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Why Don’t Bible Prophecies Mention America
What will America’s role be?
Students of end-of-time prophecy have puzzled for years over the apparent absence of any mention of America in the Bible’s descriptions of the end of the world. “When I look at Bible prophecy, one thing that is of great concern is the absence of the United States,” writes bestselling author Greg Laurie.
“Where is the United States in Bible prophecy?” asks prolific Christian author David R. Reagan . “One of the most asked prophecy questions by far is whether the U.S.A. is mentioned,” notes Wilfred Hahn of the Eternal Value Review. “The religious community today cannot find the United States, Great Britain, Russia or China in Bible prophecy. Why?” asks David J. Smith of News Watch magazine. “What,” asks Ron Graff, editor of Prophecy Central, “happens to the United States” in the End Times?”
A convincing argument can be made that Russia is described in Ezekiel 38:1-4: And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.
“Although there is considerable controversy over the ancient names given in Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog war prophecies,” writes Terry James on the website Rapture Ready, “there is sufficient evidence to conclude” that Russia will be the culprit leading a massive end-time attack on Israel’” that sets in motion the violent end of the world.
Will China join in the fight? James at Rapture Ready, says Revelation 16:12 tells us: And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. Is this China?
“This prophecy, scheduled to coincide with Armageddon when all the armies of the world will be gathered in the Valley of Jezreel, almost certainly will include the modern nation of China,” writes James.
But what about America?
“It is interesting to note that a number of nations are mentioned,” notes Laurie. “Libya is mentioned by name. Persia, which became modern Iran and Iraq, is mentioned. Ethiopia is specifically mentioned. But the one nation that is strangely absent is the United States of America.”
Where is America? “Given America’s influential role in the world,” writes Hahn, “There is a wide range of opinion. The debate continues even among learned and respected prophecy scholars.”
Irvin Baxter on the website End Time says the answer is simple: “Actually the U.S. was plainly foretold in the Holy Scriptures,” he writes. “The Bible prophesies a world government will rule the earth for a very short period of time. We are given a detailed description of the last world power that shall reign over the peoples of the earth immediately before the return of Jesus Christ.”
“The beasts of Daniel’s vision, found in Daniel chapter 7, bear an uncanny resemblance to nations in our modern world, the lion, the bear, the eagle, and the leopard. The four beasts depict four individual nations.” America is the eagle, says Baxter.
However, notes Baxter, “in Revelation 13, the Apostle John saw a vision of one beast instead of four. The one beast was described as having the body of the leopard, the feet of the bear, the mouth of the lion, and the ten horns of the ten-horned beast. All of the beasts in Daniel 7 have now merged into this one unified beast except for one.” America’s eagle is missing.
“The eagle’s wings are not mentioned in the description of the world government beast!” says Baxter. “Could it be that the United States will be one of the dissenting forces against the Antichrist and his world government, a harbor of safety during the troubled times ahead?”
Reagan is not convinced. “Since the United States is not mentioned specifically by name in Bible prophecy, people have resorted to their imaginations to find our nation in the Scriptures,” he warns, citing Revelation 12:13-17. “In the middle of the Tribulation, God will provide a means of escape for the Jewish remnant in Israel. They will be carried into the wilderness to a hiding place on the ‘wings of a great eagle.’” Is that America? “Some people have seized on this imagery,” he says, to teach that the U.S., whose national symbol is the eagle, will supply an End Time airlift that will save Israel.
Others, says Reagan, “have pointed to Isaiah 18 which speaks of a people ‘tall and smooth’ who are ‘feared far and wide.’ “Is that America? “The passage further states that this is a ‘powerful nation whose land the rivers divide.’ The chapter ends by stating that the people of this nation will bring ‘a gift of homage’ to the Lord when He returns to reign from Mt. Zion. Because these verses speak of a powerful nation whose land is divided by a great river, some have jumped to the conclusion that the nation is the United States since it is divided by the Mississippi River.”
