There are times when we all look back and remember clearly where we were when something of great importance happened – just a few in a lifetime. This is a measure of how momentous an event can be. So it will be for the passing away from this life of our dearly loved Queen Elizabeth. Perhaps we had already recognised the signs, but we only know how much Her Majesty's life meant to us, personally and as a nation, when it happened.
Many of us were numbed, many were full of grief, others could express feelings through tears, all knowing that a very special person has now left us, and things will not be the same. An unrepeatable era has passed. Across the entire world there have been heartfelt tributes from hundreds of national leaders and all of us have paused, whether in public places or in our homes, to give thanks for a special era typified by the life of one dedicated woman.
Time for Thankfulness
From immediately the news of Her Majesty's death was heard, the news media has been full of memories of her life. At the age of 14 she gave her first public speech to encourage children in the war effort with a view to their own coming responsibility in the days ahead. Even then, she expressed faith that Almighty God would bring us through the terrible world war that was still in its early stages.
At the age of 21 Elizabeth committed herself to serve the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth for all her life, however long or short that might be. At the age of 25 she became Queen following the death of her father, King George VI, being crowned in 1953 when she made the deeply significant Coronation Oath.
We understand that her practice had been to kneel every night in prayer and to frequently spend time meditating on her Oath in the Chapel of Windsor Castle. She had recognised her responsibility and commitment and sought to fulfil this unwaveringly. However we might otherwise appraise the fruits of the era of her reign, we must be filled with thankfulness for our Queen whom we all felt we knew personally, through the way modern media could bring her into our homes.
We understand that her practice had been to kneel every night in prayer and to frequently spend time meditating on her Oath in the Chapel of Windsor Castle.
The reign of every Monarch is unique. Queen Elizabeth sought to fulfil the role of Constitutional Monarch. She made the most of her great experience of being among successive world leaders and Prime Ministers of our own nation to give counsel to her government, especially through the weekly meetings with the Prime Minister of the day. Yet she did not overstep the line, as she perceived it, in political terms – a difficult line to draw, especially when she was responsible for the signing in of any new legislation.
She was, therefore, mostly known in the public eye for her role as Head of State, with her gracious presence always at the heart of our nation. Perhaps her reign will turn out to be a defining transition for the monarchy, with an almost impossible task to fulfil the awesome responsibility of the Coronation Oath, yet with immense constraints of government which can easily err towards a presidential character.
These are very deep matters to consider, and we begin to feel the depth of what has happened in our nation now that our Queen is no longer with us.
Time for Reflection
We must not let the time pass without a period of mature and deep reflection in our nation. It is so easy to see the momentous passing of the Queen in isolation. But it does not take much effort to recognise the full context of these days.
The Queen's father, Prime Minister Churchill and other leaders had not only led the nation to trust God through the war, but to give thanks to God for our deliverance.
When the Queen was crowned, the nation was full of thanks for deliverance from a terrible world war. Her father, Prime Minister Churchill and other leaders had not only led the nation to trust God through the war, but to give thanks to God for our deliverance. The Queen's reign began in the early days of rebuilding the nation. The God to whom she, on our behalf, made the Coronation Oath, has not become an unknown god in the meanwhile and still cares about the people of our nation. The time of the Queen's passing after a long reign is in His hands.
The nation is at a time of recovery from a terrible virus (and subsequent lockdowns) that has caused us to amass debt. The shaking foretold by the Prophet Haggai is beginning to rumble through the entire world. Poverty threatens in the UK and we wait to see what civil disturbance will erupt as times get harder. Unprecedented summer heat has led to long term water shortages. Energy supplies are limited and costly and we are on the brink of increasing national debt – even to the extent that the interest alone suggests bankruptcy. The country has a new Prime Minister and a new King within two days. What then is God saying?
Through our season of mourning and thankfulness for a greatly loved Queen, surely God is calling us to reflect more deeply than just on a passing life, but also to review the era of her reign, and our present circumstance.
Our New King
There is always continuity in the monarchy of our nation. The moment a monarch dies the successor takes office. King Charles III now begins the journey of the era of his own reign. With counsellors and advisors surrounding him, he will set a course towards his own Coronation, possibly in more challenging days than those that his mother faced.
With counsellors and advisors surrounding him, Charles will set a course towards his own Coronation, possibly in more challenging days than those that his mother faced.
The uniqueness of his own perspectives and of those around him will establish the course of the nation's commitment to God. We do not know what neutralising humanistic forces in a multi-cultural and multi-faith society will do to change the Oath that our Queen made at her own Coronation – largely unchanged since 1688. The death of the Queen has ended the era of her Oath.
Can we pray that God, in his grace, will send true counsellors to help King Charles, to shed true light on his path? We are in a period of mourning for our beloved Queen. Some time after this period has passed, and already King Charles has begun his preparations, he will be crowned. We have the opportunity, after due reflection on the last 70 years, to strengthen our trust in, and commitment to, God Almighty, Father of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, the only way to the Father. This short period of grace must not be wasted.
Dr Clifford Denton is a former PT Editorial Board chairman. He is the Founder of the Tishrei online Bible School, and Team Leader and Chairman of The Cedars Foundation based in Rochester, Kent.