Today I would like to share a video that outlines the potential prophetic significance of a proposed pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The video is about 12 minutes long.

For more information on why Mr Rosenthal believes “Gog”, the “King of the North”, and the Antichrist to all be the same person, please see further videos and articles produced by Zion’s Hope, and resources produced by Joel Richardson. His books, Islamic Antichrist and Mideast Beast, have good chapters outlining his arguments for this assertion.

We live in an age of rapid change. If, as many believe, the return of Christ is near, then we also live at a time of transition from the “Times of the Gentiles” to the Millennium.

Some see references to modern technology in prophetic portions of the Bible. For example, the scene in Revelation 11 in which the world looks upon the dead bodies of the Two Witnesses, has been understood as a reference to telecommunications: the world can see their bodies via satellite and wireless communication systems.

Some have seen the Mark of the Beast as a computer controlled system. In order to access money or things in action, one would need to sign up to the system in some way (e.g. by receiving an access code, app, or chip), and in so doing, one gives allegiance to the Beast.

Our current epoch is truly astounding (and terrifying) in the rate of change in technology, the new applications for technology, and our dependence upon it. This weekend, I have been exploring the world of computer generated music and chatbots. While AI is still in its infancy, it looks as if, given the right exposure and support, it can grow to achieve incredible things.

This raises the serious question of personhood. At what point does AI become a person (an ontological question) and how will it and we know that it is a person (an epistemological question). For example, if one is a person because one thinks one is (subjective determination), how would an outsider know this. Saying, “I am a person”, does not in and of itself provide indisputable proof. This could merely be a response that the system has learned to generate in response to certain stimuli.

Where we are going with all of this development remains to be seen. If we do not receive godly wisdom in these matters (and obey its precepts), then we may come to serious misfortune. I find myself amazed by what little I have seen so far, but also frightened by the possibility of evil applications of technology by legislators and members of the executive and influential corporate entities.

The vicissitudes of this week have made it difficult for me to contribute to the blog. I am neither a seer nor a prophet, so I do not feel particularly qualified to comment on precisely how God is acting in the world at present. Various prophetic words that I have been reading or watching may or may not harmonise, and the fulfilment of some may not have happened yet. This time certainly is a trial for our discernment, faith, and hope.

I continue to desire that my nation would exit the European Union, and that it would experience constitutional, economic, cultural, and religious reform. We live in an age of anxiety. It feels as if the Devil is a boa constrictor, tightening his coils on every aspect of our lives, so that we cannot breathe. The spiritual battle for the deliverance of our nation is real.

There are multiple levels to this battle: the UK against the EU; Parliament divided against itself; Parliament against the people; and Christian against Christian as some continue to espouse the metanarrative put forward by Remainers. Unless one is in a solidly Brexit prayer group, it can feel awkward to pray out loud for God to bring us out of the EU and reform our land.

While I understand the desire of Christians to ensure that we do not compromise Kingdom principles for the sake of our political commitments, I cannot accept many of the sweeping statements that are made in this regard, seemingly in an attempt to silence Christians who lean towards a more Thatcherite or 19th century view of politics and economics. If there are such things as Right and Wrong, and if they are grounded in the reason of God and the way in which He designed our world, and if they apply to every aspect of our lives – then (with the addition of other premises) it follows that we can formulate a framework to guide our understanding of what governments should and should not do.

I often think in images – perhaps as a product of years of literary study and reading metaphorical language in the Bible. It seems to me that our country has become a machine with too many gears grinding against each other – gridlock. Unless various gears are removed and others cleaned and oiled, the machine will do no one any good. These gears grinding against each other are the clash of ideologies and interests that divide our land and our churches. On the one hand are those who, to varying degrees, would make the State our one true Shepherd. On the other hand are those who would have the Lord God as our Shepherd.

At present, there is a restraining force in the world that keeps the Antichrist from rising. There will come a time when the restraining force is removed and the Man of Sin is unveiled, taking his seat in the Temple of God. As we look on the sickness of our nation, familiar in its recapitulation of the stasis in the times of Richard II and Charles I, many of us, myself included, feel called to pray by what light of revelation we have for transformation.

