One thing that comes to mind in these contemporary
times regarding the
United States
is its magnetic attraction to peoples around the world. This nation
might be likened to the Planet Jupiter. It is huge in most of the ways
human beings see as alluring, giving it the greatest gravity–materially
speaking—of any nation state to grace earth’s surface. God has indeed
blessed America
"from sea to shining sea."
While all other nations orbit this one,
realization about the liberty that is synonymous with the U.S. to
worship, move about, work, play, or even just be slovenly doesn’t escape
even those kept from knowing much about things going on around the rest
of the planet. Indeed, America’s
gravity dynamically draws all peoples toward its irresistible opulence.
With the exception of a very few people, no one makes noises about
leaving this nation to live elsewhere. Billions look in America’s direction as the shining
light on the hill, as President
Ronald Reagan once called it.
Even the defectors who sought to dodge
the draft during the
Vietnam
era have since done all they could to come back to the nation they
deserted. The
Hollywood types–like
Barbra Streisand, for
example—who periodically threaten to leave America because they don’t
get their way, politically, decide to stay when it comes down to the
moment of leaving or staying. In southern parlance, they know on which
side their bread is buttered.
Perhaps to get right to the heart of
what has made America the
center of the universe of nations, and to try to determine its status so
far as involvement in Bible prophecy might be concerned, I would like to
consider a well known historical observation by a man outside this
country--a Frenchman, no less!
French social philosopher
Alexis de
Tocqueville, while touring the United States in the 1800s said about America: “America
is great because
America
is good. If she ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” De
Tocqueville no doubt was speaking of how he viewed cultural and societal
good. But, upon observing the nation’s Christian church foundation
he encountered, he must have based his conclusion on the fact that America’s
goodness in the societal sense was a result of Christianity running
throughout the country’s cultural fiber. What he likely didn’t
understand was what that “goodness” really means in God’s economy.
God’s Word speaks of this “good”: “And
Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but
one, [that is], God” (Mar. 10:18).
Jesus was not saying to the man who
fell on his knees before the Lord that He, Jesus, was not “good,” but
the Lord was acclaiming that God, alone, is the only good. Jesus was–and
is--the only “good” flesh-and-blood person to ever walk the earth’s
surface following the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. That is because
Jesus IS God.
Christianity is the God-sent only
belief system through which any people–individually or collectively--can
ever be considered “good” in God’s holy, omniscient eyes. Belief in
Jesus Christ for salvation is the ONLY way to reconciliation with God,
which redeems lost man from sin. Christianity is the belief that says
Jesus, alone, was the lamb that takes away the sins of the world. All
other belief systems we call religions constitute the broad way to
eternal destruction apart from God and heaven.
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it” (Matt. 7:13-14).
Jesus said this: “…I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the father, but by me” (John
14:6).
A Prophetic Nation
So, it is through His Son, Jesus
Christ, the second member of the triune godhead, that God the Father
recognizes “good.” The Christian roots of this nation called America gives this country claim to
the only “good” that is found therein. America has been blessed only
because of its “goodness.” Let’s have a look at this seemingly elitest
declaration.
President
George Washington said in his
farewell address, "Reason and experience both forbid us that national
morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
John Adams,
America's second president, said, "The United States Constitution was
made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for
the government of any other."
We have only to look at what is
inscribed upon the edifice that houses the
U.S. Supreme Court, and what is
etched in the surfaces of walls that frame other government buildings,
to understand what is the “religion” to which
Washington
and Adams referred as being the basis for
America’s “morality”.
The Ten
Commandments that flow from the mind of God so influenced
the founding fathers of America that they saw His directions for godly
living as inseparable from their own governance.
Here is what Jesus, the Son of God,
said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I
am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17).
Jesus, the founder of God’s only
outreach to mankind with the offer of redemption through Christ’s shed
blood on the cross at Calvary, fulfilled the Ten Commandments, that
Mosaic
Law that is everywhere one looks in Washington,
D.C., and in capitals around
America. This, despite incessant
attempts by those who would destroy all vestiges of our Christian
heritage.
The question we who teach, preach, and
write about Bible prophecy get practically every time there is a forum
for Q & A, is something like: “What about
America
–is it in Bible prophecy?”
The answer that must be given, if we
are to be absolutely faithful to truth found in God’s Word is: No, America isn’t mentioned by name in
Bible prophecy. But, it is always appropriate to follow up with:
However, America is
certainly in prophecy in the sense of being among the nations foretold
to influence the course of human history while the end of the age
approaches and the tribulation looms on the prophetic horizon. We can
say that, because here we are, right in the mix of things moving the
world toward the climax of human history.
America,
A Golden Cup
Again, is the name “America” given anywhere in
Scripture? Of course not. But, the influence this nation has exerted
since coming to its full bloom as earth’s greatest superpower in history
makes it a prophetic nation. The Creator of all things continues to use America in His
mighty hand to accomplish two very distinctive, supernatural purposes.
