A Plague On All Your Houses

Rev. Dr. Clifford Hill gives a summary view of the context and reaction to the General Election and the spiritual implications of what we are seeing around us in the nation and the world.

Plagues1 This is the verdict of the British electorate – a plague on all your houses! The anger and disgust of voters following the dissolution of the most corrupt and duplicitous Parliament in our history boiled over in Thursday's General Election giving an inconclusive result.

Electors' Verdict

Voters showed clearly that despite the brief flirtation with Nick Clegg who won the TV popularity game show, when they looked at his policies they decided that he was no more trustworthy than the others. Gordon Brown's attempts to look sincere and trustworthy were blown apart by his 'bigotgate' gaffe. And David Cameron found the legacy of Conservative party prejudice too high a mountain to climb.

Confusion

This has left the Government in tatters with uncertainty and confusion everywhere in the political arena that is already spilling over into the international financial markets. But why has this happened? Is it just due to the vagaries of the British electoral system: the apathy of a third of the voting public who couldn't be bothered to exercise their democratic right, and the unpredictable result of local issues? Is there some profound significance underlying this momentous result at such a critical time in our national history?

Shaking the Nations

What is God saying to us today? For the past 25 years God has been reminding us of his promise to shake the whole of creation and especially of his statement "I will shake all nations" (Haggai 2.7). Clearly this is what is happening right now across the world with tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoe eruptions, ferocious storms and the turning upside down of stable weather patterns. But the shaking of the nations is also taking place through man-made disasters like the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as well as "acts of God" like the disruption to air travel over Europe through the cloud of dust and ashes, which is stated as one of the signs of judgement that God would bring upon those who turn away from his word, "The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and ashes; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed" (Deuteronomy 28.24).

God's Purpose

But how do we equate all this with a God of love? The Bible tells us clearly that God loves us: in fact, the New Testament tells us specifically that God IS love - his very nature is love. So why would a loving God do things like this? The Scripture says that when God's judgements are in the world the people learn righteousness. This is God's desire that people learn what is right and good and true so that they can live together in peace and harmony without destroying one another. His desire is that we should come to know the truth which sets us free from greed and corruption and enables us to live according to godly values which ensure our well-being.

Warning

The reason God has been intensifying his shaking of the nations throughout the past generation is because he knows that we are heading straight for the most incredible and indescribable humanitarian disaster such as an international exchange of nuclear weapons that could leave much of the globe uninhabitable. Yes! It could happen! Given the mounting level of hatred between Islam and the West and the reckless spirit of destruction among suicidal terrorists who do not value human life, it is very possible! God knows what lies in the future and clearly he is warning humanity that great danger lies ahead. For this reason he is shaking the nations.

Britain in Danger

Is there a particular reason why Britain is getting shaken and now stands teetering on the edge of an economic abyss? Historically Britain has had an important part in the purposes of God and has been used to take the gospel to many nations. Britain has been in the forefront of attempting to establish a nation based upon biblical principles. We have had the truth for generations but in our present generation we have deliberately turned away and began undermining and destroying the foundations so carefully laid by our forebears. Like Israel in the time of the Prophet Jeremiah God is warning us that he will remove his cover of protection and allow our enemies to destroy the land unless we open our eyes to what is happening and turn to godly ways of righteousness. This is the purpose of the shaking.

In April 1986, at a conference in Israel, God drew my attention to the prophecies about his purposes in shaking the nations. At that time he said that the USSR would be the first nation to be shaken. Three weeks later the Chernobyl nuclear power station blew up which began the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the Communist empire after 70 years in power. The shaking of the nations has slowly intensified since that time. In Britain it has now reached a critical point.

Hung Parliament

God's purpose in shaking Britain is to bring us to repentance and turning - not because he enjoys bringing judgement upon a nation but because he longs to save us from the consequences of our own folly. I was hoping that there would be a clear outcome of the General Election which would mean that the nation was now sufficiently open to be able to hear the word of God and respond positively. Sadly that is not so and God has to intensify the judgement which is what a 'Hung Parliament' will do.

How to Pray

Deuteronomy 20.28 speaks of God's judgement bringing confusion in the leadership of a nation. This is what is happening today. It is likely to bring the nation to bankruptcy and the kind of economic and social disruption that is seen in Greece. This will be the ultimate humiliation of the nation that was once the proud centrepiece of the Empire of Great Britain, the greatest empire in world history. How are the mighty fallen! Our prayer should be for God to exercise mercy in judgement and that our nation will respond positively, turning to the Lord, admitting that we have departed from the truth and asking him to Heal Our Land.

Clifford and Monica Hill began their ministry in pastoral charge of churches in London, exercising ministry in Harlesden West London, Tottenham North London, Newham East London and Lambeth South London. They moved into national ministry when they accepted an invitation from the Evangelical Alliance to become Joint Directors of Evangelism and Church Growth.

From this Clifford developed an independent ministry, Prophetic Word Ministries and Monica became a founder and the Executive Director of the British Church Growth Association.

C & M Ministries Trust was officially formed as an independent charity in 1993, although it had been operating as a ministry under the umbrella of Prophetic Word Ministries (PWM) trust since the early 1980s.

Rev. Dr. Clifford Hill, 19/05/2010