Ezekiel 38 is another passage where people claim to have found the U.S. “The prophet describes an invasion of Israel that will be launched in the end times by a nation ‘from the remote parts of the north.’ The descriptive verses about the northern power make it clear that this nation is Russia. What is not so clear is where the U.S. fits into this invasion.”
Those who find America in the passage point to Ezekiel 38:13, which says that “the merchants of Tarshish – perhaps the British Empire – and all its “young lions” will speak out against the invasion. “The argument,” says Reagan, “is that Tarshish is Britain and the ‘young lions’ are the English speaking nations like the U.S. and Australia that were founded by British immigrants.”
Reagan isn’t convinced. Neither was bestselling author David Wilkerson. The late New York City street preacher who wrote The Cross and The Switchblade warned that America will not play a part in the final battle because the U.S. will have collapsed. In his book A Final Warning co-authored with Nicky Cruz, Wilkerson wrote: “I am speaking out right now in my ministry about the death of the United States, the downfall of America. We have reached a point where Noah, Daniel and Moses began to pray the Lord would deliver their own souls. But people don’t want to hear that sort of thing, Nicky! I’m very hopeful for the church, but as far as our society, we are under divine judgment.” Wilkerson foresaw that powers in the Far East “will quit buying our government bonds – as will all other nations. We will not be able to finance our massive debt. It will all tumble and fall.”
James disagrees. He says America is not mentioned in the prophecies because the Rapture will have taken place. All Christians worldwide will have been taken into heaven, leaving the wicked to fight it out among themselves on earth. James says America’s Christians will have been snatched away, rescued by Almighty God from the terrible things about to befall the earth.
James says that’s the probable explanation for America’s absence when Gog and Magog surround Israel. “It is hard to believe that such a massive attack as prophesied by Ezekiel would be allowed to take place by such nuclear powers as Great Britain and particularly the United States.” The answers, he says that hundreds of millions of Christians will have vanished – causing enormous consternation among those who remain.
“Many believe the rapture of the Church could so confuse leadership of these nations as to make them temporarily incapable of organizing military opposition to the assault into the Middle East by Russia and her coalition hordes,” says James.
Laurie says it’s not all that clear. “Where is the United States? I would like to offer three plausible answers. One, perhaps the United States may not be mentioned in Scripture because it might be devastated by a nuclear war. It is a horrible scenario and one that none of us would want to see, but we cannot rule it out as a possibility.”
“The possibilities of it have never been greater,” says Laurie. “Some would think that because the former Soviet Union dissolved, the threat is gone. But many nations have nuclear weapons. It could indeed be a rogue terrorist nation with nuclear capabilities, or even a terrorist group that could set off the dominoes falling onto each other. I hope this isn’t the case, but we cannot rule it out.”
“Rome was once the reigning superpower on earth. They had the most powerful military anywhere,” writes Laurie. “But before Rome collapsed externally, she collapsed internally. I think we would do well to look at the soul of our country right now. I am for a strong military. We need to take seriously any foreign threats. But having said that, what about an internal collapse?”
“The second possible reason our nation may not be mentioned in Scripture is that perhaps we will simply decline as a world power,” writes Laurie. “As our country becomes more and more secular, systematically eliminating God and the Bible from our education system, courts, and the arts, we will begin to reap the inevitable results of sin. We will begin to rot from the inside.”
“Historian Will Durant pointed out that a great nation is not destroyed from the outside until it has first fallen apart on the inside. Certainly, you can see the moral decay in America today. The Bible says, ‘Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people’ (Proverbs 14:34). If we forget God and abandon the Bible, which is his Word, then we will reap the inevitable results.”
“We have seen the breakdown of the family, rampant crime and so many other problems that have come from disobeying God. But here is the thing we need to remember. The freedom we enjoy is built on the foundation of absolute truth. And when you remove that foundation, this freedom actually can turn into anarchy.”
Reagan agrees. “I personally believe that the reason the U.S. is not mentioned in end time prophecy,” says Reagan, “is because we will suddenly cease to be a world power and will therefore play no significant role in end time events.”
