Britain is being pounded by problems. Look at the short list. The nation’s pitiful helplessness at the hands of rogue pirates, who no longer fear the once-mighty British Navy. The colossal social failures. The collapse of family life. The endemic ignorance of national history among the younger generations. The continuing radicalization of Britain’s Muslim population. The fraying relationship with the U.S. Right now, the Sceptered Isle is packed in deep freeze, enduring the coldest winter in nearly a century. Little wonder, perhaps, that Britons drink more alcohol than all other Europeans—though this boozing culture brings steep social, health and financial costs of its own.

In addition, Britain is drowning in economic woes. Its fiscal deficit exceeds that of any other nation in the G-20; the nation is flirting with bankruptcy. That reality will hit home soon. Only so much money can be created out of thin air before it loses its value. The pound is predicted to drop below the euro in value in the next few months—largely as a result of the government’s misguided efforts to correct its budget deficit. Youth unemployment recently reached a record 19.8 percent. A Financial Times survey of economists warns that Britain is in danger of succumbing to a budgetary crisis this year. Almost half the 79 economists polled said the UK was threatened by a fiscal crisis that could prevent any economic revival. The British economy is walking “five yards away from the edge of the cliff” and could be toppled by an “unexpected gust,” a recent research report dramatically stated.

Soon Britons will realize their nation is no longer an influential First World nation. As the Telegraph.co.uk comments, “For Britain, the psychological and geopolitical consequences of coming to terms with our newly reduced circumstances are going to prove just as traumatic as the economic and fiscal ones.”

Then there is the ill-fated Lisbon Treaty, which Britain signed despite public opposition. This European constitution in effect destroys Britain’s sovereignty, overriding the Magna Carta, the legal bedrock that guarantees the nation’s freedoms. Meanwhile, economic regulation threatens to destroy the last vestiges of its economic sovereignty. The Brussels elites have in fact set in motion a deliberate plan to emasculate the once-great Britain using the pretext of the economic crisis, with British banks already yielding to the EU. Through oppressive regulation, European leaders are preparing to deal the deathblow to London’s status as a global financial capital.

With the Euroskeptical Conservatives widely expected to win upcoming British elections, Britain’s membership in the EU looks shakier than ever. There will be no easy divorce; however the inevitable separation comes, it will be ugly for Britain.

These setbacks somehow seem endemic to unhappy Britain. Formerly the greatest empire the world has ever known, Britain has made a staggering decline over the past century. After two world wars that decimated the strength of its manpower, a slow and steady process of devolving its empire and commonwealth, an earnest, decades-long but never-quite-successful campaign to hitch itself to a uniting Europe, and a complete revolution in morality, culture and religion, it has found itself sidelined, languishing in minor-power status, the victim of a seemingly endless stream of “bad luck.”

But can the British really afford not to take responsibility for their fate? Was it luck that handed them their prosperous, globe-girdling empire? And was it luck—just a reversal of fortune—that ripped it from them? For answers, we must look far beyond the immediate perspective offered by recent events.

Nearly 3,000 years ago, God prophesied exactly what would happen to the British Empire. He foretold, with precision, its rise and its decline. He anticipated the very curses that Britain is experiencing today, including its economic decline. And—the world would do well to note—He laid out well in advance the precise circumstances that would precipitate Britain’s eventual demise.

If the people of Britain find themselves overwhelmed by recent events, they should consider God’s vision of what is to become of their country—and realize that what is assailing them now is actually a tremendous blessing. What the British are experiencing is the concerned, chastening hand of a loving Father trying to deliver them—or, at least, a very few of them who will heed—from the far worse events that will soon descend on their country. God is trying to send Britain a message.

Beleaguered Britain has received, and ignored, several strong warnings. The Trumpet’s parent publication, a monthly prophetic newsmagazine called the Plain Truth, began warning in the interim years between the two world wars that Britain would lose its empire. Through several decades under the editorial eye of Herbert W. Armstrong, the Plain Truth reported in detail the curses that were increasingly plaguing Britain, all the while forewarning that they were merely the prelude to far worse.

