The
United States of America has risen to the place of preeminence, prosperity,
progress, power, and pollution among the nations of the world. Because of this,
on the part of many there is a growing concern for the future of this nation. And its current leadership has taken our prominence away in many areas.
Within
recent years, conditions within the country and criticism from without have
raised the serious question of the continued greatness of this nation. Can this
nation long endure with crime, lawlessness, and anarchy threatening from
within, and with jealousy, hatred, and distrust threatening from without? Is
this nation approaching dangerously near the point that other great nations
reached before they disintegrated and disappeared?
On
the part of some of God's people who are more discerning, the significant
question is being raised as to the place of the United States in the prophecy
of the end time. Do the prophetic Scriptures have anything to say about the
United States as a world power at the time of the end? To this question the
answer must be given in the affirmative. The Scriptures do have something to
say, and the picture that is drawn is not bright.
In
answer to this question, I would like to unfold the message of the prophetic
Scriptures in four major movements of thought.
I. The Prophetic
Diagram of the Age Makes No Provision for the United States as a World Power
The
Scriptures clearly mark out the progress of world empire through the age, and
also the pattern of World Empire at the end of the age. Let us look at these in
that order.
1.
The progress of World Empire through the age is clearly drawn in two important
chapters of the Book of Daniel. The brilliance of empire as seen through the
eyes of a man is pictured in Daniel 2. The bestiality of empire as seen through
the eyes of God is set forth in Daniel 7.
The
brilliance of World Empire unfolds as a result of the dream of the great
oriental monarch, Nebuchadnezzar, and as recorded in the second chapter of
Daniel. So amazing was this dream that when the monarch awoke, though he had
forgotten its content, he could not shake off its impression. He then ordered
in the wise men, the magicians, and the astrologers, and demanded of them under
penalty of death that they reproduce the content of the dream and give the
interpretation.
These
men stalled for time, but the king, suspicious of their claims, pressed his
demand and left them facing death. Unfortunately, the objects of this death
penalty also included Daniel and his friends who had been deported from
Jerusalem and placed in this company. But they had found favor with the
superintendent of this company, and when they requested time to pray to their
God who reveals secrets, the request was granted, they prayed, and God revealed
the dream and its interpretation.
It
was Daniel who appeared before the king and gave the revelation. He informed
him that he had seen the gigantic image of a man, brilliant to behold from the
head of shining gold to the feet of iron and clay. The head was made of gold.
The breast and arms were of silver. The belly and thighs were of brass. The
legs were of iron, and the feet were of iron and clay. As the king beheld, he
saw a stone cut out of the mountain without hands. It fell upon the feet and
toes of iron and clay and brought the whole image toppling to the earth, so
that it was pulverized into dust and the wind blew the dust away like chaff
from the summer threshing floors. Then the stone cut out of the mountain
without hands increased until it became a great mountain and filled the whole
earth.
Then
Daniel gave the interpretation. He addressed Nebuchadnezzar and declared that
the head of shining gold represented him and his kingdom. After that there was
to arise an inferior kingdom, Medo-Persia, represented by the breast and arms
of silver. This was to be followed by another kingdom of inferior quality,
Greece, as represented by the belly and thighs of brass. Following this there
was to be yet a fourth kingdom, Rome, as represented by the legs of iron, and
the feet and toes of iron and clay. The stone cut out of the mountain without
hands was the Lord Jesus Christ. His coming was to mark the destruction of this
final kingdom, and He Himself would establish His kingdom in earth, which
kingdom would never pass away.
Several
things are clear from this prophetic dream. In the first place, this covers the
progress of World Empire from Babylon to the very end of the age. The Revived
Roman Empire is the final World Empire among the kingdoms of men. In the second
place, it makes clear that Gentile world empire will be followed by the
Mediatorial Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and it will never
pass away. In the third place, a careful examination of this prophetic dream
makes it clear that no provision is made for the United States as a world power
over the pattern of the empires pictured in this prophecy.
The
bestiality of World Empire emerges in the vision given to Daniel 7. As Daniel
looks, he sees the winds striving on the sea and lashing the water into fury.
As he watches, he sees four snarling, rapacious beasts rise up out of the sea:
a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a fourth beast diverse from the others. The
first beast represents Babylon; the second, Medo-Persia; the third, Greece; and
the fourth, a composite of the preceding three, representing Rome. Even while
he watches he sees the Son of Man come on the clouds of heaven, and His kingdom
supplants all the kingdoms before Him, and His kingdom was never to pass away.
