By Terry James
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, none-the-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)
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 elitist 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.” (Mat 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.
Again,
is the name, “America,” given anywhere in scripture? Of course not. But, the
influence this nation has exerted since it’s coming to it’s 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. It’s 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 that 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.
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 Gen.
Chapter 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
that is 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 non-descript beast of
Daniel Chapter 2, which is prophesied to appear during the Tribulation era –as
presented in Rev. 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,
Lucifarian rebellion to Jesus Christ, Who fulfilled God’s Prescription for
living Righteously, will do all within it’s Satan-derived power, to destroy all
that God holds dear to His Heart.
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 it’s 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 –Harry Jacobs--
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 proven 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.
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 –different 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 it’s 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 un-repentance, 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 2 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 mention in Bible Prophecy, by name.
Supposedly
lesser nations of history are mentioned. For example Persia (present day Iran,)
Syria, and others, upon delving into entomological 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 no
where 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 it’s
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 in 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. None-the-less, 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 most staunch
allies—will instantly be gone from the planet. I believe it is at this moment
on God’s Prophetic Timeline that America’s time as a viable nation will begin a
precipitace 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. It’s
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 it 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
will suddenly find itself without its staunchest lobby-base with the American
government. The U.S. leadership will, itself, find themselves 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 it’s 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)