America in Prophecy
By Tom Brown
What will happen to America according to Bible prophecy? Will it remain a world power or recede from world dominance? Will it be destroyed or continue to prosper? Your belief about this subject will affect the way you live and plan your life. If you think that America will be destroyed, then you are likely to horde your wealth and pull your money out of the stock market, perhaps even head to the mountains for protection. If, on the other hand, you believe God will continue to bless America, then you will plan accordingly. This subject is important, especially for Americans.
There are more questions about the United States in prophecy than any other country, and for good reason: America is the only super world power. Because of America’s unique role in the world there is much discussion about how it will fit into the biblical end-time plans set by God. Much speculation has confused the body of Christ concerning where America is in prophecy. Two main theories have circulated about America in prophecy.
This view surmises that America is Babylon the Great mentioned in the Book of Revelation. The Bible predicts her destruction, and so some believe America will be destroyed. Those who have this outlook conclude that the USA is Babylon because it is a world power, and according to Revelation 18:2, "With a mighty voice he shouted: "‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!"
The people who preach this are often people who hate America for various reasons. Some dislike America because they have not shared in their piece of the American pie. They feel cheated, so when they see the prediction of Babylon’s collapse, inwardly they rejoice and hope it happens.
Others have been brainwashed against the USA. Some have come from other countries and heard all the bad about America, and so they have a tendency to believe in America’s doom. They believe eventually that God will judge her for her many sins.
I heard a Romanian minister who came to America for the first time. He landed in Southern California, and there he thought that this section represented average-America. He was not welcomed in the churches to preach, as if, the churches owed him their pulpits. He had trouble finding an apartment, and complained that many apartments did not welcome children and pets, so he wrongly reasoned that America hated children and animals. He saw people begging for food, and incorrectly assumed that all beggars really wanted jobs but could not find any.
After having such a difficult time in the beginning he finally had doors opened to him to preach, and it should not surprise us to find him preaching that America is Babylon the great and that God is about to destroy America. After all—with his background with the Soviet Block, and his misconceptions about America, and initial bad encounters—his experiences prejudiced him against America and so he stumbled onto the passage about Babylon and thus believed that it represented America. The passage in Revelation became his theme.
And so this brings us to another reason why people believe America is Babylon: they have been taught it. They have been convinced because they heard some passionate discourse on this subject and so they were persuaded. Never mind the fact that the author of Revelation tells you the location of Babylon—This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits (Rev 17:9). Rome was always called the city on seven hills. Babylon is a symbol of Rome, not America.
There are those who understand that America is not Babylon, but because the Bible does not specifically name America in end-time prophecy, the theory goes something like this: If America is going to be a super world power in the end times, then the Bible should have mentioned her, and since there is no specific, unambiguous mentioned of America, then the USA will be an insignificant nation during the end times.
Notice that this conjecture is based on "silence." Since the Bible is silent about America, then America will not be important. How in the world can a theory be based on silence? This is an awful and illogical interpretation; let me explain.
During the times of the Old Testament, China was a great world power, and yet the Bible never mentions her. Why? Because the Bible deals with Israel and is only concerned with the neighboring nations or the empire that was ruling her. Just because the Bible is silent about China did not mean the Chinese Dynasties did not exist. They existed and were very powerful, and yet there is no mentioned of them. This proves that America does not need to be mentioned by name for America to be a world power.
Biblical prophecy is concerned with Israel and her surrounding neighbors, and so America is not specifically named in prophecy because she is not an immediate neighbor. But one should not hypothesize that America will cease from being a world power.
I Believe
I have told you a couple of theories about America in prophecy, now I want to share with you some insights that I have received about the role of America in light of prophecy. I have scriptural reasons to believe that America is in God’s prophetic plan and that God will continue to bless America.
I admit that the USA is not specifically mentioned by name unless you want to play the word game and say that JeUSAlem is America, but I think that is stretching the truth, if not down-right breaking it. No, there is a much saner and better way to understand America in prophecy.
First of all, America is mentioned in a general sense, just like any other nation.
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. (Gen 18:18)
and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Gen 22:18)
God promises that all nations on earth will be blessed through Abraham and his seed. So any nation can experience blessing through Abraham and the seed. Abraham and the seed represent both the Jewish people and the Christian Church. How a nation directly treats these people will determine whether or not they will be blessed. America was the first nation to give freedom of religion, and because of this freedom, Christianity has spread widely in the USA and in the world. There is no controversy over the impact America has had on the spread of the gospel. Freedom of religion will always pave the way for the spread of Christianity because her ideals and message surpasses any world religion.
