FAQ 50
Will the British Withdraw
from Northern Ireland?
NCW 50
Q. Does the New Covenant Church believe that the British will ever withdraw from Northern Ireland and that the latter will unite with the Irish Republic? And if so, what are the spiritual lessons to be learned?
We have no revelations on this subject and so what is given here is merely an opinion. If the current negociations between the Britsih and Irish governments are allowed to continue in the direction they are going then we must, I think, assume that the reunification of Ireland is a matter of time. There is a process at work and this is its logical conclusion just as a Single European State is the logical outcome of the process that has led to the formation of the current European Union (EU).
A pertinent question will be whether this happens before Christ returns. The emergence of the new South Africa underwent a gradual process. I doubt that either the British or Irish governments will rush the process for fear of a Protestant backlash. In time unification will be accepted as inevitable but by then the concept of the nation-state within the European Union may well be meaningless in any case. Ireland and Britain (if that still exists -- it too is heading towards dismemberment) will be mere provinces in a super-state.
As to the "spiritual lessons to be learned" I am not sure I entirely understand your question. Irish unification, if it occurs, will be interpreted differently by the different parties. The IRA terrorists, almost certainly funded by the Roman Catholic Jesuits, will regard it as a vindication of their acts of attrocity and murder and many other such groups will view this as the "normative" way of achieving political ends in the future -- if indeed they have not already been doing so for the past few decades. See what the ANC and ZANU achieved in South Africa and Zimbabwe, respectively.
Terrorism will become more and more widespread in the future and will, together with other forces, lead to world-wide anarchy. Look at the concessions the PLO has won from Israel by first waging a war of terrorism to then negociate -- the IRA is doing the same thing now, just as the ANC and ZANU and other organisations have done. It is the same process by which the Catholic Church has infiltrated virtually all the Protestant Churches.
The lesson we should learn is that naked terrorism does not work by itself, but, when later coupled to "peaceful" negociations, usually achieves some of its aims if for no other reason that people are so war-weary that any peace, however unjust or (ultimately) illusiory, is appealing.
Terrorism is, I believe, soon to be "upgraded" to a new level of horror; and this will occur when biological and chemical agents are released upon citizens in order to blackmail governments. What we saw at the hands of the IRA will appear timid compared to what is coming.
There are many who believe that Saddam Hussein, whose temporary defeat at the hands of the Allies we prophesied accurately (NC&C 291), is preparing for such a scenario, possibly over Tel Aviv in Israel in order to provoke a Moslem "Holy War" or Jihad. How would this occur? Such an attack on an Israeli city would almost certainly provoke an Israeli nuclear response, perhaps the total destruction of the "New Babylon", Baghdad.
This is speculation. However, as aggression becomes more naked and as scruples which have held back the worst terrorists from doing worse become weakened, we should expect to see worse things to come. A bacteriological attack on an Israeli, European or American city is not inconceivable. The prayers of thousands of Christians will be needed to prevent such a scenario until such a time as the Lord says, "Stop!", and judgmentis poured on all the nations. Do not be surprised of complex conspiracies in which, for example, the Catholic Church "foils" such a scenario by interceding to stop what it has itself secretly created.
So what we are seeing in Ireland is but a repeating symptom occuring worldwide -- though appearing to lead to good, it will lead to far worse -- not for Anglo-Irish relations (which will improve) but for mankind generally. It is, in any case, a part of a Vatican-orchestrated effort to prise another Protestant nation (Northern Ireland) away from the Protestant hold and into the arms of a Catholic Irish government long faithful to Rome. I am not optimistic.
Though peace for Northern Ireland is desirable, what is really needed is peace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing else will work permanently for the betterment of mankind and his turbulent political and social problems.
This page was created on 8 April 1998
Last updated on 8 April 1998
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