On the Monday of the week when the Queen died, I met for a lunchtime meeting with my two friends, Michael Fenton Jones and David Noakes. We meet regularly to discuss the state of the nation, world events, and what each of us believe we are hearing from the Lord in our personal prayer times.

We have been close friends and companions in ministry since the early 1980s. David joined the small ministry team that I led in 1984. It was called PWM in those days and much later became Issachar Ministries. Michael was the ministry chairman, and he was responsible for making all the arrangements that enabled us to launch the printed magazine Prophecy Today with its first issue in March 1985.

When we met that Monday, we discussed a prophecy that David had received when he was speaking to a conference in Devon a few weeks earlier. I had fears that it might be misunderstood. Of course, all modern prophecy should be vigorously examined, weighed, and tested, because, however close we are to the Lord, when we receive what we believe to be a word from God, that word has to go through the crucible of our human mind and none of us is infallible. Our minds choose the words through which to express what we believe we are hearing, and that is why Paul warned his followers to “weigh carefully what is said” (1 Cor 14:29). You have the opportunity of doing that today as the prophecy is published here.

I still have some concern that this prophecy could be misunderstood, because I firmly believe that the nation is going to experience disastrous economic and social breakdown of all our institutions, including the health service and the economy. That is the great shaking that will open the door for sharing the gospel. As I said in Issachar Ministries’ online Sunday Gathering¹ last week, this has to be on two levels: first to explain to people what has gone wrong, which will lead many to repentance, and secondly to teach people about the love of God.

A great shaking

In this ministry we have believed since the 1980s that a great shaking of the nation would occur. This would bring people to a point of despair that would lead to a time of great openness to the gospel. When I first read David’s prophecy, I did not see that event upon the horizon, and I did not want to raise hopes too soon.

I had a powerful experience of the presence of the Lord telling me that some great shaking of the nation was about to occur, although I had no idea what this meant. The next day we heard the news that the Queen was ... dead.

Two days later, on the Wednesday, in my prayer time I had a powerful experience of the presence of the Lord telling me that some great shaking of the nation was about to occur, although I had no idea what this meant. The next day we heard the news that the Queen was very ill and by the end of the day we heard that she was dead. The central pillar of the nation, the monarchy, was indeed being shaken.

The Queen’s legacy

The spontaneous outpouring of love and grief has amazed even the most optimistic observers of the national scene. The 5 mile queue – possibly the longest the world has ever known – to enter Westminster Hall and spend a few moments paying homage at the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is a phenomenon that has surprised the world.

She was the most famous woman in the world and in many countries she was simply known as ‘The Queen’, and most world leaders had respect for her and recognised the achievement of her 70 years reign. There is probably no one else whose funeral has drawn together such an array of world leaders.

The value of the Queen’s reign will be examined for a long time ahead, but the immediate reaction of multitudes throughout the four nations of the UK has been one of recognising the values that characterised her life. These values were service, faithfulness, steadfastness, selflessness, and love, all mixed in together with gentleness and humour.

The Queen was not afraid to speak about her personal Christian faith.

More importantly, the Queen was not afraid to speak about her personal Christian faith although she was not outwardly evangelistic. It was from her love for God that she drew her values. Hers was a strongly Bible based faith and she drew heavily upon the teaching of Jesus. This has been respected by the whole of our multifaith population. Christians are mistaken if they think that people of other faiths are offended by Christianity being the dominant religion of the nation. The reverse is true. They expect someone in Britain to be a Christian and they respect those who adhere to their faith. The Queen’s Christian faith was not only accepted, but widely admired by other faith leaders.

A spiritual dimension

It is far too early to assess the significance of the outpouring of love and grief we have seen during the week of mourning and in the public lying in state and the funeral service. Scenes from all around the country were broadcast minute by minute through television so everyone could have some share in the historic events. Yet the fact that thousands of people were prepared to wait in line and walk for miles in a slow procession right through day and night just to spend a few moments near the body of the Queen is remarkable beyond rational explanation – there was a spiritual dimension.

It was not simply the solemnity of seeing the lying in state and the guards mounted by soldiers and by the Queen’s children and grandchildren that drew people. Something greater was going on right across the nation, something that came to a head during the funeral when, at the end, the crowds right across the nation were silent for two minutes.

I believe what we were seeing represented the spiritual hunger of the nation.

I believe what we were seeing represented the spiritual hunger of the nation. People felt that they had lost a very special grandmother and there was a great ‘spiritual emptiness’ which they were searching to fill. They saw in her something that was of great value, and they wanted to be like her. For a lot of people with no knowledge of the gospel she was the nearest thing to God. In my local parish church people were all encouraged to light a candle for her – or was it to her – some form of popular canonisation? Is there a risk that the monarchy could become a kind of dynastic divinity, the folk religion of a post-Christian nation?

On the other hand, the Queen might have done something of enormous significance for the gospel. Everyone is talking about her Christian faith and the values she cherished, which may already have opened the door to the gospel – something for which we have been hoping and praying for a long time. We have been expecting that open door to come through the economic and social shaking of the nation, but maybe the door is already open and the forthcoming hard times will build upon what the Queen has done. She has certainly opened a door for us to tell people that the values they admire in the Queen, she found in Jesus.

Sharing our faith

If there is to be a harvest at this time it won’t come through some big evangelistic campaign. It will come as ordinary Bible-believing Christians throughout the land take this opportunity of sharing their faith with others – which was the way the gospel spread in New Testament times when believers were filled with the presence of the Risen Jesus.

Our precious Queen Elizabeth has opened the way ahead for us to reap the harvest of her faithfulness.

Every one of us has a story to tell, and that is all that is needed to tip the nation into a new spiritual awakening – simply telling our story of what Jesus has done in our lives. The nation is hungry for Jesus, although at the moment they do not know what it is that they want! Our precious Queen Elizabeth has opened the way ahead for us to reap the harvest of her faithfulness. Could this be what is foreseen in David’s prophecy?

Notes

¹ Each Sunday afternoon, Issachar Ministries holds an online gathering of like-minded believers who join together for teaching, worship and prayer in small groups. To find out more, sign up here for a one-off email which explains what Issachar Ministries does, and how to contact them.