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After a seventy-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II died on 8, September 2022. Long live the King.

Long live the king Charles III

On the announcement of her death, immediately, the proclamation, long live the King is declared. There’s no hint of a break in the monarchy in the United Kingdom. In a time of uncertainty and collapse of government, this is remarkable. What’s so special about Monarchy? And particularly that of Great Britain?

This post is an interruption in the Mind-Body Problem Solved book series to consider the importance of the change in monarchy in the UK as a result of the death of Queen Elizabeth and the arrival of King Charles III.

On the World Scene

Ever since the ousting of Louis XVI by the French Revolution in 1789 and the secession of the United States from Britain, monarchy has had its ups and downs. The last monarchy was lost in 2008 when communist revolutionaries overthrew the throne of King Gyanendra in Nepal and established a republic.

Today there remain 44 monarchies in the world, but only 29 monarchs. King Charles III of the United Kingdom is the king of 15 other Commonwealth Realms that formerly composed the British Empire: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

Remarkable, a small island, seemingly lost on the world map, with a mere population of sixty-seven million has a monarch, long live the king, who oversees a Commonwealth of 56 countries composed of 2.5 billion people. One-quarter of the world’s countries and one-third of the world’s population. Imagine that.

You’ve got to ask the question is this happenstance? A quirk of history? Or is there more to it?

In the context of The Explanation, I’d draw your attention to another remarkable fact. The best seller of all time, the official English Bible is named the King James Bible, the King of England called for an official translation finished in 1611 and it remained the only English translation for 350 years.

Why Great Britain? Why a Monarchy? Why longevity?

Genesis 10-12 gives a list of nations, descendants of the three sons of Noah of which all peoples worldwide are offspring. Some of these nations are easily identifiable, but most are not. One family, in particular, is the focus during thousands of years of history, Israel, the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not to be confounded with the country of Israel, today.

We shall not engage in a history or genealogy lesson here, there’s no space. Let’s just say this. The Bible recalls the beginnings of a nation with Abraham and the twelve tribes. Bible history singles out some remarkable people along this FORWARD looking timeline like Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, and Solomon, along with a few prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, among a very narrow group. Today, we look BACKWARD at our ancestry. The point is, somewhere the forward meets the backward and we get a continuous history.

If we believe in the Bible then we are its descendants and what is stated therein is our present state of affairs. Does it say anything about long live the king? Or, God save the king? Yes. Let’s start by establishing what a king is, from God’s point of view. To do so, we check the meaning of the Biblical Hebrew word at UnlockBibleMeaning.com. The first mention of king is in Genesis 14 mentioned 25 times and especially Melchizedek, King of Salem.

King in Biblical Hebrew.

King is melech, H4428 from H4427 where it also means to take counsel. From whom? Well look at H4397 melach and notice it’s also translated king (2 Samuel 11:1), but more importantly, note the three root letters ((כ)מלף) are identical to H4428 (the א in H4397 is a vowel). These words are intimately related. The king is a type of angel, a messenger, ambassador of GOD on Earth; he takes counsel from God. I included H4399 (from H4397) to show that being a king is an occupation, it’s work that indeed characterized Queen Elizabeth II as well as Prince Charles, now King Charles III, long live the king.

The King

The king is the ambassador of God, a godly messenger to the nation. Hours after becoming King Charles III he took an oath relating to the security of the Church of Scotland as required under the act of 1707 by which Scotland joined with England and Wales to form Great Britain. This has been done by every Sovereign at their Accession since 1714. The oath reads:

“I, Charles III, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of My other Realms and Territories King, Defender of the Faith, do faithfully promise and swear that I shall inviolably maintain and preserve the Settlement of the true Protestant Religion as established by the Laws made in Scotland in prosecution of the Claim of Right and particularly by an Act intituled ‘An Act for securing the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government’ and by the Acts passed in the Parliament of both Kingdoms for Union of the two Kingdoms, together with the Government, Worship, Discipline, Rights and Privileges of the Church of Scotland. So help me God.”

In his capacity as King of the United Kingdom, Charles III is styled “Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith”. The title “Defender of the Faith” reflects the Sovereign’s position as the supreme governor of the Church of England.

Ask yourself the question. How many kings are defenders of the faith who rule over 2.5 billion people? You know the answer. What instruction does God specifically give the king?

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

14 When you are come to the land which the LORD your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;

15 You shall in any wise set him king over you, whom the LORD your God shall choose: one from among your brethren shall you set king over you: you may not set a stranger over you, which is not your brother.

16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD has said to you, You shall henceforth return no more that way.

17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

18 And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel (long live the king).

The king, as ruler of the nation, was the defender of God’s faith as given by Moses, and now also by Christ. He was and is to be God’s messenger and ambassador to his people. That’s some responsibility.

In a few words, God gives marching orders to the king of his nation, and in verse 20, that he may prolong his days, God states long live the king. In ancient Israel, the king was the head of government, he could intervene and directly guide the nation. Today, King Charles III does not, and cannot, constitutionally intervene. However, he, like his mother, is fully aware of all national doings and can counsel the Prime Minister who is the head of government.

Kings in Israel… and their descendants

The Old Testament nation of Israel was ruled by kings. The people chose the first king Saul, but God chose the second, king David who was the example of a man of God to whom God made some incredible promises.

1 Samuel 7:8-16 

8 Now therefore so shall. you (Nathan the prophet) say to my servant David, Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:

9 And I was with you whithersoever you went, and have cut off all your enemies out of thy sight (God save the king), and have made you a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth (Sam: a worldwide phenomenon, the burial of Queen Elizabeth and the Coronation of King Charles will be the biggest televised events of this year, along with the World Soccer Cup).

10 Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime (God save the king and the nation),

12 And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, which shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom (long live the king).

13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever (a royal house, long live the king).

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him (long live the king), as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.

16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established for ever before you: your throne shall be established for ever (Sam: royal house, long live the king).

God chose David and his descendants to have someone on the throne forever. I’m not a historian, and space does not permit us to expand on the British Monarchy, its throne, origin, and ancestry. But just by its present magnitude and worldwide spread, you need to see if there’s a relationship to these incredible promises God made to David and his nation.

You also know that the Descendant of David is the Lord Jesus Christ and for Him, the Bible repeats more than ever, long live the King.

Psalms 145:1

I will extol you, my God, O king; and I will bless your name for ever and ever (long live the King).

1 Timothy 1:15-17

15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (God save the King – Christ will save all Kings and all nations); of whom I am chief.

17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen (long live the King).

According to God’s will, most people are ignorant of the impact of the events of contemporary history. Long live the king, and God save the king are just quaint sayings. Are you catching the Biblical depth of the times we live?

 

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