“The destruction of American power is most likely to occur in two stages,” writes Reagan. “The first could be an economic catastrophe that will result from our out-of-control debt situation. Our god is the dollar, and the Lord is going to destroy that god when the weight of our debt collapses our economy.” In such a scenario, writes Graff, “America will have suffered a financial collapse by the time of the last days, and would still exist, but not be a superpower. That is exactly what many political and financial analysts are saying about our current course. The United States will not be gone in the last days. We will just not be worth mentioning.”
That doesn’t have to be, writes Walid Shoebat in World News Daily, “For many years, it has been taught that in the Last Days literally every nation of the earth, including the United States, will be utterly dominated by the Antichrist; that there will be no place to escape from the dreaded Mark of the Beast, that every last nation of the world will come against Jerusalem,” including America.
“Zechariah 12 is usually used to validate the theory,” continues Shoebat. Revelation 13:7 says “the Antichrist will be given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. This would seem an ironclad case for the Antichrist ruling the globe. It is this dilemma that caused many to believe that America will be taken over by the Antichrist.”
“However, the Bible clearly states that some will resist the Antichrist and defeat him,” notes Shoebat. Those verses “are rarely even discussed.” However, Shoebat believes the following passage confirms that a superpower such as America will annihilate the Antichrist. Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas (Ezekiel 28:7-8).
“God will raise up several nations that will carry out God’s judgment and attack the Antichrist in the end,” says Shoebat. Will America have turned back to God? Will America come to the world’s rescue?
It is possible, says Shoebat. The future is not etched into stone. “This promise is as the rainbow for Noah,” says Shoebat. It is a prediction of what could happen. What actually happens, he says, is America’s choice.
Anonymous
You know why America won’t be here. After the Rapture of the church the western hemisphere will be unable to support life grass trees fish or animals.
After the Rapture a 3rd of all mankind is wiped out.
Won’t be no America. And you say how do you know it’s America well be abuse at the same time it will be the 3 and half years of prosperity for the old Roman Empire.
Or thats what I believe and you can take that and two dollars and run down and get a cup of coffee but do t forget the two dollars cause what i believe alone doesn’t have enough value to buy a cup of coffee.
Anonymous
Junior Beasley well now Philip Williams does not even think this way
Anonymous
Junior Beasley Revelation tells of calanities hitting ___before___ the first resurrection.
Anonymous
Troy Day he might is he studied it a little deeper.
Anonymous
America wasn’t around when Scripture was written. It’s not a player in the time of the end.
But it has been used for global evangelism and to help position Israel for the time of the end.
Anonymous
well Duane L Burgess but is important Philip Williams uses this as post-trib argument Not sure where Link Hudson stands on this Turkey Russia also did not exist but are mentioned with quite certainty in the final Ezek 27 war events …
Anonymous
Troy Day mentioned with certainty?
Anonymous
Troy Day Turkey and Russia were known when Scripture was written, but by other names.
People try to use all kinds of things to support their false teaching, like Post Trib.
Biblical illiteracy is rampant. I observed this forty years ago when I completed seminary and went to work in full time ministry employment. It’s much worse today.
Anonymous
Duane L Burgess no Sir there was neither Turkey nor Russia
the Ottoman Empire was Founded 1299 and Russian history is the establishment of the Rus’ state in the north in 862, ruled by Varangians. Kievan Rus’ ultimately disintegrated as a state due to the Mongol invasions in 1237–1240 Ilya Okhotnikov can confirm or deny
Anonymous
Duane L Burgess The Turks weren’t in Anatolia, or weren’t in charge of it, when Isaiah or Jeremiah was written. The Norse Rus hadn’t started setting up kingdoms in Biblical times.
Anonymous
Link Hudson didnt I already state that clearly with years and all?
Anonymous
Because despite all the spritual showoff s America is not important in the agenda of God ..
America is only big in the eyes of Americans but in heaven it a very tiny unknown street in the vast network called universe .
