Queen Elizabeth ii will make history today. She will become the longest-reigning monarch in English history at 5:30 p.m. when she passes Queen Victoria’s record of 63 years and 216 days.

At age 89, Queen Elizabeth is already the world’s oldest serving sovereign.

Since she ascended the British throne in 1952, she has seen and accomplished a lot. As the head of state of the United Kingdom, she has given her assent to more than 3,500 acts of Parliament. She has conferred over 400,000 honors and personally presided over 610 investitures. She is patron of over 600 charities and organizations.

Queen Elizabeth is Britain’s first monarch to have made state visits to China and Russia. She is also the first British monarch to have set foot in the Republic of Ireland since 1911, when George v visited it while it was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

She has visited over 116 countries, making her the most traveled monarch in history. And she is still traveling; she plans to fly to Malta in November for a Commonwealth event.

In her time on the throne, she has seen 12 different British prime ministers in office—from Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair to David Cameron. When Prime Ministers Blair and Cameron were born, she was on the throne. She has also been in office through the terms of 12 American presidents and seven popes.

Queen Elizabeth’s extraordinary longevity and her accomplishments are not irrelevant in modern times, as some people believe. Even superficially, the enduring public adoration of the Queen, her grandchildren and now her great-grandchildren, highlight the royal family’s significant role in today’s Britain.

Britain’s throne has endured when virtually every other monarchy in the world has been overthrown or faded into obscurity. Why?

An Enduring Throne

At the Trumpet, our interest in the British royal family transcends a mere fascination with celebrity.

There is something very unusual and extremely inspiring about Britain’s monarchy! Few people talk about it today, yet people can easily discover it by researching the roots of Britain’s royal family.

After the much-publicized royal wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote an article called “The Most Inspiring Part of the Royal Wedding.” In it he said, “To understand England’s royal family, we must understand a promise God made to King David recorded in 2 Samuel 7.”

Read that chapter. In it, God inspired King David to build Him a temple in Jerusalem. David would make most of the preparations necessary to build the temple, but the temple itself would be constructed by David’s son Solomon.

Notice this astounding promise God made to David in verses 12-13: “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.”

God actually promised to establish David’s royal throne, through Solomon, forever! He got even more specific in verses 14-16: “I [God] will be his [Solomon’s] 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: But my mercy shall not depart away from him … And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.”

It is an amazing promise: If this royal family disobeys God, He will chasten them—but He will never break this covenant. He will never take away this throne!

Mr. Flurry presented this challenge in his 2011 article: “If you believe God, and millions of people say they do, this means the royal line of David must still exist today!”

God’s promise about David’s throne is strong, specific and literal—and it is backed up in several other passages in Scripture. Perhaps the strongest and clearest is in Jeremiah 33:20-21: “Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne ….”

God is essentially saying, If you still see the sun rising in the morning, then you can be sure that there is still a descendant of King David sitting on this royal throne!

Sure enough, historians have tracked what became of that throne. The history after Solomon down through the kings that reigned in Jerusalem until the fall of the kingdom of Judah is recorded in the Bible—over 400 years after God made that promise. But you can follow it even further—through one of the daughters of the last king of Judah, Zedekiah. When Judah went into captivity in 585 b.c., King Zedekiah’s daughter traveled to Ireland. Thus the royal line was preserved—and transplanted to the British Isles.

This might seem controversial, but it’s a proven fact that the royal family itself acknowledged until quite recently.

The details of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation are replete with similarities with the way that Solomon and the monarchs of Israel were crowned anciently—because it is the same ceremony for the same throne.

“For over 70 years we have proved repeatedly and in convincing detail that Britain descends from ancient Israel, specifically the tribe of Joseph,” wrote Mr. Flurry. “Among the descendants of Israel, England has by far the most enduring and prestigious monarchy. The reason for this is simple and stunning: England’s royal family descends from King David.”

“This institution … is living, breathing proof of God’s existence!” he concluded.

The history that connects Queen Elizabeth with King David can build your faith and confidence in the authority of the Bible, and in the God who made those promises to King David.

But even more inspiring is what the Bible reveals about the future of that throne.

In the immediate future, there will be a difficult period of correction. Remember, God’s promise to David was not only to preserve that throne, but also to chasten those who inhabit it when correction is needed. God has made good on that promise in the past, and will do so in our generation. There is definitely much evidence to show that Britain and its royal family are in for some tough times.

But ultimately, what will happen with that royal line—and that throne—is full of spectacular hope.

Notice this promise made to Mary about Jesus Christ: “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:31-33).

That throne is enduring—and God is going to give it to Christ, who is also of the royal line of David! The fact of that throne’s existence on Earth today actually points to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, because He is going to rule from that very throne!

If you have never studied into the truth about the British throne, visit the links below this article. Request also your free copy of Herbert W. Armstrong’s fantastic book The United States and Britain in Prophecy. It tells the remarkable story about the British throne—its enduring past and glorious future.