Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I – She was the greatest of all British Monarchs

“And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins” Leviticus 26: 18.

Queen Elizabeth I was indeed one of the greatest of all English monarchs, certainly one of the most popular. Referred to affectionately as Good Queen Bess, her reign was one of the most significant in the history of the Israelite peoples, perhaps rivaling the monarchy of King David. So much has been written or placed on screen about this remarkable lady of history that it seems incomprehensible that it could be added too. Yet, even great historians like Churchill have missed the mark by not completely tracing her lineage. For without knowing that Queen Elizabeth I descended from King David, there is no way of totally understanding her significance in the Plan of God. Indeed, we can look to the past or the future from her reign and clearly understand why God chose her as a Monarch of Destiny.

As if to prepare this monarch for her future awesome task, her early life was beset with the greatest of difficulty. When Elizabeth was three, her father, Henry VIII, ordered her mother, Anne Boleyn, to be beheaded for adultery. What’s more, he had Parliament declare his marriage with Anne Boleyn invalid, thus forcing Elizabeth to go through early life as illegitimate. When she was sixteen, her life was in peril when she was linked to a tryst with Thomas Seymour, later beheaded, and it was only her great poise that saved her. She was thrown in the tower during the reign of her sister, Mary I, and it was only through God’s Grace that Mary ignored her Catholic advisors that Elizabeth be executed so the Reformation could be brought to a standstill. These ordeals helped shape the strong characteristics she inherited from her father, traits that gave her the determination and courage to guide England’s fortunes in the critical years of the late sixteenth century.

When Mary died, her successor, Elizabeth I, fell to her knees and exclaimed, “This is the Lord’s doing: it is marvelous in our eyes.” It wasn’t that she disliked her sister, but Mary, the least successful of all England’s monarchs, had brought England to its knees. She lost the last vintage of their French possessions, depleted the treasury and in the name of Catholicism, ushered in a reign of terror that earned her the name of Bloody Mary. The sorry state of affairs was summed up very well by a member of the Court at the time Elizabeth ascended the throne, “The Queen poor, the realm exhausted, the nobility poor and decayed. Want of good captains and soldiers. The people out of order. Justice not executed. All things dear. Excess in meat, drink and apparel. Divisions among ourselves. Wars with France and Scotland. The French King bestriding the realm, having one foot in Calais and the other in Scotland. Steadfast enmity but no steadfast friendship abroad.” Is it any wonder that when Mary died, the country rejoiced?

Elizabeth was a hardworking monarch and approached her responsibilities with great determination. An early task was to bring religious peace to the country. During Bloody Mary’s reign, where nearly 300 prominent Protestants were put to the stake, the country reeled from the attempt to re-assert Catholicism. Elizabeth repealed all such legislation. In fact, her parliament made the country Protestant by law and declared that Elizabeth and future monarchs would bear the title “Supreme Governor of the English Church.” This act didn’t totally end the growing pains of the Reformation but the fact that her subjects had more choice in Bible interpretation and could freely read and distribute the writings of Bible scholars was a huge step forward. Nevertheless, despite the new legislation, it did not end the fear of the parliamentarians that another Catholic could succeed Elizabeth. They did not rest until they implicated her Catholic successor, Mary, Queen of Scots, into a plot to assassinate Elizabeth. The order to behead Mary was given by Elizabeth, which was perhaps the most agonizing decision of her reign.

God blew and they were scattered.

Elizabeth, in concert with her parliamentarians, also injected great energy and determination into the nation’s other problems. After a relatively few years, England was at peace and returned to a state of prosperity. The Queen’s policies engineered a great revival in trade, agriculture and manufacturing. Exploration was encouraged and many overseas colonies were claimed for England. It was a golden period in the nation’s growth. Yet, the highlight of her reign was the emergence of Britain from under the shadow of the great European powers. It was 1588 and Spain had finally decided to descend upon Britain with the might of her military. Dispatching an overwhelming force of some 130 heavily armed ships and more than 30,000 soldiers, the Spanish Armada set off for battle. One of Elizabeth’s most inspiring speeches was given to her troops at the anticipated landing site of the enemy. Among hers words were these, “…I have come amongst you, as you see, resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust.” England’s great generals, John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake and Lord Howard, provided superior leadership and did much to rout the enemy. Yet, history has shown that the Lord God Almighty came to the aid of His Israel People and invoked weather conditions that crippled the Spanish forces, sent many of their larger vessels to the deep and sent the rest limping back to a Spain that would never again pose such a threat. One of the medals struck to commemorate the war said it all, “Affidavit Deus et dissipantur”, meaning, “God blew and they were scattered.” The gratitude toward God Almighty reached a peak in the few years after the battle. Indeed, religious emotion ran through the land as British Israel paid homage to the source of their greatness. It was a time of such triumph and pride for the entire English nation that it inspired Shakespeare to later write his immortal words, “Come the three corners of the world in arms, And we shall shock them, Nought shall make us rue, If England to itself do rest but true” (The Play “King John”).

