Friday 22nd March 2019, in my view was one of the darkest days, if not the darkest day in New Zealand’s history. No, it was not the day of the mosque shooting, but the day our Prime Minister saw fit to allow the name of Allah to be proclaimed over our nation. Not just the name of Allah, but “there is no other god worthy of praise but Allah”.
Not content with allowing the removal of the Name of Jesus from the parliamentary prayer, under the guise of being “all inclusive”, and in an effort to appease the Muslim community or simply to just grovel, she donned the hajib and encouraged others to do so. Throughout the world the Islamic prayer rang out and the media reported how wonderful our solidarity was, how wonderful Jacinda was, and praises poured in from other countries as to the unity and love that was shown in this nation.
But was that really the case or did the media simply report what they wanted us to believe? Many Muslims in other countries saw this as a pseudo-religious parody as the hajib symbolises the inferiorisation of women and in its most degrading form serves as a banner for Islamic groups such as ISIS and political Islam. It certainly represents Islam. Many women have been tortured and murdered because they have refused to wear it. Yet here we have a Prime Minister who prides herself on standing for women’s equal rights donning the hajib and encouraging others to do so.
I am still reeling from the impact that that day had on me. To see many in our nation forsake the one true God and bow to Allah shocked me to the depth of my core; to hear those Islamic prayers ring out with so many in support left me stunned.
The rapidity that all this was embraced by leaders in New Zealand, including some churches and believers, was staggering, some happy to accept that we all worship the same god; some even proclaiming that those of the Body who refused the hajib were intolerant! The suddenness of it was mind boggling. The roller-coaster effect that it had, and is still having, indicates the rate of how quickly the world can change in just a few moments of time.
There seemed to be a hush and almost pregnant silence that hovered over the nation that day in the spirit realm; almost as if it even extended into heaven as all in that realm paused for a moment in shocked dismay at what was happening.
And yet I know that my Redeemer lives, God is still on the throne. He’s not taken by surprise at the events. He is a patient God; He has been patient with us, His church; he was patient in the days of Noah during the building of the ark.
The question I always ask myself during these times of great upheaval when such an event happens, is what is God saying to us, His church? What should our response be? Is there some change He wants to bring to His body, specifically in the way that we do things? When the news coverage of this event eventually dies down, are we going to press the snooze button and go back to sleep, so to speak? With an apathetic shrug of our shoulders, are we going to say “well it’s all over now, let’s get back to ‘normal’?”
Let’s not forget that in the days of Noah, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Nothing wrong with any of those things but the people were oblivious that while they were doing their “normal”, God was preparing something cataclysmic, at the same time that He was preparing an ark.
While I won’t try to answer the previous questions in their entirety, I can begin, at the very least, to unpack some of what I believe God is saying.
The word that resounded in my spirit during this time is from the Book of Esther.
In the words of Mordecai: “Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion.” (Esther 4:14)
Our country and our faith are under threat
Many in New Zealand and outside of it have always seen our country as a safe haven. Many under the illusion that this is a safe country to live in have bought land. I have also heard many Christians comment that the horrors of other countries could never reach us here.
When I see the acceleration at which things are happening and the rate that our Prime Minister is moving I see a totalitarian state raising its ugly head, – the removal of free speech which will lead to the criminalisation of peaceful outspoken citizens, the removal of our right to defend ourselves, and the control of our finances, healthcare and food resources.
We are now far from being a “safe haven”. The bubble that contained this illusion has popped. Soon the other bubble that the rapture will happen before tribulation comes will also pop, as we enter a time of persecution against Christians in this nation.
Are you ready?
Amidst all this, God is preparing an ark. Let all those who have prepared themselves spiritually enter into it. It’s an ark of His presence, an ark of spiritual safety; an ark for the righteous, for the overcomers, for those who will not forsake the Lord and follow other gods; an ark for those who are the “remnant of the seed of the woman, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
“If you keep silent at this time”.
Let the voice of God arise
When God speaks, every other speaker becomes a noise maker!
The time has come for the church to have a voice – and not just between the four walls of a building. The voice of the enemy is becoming louder and louder; the voice of the politicians, of Islam, of political correctness and of evil. These voices seek to clothe us with fear, to intimidate, and to silence.
There’s a new “normal” now. A ”suddenly” has happened and the prince of the power of the air is attempting to change the landscape of this nation, physically and spiritually.
I do not believe this is a time for the church to be silent
Quote: Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Where are the voices of the apostles and the prophets? Where is the voice of God’s zeal? Where are the Elijahs to challenge the prophets of Baal; not only Baal but the church? Where are the Davids to challenge the Goliaths? Where are those like Phinehas who challenge unrighteousness and who are able to turn away God’s wrath? Where are those like Moses to say “Who is on the Lord’s side”? (Exodus 32:26)
And David spoke to the men that stood near him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the Living God?” (1 Sam 17:26).
This is not a time for complacency
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. (Jn 9:4)
Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, “The morning cometh, and also the night” (Is 21:11-12)
Let all those who are willing to take up the battle cry in prayer, in action and in being a voice to stand for truth and righteousness, enter the ark. This is not a time for lukewarmness, for the faint hearted or for compromising.
The whole world lies under the sway of the evil one (1 John 5:19) Deception is rife. Our young people have been indoctrinated to believe lies (and stupid, unreasonable, senseless ones at that). Political correctness has gone mad. It seems that many cannot even accept scientific proof any more. The harvest of evil is maturing.
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (Jn 3:19)
Redeem the time, for the days are evil (Ephs 5:16)
The shocker is the rate at which deception is rampant in the church. The swiftness at which Christians were willing to put on the hajib, the representation of Islam, without investigation and without being willing to receive correction about it, is a scary precursor to what else they will be willing to embrace in the name of solidarity, love and unity. This is nothing short of false love, idolatry and enmity towards God.
Let us clearly understand the days that we are living in; that two harvests are maturing. The call is for us to have “victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark”.
Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” So he answered, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?”
I ask myself, has this been a silent overtake? How did we miss what was coming? Some have suggested that the watchers (the prophetic people) were not in their lookout positions either because they were distracted by other things, or because they have been increasingly sidelined and muzzled by the mainstream church.
In any case, this is not a time for sitting on the fence. Soon the Lord will require us to jump one way or the other. Each person will have to contend for their faith and make a decision on whether they will compromise or love not their lives to the death.
Let us take up our crosses, deny ourselves and follow the Lord.
October 2019