Queen Elizabeth II passed away today, and a post, even if it feels a little forced, is in order.

The queen did not mean anything to me during the first 40 years of my life—my India years. You see, her reign, which began in 1952 was clearly post-World War II, post-Indian Independence, and even post-1950, when India became a ‘Sovereign Democratic Republic.’
The monarchy does not mean a great deal to me even now, not as it does to some of our friends in New Zealand, or as it does to my daughter or even as it did to my father. Thanks to the two movies, The King’s Speech, which I watched on a plane over a decade ago and A Royal Night Out, which I watched with the ladies of the New Zealand Tamil Christian Fellowship many years ago, I have received some education on the matter. Oh and I did also watch a very long documentary about Prince Philip just after his passing.

Of course, we regularly, we see her figure etched on the coins we handle.

RESONATING POSTS

Today, Facebook and WhatsApp have been flooded with posts and forwards related to Her Majesty’s passing, but these stand out for me, because they use the occasion of the death of the longest-reigning monarch to remember Jesus, the ever-reigning Monarch.

Firstly, a post from Rebecca Brown in our church’s ladies group.

Secondly, a simple post by Ian Major my Northern-Ireland friend in Facebook.


Third, a post by Pooyan Mehrshahi, shared by Abraham Oseterika in Facebook (and I have only selected the first few paragraphs to present here).

RAINBOW SIGHTINGS

Many mentions have been made today about the double rainbow that appeared outside Buckingham Palace and another at Windsor Castle this morning in full view of the crowds, around the time of the announcement.

About the double rainbow outside Buckingham Palace, some people felt that it represented the Queen and Prince Philip.

And about the rainbow at Windsor Castle, some felt that the queen had sent them a sign.

The awe a grand sight like a rainbow induces is hard to ignore, and when it coincides with an announcement as significant as the death of the longest-reigning monarch, it does compel the viewer, even those who are repelled by the idea of Intelligence in the universe, to read more into it than mere coincidence—the mere separating out of white light, by refraction into its constituent colours, when light rays strike water droplets hanging in the atmosphere.

But these days, we seem to have little fodder for imagination or speculation of the reasonable kind, having moved so far away from God and from the Bible. So the best we can come up with is to put forward something fanciful—something that is vaguely comforting during this time of grief. However, in times like this, using the holy scriptures as the basis, believers have the wherewithal to speculate reasonably. I can think of two reasons for the rainbows.

** A HEAVENLY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT that a significant event has occurred. When all authority, even the authority of your team leader at work, is given by God, how significant the passing of Queen Elizabeth is! She was Head of State of 16 governments, and leader of the Commonwealth of 53 nations. Although in many ways, the head of the British monarchy is a figurehead, it does have some real powers to wield, which her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II never abused.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Romans 13:1

** A HEAVENLY REMINDER that the Lord reigns and has the earth in His control, that we are still in the period of time—between the two globally impactful events—the flood and the final consummation—during which time the Lord will continue to provide for the earth in its present form.

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

Gen 9:12-17

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

** To have ruled for 70 years is astonishing. As New Zealand’s radio broadcaster Mike Hosking put it, “You need to get to the throne awfully young and live awfully long to mark 70 years. Charles won’t, William won’t, and Lord knows what happens to the monarchy after that.”

** My father GB and the queen were both born in 1926, and this was something that we spoke about numerous times over the years. If both of them were to be alive closer to 2026, I intended to hurry up and apply for citizenship for my father, just so he could receive the congratulatory message she sends to those celebrating their 100th birthday. She did this for her subjects’ 100th and 105th birthdays and every year thereafter and those celebrating their 60th, 65th and 70th wedding anniversaries and every year thereafter. Of course, they would have needed to apply for this message a few weeks in advance.

I am thankful for the life of Her Majesty and for the example that was set before the world for these 96 years—of dignity, graciousness, and unashamed profession of her faith in the King of kings and Monarch of monarchs.