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CHURCH LETTER
` You can discern the face of the sky
but you cannot discern the signs of the times '
The year 2016 was a very good year, as indeed the year 2017 will be, for those who seek to discern the `signs' in the geo-political world's sky. Readers of this Letter will have noticed that our title comes from a verse in Matthew 16, where Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees and Sadducees for their demands for a sign from heaven. However we will state at the beginning of this Letter that we have merely `borrowed' this one verse from Matthew 16 as it is illustrative of what follows here - which does not in any way refer to Pharisees and Sadducees! Our concern here is to discern the signs of the times, as revealed in Scriptural prophecy, through historical events, for truly it has been said that `history must be true for prophecy to be valid'.
We are aware that many in the Western Church leave such matters to others of a more esoteric nature, and many more can and will discuss the signs in the `geo-political heavens' ranging from the 2016/2017 US Presidential Election to the promised `Brexit negotiations' with Brussels and all other similar concerns in between. Others will simply ignore such `signs', and yet again others are unaware of or indifferent to such `abstract' matters. Among such people history and Scriptural prophecy have no place in a `consumer culture'. But understanding history and Scriptural prophecy will continue its onward path and it is for the Church to discern the `signs of the times' and announce it. But before we turn to Scripture we would insert here an extract from a short article we wrote just before the 2016 UK Referendum on the country's future in the European Union. We begin our quote:
" Biblical prophecy, as we understand it, is an understanding of the present time as seen previously repeated in past times, and from that perspective predicting what will happen in future times - all of this of course under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and it is with this in mind that we look first to the past. Some twelve years ago we wrote a Study paper on the formation of Western Europe, which is far too long to recount here and not necessary for this Letter (but it is available for those who are interested). In this shortened form we saw how Western Europe came into being through a mass movement of Frankish tribes down into the southern part of the Western Peninsular of Europe in the 5th century and settling into what is now France. From the mystical Clovis came the Merovingian Dynasty which dominated Western Europe until another powerful Frankish tribe rose up and usurped the Merovingians and founded the Carolingian Dynasty, and under Charles Martel the Carolingians rose to great power centered on what is now Germany. From the Carolingians came Charles the Great, better known as Charlemagne, who in 800 AD was crowned in Rome by the Pope as `Emperor of the Romans', the first Emperor of the short-lived, but continually revived, Holy Roman Empire, who set about unifying Western Europe as his Empire. This, then, is the power struggle that engulfs Europe from time to time through the two dominating Frankish Dynasties coveting the `Mantle of Charlemagne'. The British Isles were never peopled by the Franks - their ethnic line is not Frankish - which is why the British people, although often drawn into conflicts in Europe, have never been part of Europe.
" And so to the more modern times of the 19th/20th centuries. 1806 saw the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, and from that time until the unification of the Germanic States into an Empire in 1872 under Wilhelm of Prussia there were numerous attempts for close union between the States. In 1834 a `German Customs Union' had been formed, known as the `Zollverein', which was a coalition of German States for Tariffs and economic trade centred on Prussia. By 1867 this Zollverein had drawn into it several non-German States such as Sweden and Norway, and in 1872 the German Empire took over the Zollverein and many more States were added to it. Over the years it came to be seen as a bulwark against a dominant France, whilst also reducing the economic independence of the smaller States of the Zollverein by creating a large commercial market for the German trade. A powerful yet fearful Germany in the centre of Europe has been the constant threat to peace. By forming concentric circles of smaller States around it into a Customs Union it has at the same time dominated and sapped those States of political and commercial life, and it was the danger of some of those smaller States seeking independence that was the principal cause of the 1914/1918 First World War. This pattern was continued in the ensuing years. It led to the 1939 Second World War as the Nazi Regime in Germany sought to rebuild a powerful Zollverein centred on old Prussia in a coalition of States against the danger of a victorious France - and again it ended in total war.
" Clearly it was this same pattern which brought the European Union into being, for since the unification of Germany in 1990 it has once again forged a Zollverein centred on a powerful and dominant Germany and, as before, it has reduced the independence of the surrounding States to political and economic poverty by creating a large commercial market for Germany. The Greek crisis of 2015 was never going to see Greece leave the European Union; Germany would never have allowed it for that would have seen other States on the edge of the Zollverein seeking independence, and as in 1914 and 1939 it would have led to war as a fearful Germany sought to protect itelf against France. The European Union has not brought peace to Europe for 70 years, for as it has developed into a powerful Zollverein it has ensured that another war was inevitable as it has followed the same pattern as before. This is why in 2016 an American President and other prominent European Leaders, including NATO and Security Chiefs suddenly spoke out - and their fears were well grounded in the reality of history. At last in May 2016 the British Prime Minister and another prominent political leader each spoke out in their different ways of a war in Europe in the event of Great Britain leaving the European Union. But neither King Canute of old nor modern political leaders can stop the `tide' of European events. " End of our quote.