Again
it is evident that three things emerge from this prophecy. The grand sweep of
World Empire is covered from Babylon to the end. The Kingdom of our Lord and
Savior is inaugurated and will never pass away. And there is no provision for
the United States of America as a world power.
2.
The pattern of World Empire at the end of the age is also clearly set forth in
the Book of Daniel. And now I want to direct your attention to Dan. 11:36. This
passage is intended to describe the rise and final destruction of the Western
Power under the direction of the Antichrist at the end of the age. Note
carefully several things in this passage.
The
designation of time is clearly indicated in Dan. 11:40, "And at the time
of the end." This does not leave us in doubt as to the period of time
under consideration.
The
division of power follows roughly the geographical division of the earth. This
is all in relation to the little land of Palestine, which in the Bible is
regarded as "the middle of the earth" (Ezek. 38:12 ASV). All
directions are, therefore, from this vantage-point. "The glorious
land" (Dan. 11:41) and "the glorious holy mountain" (Dan. 11:45)
help to confirm this. The Western Power, the Revived Roman Empire and its king,
is alluded to as "the king who shall do according to his will" (Dan.
11:36). The Southern Power is represented as "the king of the south"
(Dan. 11:40). Through the centuries this has been Egypt, and is today, though
it is very possible that it may represent all of Africa. For 2,500 years Egypt
has been under foreign domination. But with the ascension of Nasser to power,
at last a native Egyptian assumed direction of the land. The Northern Power is
pointed out as "the king of the north" (Dan. 11:40). Through
millenniums of time this has been Syria, and still is. But more recently,
another power lying immediately to the north and encompassing one-sixth of the
land surface of the earth has projected itself. This is Soviet Russia. Without
a doubt this is that gigantic power referred to in Ezekiel, chapters 38-39.
Then there is the Eastern Power referred to in Daniel 11:44, and alluded to in
Revelation 16:12 as "the kings of the east." In those lands to the
east of Israel, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India, China, Japan, and Indonesia, lie
two-thirds of the population of the earth. Here are the four great powers of
the end time.
The
disappearance of these powers, one by one, takes place as the Western Power
marches toward world dominion. The first to fall before the king of the Revived
Roman Empire is the king of the south (Dan. 11:40). The second is the king of
the north (Dan. 11:40), though in this case it is God who destroys this power
and brings it under control of the west (Ezek. 39:1-6). The kings of the east
finally suffer defeat at the hands of the Western Power, by now in control of
the rest of the earth (Dan. 11:44). But even the Western Power is shortly to
meet his end when the Son of Man comes riding down the meadows of heaven at the
close of the tribulation period (Dan. 11:45; Rev. 19:11-21).
In
this unfolding drama at the end of the age, absolutely no provision is made for
the United States as a world power. This does not mean that the United States
will not exist as a national entity, or in fragmented condition. But it does
mean that it will not be a world power in the sense that it is today. Because
it belongs to that division of the earth called the West, and traces its origin
largely to western and southern Europe, and has always been in alignment with
the West, it will doubtless be in some subsidiary position in relation to the
Revived Roman Empire.
Since
the Scriptures are quite as eloquent in their silence as in their statement, it
would be well to conclude that absence of any clear reference to the United
States in the end time as a world power is doubtless to be traced to the fact
that it is no longer a world power.
II.
The Phenomenal Development Within Recent Years Does Not Guarantee the
Continuation of the United States as a World Power
1.
The plan of God has already determined the distribution of power for all
nations, both as to time and place. When the Apostle Paul went to Athens it was
inevitable that he would come into confrontation with the intelligentsia of the
city. And he did. He met them on Mars' Hill and delivered to them that great
address which in substance is recorded in the seventeenth chapter of the Book
of Acts. In the course of that address he made this statement: "God . . .
hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their
habitation" (Acts 17:24, 26). Though there may be no recognition of this fact
on the part of the leadership of our land, this does not negate the fact. The
United States just like every other nation on the face of the earth, both past
and present, falls within the scope of this determinate counsel of Almighty
God.
2.
The program of God will be carried out for the United States just like all
other nations of the world. The Psalmist said: "For promotion cometh
neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the
judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another" (Ps. 75:6-7). In the
good providence of God the United States of America has come to the dominant
place it occupies in the world today. But one may listen in vain to the
pronouncements of its leadership to discover any trace of recognition that God
is the One who has brought this nation to its high place of prosperity and
power. But the fact still remains, and by the same token, when God is finished
with this nation He will bring it down.
