Ready for action

I make known the end from the beginning,

    from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say, “My purpose will stand,

    and I will do all that I please.”

From the east I summon a bird of prey;

    from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose.

What I have said, that I will bring about;

    what I have planned, that I will do. Isaiah 46: 10 – 11

All through the book of Isaiah, God tells the people that he is in charge of history; that the events unfolding and about to unfold before their eyes are not random happenings or the plans of men. He makes plain that what is happening is at his instigation. The Assyrians were a terrifying people who took all before them and yet the Lord says he has summoned them. In fact in Isaiah 5: 26 he says he whistles for the nations to come and they do! The Israelites and all the surrounding nations would have thought that Assyrians were unassailable. They were the dominant nation and yet Isaiah foretells their downfall.

It is as if someone prophesies the downfall of USA today. It seems unbelievable but we live in unbelievable times. Who would have foreseen the overthrow of communism on the planet and the iron grip of the USSR broken over the countries of Eastern Europe and yet in happened in such a short time? Who would have thought that some of the Arab countries would see the overthrow of their seemingly entrenched leaders?

Yet these events have been foretold. In 1896 a scholar, from reading the Bible, foretold both the rise and fall of communism before any nation was communist and made reference to what turned out to the First World War (AGS Consulting website). One incredible prophecy was from the lady who in May 1997 told us: …  this shall be a sign, that there will be a day very soon when the whole nation will mourn. And the whole nation will put flowers in their cities.” At the time no one in UK knew what it meant but by September, its meaning was obvious. Princess Diana had been killed in a car crash and the nation was covered in flowers.

Jean Darnall’s prophecy for UK given at least 40 years ago of fires being lit from Scotland to Land’s End and into Europe seems very relevant now. God spoke to her about young people reaching out and of ordinary believers being used to evangelise with signs and wonders following. That is exactly what is happening at Cwmbran in Wales and other places right now. (These prophecies can be found at the Crossrhythms website).

However fascinating though the prophetic is, especially in hindsight as we see that which was foretold coming to pass, God does not tell us these things to entertain us. He first of all tells us so we can know He is God and in charge of world events. Secondly he wants all men to turn to him.

In Isaiah’s day the Jewish nation was backslidden and in idolatry. God wanted the people to return  to him, the only source of their personal and national security. It is the same today. God is still looking to see everyone saved and he wants the church prepared and ready for what he is doing. It is like he is shaking the church awake through the prophetic so they are ready for action when God moves mightily by His Spirit. The prophecy about Princess Diana went on to say: 

For I am at work in this nation and I will bring this nation to it's knees before me and they will know the joy of their salvation in the mighty risen Lord Jesus.… Therefore let the rivers of living water flow from within you and know that you will have many opportunities from this point to speak of my grace, to speak of my love, to see in action my Spirit at work. Know that I will be with you in that and you will see the miraculous.

That is what is happening in UK today. God foretells events so we can know he is God, know he is in control, turn to him and be ready for what He is going to do in our midst. Do not let us be the generation that missed it but the people who grasped the moment and ran with it.  God is on the move – let’s be prepared and ready.