Ozwitness

This week the front pages  of every  important national newspaper around the world, with the exception  of China  and a few communist nations, bore pictures in honour of our Queen, at her passing.

Only a very few people in the world today can remember a time when the Queen did not reign, and it was President Macron of France who summed up  the feeling: “”To you, she was your Queen,”” Emmanuel Macron said to the camera in English, as he addressed his own nation.  “”To us, she was THE Queen!””

That obviously applies to many nations around the world, even outside the Commonwealth, where guns sounded in tribute to the departed Queen.

Truely, there was something special about her reign, as she held together a nation declining from world  Empire  to almost empty rhetoric, but it was her calming presence and wise counsel which ensured a tragic but peaceful decline in her constitutional monarchy during a period which would have brought  most nations to their knees in chaos and violence.

It is strange though, that at this time of reflection, and much remenicence,  there has been no mention of this amazing fall from world influence, no questioning of the causes of this national loss, in the many pages of the tributes and discussion.

And yet,  there can be few homes in ethnic Britain that do not contain a Bible, and though they may lay unopened and dusty, they hold the answer,  Hosea 3:6-7, “”My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.””

Hosea 7:8-10,  ‘Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
Strangers devour his strength,
and he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and he knows it not.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
yet they do not return to the LORD their God,
nor seek him, for all this.’

Hosea 13:6-9, ‘When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me. So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path. Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion like a wild beast would tear them apart.You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me—against your helper.’

Hosea 14:4-9,  ‘His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. They will return and dwell in his shade; they will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Since my arrival in the UK to visit family, the resignation of Boris Johnson has brought about an illuminating election campaign in the Conservative Party, to replace him as Prime Minister. The first thing noticeable was the predominance of Non Anglo-Saxon representation among the contenders.

Now it has come down to the last two, one, the former  Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is a Hindu Indian. Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is Priti Patel, and other cabinet members inculde Sajid Javid and Aloc Sharma, while the London Mayor, Sidiq Khan, is a Muslim. Never before have we seen so many foreigners in government!

This reflects an almost unbelievable change during my lifetime, (6 out of the 11 Prime-Ministerial candidates were of foreign origin) for I remember the start of mass immigration in my home town, when almost all the immigrants became at first, bus drivers or bus conductors, though now it is common to find them in large, impressive homes, driving expensive cars as business owners, and employers.

No doubt most had worked hard and payed their taxes but it is concerning to see young men of foreign origin driving impossibly expensive cars, the proprietors of small, apparently not very prosperous businesses, while the police have proved themselves afraid to investigate Asian sex crime and possible drug dealing, for fear of cries of racism.

This may relate to the fact that significant contingent of immigrants flee from nations that do not have the innate respect for government and law which has traditionally been found in the West. Unlike those first immigrants back in the sixties, many in my home town are marked by a refusal to integrate into Western dress, culture and religion, which leaves locals with the suspicion that neither do they honour Western concepts of responsibility to contribute to a lawful, benevolent society, and in the past years there have been riots and buildings set on fire as a result.

While Britain is not alone in seeing such change (Ireland also is experiencing  similar change) this is significant because it was long ago prophesied that this would occur, Deuteronomy 28:43-44, ‘The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.’

Why is this happening? It is happening because it is just one of the curses the British, or in Bible language, ‘Ephraim’, have earned because of our wrong choices, verse 45, ‘All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the LORD your God and keep the commandments and statutes He gave you.’  Berean Study Bible.

Unfortunately, in fleeing from the automatic results of their religions and culture,  some immigrants bring the results with them, and as we ourselves have forgotten our God, and His laws, we forgot that our prosperity and place in the world was given to us by God, until finally, He is taking it away until we all learn to worship Him and keep His Laws. Australia and Canada are just a few years behind Britain in this process, but it is coming there too, if we do not begin keeping the laws we find in the handbook provided by our Maker – the Bible.