Anonymous
well Duane L Burgess our friend Philip Williams still hasnt told us whats up where Maybe Link Hudson Brett Dobbs Gary Micheal Epping have a more reasonable explanation ?
Anonymous
Troy Day why what does topic require explanation? Why speculate? do you think Christians in Uganda have debates about why their country isn’t mentioned? Besides I think it’s already settled into much of the national consciousness of the United States that we realize that we’re not going to be the one world superpower forever.
Anonymous
Kyle Williams do you care to respond to the Internal Evidence from within the document itself. In addition to the external evidence from the church fathers, the book of Revelation has many internal indications that support the late date.[73]
ARGUMENT #1: The late date explains why John, Paul, and Timothy never mention one another together in Ephesus.
If the early date is true, then John would have been leading in Ephesus at the same time as Paul and Timothy. Why would Paul leave Timothy in charge of the Ephesian church if the apostle John was there? Moreover, at the end of 2 Timothy, Paul mentions 17 coworkers by name, but he never mentions John. We are not merely making an argument from silence. This is a conspicuous silence. Why wouldn’t Paul mention such a spiritual titan like John? Likewise, why wouldn’t Jesus mention Paul or Timothy when writing to the church of Ephesus? (Rev. 2:1-7) Witherington writes, “The lack of apostolic presence and, by contrast, the presence of powerful prophets (both John and those he calls false prophets) seem to reflect a time after the apostles had died off late in the first century A.D. (cf. the Didache).”[74]
ARGUMENT #2: The late date explains why Paul and Jesus give conflicting reports about false teachers in Ephesus.
Paul’s letters to Ephesus and Jesus’ letter to Ephesus give conflicting reports regarding false teachers. On the one hand, Paul writes about men who “teach strange doctrines” (1 Tim. 1:3) and the “doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). Paul even mentions several false teachers by name: Hymenaeus, Alexander, and Philetus (1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim. 2:17). Yet, Jesus’ letter to Ephesus tells a different story. Instead of being riddled with false teachers, Jesus says, “You cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false… You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Rev. 2:2, 6). This is quite unlike the church of Pergamum who “have some who… hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (Rev. 2:15).
ARGUMENT #3: The late date explains how the church in Smyrna had time to grow before receiving a letter from Jesus.
Polycarp wrote a letter to the Philippians in AD 110. In it, he states that the Smyrnaeans weren’t believers when Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians in AD 60-61.
[You Philippians] are praised in the beginning of his Epistle. For concerning you he boasts in all the Churches who then alone had known the Lord, for we had not yet known him.[75]
Polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna. So, his use of the plural “we” refers to “the church at Smyrna,” which would “indicate that that church was not in existence at the time in question.”[76] Put simply, Polycarp is claiming that “when Paul wrote Philippians no Smyrneans had yet been evangelized.”[77]
Craig Blomberg[78] and Gordon Fee[79] date Philippians to AD 61. Therefore, Polycarp maintains that the church in Smyrna didn’t exist before this time. This, of course, carried difficulties for the early date advocate. It requires a church entering Smyrna and springing up all within a 4-5 year span. Acts 19:10 says that “All who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord,” but this is hyperbolic language. This doesn’t mean that a church specifically existed in the city of Smyrna. Moreover, Paul never mentions a church existing in Smyrna in any of his letters.
ARGUMENT #4: The late date explains how the church in Laodicea had time to plummet spiritually by AD 65.
D.A. Carson, Douglas Moo,[80] and P.T. O’Brien[81] date Colossians to AD 60-61. Paul mentions a thriving church in Laodicea at this time (Col. 2:2; 4:13, 16). However, if Revelation was written in AD 65, then this church must have plummeted spiritually in just a few years. In fact, they had become so bad, that Christ threatened to vomit them out of his mouth! (Rev. 3:16) Of course, spiritual decline can occur quickly (Gal. 1:6), but which is more likely? A quick decline or a slower decline?
