The United Kingdom will Lose Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands
By Bob Thiel
In the past several decades, two of the United Kingdom’s remaining ‘sea gates,’ Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, have been in the news as other governments want them.
It got so serious that in 1982, Argentina sent its military to attempt to claim the Falkland Islands for itself.
Will the UK to Lose Gibraltar and the Falklands?
What do political leaders say? What does Bible prophecy show?
David Cameron Says Britain Will Defend the Falklands
Before going further, let us look at how Dictionary.com defines a sea gate (viewed 08/05/2013):
sea gate noun a navigable channel giving access to the sea.
That is part of the definition. But for the purposes of this article, my use sea gate implies that that some government has the land and thus is able to exert at least some control over the channel that is near that land. Such as, for example, how the UK can control access (to a degree) in and out of the Mediterranean Sea with the peninsula of Gibraltar.
Britain’s Prime Minister has made statements concerning the sea gates Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands.
Notice the following news report related to the Falkland Islands:
The UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron made a claim about defending one of the UK’s remaining sea gates, the Falkland Islands:
David Cameron: we would fight a Falklands invasion
Britain is prepared to defend the Falkland Islands with military force if Argentina launched another invasion, David Cameron has said. (January 6, 2013; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9783568/David-Cameron-we-would-fight-a-Falklands-invasion.html)
Military chiefs have drawn up plans for a ‘show of force’ to warn Argentina against hostile action over the Falkland Islands…
Just last week the Mr Cameron insisted that Britain would not shirk from defending the islands if Argentina attempted another invasion.
Referring to a recent briefing on the Falklands at a National Security Council meeting, the Prime Minister said: ‘I get regular reports on this entire issue because I want to know that our defences are strong, our resolve is extremely strong.
‘We have strong defences in place on the Falkland Islands, that is absolutely key, that we have fast jets stationed there, we have troops stationed on the Falklands.’
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, said: ‘Our overall military posture on the Falkland Islands remains unchanged and they remain well-defended. (January 13, 2013; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2261616/Britain-set-military-presence-Falkland-Islands.html#ixzz2b7THKaaV)
The war for the Falkland Islands was from 2 April 1982 – 14 June 1982. The Falkland Islands are located in the South Atlantic Ocean on a projection of the Patagonian Shelf about 310 miles (500 kilometers) east of the Patagonian/Argentinian coastline. They consist of two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, along with about 700 smaller islands. Stanley, which is on East Falkland, is the capital and largest city. Less than 3,000 people live on them. Argentinians refer to the islands as the Malvinas.
The UK has controlled the Falkland Islands since the 1830’s and most who live there want to remain under British rule. But the Argentineans wants it back.
David Cameron Insists Gibraltar’s Status Will Not Change
There are also concerns about Gibraltar as Spain wants it back:
Prime Minister David Cameron is “seriously concerned” about the escalation of tensions at the Spanish-Gibraltarian border.
Spain has said it is considering a range of proposals including a new 50 euro (£43) fee to cross the border into the British territory…
Spain’s latest move follows increased vehicle searches at the border last weekend…Mr Garcia-Margallo also hinted at the introduction of other measures including the closing of Spanish airspace to flights heading to Gibraltar. Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has accused Spain of “sabre-rattling”. (David Cameron ‘seriously concerned’ by Gibraltar events. BBC, August 5, 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23574507)
Furious David Cameron today warned his Spanish counterpart to back down in the row over controls at the border with Gibraltar.
The Prime Minister told Mariano Rajoy increased checks and plans to charge £43 to enter and leave the Rock were ‘totally disproportionate and unacceptable’ during a 15-minute phone call…
Mr Cameron warned that UK-Spanish relations could be damaged ‘unless the situation at the border improved’.
This week Gibraltar’s chief minister asked Britain to send Royal Navy warships to the area in a bid to stop Spanish boat police making unauthorised incursions into the Rock’s territorial waters…
A Downing Street spokesman added: ‘The PM made clear that our position on the sovereignty of Gibraltar and its surrounding waters will not change…Britain’s ambassador to Spain made a formal protest over ‘disproportionate’ checks at the border… ambassador Giles Paxman also sought an official explanation for Spanish threats to levy a charge on vehicles crossing the border and to close airspace…
‘The ambassador reiterated that the UK would stand shoulder to shoulder with Gibraltar in face of threats from Spain.’ (Chorley M. Cameron warns Spain it must back down from ‘disproportionate and unacceptable’ threats to Gibraltar. Daily Mail: MailOnline, August 7, 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2385863/Cameron-warns-Spain-disproportionate-unacceptable-threats-Gibraltar.html#ixzz2bI9PSfP4)
Exclusive: Britain has said a rapid reaction force of warships will visit Gibraltar on its way to naval exercises in the Mediterranean, even as the fierce diplomatic row over the disputed territory looked set to continue. (Farmer B, Govan F. Royal Navy warships to visit Gibraltar amid diplomatic row Telegraph, August 8, 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/gibraltar/10231438/Royal-Navy-warships-to-visit-Gibraltar-amid-diplomatic-row.html)
So, Britain is trying to tell the Spanish that Gibraltar should not be bothered and is under the protection of the UK. Spain was not pleased with these actions by the British.
