Today's Scripture Reading (June 17, 2026): 2 Kings 22
Queen Elizabeth was not referred to as "Your
Majesty" by everyone. In public, royal rules will always prevail, and what
you need to remember is that the first time you address King Charles, the only
phrase that should come out of your mouth is "Your Majesty." If the
conversation continues, then it might be acceptable to refer to him as "Sir,"
but no other name should be used. In private, though, you might hear him
referred to by some other names, although definitely never to be echoed by you.
For Elizabeth, Charles's mother, there were a few nicknames you might have heard
her called in private. The occasional "Lillibet" might have been heard
from some very close friends of the former Queen. Of all of the nicknames possessed
by the former sovereign, "Lillibet" is probably the best known.
According to tradition, it was the way that she pronounced
"Elizabeth" when she was young. Prince William, when he was young and
before he got the hang of saying "Granny," apparently called her
"Garry." And I am quite okay with that (and I gave the nickname my
spelling rather than the traditional "Gary").
However, there was another, even more private name, for
Queen Elizabeth. Prince Philip had a name for her that only he was allowed to
use in her presence or anywhere else when referring to her; that name was
"Cabbage." The nickname was adapted from the French expression
"mon petit chou' which translates to "my little cabbage." But
only Prince Philip had the right to call Elizabeth by that name. There was not,
nor will there ever be, another person in the world who would be allowed to refer
to the late Queen as their "Cabbage."
So, what if I decided to risk it? Right here on this public
forum, what if I decided that I wanted to refer to the former Queen of the
United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms as "my Cabbage?" I
am a Canadian by birth, which means that Elizabeth was my Queen. So, what if I
decided to address the mother of my reigning King as "My Cabbage"
instead of "Your Majesty?" The reality is that, regardless of the
message's content, using that nickname to refer to the late Queen would be
wildly inappropriate. Royalists would have the right to condemn me; after all,
I was not being considerate of her former position as a world leader and the
most prominent member of the British Royal Family for over half a century. I am
not Prince Philip. I do not have the right to call Queen Elizabeth "My
Cabbage," or even attempt to greet her with the full French expression,
"mon petit chou."
With this understanding in mind, we need to read Huldah's
greeting to the delegation sent to her by King Josiah. Huldah's address to the
men is direct. "Tell the man who sent you …" Later, Huldah will refer
to "the man" as the King of Judah, but in this initial greeting, he
is not the King; he is simply a man.
Josiah's delegation would probably have been as offended by
Huldah's greeting as someone close to Queen Elizabeth would have been by my use
of the nickname "the Cabbage" to address "Her Majesty." But
there is a purpose in Huldah's greeting. Her use of "the man" to
refer to King Josiah emphasizes that, in God's eyes, the King holds no special
place. He is just like any other man who came to talk to this prophetess.
We see differences between people. But in the eyes of God,
we are all just the same as King Josiah; we are all sinners, and we are all
only men and women requiring His grace and mercy.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 34
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