3.
Moreover, the purpose of God will be accomplished for the United States as well
as for all other nations. This was the lesson Nebuchadnezzar had to learn.
Again he had a dream. He saw a tree grow up out of the earth. Its branches
reached into the sky and spread abroad, and they were filled with the fowls of
the air. Then suddenly it was cut off at the stump. The king ordered his wise
men and magicians to interpret the dream, but they were incapable of performing
this feat. At last Daniel came to the rescue.
When
Daniel heard the dream, he was astonished and for one long hour his thoughts
troubled him. Then he summoned his courage to tell this absolute, autocratic,
ruthless king the truth. "This is the interpretation, 0 king ... they
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the
field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee
with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know
that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he
will" (Dan. 4:24-25).
"All
this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked
in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this
great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of
my power, and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the king's
mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, 0 king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee
it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee" (Dan. 4:28-31).
The
king descended from his throne, and he walked out to the fields; there he got
down on his hands and knees and began to eat grass like the beasts of the
field. There he lived with the beasts of the earth; his body was wet with the
dew of heaven at night, and for seven long years he lived like a dumb, brute
beast of the field. Then at last, God restored to him his senses and
Nebuchadnezzar confessed: "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor
the King of heaven, all those works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those
that walk in pride he is able to abase" (Dan. 4:37).
Nebuchadnezzar
and succeeding kings passed off the stage of human history, until at last
Belshazzar came to the throne. One night he made a banquet to a thousand of his
lords and ladies. This was held within the inner citadel of the city. But outside
the outer walls, a huge army of an opposing power was turning aside the river
that ran beneath the wall that they might enter and besiege the citadel. A
banquet at this hour demonstrated the stupidity of the king. This festive
occasion was marked by debauchery, licentiousness, and at last it was crowned
with sacrilege.
Belshazzar
ordered the vessels that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that
the crowd of pagan revelers might quaff wine to the gods of silver and gold,
and of wood and stone. As he lifted one of these goblets to his lips, he peered
out over its brim and saw the great, mysterious fingers of a sleeveless hand
inscribe something on the far wall. The account says that the "king's
countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of
his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another" (Dan.
5:6). Out of sheer fear he called for the wise men, and offered them third
rulership in the kingdom if they would read the writing and give the interpretation.
All failed, and at last it was the queen mother who called Daniel to the
attention of the king. By this time Daniel was 85 years of age, and he had long
since been forgotten since the days of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was called in and
with these words accepted the responsibility: "Let thy gifts be to
thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the
king, and make known to him the interpretation" (Dan. 5:17).
But
before doing so, Daniel administered a rebuke to the king. Nebuchadnezzar
"was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts,
and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen,
and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high
God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he
will. And thou his son, 0 Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou
knewest all this (Dan. 5:21-22).
"Though
thou knewest all this." These words ought to fall on our ears with crushing
force. These were addressed to a pagan monarch of long ago. If these words in
truth could be addressed to him who dwelt in almost complete ignorance of the
movements of God, then with what irresistible force those same words should
come to the people of a nation that, with all the multiplied mediums of
communication available today, has heard the Word of God like no other nation
on the face of the earth. Be sure of this, God will yet fulfill His purpose in
the United States of America, and this people shall know that God rules in the
kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will.
III.
The Perilous Deterioration Now in Progress Is Preparing the Way for the Passing
of the United States as a World Power
In
prophetic utterance the Psalmist declared: "The nations are sunk down in
the pit that they made: In the net that they hid is their own foot taken.
Jehovah hath made himself known, he hath executed judgment: the wicked is
snared in the work of his own hands. The wicked shall be turned back unto Sheol,
even all the nations that forget God" (Psa. 9:15-17 ASV). This principle
of declension is now in progress within the United States. Note three things:
1.
The decay of the integrity of a nation always centers in its thinking. The
Psalmist declares, in speaking of the wicked, ". . . God is not in all his
thoughts" (Psa. 10:4). At last this has burst into the open in this
nation. It would appear that this nation of people is determined to get rid of
the very idea of God. There is a so-called scientific principle designed to
explain the origin and movement of the universe on the human and natural level.
This has so completely impregnated the thinking of men that a dictum of the
Supreme Court now makes it practically impossible to carry the Biblical idea of
God into the public classroom. This court is defended on the grounds that it is
interpreting and enforcing the Constitution of the United States. All this may
be so, but that does not remove the fact that at the grass roots levels the
idea of God in the Biblical sense of that term is disappearing from the
classroom. Remembering that this declaration took place almost a dozen years
ago, it is possible that this may explain what we are seeing today in a
generation of young people who have gone through grade school and high school,
and are now the college population of the land?