Gibraltar’s territory covers 6.843 square kilometers (2.642 sq mi) and it shares a 1.2-kilometer (0.75 mi) land border with Spain.
In 1704, an Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from the Kingdom of Castile during the War of the Spanish Succession The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain “in perpetuity” under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 (Wikipedia).
David Cameron is right to be concerned. But that will not change Gibraltar’s destiny.
Argentina and Spain Have Appealed to the United Nations and Others
There was a vote in March 2013 about whether or not the Falklands should cease British rule. The results of the vote by those living in the Falkland Islands show that they wish to remain British:
Only three vote against staying British in unsurprising landslide, which Argentina dismisses as irrelevant…
The prime minister said Argentina should take “careful note” of the referendum result and that Britain would always be there to defend the Falkland Islanders.
Despite near zero temperatures and flurries of snow and rain, the turnout was 92% from an electorate of 1,650. All but three people voted yes to the question posed on the ballots: “Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom?”
Nobody expected anything but a landslide in a vote that the Argentinian government had dismissed as illegal. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/12/falkland-islands-referendum-votes-yes)
Notice that although the voting people of the Falklands have again made their preferences known, the Argentinean government has a different view.
Also, noticed that in June 2012, Argentina’s President went to the United Nations to try to get the Falkland Islands:
UNITED NATIONS – Argentina’s president took her country’s claim to the Falkland Islands to the United Nations on Thursday, on the 30th anniversary of Britain’s ouster of an Argentine invasion force from the islands.
In a highly emotional speech, President Cristina Fernandez challenged Britain to “act more intelligently” and sit down to talk about the future of the tiny archipelago. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/159144835.htmlJune 14, 2012
Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has demanded that Britain enter negotiations over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.
President Fernandez was addressing the UN Committee on Decolonisation on the 30th anniversary of the UK territory’s liberation from Argentine occupation. She said history and geography backed Argentina’s claim. But an islander told the committee Argentina was “bullying”. UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said there would be “no negotiation”. BBC, So, Britain is trying to tell the Spanish that Gibraltar should not be bothered and is under the protection of the UK. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18453372)
Spain wants another sea gate, the UK’s Gibraltar. Gibraltarians rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum and again in 2002. Gibraltar is a British overseas territory. The British Nationality Act 1981 granted Gibraltarians full British citizenship. Under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defense and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the UK Government.
Yet, that does not satisfy Spain, so notice the following:
Spain will go to the United Nations on Friday to insist that talks are opened on the sovereignty of Gibraltar. (The Telegraph, June 13, 2012. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9329766/Spain-to-go-to-UN-over-Gibraltar-sovereignty.html)
Thus, both Argentina and Spain have both petitioned the UN against the UK keeping territorial sea gates.
Argentina has pressed its claims to Latin America, and Spain has made its claims known to the European Union.
What Does the Bible Teach?
Notice more detail about what was told to Rebekah who had just agree to become the wife of Isaac:
“Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them” (Genesis 24:60).
We in the Church of God have been teaching for decades that the United Kingdom and USA would ultimately lose many of their sea gates–we believe they possessed them because of blessings from God and would lose them because of blatant disobedience.
Notice a couple of prophetic warnings that are consistent with that:
58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, 59 then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues — great and prolonged plagues — and serious and prolonged sicknesses. 60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed. 62 You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. 63 And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. (Deuteronomy 28:58-63)
24 ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. 26 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you 27 (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), 28 lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. (Leviticus 18:24-29)
23 ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. (Leviticus 26:23-25)
So, those that were promised blessings were also told that they would be subject to losing those blessings if they disobeyed God.
For many years, the major sea gates of the world were possessed/controlled by the United States (Panama Canal and certain locations in the Pacific ocean) and the British Empire (Straits of Malacca, Singapore, Suez Canal, Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Simon’s Town/Cape of Good Hope, Malta, etc.). And while that is no longer the case for many of them, they seem to have been prophesied to be taken away for disobedience as well (c.f. Deuteronomy 28:52)—and certainly these nations have disobeyed the God of Abraham, as well as actually have lost many of those gates. Thus, it seems logical to conclude that the remaining “sea gates” that the UK has such as Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands will be separated from UK control. Spain directly, or perhaps, through the EU (or some other European confederation) indirectly, will force out British control over Gibraltar.