As a matter of fact, the
United States, in my view, has an
overwhelming presence in Bible prophecy. Its place is at the very heart
of the end times things that we observe developing –matters we see
unfolding in daily, even hourly, news reports. In this sense, I am of
the conviction that God is speaking of America –in
type, if not by name, when His Word tells us the following:
“Babylon
[hath been] a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth
drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are
mad” (Jer. 51:7).
Certainly, the United States of America has been a
“golden cup” in the Lord’s hand. No other nation of modern vintage can
come close to claiming that achievement. Some nations of
Europe
were formative in bringing forth Christianity into the world, thus
shedding a degree of Gospel light into a world of sin-darkness. But, it
is America that,
despite its great shortcomings, and more recent degeneration, that has
been a shining beacon, reflecting from that golden cup in God’s hand.
Being the first nation in spreading to
the whole world the Gospel message –that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross
makes possible the only way to redemption for lost mankind—is a feat no
other country can claim. This, ultimately, has been done not by the
offices, or under the auspices of American ingenuity, but by the
omniscience and the omnipotence of the One holding the “golden cup.” It
is God’s grace and mercy that has put America as a beacon of God’s light upon that mountain of Gospel dissemination. God’s providence
gave this nation the industrial and technological genius –a fact that is
denied, or that is so taken for granted today.
America
and Babylon
Tragically, the
United States, like every other nation of this
generation, is the hybrid offspring of the Babylonian system, which
God’s prophetic Word has traced from the times of Nimrod on the Plains
of Shinar and the Tower of Babel
(read Genesis 11).
America, which has spread the Gospel
message to the entire world, will, sadly, be in one form or another part
of the agglomerate beast system mentioned in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in
Daniel Chapter 2 –the 10 toes on the feet of the multi-metallic
man-image. This nation will, in a grotesquely metamorphosed form, become
a constituent part of the nondescript beast of Daniel 2, which is
prophesied to appear during the tribulation era–as presented in
Revelation Chapter 13, as it raises from the sea.
“And I stood upon the sand of the sea,
and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten
horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of
blasphemy” (Rev. 13:1).
This world Babylonian hybrid that
represents –in the final analysis—total, luciferian rebellion to Jesus
Christ, who fulfilled God’s prescription for living righteously, will do
all within its Satan-derived power, to destroy all that God holds dear
to His heart.
Israel,
America’s
Saving Grace
This brings us to America’s second reason for
existence --toward the purpose of accomplishing God’s great prophetic
plan. In my view, this use of the phenomenally powerful American nation
is among the most profound indicators we can find that America, indeed, is in prophecy.
And, I believe that America’s
being in prophecy includes God’s using it to be mid-wife in
Israel’s
modern birth into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob those
thousands of years ago.
It was President
Harry S. Truman–who
said he had read the Bible through a number of times—who insisted,
despite many voices of opposition, that the embryo country still in the
womb of the Holy Land,
Israel,
come to birth on May 14, 1948. America
stood by
Israel’s
struggle to get to its feet, and through the battles it fought against
its attacking, hate-filled enemy neighbors.
God’s hand was at work in unseen ways,
it becomes obvious to a careful look at unfolding times leading up to
Truman’s assuming the presidency following
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death
in 1945.
Truman had, as mentioned above, read
God’s Word through a number of times. He told those around him that the
Jews had promises from God to the land. He apparently believed that
America
must bless
Israel,
not curse that people. Historians would say that coincidentally, perhaps
even ironically (but I am convinced that the word should be
"providentially"), Truman had a Jewish friend–Edward Jacobson--with whom he
had co-owned a haberdashery. His partner convinced Truman early on of
that nation’s prophetic destiny.
Although
Israel
now has its own nuclear arsenal, it is America–in human terms—that has
provided the most strength, militarily, which discourages overwhelming
assaults against the Jewish state. But, looking beyond the physical
earthly protection for
Israel,
it is the Lord of heaven that provides the ultimate hedge of protection.
God has proved in war after war
throughout
Israel’s
earlier and latter incarnations that He keeps His promises to
protect them from absolute destruction, despite their many Diasporas and
their tribulations as captive and/or outcast people. He uses human
military to accomplish this promise that the Jew will always be His
chosen people. But, many strange reports have come out of some of those
battles, proclaiming supernatural activity having turned the tide.
Reports of battles during
Israel’s
rebirth as a nation in 1948, as an established nation in 1956, 1967, and
1973, brought such reports. And, at a spiritual warfare level in the
sense of Ephesians 6: 12, there continue to be conflicts unseen by human
eyes.
Christian
Soldiers
Israel’s
nuclear capability and America’s
stupendous military and technological might are strong defensive
ingredients for modern
Israel’s
protection. But, while surrounded by forces of overwhelming numbers
whose satanic rage cannot be stemmed, it is a most unconventional army
that is
Israel’s
greatest ally. It is this ally contingent that holds the joint
Israeli-American defensive coalition in place, in my view –and, I
believe—in God’s prophetic plan. It is a spiritual force that is Israel’s
closest friend. Christians, particularly those in America, make up the
spiritual army that supports
Israel’s right to exist as
does no other group on earth.
