WAVES IN THE POLITICAL SEA

June 2010 article by John Beall

May has been a very turbulent month across the globe both in the natural and the political world.

The Natural

Man continually tries to interfere with the natural cycles of the world and attempt to “play God” to try and disprove His existence. This month we have seen scientists claim to have created the first synthetic cell in a laboratory in the US. They have constructed entirely artificial DNA for the first time and inserted it into a host cell. Although this is seen as a huge breakthrough in biological science, they have still had to use matter that is already alive; they still do not have any clue how to make non-organic matter “alive”. There has also been another ethical debate on a push to allow potential parents to choose the gender of their children, once more messing with the natural cycle of life and attempting to “play God”.

By the end of May 20 million gallons of oil had leaked from BP’s oil well into the Gulf of Mexico, described as the “worst environmental disaster the US has faced” by the White House energy adviser. Yet another example of how man’s pursuit of riches has spoilt the world God has created for us. But nature continues to give us warnings that it should not be messed with. The aeronautical disruption from the volcano in Iceland continued to cause problems across Europe throughout the month of May, whilst over in Ecuador and Guatemala eruptions have forced thousands of people to flee their homes. These are just a few examples of the ever increasing frequency in “natural disasters”.

The Political

The great furore of the British general elections is now over and for the first time in 70 years Britain has been left with a coalition government as a result of a hung parliament. This coalition was formed by the coming together of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat political parties. Because of the contrast in attitudes and policies, this newly formed government is seen as being weak. It will make decision making difficult when it comes to issues which splits the ethos of the two parties.

It has been the belief of Christadelphians for a long time that the nation of Tarshish mentioned in Bible prophecy signifies Britain. Tarshish was famed for their ships and their merchants which and indeed we can see comparisons with Britain when we consider the strength of the Royal Navy during the success of the British Empire and the vast trading network of the East India Trading Company.

Isa 23:6 Pass ye (Tyre) over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

Isa 23:14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

Isa 23:15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

Tarshish became the new Tyre as we see in verse 6 of Isaiah 23, Tyre is told to “pass over” to Tarshish. In verse 14 the strength of Tarshish has been laid waste and as we have stated earlier, the current coalition government is seen as being weak and so is our trading power with Sterling currently weak against the dollar and the Euro.

Interestingly David Blunkett, the former home secretary is quoted as saying earlier in the month that the Liberal Democrats “are behaving like every harlot in history”; a clear link with the words of Isaiah 23v15, especially with the mention of the 70 year period, when we last had a coalition government.

If we look at another mention of Tarshish in Ezekiel 38 we see a link to some more current events. Ezekiel 38 prophesies that Gog and Magog will come against Israel to take a spoil and Tarshish and “the young lions” will oppose them. We believe that Gog the “king of the north” and Magog signifies Russia with the support of other European countries such as Germany and France and “the young lions” represent countries such as the USA and Australia, who were part of the British Empire of old.

In March a South Korean warship was sunk reportedly by a North Korean submarine. In response this month South Korea conducted anti-submarine drills and exercises sending a clear message to North Korea that they would be ready for further aggression from their neighbours.

The Russians have also revealed that they are to carry out pre-planned naval exercises near North Korea next month with some of their strongest naval vessels. Russia has strong ties with North Korea and although the Russians have said these naval exercises were planned before the dispute between South and North Korea broke out, it is an interesting strategic position for them to be in if the dispute did escalate. However, since the creation of the two Korean states in 1948, South Korea has always been supported by the USA so a potential disagreement between the king of the north (Russia) and the king of the south (USA) is ready to break out if either of the Korean countries becomes aggressive towards the other.

The following article is interesting reading:

http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/31-05-2010/113589-korean_conflict-0

Joel 3:9 Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

Joel 3:10 Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

Joel 3:11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

Dan 11:11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.

Also on the seas we have seen how Israel has been in the headlines again by restricting aid to Gaza and the ensuing gun battle which has left several dead.

Once again Muslim countries and Europe are quick to blame and condemn Israel, whereas American and British representatives refuse to blame Israel until an investigation has been conducted.

With all of the uncertainty and conflict throughout the world it is a scary world in which we live. Man has no answers, only God us and the world will only see peace when Jesus Christ returns to set up the kingdom of God.

Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.