The fact of the losses so far of many of the Anglo sea gates should show us that various curses have began to hit the Anglo-nations. More will as well until the Anglo nations (including the USA) will be no more.
Many people do not realize that the Anglo-descended nations received their wealth and influence partially because of blessings that God had Jacob/Israel give to the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh.
Notice the following blessing that was given to Ephraim and Manasseh by Israel/Jacob:
16 Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth…
19 “…He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” (Genesis 48:16, 19-20).
The British Empire, including the Commonwealth, was the biggest empire in the world and consisted of a company of nations. And while the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar are not technically separate nations, they are separated from the British Isles, do consider themselves British, and are subject to both the blessings and cursings given to Israel and his descendents.
Back in 1954, the late Herbert Armstrong wrote:
The strange TRUTH of the PLANTING and the REBUILDING of David’s throne is revealed in a “riddle and a parable,” couched in symbolic language never understood until this latter day. Yet it stands, today, so clearly explained a little child could understand! It fills the 17th chapter of Ezekiel‘s carefully read. Notice, first, this prophetic message is addressed, NOT to Judah, the Jews, but to the House of Israel. It is a Message to give light to the lost Ten-Tribed House of ISRAEL in these latter days! …“And all the trees of the field” (verse 24). A “tree” in this riddle and parable is likened to a nation. In other words, “All the nations of the earth.” “. . , shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree.” Judah, the high tree, having the throne 130 years after Israel had been taken captive, now is brought down to the low stature of slavery. “. . . have exalted the low tree.” For 130 years Israel had been a “low tree.” Now Israel is exalted, becomes again a nation with a king. “. . . have dried up the green tree”- JUDAH, “ and have made the dry tree to flourish.” ISRAEL, headed by the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who possessed the BIRTHRIGHT, now shall flourish. become prosperous in due time. “I the Lord have spoken and have done it.” Yes, that BIRTHRIGHT is in ISRAEL. Tho LOST, tho supposed to be a Gentile nation, they are the people who were to grow into the promised multitude–the great nation, and the company of nations, possessing the gates of their enemy nations, becoming a colonizing people spreading around the world, being blessed with national resources and wealth. And, when they become thus powerful and nationally dominant, remember David’s throne will be found transplanted among them!…
Read again the prophetic promises of Genesis 22:17, and 24:60. Since the Birthright pertains to NATIONS, the “GATE” of our enemies would be such passes as Gibraltar, Suez, Singapore, Panama Canal, etc. Britain and America came into possession of every such major “gate” in this world! So we MUST be modern Israel. World War II hinged on these “gates.” They have become not only strategic passes, but the world’s greatest fortifications. (Armstrong HW. The United States and the British Commonwealth in Prophecy. 1954)
Around the time he wrote the above, in 1954 Herbert W. Armstrong spoke in the UK and warned those who would listen that just as the British-descended nations received the sea gates as a blessing, that they would lose those gates. Many of the sea gates have been lost and ultimately the UK will lose Gibraltar and the Falklands.
The Bible does not specify how the sea gates would be lost. Basically it teaches that enemies will rule over the descendants of Israel who turn their back on God:
45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed…47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. 51 And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you. 52 They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you (Deuteronomy 28:45,47-52).
Losing gates was specifically prophesied. This has happened with the Anglo-descended nations and other gates, like Gibraltar and the Falklands, will also be lost.
The Bible also warns that the end time power with the ‘strongest fortresses’ ( which currently would be the USA and its Anglo-allies like the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) will be be conquered and their lands divided by the final King of the North, a European Beast power:
39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain. (Daniel 11:39)
And unless it happens before the fulfillment of Daniel 11:39, this fulfillment will soon lead to the loss of the Falklands as well as Gibraltar.
Conclusion: Britain Will Lose Gibraltar and the Falklands
So, there are disputes over the territorial control of both Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands.
Bible prophecy suggests that the Anglo-nations received the ‘sea gates’ as part of the blessing given to the descendants of Rebecca. Bible prophecy also teaches that those who received those type of blessings would be on the receiving end of curses as they got farther away from God.
Because of disobedience, the USA and UK have lost various sea gates already.
The British Prime Minister can make statements and take physical steps to try to hold on to them, but I believe that the Bible suggests that the UK will end up losing the Falklands as well as Gibraltar. The loss of the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar will come to pass.