A) That a new constitution would be born in this land to curb the spread of evil and foster liberty and prosperity.

B) That Christians would find deeper fellowship with God and with each other.

C) That, as in the days of Oliver Cromwell, this land would extend hands of fellowship and blessing to the Children of Israel.

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Postscripts:

1. I do not expect that all people who read this blog will share my longing for the rebuilding of the Temple in Israel, but if you do, please leave a prayer/decree comment to that effect in the comments below.
2. I would recommend reading Richard Barker’s blog for his anthology of Brexit-related prophetic words.

The same Apostle John who recorded these words of Christ, “for God so loved the world…”, also wrote:

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:15

Western Christianity is often accused of being worldly – and there is at least some truth to that accusation. The world-system is like a tyrant that uses a carrot-and-stick approach. If you conform to the zeitgeist and to the customs of the age, you are rewarded (although even this is haphazard and illusory). If you refuse to comply with the system, you are ridiculed and ostracised.

That kind of tyranny is incompatible with the true inclusiveness of God’s Kingdom. Not the inclusivity spoken of by SJWs, but an inclusivity that stems from both righteousness AND compassion. True Christians should have a heavenly perspective on the trifling matters of this world:

 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6:31-33

We are at risk of being entangled in the net of the world; if we are entangled, we must ask Christ to help us cut the cords, so that we might free ourselves. Christians must not be ruled by the world, for they serve a higher Kingdom. It is an insidious system, affecting all parts of life: what we wear, what we eat, how we interact with other people, and so on. If there is to be revival in the USA and UK, then part of the preparation and/or experience of that revival must be to destroy worldliness in all its forms in the Church.

The system is bad for us psychologically and spiritually. It makes addicts of us and puts us at risk of accepting the Mark of the Beast, rather than refusing and resisting it. Old fashioned devotion to God and seeking first the Kingdom are remedies to this evil. When we are rejected by the world, feeling all alone, we must remember this.

The Bible uses various metaphors to describe the propensity for evil in human nature.

And the Lord said unto Cain, “Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. -Genesis 4:6-8

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. -Romans 6:6

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul -1 Peter 2:11

Carl Jung postulated the existence of a “shadow self” as an aspect of our personality. He argued that the path to wholeness lies in integrating this dark, unconscious side of one’s personality into one’s conscious thoughts and actions. Various works of fiction have employed this motif, whether before or after the work of Jung. One such modern example is Ursula Leguin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, which also draws on feminist themes and concepts from eastern philosophy and spirituality.

Christians should be wary of such concepts, which find ways of influencing the zeitgeist of our societies. The quotation from 1 Peter above tells Christians not to incorporate the shadow self into our lives, but to resist its evil impulses and seductions. St Paul, drawing on Christ’s own teachings, articulated an anthropology in which the evil side of our character was a thing to be crucified, that had been crucified with Christ and would be purged from us in the resurrection.

Following Christ’s teaching means renouncing and executing this side of ourselves on a daily basis, Lent being a season of the liturgical year that focusses on this doctrine, drawing inspiration from the Temptation of Christ in the wilderness. The Temptation is presented in detail in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. Milton wrote about the Temptation in his lesser known Paradise Regained.

The shadow in our hearts can also lead to madness. Today we see great fits of madness in the outbursts of individuals and in the actions of groups. While Christianity involves a mystical side and acceptance of the fact that we do not know everything, it is not a call to insanity, to the submersion of our rational minds. We are to use our minds to contemplate truth and to preach truth to others and live it by example. This “way of truth” is another aspect of the daily call to “take up one’s cross” as discussed above. We are in a war over Truth with a capital T. An important aspect of these end times is the spread of deception and madness.

The discipline of the Lenten season, then, is about the mind and the body. Let us not be blind to evil, to the work of the fallen nature, of the world, and of the Devil. He wants to sit on the throne of God, not just in Jerusalem, but in our hearts.

