the mess of the 1940s. ISIS is the current equivalent of Hitler. The moral mess of the 1920s led to the Second World War and the moral mess of the 1960s has led to today's chaos. Is there a leader-saviour for today? There is a review of the danger of equivalency as an acceptable way of thought and a very good overview of patterns of history from Judges. But be warned, tempers may fray in this part!

Altogether a book to enjoy and be stimulated by, but not one that will assure you of the great man's salvation. However, it is a timely addition to the corpus on Churchill - especially in the year of the 70^th anniversary of Victory in Europe. The book's release is also timed to coincide with Churchill's birthday, 30 November, on which date the author will speak at a national press launch in Westminster.

Altogether a book to enjoy and be stimulated by, though not one that will assure you of the great man's salvation.

On this day 70 years ago, 20 of Germany's Nazi leaders went on trial before an International Military Tribunal, to be held to account for their war crimes. To mark this occasion, we are publishing a personal memoir of the Nuremberg Trials written by Patricia Vander Elst, who was present as an interpreter.

Introduction

In her article below, written not long before her death in July 2005 and published originally by the International Association of Conference Interpreters, my mother, Patricia Vander Elst, describes how, at the tender age of 21, she began her lifelong career as a freelance interpreter, working in the interpreters' booth at the famous 1945-1946 Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. She worked then under her maiden name of Patricia Jordan, and together with her other interpreter colleagues present at that Trial, pioneered the then novel system of simultaneous interpretation that has been in general use throughout the world ever since.

After the Nuremberg Trial, my mother continued working as a freelance interpreter for a variety of private and international organisations, including UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the various institutions of the European Union. By the time she died at the age of 80, still working, she had become a widely respected and legendary veteran of the interpreting profession. But what was even more interesting about her was the fact that she spent the first 14 years of her life growing up in first Weimar and then Nazi Germany. Her many vivid memories of that fascinating era included attending the same primary school as Field Marshall Von Hindenberg's grandchildren, and witnessing the terrible aftermath of 'Kristallnacht' in November 1938.

As she told me on more than one occasion, her observation of life in pre-war Nazi Germany, which included her own personal conflict with one Nazi teacher, innoculated her for life against anti-Semitism, taught her an enduring lesson about the need to think for oneself and resist indoctrination, and made her a passionate supporter of Israel. I was and will always remain immensely proud of her.

Philip Vander Elst

The Nuremberg trial

The War was over. An International Military Tribunal had been set up in Nuremberg to try the leading Nazi war criminals. The Main Trial lasted from November 1945 until the verdicts on 30th September 1946 - and I was present during the last four months.

After going to school in Berlin where I lived with my English parents until a few days before the German attack on Poland, I ended up in Switzerland where I saw out the war and spent my last six years of formal education at French-speaking schools and universities.

In Nuremberg, the Trial was being conducted in English, French, Russian and German and was using the novel and largely untried system of simultaneous interpretation. Due to the length of the trial, some interpreters were leaving and had to be replaced. Monitors were dispatched to look for new talent. A test was organised at the Geneva University School of Interpreters which, to my surprise, I passed. We had learnt consecutive interpretation only and to find myself speaking into a microphone at the same time that I was listening to a disembodied voice through earphones was thoroughly disconcerting.

With the ink of my degree scarcely dry, I set out for Nuremberg. It was my first job and, though I did not know it at the time, also my biggest. I went into it with the innocent enthusiasm of my 21 years, looking forward to the freedom from home, the glamour of a foreign assignment and the lure of the unknown. Four months later, the Trial over, I left: ten years older, a great deal wiser, and, indeed, an interpreter.

It was my first job – and my biggest. I went into it with innocent enthusiasm and left a great deal wiser.

Nuremberg Courthouse, see Photo Credits.En-route, I got lost near Frankfurt in a muddle of travel vouchers, curfews and non-existent trains. When I did reach Nuremberg, I was billeted at the Grand Hotel where I was allowed to remain for the duration. I spent a week in the public gallery listening to the proceedings in the Court Room. Then, after a brief test in the booth during a lunch-break, I was told I would be starting in earnest the following day. I felt it was a matter of sink or swim. I swam.

In the Court Room

The lay-out of the Court Room was simple and compact. The accused faced the judges, with assorted German counsel and court reporters in between. Our four booths were at right angles and in very close proximity to the defendants. We could watch them and they often watched us. Facing the interpreters were three sets of Prosecution tables which made up the fourth side of the Court, with the Press and public beyond.

