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Long live the Queen and God save our noble Queen we sang during our school years at many assemblies, in our classrooms, and in our hearts as we looked up to her royal position given by God. https://youtu.be/D3dR7u7TPNo Queen Elizabeth II did that, she lived a long life until death took her at the age of 96 years — not quite as long as her mother, known to us as the Queen Mother who lived until she was 101 (1900 - 2002). Now if the Queen Mother had been born just one year earlier in 1899 it would mean that her life overlapped three centuries, imagine that! Both were blessed by extraordinary lives with Queen Elizabeth II living from 1926 - 2022 after 70 long years on the throne of England. The 8th day of September this year is the day we will all remember as the date of the death of her Royal Majesty. To sum up her life succinctly and accurately in one sentence — a life of dedicated, selfless service to her subjects while being guided by Christ even on the days when it was difficult such as the stress from family members with Harry and Meaghan leaving royal duties to find their own life on the other side of the globe in California, USA. Then there was the tragic matter involving her beloved son Edward that many of us have seen most recently on the news and programmes such as 60 Minutes. The death of her most beloved husband Philip was another major blow to her life leaving her with wonderful memories of the time they shared since she was a teenager. Watching the funeral service for her dear departed husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (died 9 April 2021) and seeing her diminutive figure sitting in the solid structure of the church pew, it was evident the Queen was grieving in a way that was cruel due to the effects of COVID. Our Queen Elizabeth looked lonely, isolated, frail, quiet and vulnerable. Yet she continued on displaying obedience to the laws of the land for "the greater good" as even tragedies befall kings and queens — and all must die once, and that when God decides as the scriptures reveal (Hebrews 9:27).
What a fine example of diligence, perseverance, and solid character developed from a strong foundation of love for her country, the Commonwealth of countries, and the nations who make up these lands. Australia has been mightily blessed under the Queen's leadership and direction despite the modern world lurching forward on shaky ground into this 21st Century where many want things and demand rights they should not seek such as homosexual marriage, abortion when it suits their situation, and anything one can think of that is an abomination to our great God who created all life and designed us in their image (God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son). You can read this from the first chapter of the Bible in Genesis 1:26-27. It would be very interesting to sit with the Queen and talk about her thoughts on all these pertinent matters but it is not to be in our lifetime. This reminds me of the lady who so wanted to receive a telegram from the Queen upon reaching 100 years of age as is the custom. At some stage quite early on in her life, this woman realised that she would not be receiving her congratulatory letter due to their age difference, so she wrote to the Queen about it highlighting the issue and the Queen wrote back mentioning that she can see the humorous side of it. How lovely such a busy Queen did this simple but meaningful act of kindness by responding when most would not even bother.
It is most interesting to note a recent quote from the Queen herewith "Throughout my life, the message and teachings of Christ have been my guide and in them I find hope", such a beautiful reminder of how she lived her life drawing strength from this hope given to her by God (Psalm 33:22, Psalm 62:5-6, Psalm 71:14, Psalm 147:11, Jeremiah 17:7). Sitting on her throne, the throne of David, the Queen definitely needed hope during the 20th century as well as this 21st century we are currently living in when vast changes occurred culminating in events out of her control such as COVID-19, Russian invasion with ongoing war in the Ukraine, all the continuing hoopla and crazy nonsense connected to climate change, the rise and fall of leaders around the world, wars and rumours of wars globally, tensions between nations, threats of nuclear wars, China pridefully posturing and flexing their military muscles, droughts and famines, diseases, economic and societal collapse, major weather disasters with loss of life, and on and on it goes since she was crowned. Have you ever wondered where the throne of Britain came from or where its origins were formed? The links below provide a wealth of eye opening information: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/ebooklet/the-throne-of-britain/eternal-destiny and also, https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/ebooklet/the-throne-of-britain-its-biblical-origin-and-future
The Queen has definitely seen vast changes throughout her long life and the following is just a brief snippet of selected events such as the Great Depression of the 1930s, end of WWII in the 1940s, recovery and prosperity building in the 1950s, assassinations of John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States while the "swinging sixties" were underway in London in addition to the historic landing on the Moon by American astronauts in 1969. During the 1970s, appointment of the United Kingdom's first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (known famously as the Iron Lady as she was staunchly opposed to communism), technological advances such as computers in the 1980s, the tragic and untimely death of Princess Diana from a car accident in the 1990s amongst many other events we may or may not remember. Since the year 2001 we know about 9/11 and other acts of terrorism, school shootings and horrific killings around the world. Never ending violence on our news channels almost daily throughout the subsequent years until the Queen's bright light faded during 2022 after contracting COVID-19 not once but twice, then ending as she breathed her last breath. It is apparent that she sought strength and direction from God, kept things simple, calmly carried on, and treated others as she would like to be treated according to the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31, James 2:8). A final and noticeable touch from God of a beautiful double rainbow over Buckingham Palace as the flag flew half-mast after the Queen's death at Balmoral Castle was a sight to behold, giving hope amongst all the chaos and tragedy in this world.
