About the Author
Based now in Cornwall, UK, the author, Bob Dunnett, is an ordained minister, and was formerly vice-Principal of the Birmingham Bible Institute and a leader of Prayer for Revival, a national prayer/teaching network in the UK. In retirement he continues to be involved in teaching and prophetic ministry.
About the Pamphlets
The pamphlets on this web site have their origin in an in-depth study of the Old Testament prophetic writings which began in the mid 1990s.
Starting initially with a simple interest in getting to know the prophets better, this study developed after about five years into a profound concern for their extraordinary relevance for our own times.
There was much more to it, however, than an extraordinary relevance. Further studies began to yield what I can only describe as a very clear prophetic message for our times and particularly for our nation. It was a process, not simply of gaining timeless biblical truth, but of hearing God speaking a “now” word for our nation.
The Message
What was that “now word”? It was epitomised by a short phrase from Amos, “I will spare them no longer”. It was a word of judgement. Amos was speaking to a prosperous “consumer society” enjoying unheard of luxury during a period of prolonged peace after decades of bitter warfare with its neighbours; but he was speaking to a society which had at the same time turned its back on its spiritual heritage, made money its god and indulged in widespread promiscuity. After forty years of giving it a chance to come back to godly ways he now pronounced “I will spare them no longer”. It was a society that precisely mirrored our own. And the word that rested on them was now directed at us.
Amos made clear the full outcome of this word of judgement – it meant a total and complete overthrow of the nation of Israel. There were to be no more “warning” judgements such as Israel had already had, but a coming cataclysm. The same devastating word has a contemporary application. It represents a “wake up” call! It is to us in Britain and indeed to the West generally. It is a call to a profound restoration of godliness, both personally and in the church at large. It is a call to be utterly distinct from the world in its behaviour, yet deeply compassionate in our attitude to people in the world.
It is particularly important that this word is seen in its biblical context of the prophets. Only in that way can the credibility of such a warning be really felt. It constitutes much more than a passing contemporary idea or even a one-off prophecy; it is a fundamental message of the biblical prophets, a message which is timeless and is bound to have more than its own contemporary historical application.
I will spare them no longer
The Need
The pamphlets are written out a deep sense of the need of the Christian church to understand the times in which we live and particularly to understand that we are in times in which the judgements of God are increasingly and hugely threatening. Though outpourings of the Spirit will undoubtedly come, they will come against a very dark background of persistent and increasing judgement world-wide for which we need to be ready. The indicators as the 21st century progresses are that the cataclysms will be both the result of mankind’s own violence, hatred and warmongering, and also of natural disasters.
This message of judgement is worked out in the series of pamphlets under the section “National Judgement”
The Hope
It is impossible, however, to read the prophetic word of judgement given by the biblical prophets and not to become aware of a golden thread of prophetic hope that is interwoven with the judgement. There is an extraordinary revelation of the immense ultimate blessing that God intends for the nations of the world despite the judgements that must roll over them, there is very clear revelation of the Messianic figure through whom all this will be achieved and he himself contributed to the prophetic theme of the end times.
We shall be unable to respond adequately to the word of judgement we must face without a firm grasp of these threads of hope. These themes are therefore treated in a further series of pamphlets, which tease out the message of ultimate hope for this world.
In Conclusion
It is hoped that at the very least these biblical pamphlets may be helpful simply as studies in the prophets, and in setting out the general truth that we are dealing with of a God who, though a God of love, is also, because of the righteousness of his love, a God of judgement. A re-discovery of that dimension in general terms is what our generation desperately requires. In our anxiety to proclaim his love we have forgotten that the depths of his love can only be fully seen against the appalling nature of the judgement that he has saved us from in Jesus.
But these studies are intended go beyond that; they go to a point of prophetic statement, and are intended to speak specifically to our own generation and to show the appalling danger that we are currently in. The message of them is that judgement is upon us – in the words of John the Baptist, “the axe is already laid to the root of the trees” (Lk .3:9).
