As one of the world’s most influential and powerful nations reaches a jubilee celebration, the nation faces many challenges. The Queen represents a memory of great glory for Britain. What is the future for this former world empire?
During a long period when the general governmental establishment in the United Kingdom and other Western nations is so little admired, certainly Britain has every reason to celebrate Queen’s Elizabeth’s 60th year on the throne. She has been and still is a model monarch. She survived her annus horribilus (due to three of her grown children’s matrimonial conduct in the 1990s)—having seen her affection from her subjects rise to a new even higher level.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said of his Queen: “What I have found to be her most surprising attribute is how streetwise she is. I was always stunned by her ability to pick up the public mood and define it.” Recently married grandson Prince William observed: “You present a challenge in front of her and she’ll climb it…She’s so dedicated and really determined to finish everything she’s started.”
Prince Harry joined the chorus: “Every time I find myself whingeing: ‘Why did I have to put on a dinner jacket and do this or that?’ I think to myself: ‘I can’t complain. At the end of the day, she has put her country way before anything she’s ever wanted to do. It’s her job.’” Finally former American President George W. Bush stated, “Behind the important title is a very kind and compassionate woman.”
And yet ironically, the Queen has had to be the British monarch to preside over the decline of a great empire and the gradual waning of power, prestige and world influence. Strongly supported by Elizabeth the II, the British commonwealth of nations has partially mitigated these negative effects, but at the end of the day the commonwealth is not the old empire.
Professor and author Niall Ferguson wrote in Newsweek: “Like much of Europe, the UK economy now finds itself in a double-dip recession. Last week the Bank of England once again revised its growth forecast downwards. Although (mercifully) outside the euro zone, Britain will suffer even more if the crisis over Greece escalates into a full-scale breakdown of the European Monetary Union. International financial crises are not good for international financial centers [like London]” (“London’s Last Waltz,” May 28, 2012).
Today Britain finds itself faced with many threatening challenges at home, on the continent and further abroad. Take Scotland’s serious intent to leave the United Kingdom and negate the Treaty of Union of 1707. The spinoff would be incalculable. As Niall Ferguson further commented, “With Europe on the brink, the U.K. faces its own crisis.”
Only a thorough understanding of Britain’s prophetic legacy and history can give us the perspective to properly address the “why” of the UK’s gradual decline in the world. Watch current news and trends in Britain (from a biblical standpoint) in the pages of The Good News magazine (see Mark 13:32-37; Luke 21:34-36). Request in print or download our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