In 1834 Heinrich Heine, a German-Jewish writer, saw the old gods arising again, and he made plain what today's `prophets' fail to see, cushioned as they are by decades of wealth and prosperity in an ever-increasing secular society and freed from the shackles of religion. He wrote:
" Christianity - and this is its greatest merit - has occasionally calmed the brutal lust for battle, but it (Christianity) cannot destroy that savage joy. And when, once that restraining Talisman, the Cross, is broken, then the old combatants will rage with the fury celebrated by the Norse poets. The Wooden Talisman (the Cross) is fast decaying, and the day will come when it will break pathetically to pieces. Then the old stone gods will rise from un-remembered ruins and rub the dust of a thousand years from their eyes and Thor will leap to life at last and bring down his gigantic hammer on the Gothic Cathedrals. "
Natural tides ebb and flow according to the Law of the Solar System. So, too, do geo-political `tides' ebb and flow according to the lawlessness of political and State leaders. Therefore for prophecy to be valid, history must be true, and then we shall be able to discern the signs of the times. And for that we need to look at the past ebbs and flows of history spread over a longer period than our modern-day social-media `prophets' trust in. The world has never known peace but only short-lived periods of peace in the midst of war. A mid 19th century writer described it thus:
" War appears to be as old as mankind,
but peace is a modern invention. "
Since the Great Schism of 1054 which separated the Roman Catholic Church from the Eastern Orthodox Church, the world has largely separated into two political/religious halves, or as seen in Scripture, the two legs of Nebuchadnezzar's statue which he saw in a dream, as recorded in Daniel chapter 2. With the Eastern leg suffering humiliation through the Islamic hordes, the Western leg, the Roman Catholic Church - or, more correctly, the Holy See of Rome, an Episcopal sovereign entity of the ruling Pope - was quietly but with great determination gaining authority and power over the Western kingdoms and principalities, spiritually ruling through the Holy Roman Empire and its many free princely States. This came to an abrupt but temporary halt through the `Reformation' in the early 16th century. We say `temporary', for world history, as seen through the prism of the See of Rome, is very long-term indeed!
Here, briefly, in this short Letter, is the background to the religious wars which ripped Western Europe apart for the space of one hundred years, which were only brought to an end with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Many today see the Reformation which Luther brought about as the re-establishment of Scriptural Authority, or `Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fides' in the universal Church, but historically it was a successful effort to overthrow the Holy Roman Empire under the domination of the See of Rome. The Peace of Westphalia was signed by all parties (with only the Pope, not a party to the Treaty, voicing displeasure) agreeing that both the Catholic and Protestant religions be accepted as equal before the law. All signatories to the Treaty would accept the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, with its right for all kings and princes to determine the religion of their own States. Such enormous politico/religio change throughout Western Europe was outside the `memory bank' of the rulers and people of those times and would lead to the formation of strong State Nations ruled by powerful dynastic Royal Houses needing `spiritual authority' to maintain their thrones. This `spiritual authority' came in the form of National Churches with the State `requiring' the subservience of those Churches to the throne. And so the modern `Throne and Altar' concept of Western Europe State rule was formed, a very powerful force in the hands of tyrannical rulers. This multi-polar balance of power would more or less continue through the next three hundred years!
As we set out earlier, `the invention of peace' was being seen for what it was, an invention! The German Zollverein was also being seen for what it was - the re-emergence of the Sleeping Power of Germany, a modern form of the Carolingian Holy Roman Empire joined to and encouraged by the See of Rome. It led to the Great War of 1914-1918 and left Europe, by the end of that modern thirty-year war in 1945 with a bi-polar Balance of Power between the Allied Powers of the West and the Eastern power block of Russia and its satellites. The exhaustion and near-bankruptcy of the warring nations led in turn to a modern form of the Peace of Westphalia, emerging as what became known as the European Union under the benign but demanding uni-polar Balance of Power of America, which was watching closely the re-emerging power of Russia with its undergirding by religious Orthodoxy. Today's `invention of peace' has seen the reforming of the old Carolingian Zollverein that has become the European Union, and as we see the clear signs of the deterioration of the uni-polar American Balance of Power we are also seeing the fracturing of what was to become a revised Holy Roman Empire under the spiritual `guidance' of the See of Rome.
