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On September 9, 2015, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II officially became the longest reigning British monarch—longer than 40 other kings and queens. She is the most respected figure in British public life, acclaimed by world leaders and admired worldwide for her dedication to duty. Twelve U.S. Presidents have served during her reign. Much has changed in the U.K. during her nearly 64-year sovereignty, with moral decline and social changes gathering pace. In a recent U.K. moral leadership poll, the Queen came first before even religious leaders. What lessons can we learn from the Queen’s extraordinarily successful reign?

As this commentary is being written, an elected county clerk in Kentucky has been sentenced to jail due to the conflict she perceives between her duty as a public official and her personal religious convictions about same-sex “marriage.” This raises many vital, fundamental questions—and, for students of God’s word, it should bring to mind many dire prophecies.

This year is shaping up to be a record year for hurricanes or typhoons. “NASA’s Terra satellite saw Hurricanes Kilo, Ignacio, and Jimena, all Category Four Hurricanes, lined up across the Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean on August 29 at 22:25 UTC (6:25 p.m. EDT). This is the first time there have been three active hurricanes in the Eastern or Central Pacific Ocean this season, and they’re all major hurricanes” (NASA, August 30, 2015).

Tensions between Britain and Argentina continue to grow over the fate of the Falkland Islands, also known in Argentina as the Malvinas. “Britain has ordered £47 million of new mobile air defence radars to protect the Falkland Islands against possible attack by Argentine jets.

“Archaeologists think they may have discovered in Israel the home of biblical giant Goliath. The… Bar-Ilan University Expedition, led by Professor Aren Maeir, located the lost city of Gath during excavations of an area now divided between... Palestine and Israel… The recent discovery of the entrance gate of the biblical city has been the biggest finding” (The Daily Telegraph, August 13, 2015).