By today's sophisticated technical standards, the booths and the equipment were primitive. We sat in three-sided glass boxes open at the top. Because of the tight fit, it was impossible to leave the booths except during breaks when we would shuffle out in reverse order to the way we had shuffled in. The earphones were clumsy things and each booth of three interpreters had to share one hand-held microphone which was passed to whoever was working from the language just being spoken.

Learning Fast

The system broke down quite frequently and the sound could be bad, but we learned to improvise. Looking back, I am amazed how well we coped and how quickly we acquired the new skills. One of the things we learnt to do fast and well was sight-reading. By the time I got to Nuremberg, it was usual for untranslated prepared speeches to be given to us in writing, which was enormously helpful.

Any misgivings I had about my ability to meet the challenge would vanish as soon as I walked into the booth, much like an actor shedding stage-fright when setting foot on the boards. The monitors would keep a constant close watch on our performance and would tell us where we went wrong or how to improve our delivery. I was told to pitch my voice lower, which I did. Ever since, I have been much aware of the quality of an interpreter's voice and wonder why our occasional screech-owls or excessive regional accents have not been brought to task.

Any misgivings I had about my ability would vanish as soon as I walked into the booth, like an actor shedding stage-fright when setting foot on the boards.

Interpreters at the Nuremberg Trials. See Photo Credits.

We worked two days in a row and had the third day off. One team was on for 1 1/2 hours in the morning and again for 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon. While a second team took over for the other half of the morning and afternoon, we would sit in a nearby room which was equipped with ear-phones and where we could follow the proceedings in the Court. There it was that I listened to Lord Justice Lawrence handing down the sentences. The room was packed then, the atmosphere quite as tense and as solemn as in the Court Room itself.

Team Spirit

The interpreters were, I think, quite a pleasant cosmopolitan lot; a mixture of ages and nationalities, professions and opinions - including several refugees and Jews. Living amidst a sullen native population, in a town that was just a heap of rubble, was stressful, as indeed was the never-ending recital of horrors in the Court Room. I learnt to ignore the first and overcame the strain in Court by concentrating on the work itself.

I was greatly helped in this by the remarkable team spirit among the interpreters and by the close and, as it turned out, life-long friendship with some of them. We let off steam dancing the night away in the Marble Room of the Grand Hotel. We had a lot of fun, an indispensable antidote to the Court Room blues.

The Trials

In Court, whatever our private thoughts, it was necessary to remain neutral when working. From being a blur of concentrated human malice the defendants, little by little, emerged as individuals. One could even admire Goering for his intelligence and dignity and share his open contempt for the slimy Streicher. Kaltenbrunner scared me, he was so palpably evil. The closing speech Hess made left me in no doubt that he was completely mad. We all liked Fritzsche who was only there as a substitute for his dead master Goebbels, and we were glad he was acquitted.

From being a blur of concentrated human malice the defendants, little by little, emerged as individuals.

After the verdicts and the ensuing release of tension, I had had enough of Nuremberg. Whereas I had been working from French into English at the Main Trial, I was supposed to transfer to the German booth for the Subsequent Proceedings. I was rescued by the Chief Interpreter of UNESCO who selected me, along with a few others, to work at the First General Conference in Paris (English/French consecutive). I was released from my Nuremberg contract and left.

Passing into History

I returned to Nuremberg recently. The town has been rebuilt, the scars of war no longer visible. The Court Room, after 54 years, seems smaller. A wall now partitions it where the front of the public gallery had been. The large dock has been rebuilt for fewer defendants. The oppressive dark wood panelling and heavy marble door frames remain, though, as does the small lift door at the back of the dock through which the Nazi leaders were daily brought to account. But I had no feeling of past personal involvement. The Nuremberg Trial had become history.

Patricia Vander Elst

Our thanks go to Patricia's son, Philip, for providing us with her account, as well as to the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), through which it was first published (see here).

'Mission at Nuremberg' by Tim Townsend (SPCK, 308 pages, available from the publisher for £12.99 + FREE UK delivery)

This book tells the compelling story of Lutheran minister Henry Gerecke, the army chaplain who was sent to save the souls of the Nazis incarcerated at Nuremberg. In what was the most difficult mission that Gerecke was recruited to fulfil, he ministered to 21 Nazi leaders as they awaited trial, leaders such as Goering, Keitel, and von Ribbentrop.