This deterioration of the remaining Super-Power has been long coming. As a great trading nation it paved the way for globilisation, always seeking new markets for its produce and seeking cheaper producers for what it sells, causing widespread internal economic and social problems in those nations, for globilisation brings short-term benefits to the few whilst causing long-term cost to the many. It is this `globilised Zollverein' which is causing the new American `doctrine' seen in the 2016 Presidential election, and it is spilling over into the fracturing of the dream of a revived Holy Roman Empire in Europe. Brexit was but the first of many seeking to reassert their national identity that not many in the media or the political elite saw coming. The rising sense of nationalism will see the restoration of the State Nation in a modern form, and as seen before (for `history must be true for prophecy to be valid') it will lead to the reality of `the invention of peace' and increasing what was spoken of in Matthew 24 (v7-8):
" Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All
these are the beginning of birth-pains. "
What, then, are those `signs of the times' we need to be concerned with? The collapse of the `Global Zollverein' centred on and serving America, paving the way for the collapse of the `Carolingian Zollverein' centred on Germany, at the heart of the European Union, will bring us back to Scriptural wars that are centred on the wider geographic arm of Europe as the age-old dream of a Holy Roman Empire under the `guidance' of the See of Rome seeks centre stage! The words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 24 continue: (v9-12)
" Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you
will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn
away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false
prophets will appear and deceive many people. "
As we see this fracturing of the European Zollverein and the re-emergence of the State Nation, some may recall our earlier writings. The title `State Nation' is not the same as today's `Nation State' but speaks of an authoritarian State power undergirded by State religion. Therefore as history has shown, there will be an increase in the speaking of `a chosen nation' and a return to State worship under a sovereign ruler - a modern form of the religious wars that tore through Europe in earlier times. Randall Davidson, an Archbishop of Canterbury, said this in 1914 regarding what he saw emerging in Germany:
" We believe with an intensity beyond words that there does exist exactly what our opponents deny, a Higher Law than the law of the State, a deeper allegiance than can be claimed by any earthly sovereign, and that in personal and national conduct alike we have to follow higher and more sacred principles of honour than any State can enforce. "
We have seen this `Christian nationalism' appearing over many years in the form of speaking of our Judao/Christian heritage and `the Lord's purpose for this nation', and `returning to our God-given roots'. But it has appeared more strongly since `Brexit' days, usually referring to the 1939-1945 Second World War's prayer ministries such as Rees Howell's Bible College of Wales, who were used by the Lord to keep Great Britain safe from invasion from Germany because it was a Christian nation. That thought may well be so in certain circles, but we would suggest that many other `Christian nations' in Europe were not kept safe during that conflict and so we believe there is another explanation. These British Isles, isolated off the main coast of Europe, at that time were needed to assemble the greatest military armada ever known in the world in order to launch an attack on mainland Europe to restore that `balance of power' and to preserve the Remnant of Israel from being totally destroyed.
As we said earlier, the Protestant Reformation not only led to a protest against the excesses of Roman Catholicism, it was also the beginning of the secularisation of `Protestant Christianity' as the various recognisable sovereign States broke free from Rome, leading to the religious wars that tore through Europe as each State adopted its own State religion to undergird its sovereign power, thereby forming a Christianised culture within the nation. This was not so within the German Empire, which was brought into being during the late 19th century thus having only a thin veneer of `cultural Christianity', and that thin veneer fractured into many sects. This would lead to the near idolatry of the German State - seen very clearly in the two wars within thirty years in Europe. Within the British Isles Christianity had been established long before the Reformation - indeed long before any recognisable State Nation had been formed - and although through Henry 8th an Established Church `cultural Christianity' was formed, the people were never beholden to the State as was the case with other Western nations. Bounded as it is by the sea, this island of Great Britain has formed its own civic religion and has only reluctantly been drawn into the cauldron of other Religio/State conflicts - as seen in the previously quoted words of the English Archbishop Randall Davidson.
As we see the collapse of not only a Global Zollerein but also a European Zollerein, let us not be drawn into believing for a repeat of God's purpose for these Britannic Isles. If `Brexit' is more than just a trigger for the breakup of the European Dream of world domination, let us trust God for what He may well ask of these Isles once again, if He so desires. To do more will lead us to look at the signs in the past `skies' and not see the signs of the times!
Selah
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