2.
The descent into unbridled immorality is paving the way for final
disintegration. Ideas have consequences. That is precisely what we all believe,
and that is the reason we foster and finance a school system. The ideas that go
into that classroom and saturate the minds of young people are bound to produce
effects. Where young people are taught to believe that there is no God, and
that man is the highest order of creation and therefore the measure of his own
morality, there can be no other trend in sinful creatures than to justify their
evil desires and with clever reasoning conceive a system of morals that makes
provision for all the lusts of the flesh.
That
is the point of Psalm 10. Of the wicked God declares that "His ways are
always grievous" (Ps.10:5). The wicked reasons, "in his heart, I
shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity" (Ps.10:6).
"His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is
mischief and vanity.... He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he
hideth his face; he will never see it" (Ps. 10:7, 11). Out of the
abundance of his heart, the mouth of the wicked speaks, and his ways are marked
by a continual descent into immorality. Now that He has manufactured the code
of ethics known as the new morality, with this he palliates his conscience and
moves swiftly down the broad way toward disintegration and doom.
3.
The disintegration of the basic institutions of this land charts the course toward
final disappearance as a great power. Direct your attention now to a portion of
the prophecy recorded in Daniel 2:41-43. These words describe the constituency
of nations at the end of the age.
"And
whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron,
the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the
iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes
of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly
strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay,
they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave
one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."
Iron
has always been a symbol of autocracy. It marks the strength of absolute
monarchy. In the history of nations there has been demonstrated through
millenniums of time the amazing strength and enduring quality of such
government. Unfortunately, where kings have been wicked this has resulted in
miserable conditions for the subjects. But the enduring qualities were there,
for all matters of government were resolved within one person.
The
clay, however, points to the seed of men, that vast throng of people who make
up the population of the world. Its qualities are brittle and evanescent, but
highly cherished by the people as the ideal form of government. The Greeks
declared that the voice of the people is the voice of God. Though this form of
government never came into its own until the dawn of the twentieth century, it
is today espoused by people all across the world. It is called democracy, a
compound term from the Greek language. The first element, "demos,"
means people. The last element, "cracy," coming from a word which
means mastery, and combined it means "mastery of the people."
So
long as this form of government operates within the controlling influences of
the truth about God, it has served a relatively useful purpose. But once the
idea of God was lost, the liberty it was intended to exercise has turned inward
in the thinking of men, and it is now being interpreted to mean that an
individual has the right to express and satisfy his desires without regard for
others. It has given birth to what is called "civil disobedience," and
has broken out into lawlessness and threatens the land with anarchy. With the
audacity born of this conviction, there seems no level of wickedness too low
for men to indulge themselves and bring justification of the Constitution to
their support.
As
a result we have seen the gradual disintegration of some of the basic
institutions of society. The home is the basic institution of any society. But
that institution is dangerously threatened in the scourge now sweeping the
world. The school is no longer a haven of refuge for the dissemination of
morals that help to preserve society. The Church has also been invaded with a
liberal theology made over the pattern of this type of thinking and is
suffering the consequences that go with it. Local and national governments feel
their very foundations trembling with wave after wave of revolution and riot,
until the best thinkers of the land fear that anarchy is not far distant. All
this marks the trend in which this nation is moving. How long can this continue
until dire calamity overtakes the entire nation?
History
tells its own story of the rise and fall of nations. After the dissolution of
the Roman Empire, 1,500 years of history tell their own story. On a far smaller
scale the Holy Roman Empire appeared on the scene, but finally disappeared. The
great Ottoman Empire followed this. Then there came the rise of the Spanish
domain. It soon gave way before the French Colonial Empire and the British
Empire, of which it could be said that on its shores the sun never sets. But as
any high school student knows, these great nations are no more. Are we to
imagine that this cannot take place with the United States of America? Such
would be sheer fantasy. And the terrifying fact is that nations disintegrate
from within before they crumble from without.
IV.
The Possible Disappearance of the United States as a World Power Will Not Take
Place Until God Has Fulfilled His Purpose in This Nation
The
Apostle Paul asserted by divine guidance that God "worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11). With this as a guiding
principle, it would be well to take a look at what God has been doing and is
now doing through the United States of America. This could give some indication
as to the times in which we live and point the direction in which the child of
God should move. Three things seem quite evident:
1.