I must qualify that statement, because
today there are so many divergent claims to the name of Christ
–differing views about what it means to be “a Christian.” The definition
I use here is one who has been “born again” (John 3: 3). This means that
a person has been born into the family of God, for all eternity. The
only way for this to happen is for an individual to accept Christ’s
sacrifice on the cross at Calvary–His
shed blood—to pay for the individual’s sin, which separates the
individual from God. Those who are “born again” make up this army
of defenders of
Israel’s
right to exist in its ancient homeland. This army doesn’t bear physical
arms, or fight, literally on the bloody fields of battles surrounding
Israel.
This army fights with prayer for the peace of
Jerusalem,
and does spiritual battle for
Israel, God’s chosen people,
while that Jewish state moves in blind unrepentance, toward its ultimate
great destiny–to be the head of all nations during the Millennium,
Christ’s 1000-year reign on Planet Earth.
America
Plunges While the Church Arises
America, the golden cup in the Lord’s
hand for more than two centuries –having disseminated the Gospel to the
world, and having been the mid-wife of
Israel’s birth into modern
times, then its protector—is not mentioned in Bible prophecy, by name.
Supposedly lesser nations of history are mentioned. For example, Persia (present-day
Iran),
Syria,
and others, upon delving into etymological studies of ancient days
juxtaposed against the geographical locations of current national
entities.
Russia,
for example, fits into the region known in ancient times as the region
called “Rosh.” But this once shining city on the hill called America is
nowhere to be found as the very end of days unfold.
So, what
happens to the United States of America?
We have looked at my view–which I
believe is the biblical view—that God’s people, the Christians of these
end times, are
Israel’s
most fervent friends. But, again I must write a word of qualification.
Not all of the born again hold to the position that Israel
is God’s chosen nation as given in the Old Testament. Most Christians
today (again talking about born-again members of God’s family) don’t
even think in terms of
Israel
and its prophetic destiny one way or the other. This is because these
Christians aren’t taught about the truth of these matters by their
pastors and teachers. Also, they don’t do enough study on their own to
open their spiritual minds on these things, so God the Holy Spirit can
instruct them regarding
Israel
and prophecy yet future. They are ignorant of these things. Many are
willfully ignorant.
So, it is a relatively small group who
observe prophetic matters as outlined in God’s Word. Nonetheless, all
Christians –every single individual who is a member of God’s eternal
family—will go to be with Jesus Christ when He shouts: “Come up here”
(Rev. 4:1). All of
Israel’s
most fervent supporters –that Jewish nation’s staunchest allies—will
instantly be gone from the planet. I believe it is at this moment on
God’s prophetic time line that
America’s time as a viable nation will
begin a precipitous plunge. It will recede into the depths of history
past, so far as its grandiosity is concerned.
Much of the stable, tax-paying base
will be removed in that stupefying moment. Its worker-base will be so
severely disrupted that it won’t come close to resembling the economic
powerhouse it was the moment before the rapture. This, because
America
has, it is quite safe to presume—the highest percentage of Christians of
any nation of significant population.
The politicians and powers that be within
governmental and business bureaucracies will flail wildly, trying to
bring their turfdoms back into some semblance of order. It will be a
task that will be impossible without the most extreme, draconian
measures. Ultimately, I’m convinced, these political and governmental
powers will readily agree to come under the auspices of the much more
stable European
Union. The EU–the member nations of which have long-since
doused the Gospel light, thus its populations not as severely affected
as that of the U.S.-- will grow to immense size and power within perhaps
only a few days.
Israel
Following Rapture
Israel
will suddenly find itself without its staunchest lobby-base with the
American government. The
U.S.
leadership will, itself, find itself so tied up in the staggering
problems of trying to regain economic and societal equilibrium that
urgent pleas from Israeli leaders will likely go unheeded.
The Islamic world will have lost in the
rapture its small children and babies in the wombs of mothers within the
Middle Eastern world. But Islamic armies of young, fanatic militants
will be untouched by the catastrophe that has caused the disappearance
of many millions of people. These, under their enraged leadership, will
almost certainly fervently look at
Israel
to vent their frustrations. Likely the true Islamic fundamentalist
fanatics will see what has happened as Allah’s preparing to bring on the
end of the world.
Perhaps this is the “hook” in the
“jaws,” which Ezekiel the prophet foretold God promises to
implement at this time. There will be no one –including
America—to offer to defend
Israel.
It is at this time that the great, supernaturally persuasive world
leader who will one day in the future be known as “the beast”
–Antichrist—will come forward from the swiftly reforming western
alliance. He will propose to all of the antagonists of the forces poised
for war a peace covenant they won’t be able to refuse.
Without genuine repentance of her
people, America’s time
as the apex nation of history will end. She will lose her golden glow.
Her former glory will turn black with soot from the fire of judgment and
wrath that will be the fate of all who come against Jesus Christ –the
God of all creation.
America’s
place in prophecy, without repentance before God, is seen in the
Babylonian system of rebellion, as represented by the description of the
destruction of its chief city.
“Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,
death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with
fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her” (Rev. 18:8).