A number of notable Plain Truth articles throughout the 1960s in particular detailed Britain’s considerable woes at the time: economic problems, low food production, struggles with defining its commonwealth, racial tension, a burgeoning and unsustainable welfare system, notorious laziness, preoccupation with immoral entertainment. Even then, Britain began to be looked upon as inferior to Europe. Widely referred to as “the sick man of Europe” and “an international charity case,” it was never considered integral to the economically uniting Continent. The Plain Truth even laid out, more than once, detailed steps that would turn Britain around and set it back on a course lined with blessings.

Consider, as an example, these paragraphs from the December 1964 Plain Truth: “Relations between Britain and Europe will continue to deteriorate until ‘The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far … which shall not leave thee corn, wine or oil … he shall besiege thee in all thy gates …’ (Deuteronomy 28:49-52).

“These prophecies reveal a soon-coming ‘siege’—a trading blockade—of modern-day Israel!

“Of all the nations that compose modern-day Israel, none is more vulnerable to such a trade embargo than the United Kingdom. Under present conditions, the British Isles are entirely unable to feed their population without massive food imports. Even during the strenuous agricultural efforts of World War ii, Britain was able to produce barely half her food requirements! Since then, population has increased, farming land diminished.

“Yet the British public remains apathetic! … The new generation insists only on less work and more benefits. The welfare state, supported by each government in turn, encourages just such an attitude. … But as the cry grows louder for wage increases, unemployment pay, sick benefits, pensions, allowances, national assistance, grants and payments—the entire economy staggers, unable to stay afloat!” (emphasis mine throughout).

Now, having stumbled through those tough times with no improvement in its behavior, Britain faces an intensification of its problems. Its welfare state has bloated to far greater proportions—as has its drag on the economy. And its corruption and immorality are far worse.

God makes and unmakes nations (Job 12:23; Isaiah 40:15). He made Britain what it once was, and He is unmaking it today.

That is not to say God has given up hope on reaching the British people. Strange as it may sound, the very fact that the nation is suffering is evidence of His perseverance and mercy. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons …” (Hebrews 12:6-7).

Shortly after Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986, the warnings issued by the Plain Truth were taken up by Gerald Flurry and published in the Trumpet to be delivered to a new, largely more corrupt generation. His booklet explaining God’s condemnation of Britain in the biblical book of Hosea is a must-read. (You can see it here, or we will send you a free copy upon request.)

The leaders responsible for Britain’s 61 million citizens would dismiss this message—but the warning stands for anyone who will heed: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish …” (Hosea 4:1-3).

God told Britain what would happen. He has explained His reasons for sending these curses. Still, Britain toils on, trying to solve its problems with its own ingenuity. Instead of looking to God, Britain is relying on its “allies” like Europe—or, as the Bible refers to them, its “lovers.” “[T]hey have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim has hired lovers” (Hosea 8:9; New King James Version). (For proof that Assyria refers to Germany, read Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.) God never intended Britain to join with Europe. In fact, its ill-fated efforts to do so have revealed fatal weakness and lack of trust in the Source of its national greatness—and at the same time portend the downfall of the country.

In 1966, the Plain Truth made this important statement: “The big question: ‘What will it take to wake up the people of Britain?’ Will it take a terrible economic depression, or will it take national military defeat at the hands of a German-dominated United States of Europe?” (October 1966).

There the article referred to the prophesied ultimate fall of Britain!

As the Bible makes clear to those who have the key to understand it, God prophesies that Britain will not learn its lesson except through total defeat and subjugation as slaves to a United Europe!

“I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: … They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: …. Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria [Britain is fulfilling this prophecy even as you read this article]. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations” (Hosea 5:3-4; 7:11-12; 9:17).

Yes—what will it take to wake up the people of Britain? Will you wait until being besieged by a fearsome foreign army? Or will you heed God’s warning now?