The evanglization of the world for the formation of the Church is largely
promoted from within the United States of America. Through James at the
Jerusalem conference, it was stated that "God at the first did visit the
Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name" (Acts 15:14). Those
people are the chosen of God to constitute the bride of Christ. In order to
reach them, God has mounted a worldwide evangelistic movement. When these
people hear the Gospel they will believe. When the last chosen one has heard
the Gospel and accepted it, the bride will be complete and the Lord Jesus will
come for His Church. God's purpose in this age will then be finished.
A
knowledgeable missionary, familiar with missions on a worldwide scale, several
years ago at the time the dollar was trembling, called for earnest prayer. His
reason was that any calamity to that dollar could conceivably have a global
effect on missions, due to the fact that by far the greater proportion of
missionary effort in men and money comes from the United States. If God is
using this nation as the instrument to carry out His purpose in these days, it
would seem likely that He will sustain this nation until that purpose is
fulfilled. But let us take heed. The completion of the Church could be very
near, in which the fortunes of this nation (moving as they are) are already
heralding the end of the age and the disappearance of the United States as a
world power.
2.
The preservation of the chosen people of God for that program which God will
renew after the rapture of the Church, proceeds largely from the United States
of America. In the same prophecy at the Jerusalem conference, James went on to
say, "And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After
this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is
fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it
up" (Acts 15:15-16). This can only mean that once God is finished with the
Church, He will turn again to Israel and will restore and rebuild that nation
as He has promised in the Old Testament prophets. This further means that the
people of Israel must be preserved, or there would be no people with which God
could fulfill His promises.
The
place of the United States in the preservation of this people is little
realized, even by the average Christian. Almost 200 years ago, this nation came
into being. It provided for the citizenship of Jews on the same level and with
equal rights and privileges, along with all other people. As a result Jews have
prospered in this land. No place of privilege or position has been denied to
them because of their nationality. When central Europe turned into a holocaust
for this people, it was the United States of America that aided in the
subjugation of Hitler. When this people sought a homeland, it was pressure from
the United States on the United Nations that brought the partition of the
Mid-east to provide for the present state of Israel. Even though World War 11
had ended, there still was no haven of refuge for the Jew in central Europe.
Hundreds set sail in the Mediterranean, hoping to find a friendly harbor. But
there was none. It looked as though that shipload of refugees would perish on
the high seas. At last they cast anchor in the harbor of Haifa. Today, the
rusting hulk of that ship can be seen protruding just above the waters.
It
must also be said that the presence of divisions of the United States Army and
contingents of the U.S. Navy within the Mid-east helps to preserve the balance
of power in that area, and to sustain this nation scarcely 25 years of age.
Were it not for the presence of military contingents from the United States,
this little nation could easily be overwhelmed by Arab and Russian hordes. The
appearance of the state of Israel, though small, after these 1,900 years, and
the apparent determination to preserve this people, suggest that God's
long-promised purpose for Israel is about to be fulfilled. Since the United
States is serving as the instrument in God's hands to carry this to completion,
there is reason to believe that this nation will continue until God's purpose
is finished. But let us take heed, for the time may be fast approaching when
this purpose will be completed and God will be through with this nation as a
national entity.
3.
The alignment of nations into that international arrangement for the end of the
age is being promoted by the United States of America. Again, the movement of
thought set forth in Daniel 11:36-45 should be carefully studied. There the
four great powers of the end time appear. There is a great western power, a
great southern power, a great northern power, and a great eastern power. These
constitute great blocks of nations bound together by political, social, and
material interests. The United States appears to be acting as a sort of
catalyst. Probably no nation is having such a wide effect on the rest of the
world to move nations one way or another. From 300 to 400 military camps of
some size are planted across the world. In all, both large and small in size,
there are no less than 3,000 such camps around the world. The monetary and
fiscal policies of this nation have their widening effect on other nations.
This does not mean that these things evoke goodwill, but they do produce
movement one way and another into national and international alignments. When
the arrangement finally approximates the prophetic pictures, God will be
through with this nation as a world power.
As
one views the developing scene, in the light of prophecy, it makes him wonder
how long it may be before the arrangements are finally complete. Since the
promise of Christ's coming for the Church has always been held out to His
people as an event that could take place at any moment, surely the events of
the present hour in relation to the United States ought to give new stimulus to
watch momentarily for His coming. In these days of crisis, our trust should not
rest in a nation that may shortly disappear, but in Him who works all things
after the counsel of His own will.