Watching a small part of all the TV specials since the Queen's death, it has been interesting to learn more about her such as sweet peas were her favourite flowers and these were part of the floral arrangement atop her coffin as she travelled from Scotland to England. One man from the crowds of devoted subjects lining the streets watching her send off was asked his thoughts on the Queen to which he readily replied "I thought of her as my guardian all these years". This struck a chord with me as I could relate and knew that while she was on the throne there was a barrier of protection in place. Queen Elizabeth was full of common sense, genuine love for all people, and had a decent dose of dry British wit and humour (my favourite type) that was made up of delightful light-hearted fun with child-like innocence for which many are now sharing their personal stories of how she affected their lives. The common thread they all mention is that she listened attentively to them very patiently until they finished what they had to say. The Queen was the most famous woman in the world throughout the whole of my lifetime and in my heart I will always think of her as dignified, respectful, smiling, duty filled, and gracious especially when others, even VIPs and dignitaries made protocol mistakes. It is very interesting to me that she was born in April near the time of Passover and died in the month of September in the season of God's Autumn festivals. There was purpose in this according to God's will for it was no accident or coincidence. God generously gave her time to joyfully and memorably experience the huge honour of celebrating the milestone of her Platinum Jubilee in June only 3 months prior to her death. God's timing is beautifully perfect (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).
Whether one is a devoted royalist or anti-royalist, God placed Queen Elizabeth II on the throne and this is a fact nobody can change. It is admirable that the Queen saw to it that the royals generated healthy funds via many and various means rather than increase expenditure so they would not be a burden on their subjects. "The royals, in fact, brought in £430 million more than they cost us last year" according to one source from The Sunday Post by Craig Campbell (May 18, 2019). Despite all the negative unsubstantiated rumours out there the Queen was always diligently disciplined, relishing in structure and boundaries so that she could serve her people well. Now our immediate future involves nations declaring "long live the King" as King Charles III reigns in place of his mother. It would seem that Charles will sit on the throne until Jesus Christ returns (unless God removes him or something significant happens) and that is sooner than the world may imagine. He is already 73 years of age as he takes up rulership, and we all wait to see what type of king he will be. Our faithful prayers are needed for King Charles III to lead with the same dedicated service his mother exemplified even though events are heating up around the world. Will he be easily influenced by others or show weakness by pleasing his wife Camilla like Adam did with Eve? We are yet to find out. Many years ago the peoples' opinion was that he would pass the crown onto his oldest son William so as not to reign for such a short time and therefore give stability. However, now that we are already here in history we see a very different decision knowing that Charles has been prepared all his life to take up kingly rulership. It is well known that he fully supports the One World Order for which many have severe trepidation of exactly what this will mean. Despite this ominous fact we know that the final throne is a heavenly throne which will have Jesus Christ as our King of Kings on it leading the way for eternity (Revelation 11:15). This future is of incredible interest to those who seek out wisdom from God, and you have this opportunity to obtain it too for yourself by reading once you click on the link below: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/booklets/the-united-states-and-britain-in-bible-prophecy