Brexit and the Bible

Britain held a referendum on 23 June 2016 and decided to leave the European Union.  On 29 March 2017 Britain has triggered article 50 of the EU to officially commence leaving the EU.  This decision to leave Europe is a fulfilment of Bible Prophecy and a huge step towards the return of Christ and hence is very exciting to Christadelphians.  The voting was very close and was providentially affected by a huge storm over London that left cars floating in streets and huge numbers of people unable to get to the polling booths that night – several polling booths had to shut because of flooding.  Of all the areas in Britain, the people in London were much more in favour of remaining in the EU than other parts of the country.  The storm stopped many of them voting (voting in the UK is not compulsory).

Why does Britain have to leave Europe?

Britain has to leave Europe as required in several Bible prophecies.  A key one of these is Ezekiel chapter 38. In the map it shows the identification of the place names in Ezekiel 38.   the countries shown in red are with Russia in invading the land of Israel.

In Ezekiel 38v2 the expression “the chief prince” should read “the prince of Rosh”.  Rosh is a Hebrew proper name here and refers to Russia.  Gesenius Hebrew lexicon says concerning “Rosh” – “undoubtedly the Russians”.  The other names, such as Magog, Gomer, Meshech, Tubal and Togarmah are explained and identified in the page on Ezekiel 38.   the countries shown in red are with Russia in invading the land of Israel.

In summary, Ezekiel 38 is about the countries shown in red being with Russia and invading the land of Israel.  However the countries shown in green object.  V13 “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?”

So Tarshish, which is Britain (as shown below) opposes the invasion of the red countries.  Hence Britain has to act in opposition to Europe, which would not be possible if Britain were still part of Europe.  There are several other prophecies which require Britain to be acting in opposition to Europe which is covered below.

Britain is Tarshish

How do we know that Britain is Tarshish?  Many Bible scholars think the Tarshish is Tartessos in Spain or Carthage of North Africa.  So how can we be sure Britain is Tarshish.  The table shows the attributes of Tarshish fit that of Britain.  It is noted that Tarshish has to fulfil the requirements of the scriptures given concerning her at the time Ezekiel wrote, but also must meet the requirements of Tarshish in the latter day fulfilment of the prophecy.

The other places proposed to be Tarshish don’t meet the requirements.  Tartessos was not an island power, nor does it have an alliance with Israel.  Similarly, Carthage is not an island power, was not a source of tin and does not have an alliance with Israel.  One of the key proofs that Britain is Tarshish is it being a source of Tin.  Tin was rare in the days of Ezekiel, but used in making bronze (biblical brass) for weapons. Ezek 27:12 shows that the Phoenicians sourced Tin from Tarshish

“Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, TIN, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.”

The map from the “Penguin Atlas of World History” shows that the only source of Tin the Phoenicians had was from Britain. Wikipedia on “Sources of tin in ancient times” says:

“The only Bronze Age object from Central Europe whose tin has been scientifically provenanced is the Nebra sky disk, and its tin (and gold, though not its copper), is shown by tin isotopes to have come from Cornwall (Haustein, Gillis & Pernicka 2010). In addition, a rare find of a pure tin ingot in Scandinavia was provenanced to Cornwall (Ling et al. 2014). Available evidence thus points to Cornwall as the sole early source of tin”

Tarshish role after Christ’s return

Isa 60 describes the glory of Zion in the kingdom – hence after the return of Christ.  Tarshish is mentioned in V9 “Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.”

So Tarshish will be the first to accept Christ and bring Jews back to the land (including those Jews sent out of Israel at Armageddon – Zech 14:2).  However Europe will be not doing this.  Instead Europe, the beast of Rev 17, will be making war against Christ.  Rev 17:14 “These shall make war with the lamb”.  Similarly Psa 72:10 shows that Tarshish will bring presents to Christ in the Kingdom, whereas Europe will make war with Christ.  Hence Britain has to be separate from  Europe.

Christadelphian Teaching – Britain separate from Europe

From the time when John Thomas wrote Elpis Israel (1850) Christadelphians have taught Britain has to be separate from Europe.  Elpis Israel part 3, p293 says “Britain cannot be included among them (the toes of Europe)”.   Graham Pearce wrote in Milestones to the Kingdom in 1981 (p18-19) “though we don’t know how it will happen, Britain will separate from Europe”.  He also wrote in Milestones to the Kingdom in 1989 (p69) “It should be obvious that Britain, biblically, has no place in Europe when Christ comes”.  Paul Billington wrote in 1990 in “Guardians of Israel and Arabia” (p24) “She (Britain) is therefore perforce, not part of the European system when these prophecies are finally fulfilled … Britain’s eventual exit from Europe is a certainty”

Below is a video from our recent presentation at the Adelaide Town Hall.