Page 42 - Racing Toward Judgement

4. The British Warning
Remember the great British Empire? In the height of
glory, Oueen Victoria celebrated her sixtieth anniver-
sary. Leaders of colonies from all over the earth were
gathered in London. A Royal Navy fleet of nearly two
hundred shins crowded the harbor. Proud government
troops paraded by the thousands. The sun never set on
this empire, and a mighty nation rode a crest of pomp
and glory. But a prophet's voice was heard in that same
day. Rudyard Kipling, a patriotic poet, wrote in "Reces-
sional":
God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle-line,
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
It seemed unthinkable in those times that such an
empire could ever disintegrate. Yet, we have lived to
see that day. England is now crumbling. America is al-
ready plummeting in the same direction.
Have you seen this? [he asked] Is it nothing
to the people of Judah that they commit these ter-
rible sins, leading the whole nation into idolatry,
thumbing their noses at me and arousing my fury
against them? Therefore I will deal with them in
fury. I will neither pity nor spare. And though they
scream for mercy, I will not listen.
(Ezekiel 8:17,18 LB)
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