The only reason Christianity has not flourished in the Middle East is because Islam controls the governments and will not allow Christianity freedom to preach equally along with Islam. They know if they allow it, then Christianity will spread like wild fire. In America, Islam is free to propagate their views, but their views are weak compared to Christianity, and so it does not spread widely in our country. Statistics show a very high conversion rate of Muslims to Christianity in America, and for good reason: Christianity preaches the Savior not a prophet. Who would people rather have as their leader: a Savior or a prophet? Jesus wins every time over Muhammad.
Not only can a nation be blessed by being kind to Christ and his Church; they can also be blessed by being good-hearted to the Jewish people and Israel. The Jewish people have been persecuted from the beginning, and in every nation they settled, they were mistreated. Eventually America was established in 1776; the Statue of Liberty was given by France, with the emblem, "Give me your tired your poor, your huddled masses of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Jews believed this promise, and so with trepidation and yet excitement, they boarded ships and registered their names in America. They were still frightened of persecution so they changed their Jewish names to avoid it. Of course as in all countries, there were some anti-Semites in America, but there were more people willing to give anyone a chance to make it if they worked hard and were honest.
For the first time, the Jews had a country that would not discriminate. America allowed them to prosper, and it is no wonder that America is blessed of God. America has allowed the gospel and the Jews freedom to flourish. Any nation will experience the blessing of God if they do likewise.
America’s Sins
When I speak on this topic, people often query me, "But Pastor, America has committed such gross sins. They took the land away from the Indians, they sent the Japanese to the concentration camps, and they bought slaves from Africa. With these and other atrocities, how can you say that God will continue to bless America."
Let me say that America is not perfect. However, God did not make perfection a requirement to be blessed anymore than He made it for you. Are you perfect? Have you ever sinned? Should your past sins cause God to stop blessing you? Doesn’t God offer forgiveness when a person or nation repents?
If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. (Jer 18:7-8)
Noticed that God gave nations warnings of destruction, but if they repented then the prophecies would be withdrawn. The Bible says that "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people" (Prov 14:34). Any nation will be exalted or disgraced by the good or bad conduct of its people. God does not give a blanket promise of prosperity or destruction to any nation. He promises, however, that prosperity will follow a nation that lives righteously.
Sure America has committed sins, but which nation has not? What America has tried to do is make things right! Not many nations can say that. For example, America has given reservations to native American tribes. Also they apologized to the Japanese-Americans for what had happened to them during World War II.
Concerning slavery, remember, nearly every nation practiced slavery, and so America only continued the practiced, but America and Great Britain, were the first two nations to abolish it. It cost more American lives than all the wars combined for her to stamp it out. Since then, nearly all nations have followed their example and eradicated it. America has also tried to rectify the injustices of slavery by offering affirmative action and other programs for minorities. Despite some injustices, America is becoming fairer to all.
America has made its mistakes but tries to change. I think this is one reason America has been blessed.
The Eagle
Let's face it: America is blessed by God and hated by many people. Why is America hated so much? Let me share with you an important revelation from the book of Revelation that will explain the world’s hatred and envy of America.
A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. (Rev 12:1-2)
This woman represents Israel. It is clear from the description of the woman: she is clothed with the sun and moon under her and she wears a crown of twelve stars. This was the description Joseph was given in a dream by God. He saw his eleven brothers as stars and his father as the sun and mother as the moon bowing down to him.
The woman was the original Israelites, and from them came the nation of Israel. John sees her pregnant. Within the womb of Israel was the Messiah, Jesus.
Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. (Rev 12:3-6)
This of course is a picture of Satan trying to kill Jesus before he was born but unable to. After Jesus death on the cross, He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, and so Satan could not destroy Him. So whom does the Dragon turn to? He turns to the woman. The woman flees into the desert where God takes care of her. For centuries the Jews struggled to survive. They did. God had His unique way to save her:
The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. (Rev 12:14)
Notice the she was given wings of a great eagle. The national symbol for America is the Bald Eagle. The Book of Revelation and other prophetic books like Daniel clearly use animals to depict nations. They apply the lion, bear, and other beasts to symbolize various nations (see Rev 4:7; 17:3 and Daniel 7:4-7). The eagle symbolizes the USA that would protect and help Israel. It is no secret that America was instrumental in—first, defeating Hitler and thus freeing the Jews; second, giving Israel their homeland; third, protecting and aiding Israel; and forth, in opening its own doors to the Jews to make a living. There are as many Jews living in America than are living in Israel. No nation on the earth has near the population of Jews that America has.
America has fulfilled its prophetic role in caring for Israel, and it has cost America its reputation in the world and it has made her the target of terrorists. Satan inspires the hatred that people feel toward America, because he hates America for being a friend of Israel and for allowing the gospel to spread throughout the world. As long as America continues its friendship toward the Christians and Jews, God will bless America!
Website: www.tbm.org
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