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. -Psalm 22:2-4

Tarkovsky’s classic, Andrei Rublev, based on the life of the famed Russian icon painter, is perfect viewing for Lent or Holy Saturday. Set during Russia’s medieval period, the film takes us on a Romans Road, showing human depravity and pointing to God’s grace as the only solution to our consuming wickedness. This slow, masterful film, is wonderful for meditation: whether you agree with the thoughts presented or not, the film will help you to ponder the deep spiritual matters of our salvation.

Sobriety in its broadest sense is an important part of the Christian life. We have an age of glory ahead and tastes of that Kingdom now; but still, this is the valley of tears until Christ sits upon His throne in Jerusalem. God calls us to love our fellow man. Agape in the East, caritas in the West – the compassionate love of God tells us to submit ourselves to God’s discipline, until the image of Christ emerges from our hard, selfish hearts.

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An online petition has been started, requesting the Prime Minister to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament until April 2, in order to prevent Parliament from betraying the Brexit vote. You must be a UK citizen in order to sign the petition. 10,000 signatures are required in order to compel the government to consider the proposal.

It remains unclear whether this option will be exercised before Brexit day. There is a great battle in the heavenly realm of prayer and on earth over Brexit. The enemy would like to see Brexit frustrated.

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Archbishop Cranmer has written a piece on Church of England Brexit prayers that is worth reading. Increasingly, many Christians in the UK are feeling uneasy about the Church of England and certain other Protestant denominations. If revival is to take place here, it must surely happen outside of the control and manipulation of officials who oppose the will of God.

We may yet see greater moves towards independent churches of various formats (including house churches), and towards prayer gatherings. Prayer must be at the centre of what we do: without God’s direction, we may not know the way to go; without God’s power, we will not be effective in our mission.

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Conservatism speaks to an anchor. The abhorrence, the deep angst that conservatives feel today is a reaction to the great chaos released upon the world. Chaos is the work of the enemy, that fleeing dragon, Leviathan (see scholarly work on the chaoskampf motif in the Bible).

You can see videos from 2019’s CPAC over at NEO’s site. Conservatism is a call to preserve what ought to be preserved, even as we accept changes in the way we do things. It is not to be confused with being a reactionary (“semper eadem”). We must fight to preserve our heritage, even as we seek various reforms and new approaches – because, if we do not occupy the positions of protection, the enemy will fill them with tyrants.

An article by Melanie Phillips in today’s Jerusalem Post bears reading. In it she discusses the UK government finally designating all of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, not merely certain parts of it. She goes on to discuss Jeremy Corbyn‘s equivocal response to this designation, his previous dealings with Hezbollah, and the current crisis of antisemitism in the UK’s Labour Party.

The Labour Party earns about as much scorn from conservatives as the Democrats received from conservatives in the USA. This is not merely because conservatives prefer their governments to be fiscally responsible, but because the Labour Party is perceived by many conservatives as subversive.

Compassionate conservatives want to see the interests of the working classes supported and protected, but they distrust the Labour Party as a vehicle for that purpose. Many of us would prefer to see our politics return to the modus vivendi of the late 19th century, in which working class interests were represented by “One Nation Toryism“, with its social policies, and the interests of classical liberals and proto-libertarians were represented by the Liberal Party.

The old Labour Party, which had to self-fund its MPs in days when MPs did not receive salaries, is a far cry from the Labour Party today (although there was always an element of communism and socialism in the extreme fringes of the party). The modern Labour Party is split between followers of the Blairite model and socialists who want to control the means of production.

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Meanwhile, further issues for consideration are apparent. Is there still a possibility of reconciliation between North and South Korea? With man, it looks as if that opportunity is close to vanishing; but with God, all things are possible.

In Israel, there will be elections for Members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in April. A merger between Yesh Atid and Resilience threatens to undermine Benjamin Netanyahu’s chances to form a new coalition government after the election.

President Trump’s administration has been quietly preparing a new peace plan. However, Benjamin Netanyahu asked that the details of the plan and negotiations with the Palestinians not be released until after the elections in April.

