If it were possible, Nelson would have rolled over groaning in his grave at the latest debacle involving the once invincible Royal Navy.

In an incident publicized Tuesday via both press and television in Britain, a British naval vessel captured a group of pirates off the coast of Somalia, took them aboard, fed them, gave them cigarettes and promptly sent them on their merry way to continue repeating their dastardly crimes on the high seas.

A couple of recent trips to Britain convinced me that the nation is beyond hope, this side of Christ’s return. It’s a literal basket case. It has sold its birthright blessings down the drain to the highest bidders—most often its traditional enemies—and exchanged its once roaring lion of an image to that of a hopeless, silly dove (Hosea 7:11).

I have some great friends in Britain, friends whose hearts yearn for a unified British leadership with the backbone of yesteryear, having the fortitude to tell the European Union to get lost and to put some moral courage into the British people once again.

But there’s no unity of purpose in the British political establishment, and the best voices crying out for regaining British sovereignty from the imperialists in Brussels and Berlin remain on the fringe. As for the church—long ago feminized and homosexualized—as historian Paul Johnson once opined, it would be best simply disbanded and put out of its agony.

So now we have the Senior Service, the once proud possessor of battle honors won under great heroes such as Drake and Nelson, being forced by the nation’s political leadership (whose thinking is akin to that of women and children rather than men of honor—Isaiah 3:1-4) to trash its once proud image of ruling the waves in exchange for that of a compromising coward.

The London Evening Standard reports,

The Royal Navy caught a crew of Somali pirates and gave them halal meat and cigarettes before letting them go free, it emerged today.The 17 outlaws, who had hijacked a boat and forced five hostages into slavery for three months, were seized with AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades by hms Cornwall.But rather than bring them to justice, the Navy was ordered to give them medical checks—and one a nicotine patch—before freeing them in their own boats. …Before being freed, they were given food which included a halal option to take into account religious needs.

Commenting on this debacle for the Telegraph, Con Coughlin observed, “In Nelson’s time the Royal Navy made its name by striking fear into the hearts of Britain’s enemies through its daring and ruthlessness. Now we find that our Senior Service is more committed to observing the strictures of human rights and health and safety legislation than the defense of the realm” (April 12).

Coughlin notes that piracy and violence off the coast of Somalia is on the rise, with Somali pirates presently holding captive 29 ships and 800 people.

That the Royal Navy was once the pride of Britain’s power, to the point of its ships only having to roll up off the coast of a recalcitrant regime to force a change in their behavior for the better, is a documented fact of history. Often the desired result was gained without even firing a single shot. Just the mere presence of British naval power was sufficient.

But it is to Bible prophecy that we must turn to describe why the most shameful of political leadership has defanged the Royal Navy.

Prophesying what would become of the children of Israel, of which the British people are descendants (for proof, read our book The United States and Britain in Prophecy), the Eternal God declared long ago, “But if you do not obey Me … if you despise My statutes … I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you …. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. … I will break the pride of your power …” (Leviticus 26:14-19; New King James Version).

There, in those few verses, both cause and effect as to the currently hopeless state of the once proud British nation are summarized.

Yet, though the nation remains blinded to its reality, the breaking of British pride is but a harbinger of a future that awaits Britain far greater than it ever enjoyed at the peak of its imperial reign. Believe it or not, to this day there is a symbol, a real and tangible sign of the certainty of that future that links Britain’s royal heritage, dating from the time of the patriarch Jacob to the time of the coming of the King of kings, resting in Britain. In fact, it is presently lying in Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.

It is called variously by the terms the stone of destiny, lia fail, the stone of Scone or Jacob’s pillar stone.

The plain truth about Britain’s ultimate destiny, which is so tied to that ancient stone, is exposed in our booklet The Key of David. If you are one who stands aghast at the loss of the pride of British power reflected in this latest naval incident, then you need to read this booklet and see the vision that lies ahead of today’s emasculated Britain. It gives a true vision of the future bestowing of great power and glory on a future British people finally repentant of their national sins of rebellion against their Maker!