ARGUMENT #5: The late date explains Jesus’ words to the church in Laodicea in light of the great earthquake of AD 60.
The entire region around Laodicea suffered a massive earthquake in AD 60. In fact, the region suffered until at least AD 80,[82] and the “archaeological evidence at Laodicea points to a thirty-year rebuilding process.”[83]
And yet, Jesus told the Laodiceans that they are “wealthy” and “have need of nothing” (Rev. 3:16). If the early date is true, it would be quite cruel to tell a destroyed city that they are “wealthy” and “have need of nothing.” However, if the late date is true, this would make perfect sense. Tacitus mentions that the Laodiceans refused all aid from the Roman Empire after the earthquake.[84] They rebuilt their city all on their own, because they were “wealthy” and had “need of nothing.” Hemer writes, “There is good reason for seeing Rev. 3.17 against the background of the boasted afluence [sic] of Laodicea, notoriously exemplified in her refusal of Roman aid and her carrying through a great programme of reconstruction in a spirit of proud independence and ostentatious individual benefaction.”[85]
Anonymous
Troy Day first awnser me this. The Herodian Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Flattened. “Not one stone left upon another” (as Jesus promised)
What Temple was John told to measure with the Reed in Revelation 11:1?
That’s the internal evidence we need to be talking about.
Anonymous
Kyle Williams do you mean the NEW temple of Revelation 11?
There is not mention whatsoever this temple is ON earth
As a matter of fact John is called to COME UP HERE?
How is this internal evidence in any sort? Duane L Burgess Link Hudson
Anonymous
Troy Day do you not believe a third temple will be rebuilt or you just don’t see any reference to it in the Book of Revelation?
Anonymous
Troy Day not once is the New Jerusalem called the Holy City in the book of Revelation.
Anonymous
Link Hudson no there will not be a third temple. Christ will see to that.
Anonymous
Kyle Williams there has to be a third temple in every eschatology for tge man of sin to make his declaration in.
You got Solomon, post-exhile….. there is the church, too, since ‘ye’ is called the temple of God. If you don’t think a physical temple of stone or whatever will be built, there is the church.
Anonymous
Link Hudson Christ is the Temple, the Alter and the Sacrifice on the Alter. That’s why, were another Temple built physically, in Jerusalem, it would be destroyed by God Himself as the Herodian Temple was. A third physical Temple would be blasphemy. Hebrews implies this much
Anonymous
Kyle Williams D0 you care to respond to the Internal Evidence from within the document itself. In addition to the external evidence from the church fathers, the book of Revelation has many internal indications that support the late date.[73]
ARGUMENT #1: The late date explains why John, Paul, and Timothy never mention one another together in Ephesus.
If the early date is true, then John would have been leading in Ephesus at the same time as Paul and Timothy. Why would Paul leave Timothy in charge of the Ephesian church if the apostle John was there? Moreover, at the end of 2 Timothy, Paul mentions 17 coworkers by name, but he never mentions John. We are not merely making an argument from silence. This is a conspicuous silence. Why wouldn’t Paul mention such a spiritual titan like John? Likewise, why wouldn’t Jesus mention Paul or Timothy when writing to the church of Ephesus? (Rev. 2:1-7) Witherington writes, “The lack of apostolic presence and, by contrast, the presence of powerful prophets (both John and those he calls false prophets) seem to reflect a time after the apostles had died off late in the first century A.D. (cf. the Didache).”[74]
ARGUMENT #2: The late date explains why Paul and Jesus give conflicting reports about false teachers in Ephesus.
Paul’s letters to Ephesus and Jesus’ letter to Ephesus give conflicting reports regarding false teachers. On the one hand, Paul writes about men who “teach strange doctrines” (1 Tim. 1:3) and the “doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). Paul even mentions several false teachers by name: Hymenaeus, Alexander, and Philetus (1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim. 2:17). Yet, Jesus’ letter to Ephesus tells a different story. Instead of being riddled with false teachers, Jesus says, “You cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false… You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Rev. 2:2, 6). This is quite unlike the church of Pergamum who “have some who… hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (Rev. 2:15).