If Netanyahu falls from power (he himself is under investigation at the moment), then the plan may not proceed or may take a markedly different form. A new government may wish to alter relations between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (which, under MbS, is reportedly a significant partner in the peace plan preparations).

As a Zionist and bible-believing Christian, I do not agree with dividing the land of Israel. Nor do I agree with Islamic control of the Temple Mount. A peace plan that divides the land or poses any other affront to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be a sign of deterioration in the state of the world.

I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. –Joel 3:2

Lastly, there will be elections to the European Parliament in May this year. It is expected that nationalist parties will make significant gains. Depending on the exact Brexit that occurs, the UK may or may not be participating in these elections. Whether representatives of these nationalist parties can work together to form a majority or significant majority that can reform the EU remains open to question. My personal view is that the EU is not likely to be reformed – more likely is a series of judgments in the form of demographic, cultural, economic, and religious woes.

In light of my posts about preparation for the Millennium and unity in the Church, I would like to make some limiting remarks in order to show the context in which I hold those beliefs. I am a premillennialist (though not a dispensationalist). I believe that Christ will rule on earth for a thousand years following His return. I believe that He will return following the rule of the Antichrist. I do not subscribe to Dominion Theology and I am not an adherent of the New Apostolic Reformation (“NAR”).

I believe that revival should be built on the twin pillars of the Spirit and the Bible. Any revelation that is received should always be submitted to the authority of the word of God. If it does not align with what Scripture teaches, then it is to be rejected, no matter how ecstatic we may feel about it. I also believe that the Bible teaches general principles, which we may apply in our lives, but also must be understood in its proper context.

The Church must be led by the Spirit, but the Church has been given teachers, pastors, and scholars, who are the legitimate organs to explain the use of history, archaeology, textual analysis, and other disciplines to help us understand the development of the Bible, and the world in which it was written. True Christian philosophers and theologians can help us navigate the spiritual truths taught by the Bible and the process by which we interpret the Bible – their work can be invaluable in keeping Christians on the path of exegesis and away from the snare of eisegesis.

I stand by my statements that Christians are seated in God’s Divine Council now, that they will rule on earth with Christ during the Millennium, and that they can exercise influence in this world now in a variety of ways. There are even Christians in Parliament. However, I do not wish to be understood as holding the view that Christians will somehow conquer the earth and hand over its rule to Christ when He returns. I rather think the opposite is true. Like Pope Benedict XVI, I echo Christ’s question about finding faith on earth when He returns.

I do not wish to diminish the wonderful things that God is doing right now, especially in the Muslim world (see, for example, the work of Hormuz Shariat). Nevertheless, we should not lose sight of the fact that the world is a dark place and that those Muslim nations are, by and large, ruled by governments unsympathetic to Israel and the West or else largely ineffective in curbing the excesses of Islamic zealots. In Europe hedonism, abortion, financial misfeasance, suppression of free speech, and cultural relativism continue apace. While the question of whether the final beast empire is a revived Roman empire or an Islamic empire continues to be discussed in eschatology circles, it is certainly reasonable to see Europe as a problem zone in the end times rather than a place that will entirely resist the Antichrist.

Lastly, we should all be wary of false unity, a unity that tries to prevent Christians from asking legitimate questions and consulting the word of God. Christ did not forbid His disciples from asking questions, and neither did the Apostles forbid the Church. St John told his congregations to test the spirits, to determine whether they came from Christ or the dark side. Christ warned us about false prophets in the end times. We would be wise to read this statement in conformity with the Apostles’ warnings in their letters to the early Church. In other words, these prophets can take the form of people claiming to be Christian, not only of proponents of other religions.

If I can give one piece of advice in this post, it is to stay with what you know and trust. If you are genuinely seeking God in your private life and the congregation you attend, God will lead you into the plans He has for the end of the age. Central to this move should be worship, prayer, and study of the word of God.

