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Is something happening on earth at present that is out of the ordinary? It seems at present that, wherever you look, one catastrophe after another is taking place. The Bible speaks in a prophetic sense of “wars and rumours of wars; it speaks of famines, earthquakes, diseases, and perilous times. Generally, these are regarded as the “beginning of sorrows”. In other words, since Jesus ascended into heaven the world began to see sorrows; earthquakes have always taken place, famines have always taken place, famines have always devastated lands and continents, and war, hatred and stress have been taking place for the past 2000 years. Yet, in my understanding, we have not seen such a widespread, world shaking and national disrupting onslaught of plague and pestilence, earthquake and trouble, as we are seeing at present. What on earth is happing? I remember several years ago being in a large conference, when a speaker, in the midst of a seminar said, almost as a kind of “throwaway” comment, that, “God will either have to send revival or judgement,” and then he continued with his theme, which was neither revival or judgement. It was almost as if he stated something prophetic and then returned to his theme, in an almost oblivious way. We have seen several “out pouring” of God’s Spirit since then, and I just wonder if we are now seeing the first wave of the judgements of God being dispensed upon ungodly nations.

Our own nation is at present at the mercy of a government that is dedicated to removing the family as an institution; it is the most anti-God, anti-Church and certainly anti-Christian government for many, many years. Has God seen enough of the ungodliness in the United Kingdom that He is allowing a period of judgement to afflict us?

God does not take delight in bringing, sending or allowing judgement; we actually bring it upon ourselves. A careful reading of both Old and New Testaments shows a God of grace, love and mercy who “longs that all might be saved” and that “all might come to repentance”. But a continued reading also reveals a God of justice, righteousness and judgement. In dealing with His people, Israel, He fed them, carried them, loved them and had mercy upon them, but also dispensed judgement for sin and justice for rebellion. God’s judgments are quite clear in Scripture. There are times when He directly sends a plague or a pestilence; there were times when He sent a storm or an earthquake that brought utter devastation.

There are also times when it seems that He lifts His restraining hand and allows catastrophic events to ensue. Judgment was always a means to an end, and the “end” was to reveal Himself to His people and bring the nation back to righteousness. I have just watched the news on BBC television, and a Vicar in the West Country, in response to a question about the foot and mouth outbreak, asked the nation to go to church on Sunday and ask God to have mercy. Are we seeing in this plague yet another outbreak of pestilence upon our land, the judgment of God upon us? We have recently experiences a multitude of diseases within the farming community; we have experienced continual and colossal troubles within the railway network, with horrendous carnage. We have seen more flooding and more disaster in our rural communities and more and more danger within the inner cities. The world is experiencing more and more widespread earthquakes, mudslides, floods and extreme forces of nature.

What on earth is happening? One bishop recently declared, following another horrendous rail crash, that you can never protect yourself from “acts of God”. I respectfully disagree; I think that you can! A return to holiness and righteousness might help! A return to God and His laws might help us!

Is God sending or allowing judgement upon the nations? It is something difficult to discern. Continue and prolonged disasters do seem to be a form of judgment, and if so. Then one thing we do know - God is also pouring out His Spirit at the same time that these disasters are befalling us. He shows His grace, love and mercy so that trial and torment might bring us back to Him. We should seek Him as we have never sought before and ask Him to have mercy upon us, so that our nation might yet again feel the impact of revival and not judgment, of mercy rather than plague.