By Daina Doucet with Penny Spence
“There are, after all, a lot more votes – a lot more – in being anti-Israel than in taking a stand, but, as long as I am Prime Minister…Canada will take that stand, whatever the cost. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but because history shows us, and the ideology of the anti-Israel mob tells us all too well, that those who threaten the Jewish people are a threat to all of us.”
Spiritual roots
Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister, spoke these words at a conference on anti-Semitism in November 2010. Harper’s words recall an ancient biblical text where God promises Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” Not only that, but He says, “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3).
Just prior, on October 20, 2010, Dr. James W. Goll, coordinator of Encounters Alliance, prophesied during an appearance at the True North Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba, that within 120 days a “historic movement” ushered in through prayer, would significantly change Canada’s political landscape. He also said a plan was underway to call a “false, early, election” in Canada intended to overthrow the Harper government.
Many Canadian Christian leaders had gathered at the Winnipeg conference to seek God’s direction for Canada. In response to Goll’s prophetic word, “within days prayer was being raised up,” reports Stacey Campbell, spokesperson for the Canadian Prophetic Council. “Within weeks daily, national prayer meetings were established,” and as 120 days came to a close, when the election was called, prayer increased.
“We see the results…” says Campbell.
On May 2, 2011, Canada experienced an unprecedented election that achieved record-breaking historic milestones on many fronts. Dr. John Redekop, adjunct professor of political science with Trinity Western University describes it as “…the most transformative [election] since Canada was established on July 1, 1867.”
The Liberal party suffered its worst-ever defeat, its leader deposed in his own constituency.
The National Democratic Party (NDP) experienced massive gains qualifying it to be the official opposition.
The Bloc Quebecois, whose leader was also unseated, “effectively ceased to be a force of political power in the country” according to Peter Stockland, director of the Cardus Centre for Cultural Renewal (see At Long Last Politics will Yield to Policy).
The Green Party achieved their first seat in Parliament with the election of their leader, Elizabeth May, in her community.
And, most important, the Conservative party won a hard-earned majority. “With all the light and noise around the NDP’s historic vault into official opposition status,” says Stockland, “it was easyto lose sight of just how monumental a victory Harper and his MPs won.”
What does this victory mean to Canada? “The result,” says Stockland, “is that the Conservative majority victory has given us some short-term political and economic stability, and set the stage for the much deeper and more honest policy conversation we need as a nation.”
Spiritual implications
But those involved with prayer for Canada believe the election results have deeper, spiritual implications.
Campbell observes that the “righteousness issues,” such as abortion, crime, and moral plumb lines will be upheld more by the Conservative party while “justice issues” such as minority rights, poverty and environmental causes will be the focus of the NDP. She adds, “The fact that more women have been elected than at any other time in the history of our nation [indicates] that justice and true equality for all are on the rise.”
Patricia Bootsma, who pastors Jubilee Christian Fellowship, Stratford, Ontario, along with her husband John, quotes a biblical text: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, I will hear from heaven, remove their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
“A Conservative majority in a nation once known for Liberal values, sends a message to the world of how prayer … can turn a land for [God’s] purposes,” she says. Bootsma believes God’s plan for Canada is directly linked with Canada’s support of Israel, that Canada will be “an international leader economically in righteousness and integrity, standing with Israel,” and will emerge as a “global healer under God’s leadership.”
Dr. John Tweedie, chairman of Christians for Israel Canada/International, invokes the idea of a possible link between the Conservative victory and the Genesis text.
“Could it be that this is, in one sense at least, a fulfillment of God’s promise to bless those who bless Israel?” he asks. He points out that Harper and the Conservative government would qualify for such a blessing. At a time when Israelis face the risk of another war and opposition from the nations of the world, Harper “was willing to count the cost, and pay the price, of swimming against the evil tide we have come to know as anti-Semitism.”
Tweedie adds, “Whatever it means, Canadians have given their Prime Minister an even firmer political platform for standing behind Israel in the unsettling times that lie ahead. May God then grant him the wisdom necessary for these troubled times.”
Daina Doucet is the senior editor for the Acts News Network.
Copyright © 2011 Acts News Network, Inc.