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5, Berean Study Bible

What follows is an extract of an unfinished essay I began a few years ago. Continue reading →

In the 1951 film Quo Vadis, based on a novel of the same name by Henryk Sienkiewicz, the Apostle Paul comes to visit an old Roman general at his villa. In order to avoid suspicion, the general explains to his non-Christian guest, Marcus Vinicius, that Paul is a “teacher of philosophy”. In real life, the Apostle Paul was keen to distinguish the Gospel that he preached from Greek philosophy and the Pharisaic academies. Nevertheless, the Bible contains thoughts on various deep matters that have been discussed by philosophers over the centuries, and it is important that we understand how the Gospel challenges the worldviews of people with whom we converse.

Much of the discussion in Christian circles concerning Brexit and the culture wars in the USA, and within Catholicism and Anglicanism, concern the influence of non-Christian philosophies and ideologies: empiricism; relativism; Marxism; nihilism; existentialism; materialism; humanism; and so on. Christianity differs from these by making certain metaphysical claims and stating that humans can know these claims by means of reason and experience (whether at first hand or from a witness).

In the West, we are confronted by the problem of affluence. This weekend, my Pastor preached on the Parable of the Sower. Following the service, I was chatting with a friend, and we both agreed that in our area, which is largely middle-class, there is the deceit of riches and the cares of this world – the thorns that choked the seed that fell on the third type of soil. “I’m all right; you’re all right.” This type of thinking, with its disregard for the hard questions of existence, leaves a man exposed to making his choice by default. Christianity is opt-in, not opt-out. One must actively accept Jesus’ offer.

God can do miraculous things. Bosco often points out, when giving his own testimony, that God broke through into his circumstances, somewhat like the coup de foudre used to describe love at first sight. Richard’s testimony is similarly miraculous. But not all testimonies take such forms, and even in such miraculous ones, the teller, looking back, can usually attest to people sent by God to “prepare the soil“.

Part of the preparation may involve teaching concepts upon which the Gospel is built: the existence of an immortal soul; the judgment before God that every man must face; the difference between the world we live in now and the ideal in our hearts against which we compare it; the inability of man to save himself. Such doctrines, the possibility of which an honest mind would readily acknowledge, leave us, like Jacob, struggling with the Angel of the LORD. On the one hand, the old man wants to remain in his sin and in the conceit that he is the master of his own affairs; on the other, what is left of Adam before the Fall longs for a return to Eden, to fellowship with the Father of all Mankind.

Man, who is a little lower than the angels, is supposed to be part of God’s Kingdom. God created man to tend the Garden of Eden, the place where Heaven touched Earth. Those who have not wholly dulled the spiritual faculty with material pleasures find themselves desperately trying to satiate it with some form of religion or magic. Christians must not abandon this part of the world to superstition and demonic deception. We must not be afraid to teach Gospel truths to those who are hungry for the metaphysical, and to show how the Gospel answers the deep questions of philosophy.

In order to give satisfactory answers, we must be led by the Spirit, know what the Bible teaches in its original context, and find empathy for people struggling with “the big questions”. These questions will not always be expressed in eloquence. Sometimes they are akin to the groanings of the Psalmists, Prophets, and Wisdom Writers: dissatisfaction with a world that, not prima facie, but on deep investigation, appears altogether meaningless.

The difference between Christianity and the path of philosophy is not the absence or presence of the intellect in these matters. A learned, virtuous mind, can come to know and grasp much of what the Bible teaches. The free will defence, for example, is intellectually forceful as an answer, if not the answer, to the problem of evil. But our spiritual and psychological wellbeing does not rest in knowing this answer, but in trusting God.

The Gospel is not simply a set of propositions: it is an invitation to leap into the arms of a merciful, loving God. The evangelist offers the invitation, but he does not carry the recipient into the Lord’s embrace. The recipient must make the choice for himself. This is where we leave philosophy behind. To be sure, it can be of service to the believer in explaining and developing doctrine to which the believer has already given some assent in faith – but it cannot replace the faculty of faith itself.

It seems to me that faith is at the centre of the spiritual war in which we find ourselves at the moment, battling against the philosophies of the dark side. We must know the propositions of Scripture, but we must pray in faith for the Lord’s Kingdom to come.