ARGUMENT #3: The late date explains how the church in Smyrna had time to grow before receiving a letter from Jesus.
Polycarp wrote a letter to the Philippians in AD 110. In it, he states that the Smyrnaeans weren’t believers when Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians in AD 60-61.
[You Philippians] are praised in the beginning of his Epistle. For concerning you he boasts in all the Churches who then alone had known the Lord, for we had not yet known him.[75]
Polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna. So, his use of the plural “we” refers to “the church at Smyrna,” which would “indicate that that church was not in existence at the time in question.”[76] Put simply, Polycarp is claiming that “when Paul wrote Philippians no Smyrneans had yet been evangelized.”[77]
Craig Blomberg[78] and Gordon Fee[79] date Philippians to AD 61. Therefore, Polycarp maintains that the church in Smyrna didn’t exist before this time. This, of course, carried difficulties for the early date advocate. It requires a church entering Smyrna and springing up all within a 4-5 year span. Acts 19:10 says that “All who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord,” but this is hyperbolic language. This doesn’t mean that a church specifically existed in the city of Smyrna. Moreover, Paul never mentions a church existing in Smyrna in any of his letters.
ARGUMENT #4: The late date explains how the church in Laodicea had time to plummet spiritually by AD 65.
D.A. Carson, Douglas Moo,[80] and P.T. O’Brien[81] date Colossians to AD 60-61. Paul mentions a thriving church in Laodicea at this time (Col. 2:2; 4:13, 16). However, if Revelation was written in AD 65, then this church must have plummeted spiritually in just a few years. In fact, they had become so bad, that Christ threatened to vomit them out of his mouth! (Rev. 3:16) Of course, spiritual decline can occur quickly (Gal. 1:6), but which is more likely? A quick decline or a slower decline?
ARGUMENT #5: The late date explains Jesus’ words to the church in Laodicea in light of the great earthquake of AD 60.
The entire region around Laodicea suffered a massive earthquake in AD 60. In fact, the region suffered until at least AD 80,[82] and the “archaeological evidence at Laodicea points to a thirty-year rebuilding process.”[83]
And yet, Jesus told the Laodiceans that they are “wealthy” and “have need of nothing” (Rev. 3:16). If the early date is true, it would be quite cruel to tell a destroyed city that they are “wealthy” and “have need of nothing.” However, if the late date is true, this would make perfect sense. Tacitus mentions that the Laodiceans refused all aid from the Roman Empire after the earthquake.[84] They rebuilt their city all on their own, because they were “wealthy” and had “need of nothing.” Hemer writes, “There is good reason for seeing Rev. 3.17 against the background of the boasted afluence [sic] of Laodicea, notoriously exemplified in her refusal of Roman aid and her carrying through a great programme of reconstruction in a spirit of proud independence and ostentatious individual benefaction.”[85]
Anonymous
Troy Day from what “document” Revelation?
Irenaeus?
Anonymous
Kyle Williams the ones I outlined in my previous post
Anonymous
Kyle Williams Of course the Temple was destroyed in AD 70. This was prophesied by Daniel and happened forty years after Messiah was crucified.
The first sixty nine weeks of Daniel’s prophecy were fulfilled literally on Monday of the Crucifixion Week, referred to as Christ’s Triumphal Entry.
From the decreed to rebuild Jerusalem in Nehemiah 2 to the “Triumphal Entry” was 483 years to the very day by the Hebrew calendar.
Four days later Messiah the Prince was “cut off.”
It was forty years before the people (Romans) of the prince who is to come (AntiChrist) destroyed Jerusalem.
There is absolutely no biblical or historical fulfillment of Daniel’s 70th week, which is for ethnic national Israel, her time of Jacob’s trouble, not for the Church.
We are at Revelation 4:1 and holding.
It has been wisely said: do not present your eschatology until you master Zechariah.
God has future plans for ethnic national Israel.