What, no flood?

Many of you will have heard of Victor Lorenzo's prophecy predicting London flooding earlier this month (1st-4th March). No flood has occurred as yet, so Victor has written this response, in which he takes responsibility yet stands by the view which he and other leaders have come to in recent years.

I'd encourage you to read that response, as it sets out some helpful principles about how we respond to prophecy, and how God responds to us.

Why Am I Writing This?

Since I circulated the prophecy to some London friends, together with a set of my own FAQs (Word), and have discussed it with many of you too, I'd like to take my share of responsibility and explain a few of my observations about these recent events.

I also believe the last two weeks are a great 'learning moment' for us all in the UK, as we begin to move on and up in a new level of expectancy of what God can do to turn our nation around, learning from other nations that are more experienced than we are in the prophetic. So I'm also writing to pass on what little I know from my own observations and to stimulate further discussion.

Two Apologies

Firstly, a couple of apologies from me - one for not posting this follow-up sooner for those of you who have been left wondering; the other if I failed to make clear that the thoughts I circulate on this matter are my own and do not represent those of any other individual, group or organisation.

So, without further ado, here are my observations:

OBSERVATION 1:
Most Of Us Made Up Our Minds Before We Heard About The Prophecy

What do I mean by this? Simply that our response to this kind of event says more about us - our understanding of God and how he works in the world - than it does about the event itself. I would say if we have low expectancy that God will break into our everyday lives, we are more inclined to dismiss any prophecy and tend towards a negative evaluation. If we have some experiences of God speaking to us quite specifically, we will naturally be more enthusiastic when he appears to be speaking to our nation.

Similarly, if we believe 'judgment' equals 'anger' we will read Victor's prophecy in a certain way that portrays God as angry; whereas if we believe 'judgment' can also equal 'mercy' (see observation 7) we will read it in an entirely different way that portrays God stepping in decisively to prevent us pressing the self-destruct button.

OBSERVATION 2:
No Flood - But Were There Other Signs?

Sure, there was no flood between 1st-4th March. However, several other events are worthy of note:

1. The Thames Barrier was raised for the first time this year on the eve of the 1-4 Mar period. And the river was very high indeed during that period, especially at the start of it, due not only to spring tides but also to a north-easterly wind driving a sizeable volume of water down the North Sea and into the Thames estuary
2. Victor in his response notes that the Church of England did apologise and repent for its involvement in the slave trade between Jan 20 and 1st Mar. Repentance is one spiritual sign we are all looking for.
3. There were at least two all-night prayer vigils in London on 28 Feb/1 Mar to seek God - I know, because I dropped in on both of them :)

OBSERVATION 3:
The Context Is Important, And It Still Stands

The context of Victor's date-specific prophecy is this more general warning, issued by a diverse group of prayer leaders, of whom Victor is one. I think it's important to realise that Victor was not speaking as a lone ranger. In fact, the speed with which the prophecy spread is, in my opinion, not because of hype, but because he has become such a widely respected Christian leader in so many networks over the past 5-7 years he and his family have lived in UK.

OBSERVATION 4:
Clearly, Jonah Was A False Prophet

Jonah predicted a time-specific judgment that didn't happen. '40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned...' Does that make him a false prophet? It was already stated in Victor's first word that we might be somewhere between Jonah (God spared Nineveh) and Nahum (God judged Nineveh), so one legitimate reading is that God was merciful. An alternate reading, of course, is that the prophecy and the prophet were wrong. It's up to each of us to decide for ourselves what we think with the help of Scripture, the Holy Spirit and the counsel of wise friends (the Church).

OBSERVATION 5:
Many Prayed, Many Are Praying

I for one feel more energised to pray for London and UK in the last two weeks. While frequently I still feel half-asleep when it comes to praying for this nation, my prayer life has definitely been impacted for the better over the past fortnight. I hope yours has too. Many in London and beyond prayed on Feb 28th and around this period, including at least two overnight prayer vigils.

OBSERVATION 6:
Bloggers

TallSkinnyKiwi, probably the best-known and most highly-respected Christian bloggers around, referring to the prayer leaders mentioned above said 'I know many of them and THEY ARE NOT LOONEYS'. He then went on to describe how people he was living with predicted the Prague flood a few years back. Another blogger called Free Donuts (love the name!) gave some interesting commentary too.

OBSERVATION 7:
I Believe In A God Who Loves Us Enough To Discipline Us

Heb 12:4-11. Judgment doesn't win many Oscars, it's just not that popular. If we understand Scripture though, the purpose of such divine intervention is to lead us back to God, to the richness of life as he intended it. Sometimes any parent has to discipline - God our Father is no different. Certainly God's anger is in the context of his love, and not the other way around, but that's not to diminish the fact that the things we do as humans do arouse God's passion, both his rejoicing and his anguish/anger. He cares too much to let us continue down the road of self-destruction; his judgment can be a sign of his mercy.

OBSERVATION 9:
We Know In Part And We Prophesy In Part

1 Cor 13:9-10. Ummm... I think this speaks for itself.

OBSERVATION 10:
The Purpose Is Harvest

Let's not forget: the UK needs God, and millions of people desperately need to experience his love. The purpose of discipline/judgment is to avert our attention back to the things that truly matter - a wake up call to the Church. Remember those people you have met who just became Christians, how they could never imagine being without Jesus now, and how they keep on asking 'Why did no-one ever tell me this before...?' I am hungrier than ever to see new people saying such things every day. Let's be praying for revival (harvest) to come in our day and in our time. It's not a sin to keep believing for that.

Comments

[jackie hardman]

good, balanced response. Like it. I always felt sorry for Jonah: first his rebellion (understandable) and then God having mercy on Ninevah after he had spent three days prophecying doom and gloom. That made him look a total false prophet, all credibility gone. But what does his image matter? It all goes to show we have a merciful God. We should be thankful!! Makes being a prophet a bit of a tough job though if you like acceptance from people!

[Roy]

Hey this was good-- I especially like Observation 4. Highly biblical for prophets to miss the target at times but we are still prophets anyway. I was going to blog more on it too, but may just post Victor's response. Thanks for the mention. Roy