It is interesting to look at Elizabeth’s reign in light of Leviticus 26: 18 as recorded at the outset of this short study. A “times” is 360 days (or years) and Bible scholars have shown how to arrive at the conversion by employing such things as prophetic years or the degrees in a day. Yet, God is amazing. He knows that He had to make it crystal clear for us to understand. First, He told us in Galatians 4: 10, “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.” This made it clear that a “time” is indeed a time factor and is progressive, that is, a month is longer than a day, a time is longer than a month and a year is longer than a time. Then, He provided an example to ensure there can be no doubt about the duration of a “time.” In Revelation 12: 6 & 14, the Lord uses two different formulas to arrive at the same number of years. In verse 6, He refers to a timing of “a thousand two hundred and threescore days” and in verse 14, in describing the very same event, He refers to a “time, and times, and half of time.” Let’s look at each formula to demonstrate that the time frame of each is exactly the same.

All that is left to do is convert the days to a year in accordance with Ezekiel 4: 6, “I have appointed thee each day for a year” and we can see that a “time” in this case is 360 years.

In short, Leviticus 26: 18 says that God would punish Israel for seven of these 360 year time periods (a total of 2,520 years) if they didn’t obey His Law. It is important to realize that God segregated each 360-day (year) period for a purpose. In fact, He employed this yardstick to highlight many events in history, in addition to these periods of punishment. Yet, if we look at each period of punishment, we will note two similarities. Firstly, something significant invariably to end and/or begin the time period and secondly, with the passing of each period of punishment, conditions became better for punished Israel. As the beginning point in this study, we use 604/603 BC when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, subjugated the Nation of Judah. Simple arithmetic demonstrates that six periods of 360 expired in 1557/58 (Mary’s death, Elizabeth’s ascension) and therefore this dating also begins the seventh and last period of punishment. As reflected earlier in this study, it was the beginning of the strengthening of the Commonwealth of Nations prophesized for Jacob Israel in Genesis 35: 11.

We should now briefly look at three most significant time factors because it is absolutely astonishing to see the pivotal importance of the reign of Elizabeth I.

As an aside, all readers understand that at the time of Elizabeth I, Britain was the home of both Joseph’s sons, i.e., the Birthright tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Subsequently, America Manasseh was established and became independent. It is perhaps no coincidence that one “time” (360 years) separates the death in 1603 of Elizabeth I, the greatest of all English monarchs, from the tragic death in 1963 of America’s President John F. Kennedy, the last President who sought to restore the greatness of America by asserting its independence from the bondage of money policies.

In comparing the history of a truly great Britain at the time of Elizabeth I with the Esau dominated Britain of most of this past century, it is sad to view the differences. Under Elizabeth I, Britain was rising to greatness in a Godly environment. In the 20th century, Britain lost all her greatness and is in danger of giving up what remains of her autonomy to a European community. And it is rapidly becoming a Godless society. Sadly, Queen Elizabeth II is almost a willing pawn in the one world government thrust. Yet, Elizabeth I could easily have been pushed aside as well had she permitted it. She didn’t. In fact it was her strength of character, determination and courage that God used in his unfolding plan. She truly was a Monarch of Destiny and her last speech to the British parliament reflects why God chose her as such. I love to reflect on these few words included in this remarkable monarch’s message, “And in my governing {of} this land, I have ever set the last Judgement day before mine eyes, and so to rule, as I shall be Judged and answer before a higher Judge, to whose Judgement Seat I do appeal in for those thoughts {that are sometimes} cherished in my heart that tended not to {be for} my people’s good.” It’s too bad today’s leaders do not love and fear the Lord God’s final Judgment as Elizabeth I did, rather than following the plan of the one world Satanic Kingdom.