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The United States in Bible Prophecy

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--From Book: America, Return to God

By David R. Reagan

Where is the United States in Bible prophecy? It is the question I am asked wherever I go. A partial answer is that we are not mentioned directly and specifically. We are covered by general prophecies that relate to all nations, but beyond that, our end time destiny is not specifically mentioned. However, I believe America can be found in Bible prophecy, not specifically, but in prophetic type. In other words, I believe there is a nation in Scripture that is a forerunner of America in its origin, its purpose, and its destiny.

America's Prophetic Type

I believe the biblical prophetic type of the United States is the nation of Judah. This was the southern nation that was formed when the united kingdom of David and Solomon broke up after Solomon's death.

The northern nation of Israel, consisting of ten tribes, was born in rebellion, and it was never blessed by God. Throughout its 208-year history it never had one king who was considered to be righteous in the eyes of God.
In stark contrast, the southern kingdom of Judah, which contained both city of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple, was blessed like no other nation that had ever existed. The nation was given eight righteous kings during its 344 years of existence. The combined rule of those kings constituted 224 years of the nation's history. These included great men of God like Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah. This godly leadership produced a nation blessed with freedom, prosperity, justice and peace.

But the nation's greatest blessing was the presence of God Himself in the form of His Shekinah Glory which resided in the Jewish Temple, Holy of Holies.

The American Parallel

No other nation has since been so richly blessed except the United States of America. God gave us a great expanse of territory filled with every conceivable natural resource. Additionally, He gave us the ingenuity to harness our natural resources and talents to produce the greatest wealth the world had ever known.

Like ancient Judah, God blessed us with godly political leaders who loved Him and who cherished freedom. He also gave us great spiritual leaders who preached the gospel with zeal and developed a citizenry grounded in Christian principles of justice and brotherhood.

And working through our wealth and churches, the Lord sent forth missionaries all over the world to establish churches and translate the Bible into many languages.

It would be great if we could conclude our comparison of Judah and America at this point. But unfortunately, the parallels in the histories of the two nations do not end here.

Pride and Rebellion

When Judah reached the height of her glory as nation, the people began to wallow in pride, and this led to rebellion against God and His Word.

Often when I am asked' where is the United States in Bible Prophecy? I respond by saying, look in Isaiah Chapter 5. Or consider Jeremiah 5 and 6. I say that because these chapters contain an inventory of the national sins of Judah as catalogued by Isaiah and Jeremiah, and they are the same sins that characterize American society today.

Destruction

Judah refused to repent, and God finally responded by sending the Babylonians to destroy the nation. One of the saddest passages in the Bible is found in 2 Chronicles3 6:15-16w here the writer describe God's painful decision to destroy His beloved nation of Judah. It reads as follows:

And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers. Because He had compassion on His People and on His dwelling place: but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.(2 Chronicles 36:15,16)

Judah was destroyed for committing the same sins that characterize the United States today. Why should our fate be any different?
We have been blessed like Judah.
We have sinned like Judah.
We are now being warned like Judah.
We are responding like Judah.
The conclusion seems inescapable: We are heading for the same fate as Judah.
What is that fate likely to be? What form will it take? We can only guess, because the Bible is silent.

Economic Collapse

The first thing that comes of mind is an economic catastrophe that will result from our out of control debt situation. The official outstanding debt of the U.S. government is current 6.2 trillion dollars. That amounts to $21,540 per person. This debt is increasing at the rate of 1.1 billion per day! Private debt is even more horrendous. At the beginning of the 2lst century, there was a staggering $ 25.6 trillion of credit market debt outstanding in the U.S. America's total debt, public and private (including state and local government) stands at around $32 trillion dollars! That's $115,322 per man, woman, and child.

(Editor’s Note: The above figures were from 2003 report. Information from www.brillig.com/debt_ lock/ shows the public debt has increased to around 11 trillion dollars in mid-March 2009. That amounts to $35,960 per citizen. This debt has continued to increase in an average of 3.72 billion per day since September 28, 2007. Michael Hodges reported on his website {www.mwhodges.home.att.net/nat-debt)  that Americas total debt rose to $57 trillion, that is $186,717 per man, woman and child.)

There is no way to escape the conclusion that America has become a debt junkie. We are living on money we do not have and will never have, and sooner or later the weight of this debt is going to collapse our economy.

I believe an unprecedented economic collapse is highly likely because money is the real god of America, and the true God of this universe is a jealous One who does not tolerate idolatry. God, by His very nature, is going to be compelled to destroy our false god.

External Attack

Another possible fate for the United States is destruction from a Russian nuclear attack.

The reason a Russian attack is so likely is because the Bible says that Russians will lead an end time invasion of Israel (Ezekiel 38 and 39). Since we are Israel's only ally, it seems inconceivable to me that the Russians would attack Israel without unleashing a preemptive nuclear attack on us in order to prevent us from coming to Israel's defense.

Internal Attack

Another way in which American power could be rapidly dissipated is through internal terrorist attacks. Just stop and think for a moment about the overwhelming impact that the 911 attack had upon our society and economy.

Internal Rot

Internal collapse could also result from the moral rot that has our nation by its throat. This is what ultimately destroyed the Roman Empire, and it is what led to the sudden collapse of Soviet Russia.

As we have abandoned our Judeo-Christian heritage, we have evolved into an amoral society that has lost its respect for the sanctity of life. Individualism has been carried to the brink of anarchy as everyone does what is right in his own eyes. Greed is fracturing our society between young and old, rich and poor, black and white. Class warfare could easily deteriorate into civil warfare with outbreaks of uncontrollable violence in our major cities.

Another Alternative

It is the possibility that the United States might be suddenly destroyed by the Rapture of the Church. We can hope and pray that this will be the destiny of our nation, because if it is not, we are headed toward outright destruction due to our rebellion against a gracious God who has blessed us more than any other nation that has ever existed.

(Excerpted from God's Plan for the Ages: The Blueprint of Bible Prophecy, published by Lamb&Lion Ministries, 2006. Used with permission.)

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