Scrupulous Research

Townsend has clearly undertaken a large amount of scrupulous research and he includes many first-hand accounts, including interviews with still-living participants. In some ways his approach is rather 'bitty' but he does engage us in the events by taking us inside the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, into the cells of the accused and into the courtroom itself as the drama unfolds. The book also contains 16 pages of black and white photos.

Moving Accounts

One of its distinctive features is the inclusion of several marvellous vignettes of 'second tier' personalities and of the many generally unknown people who feature in the overall story. Who usually pays any attention to the wives and families of the convicted Nazis?

Townsend observes that hundreds of Nazis had been hanged long before the 21 notable defendants in Nuremberg faced their convictions. There are also good pen portrait summaries of the lives of these men, as well as accounts of the wretchedness of life in the bombed city and a moving focus on the horrendousness of Mauthausen.

For most of us history stops with the end of the Second World War in 1945. Once Hitler commits suicide in the bunker all is over. One of the chief delights of Townsend's book is to redress our knowledge and perceptions in this area. As in other recent history publications, the author seeks to awaken us to the harsh realities of the years of recovery that Europe has had to endure in order to be where it is today. Many people had hard and difficult lives post-1945.

For most of us, history stops at the end of WWII. But Townsend challenges this perception, awakening us to the harsh realities of post-1945 Europe.

Theological Reflections

In the second half of his book Townsend breaks the narrative (which does suffer throughout from jumping around chronologically) in three separate places with theological reflections on the source of evil, Luther's doctrine of consubstantiation and the nature of forgiveness. Christian readers may want to debate some of his affirmations: "forgiveness precedes repentance" (p286); "everyone is saved" (p287); "if God is master of both absolute good and absolute evil, he must also claim those of us who choose darkness" (p221).

But overall this is a book that causes you to think, which makes it a worthwhile contribution at this time of the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials.

Christian readers may want to debate some of his affirmations – this is a book that causes you to think.

More information can be found on the book's website, missionatnuremberg.com.

'The Christian in an Age of Terror: Selected sermons of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 1941-50' (Ed. Dr Michael Eaton, New Wine Press, 2007, 208 pages. RRP £11.99, available from ICM Books for £8.99)

This book contains sermons preached in Westminster Chapel during the period that European nations were at war. Dr Lloyd-Jones spoke to his people about how war, persecution and suffering could be seen by Christians and afterwards he encouraged his congregation with talks on the Christian life. In view of the present threat of terrorism throughout the world, this is a book of relevance and inspiration for Christians today.

In the first chapter on religious persecution, which looks at Acts 12, we see how history does repeat itself.

If we study the history of the church we will find she has gone through periods of terrible trial and persecution – then follows a period of comparative peace and calm, then another time of persecution, followed by a time of rest. In Acts 12 we are shown how the church should act and what should be done to emerge in a triumphant manner. (p15)

We are exhorted to pray for Christians in other lands as we discover what is happening there, and to develop a ministry of intercession.

The book exhorts Christians to pray for the persecuted church and to develop a ministry of intercession, in response to news of conflict.

Reading further in the book there are wonderful chapters about how when Peter was persecuted and in prison he did not suffer alone because the whole church suffered with him and "prayed without ceasing". God is on the side of the church and that makes all the difference. Even in prison and awaiting execution, chained to a soldier on each side, Peter was given peace and calmness from God, and was sleeping soundly (Psalm 127:2 is quoted here - "He giveth his beloved sleep"). And then – a light shone in the cell and he was led out by an angel!

There are chapters on how the church has persisted and remained in spite of oppression; and another on how Christianity is a religion of revelation because it is God who acts and speaks, reveals and manifests himself to us because of his amazing love and grace. Chapter 7 answers the question relating to the value of the Old Testament, the necessity of reading it and "seeing the wonderful proof it provides of the truth of the New Testament" (p78).

The church has persisted and remained in spite of oppression - God is on the side of the church, and that makes all the difference.

Other chapters focus on how we are to live as Christians, having the mind of the Holy Spirit and loving God who gives us an assurance of our salvation and hope for the future. The concluding chapters exhort us to "Stand Fast in the Faith" and "Watch and Pray".

This is a thought-provoking and inspiring book which is well worth reading - especially for encouragement in the present uncertain days.