The Future of America and the West

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Bible prophecy foretells a future time when there will be no more war, sorrow, or crying. But as you see all the pain, chaos, and suffering in the world today, do you ever wonder why God does not stop these problems now?

Bible prophecy shows us that God has a plan, and that His plan is on schedule. Most people have no idea what God’s plan is. But the Bible reveals that God’s plan for us is wiser and more wonderful than we can imagine (Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 2:9).

In fact, the Bible says that God plans to share everything with you (Revelation 21:7). Yes, everything! Nothing is excluded (Hebrews 2:8).

God also says that He plans to make you just like He is (1 John 3:1-2). He will give you the same glory that He has (Philippians 3:21). He will also give you incredible power and eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 53). Read those scriptures and see what they say. Those are amazing promises.

But God won’t give you everything, including His great power and eternal life, unless He can trust you to always do what is right and good. And the only way God can trust you, is if you trust Him.

God knows that if you trust Him, you will do anything and everything He says. You will do things God’s way, not your own way. But if you don’t fully trust God—if you think that perhaps God is wrong, or that you know better than God—then God can’t trust you with His power. You might do things your way, instead of God’s way, and that would lead to pain and suffering forever.

God’s purpose is to teach every single person to trust Him, so that we will choose to live His way. That is the only way we can live forever with Him in peace.

Have you ever considered why God has given us a temporary, physical life on earth? Why not skip this step that involves pain and suffering, and just give us eternal life from the beginning?

Because we need to learn to trust God, before He can give us everything (Psalm 37:5).

Many people judge God because He allows all of the evil and suffering in this world, when He could stop it. But God is much wiser than we are.

Could God stop suffering? Yes, He could. But would humanity learn to trust Him? No. We would always think we had a better way. The only way that God can prove to all people that we don’t know better than Him is to let us try our own way.

So, for the past 6000 years, God has allowed us to “do things our way.” This is the largest scientific experiment ever conducted. God has given humanity the chance to prove that their way is better than God’s way!

And how is it working out? We are now in danger of destroying ourselves in a nuclear war. If God does not step in soon, we would destroy ourselves (Matthew 24:22).

The years just ahead of us are going to be very difficult. God will allow us to nearly destroy ourselves before He saves us. And through this experience, the world will finally learn that man’s way does not work. Yes, people will finally learn to trust God instead of themselves! They will finally learn that God’s way is the only way to peace and happiness.

God is willing to let us try our own way now, and to suffer with us now—so that we can learn to trust Him, so He can give us eternal life. “For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21).

A Better Way

You and I don’t need to learn to trust God the hard way. God has already given us an example of a better way. We find that example in the life of Abraham.

Notice what God told Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3:

Now the Eternal had said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. And all the clans of the earth will be blessed through you.”

Those are some amazing promises. God promised that Abraham’s descendants would become a great nation, and all people would be blessed through him, if he did what God said.

And what did Abraham do? “And Abram went, as the Eternal had told him” (Genesis 12:4).

Abraham believed God, so he obeyed what God told Him to do.

And that is exactly how God wants you and I to respond to His promises. He wants us to have complete faith in Him—and to do what He tells us to do—for our own good.

Because Abraham trusted and obeyed God, God continued to make more promises to Abraham.

Notice all of the promises God made to Abraham in Genesis 17:1-8:

Now when Abram was 99 years old, the Eternal appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me, and be blameless. And I will make my contract between Me and you, and will make you become very, very many.”

And Abram bowed down on his face. And God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, look, My contract is with you, and you will become the father of many nations. Your name will no more be called Abram [which means Exalted Father], but your name will be Abraham [which means Father of Many]; because I have made you the father of many nations. I will make you very reproductive, and I will make nations of you. And kings will come out from you. And I will establish My contract between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting contract, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling—all the land of Canaan—for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God.”

Abraham believed what God said.

Many years later, God tested Abraham’s faith by telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac (Genesis 22). This was the ultimate test of faith.

What would you do?

Abraham did not know why God told him to sacrifice his son. But he didn’t argue. He didn’t demand an explanation. He didn’t refuse to obey.

Abraham trusted God. He trusted that God was right. He trusted that God had a good reason for this command that Abraham could not understand. He trusted that if he obeyed God, somehow God would spare his son Isaac, because God had promised to bless Isaac (Hebrews 11:17-19).

So Abraham obeyed. He obeyed because he trusted God more than he trusted himself. And what happened? God stopped Abraham before he killed Isaac, and God sent a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead.

Now that Abraham had proved his faith by his obedience, God made His promises to Abraham unconditional:

“I have sworn by Myself, says the Eternal, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your one and only, indeed I will certainly bless you, and I will certainly increase the number of your offspring like the stars of the sky, and like the sand which is on the seashore, and your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:16-18)

These great promises are not only to Abraham, but also to Abraham’s children. And these promises are dual. You see, Abraham has two kinds of children:

1. Physical descendants, and
2. Spiritual children, who follow Abraham’s example of faith and obedience (Galatians 3:26-29)

Abraham is the “father of many nations” and the father of many children in more than one way. Yes, there are many nations today who are the physical descendants of Abraham, who have received the physical blessings promised to Abraham. But ultimately, Abraham will be the father of all nations. All nations will be blessed through him and his offspring—Jesus Christ—when they follow Abraham’s example of faith and obedience.

Abraham’s Physical Descendants

Now let’s look at what the Bible says will happen to the physical descendants of Abraham in the last days.

Notice that the promises that God made to Abraham were passed on to his son Isaac (Genesis 26:1-5), and to Isaac’s son Jacob (Genesis 28:13-14).

God revealed several additional details about the future to Jacob, which are recorded in the book of Genesis:

• Jacob’s descendants would “spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south” (Genesis 28:14).
• In Genesis 49, Jacob foretold what will happen to each of his sons in the last days. Here he reveals that his son Joseph would be blessed more than all of his other sons.
• In Genesis 48, Jacob foretold the destiny of Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

Genesis 48 tells the story of how Jacob adopted Joseph’s two sons. In this way Joseph would receive two parts of the family inheritance, rather than one.

When Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, he put his right hand on Ephraim, who was younger. Joseph thought that his father, who was blind, had made a mistake:

And Joseph said to his father, “Not like that, my father, because this is the firstborn! Put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become the group of nations.” (Genesis 48:18-19)

Here Jacob foretold that Manasseh would become a great people—a single, powerful nation. But his brother Ephraim would become an even greater group of nations.

When did these things happen?

In a previous lesson you learned about a 2520-year period of punishment on Israel that began when Israel turned away from God near the end of King Solomon’s reign. This period of punishment expired in 1585. That is the exact time that the nations of Northwestern Europe, including the Netherlands, France, England, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and others, began to rise in wealth and power. Since these nations fulfilled the prophecy about the rise of the Israelites in the last days, we can identify these nations as the modern descendants of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel.

Israel also had a second period of punishment that started when the Assyrians began to take the Israelites away from their homeland in 733 BC. This 2520-year period expired in 1788.

At that time, the United Kingdom began to replace France as the leading world power. Australia was also founded in 1788. In the area of modern Canada, the first administrative districts ruled by English law were formed in 1788, leading to the establishment of Upper Canada three years later. The British Empire continued to grow until it ruled one-quarter of the world—the greatest empire in the history of the world. This is the great “group of nations” that the Bible identifies as the descendants of Ephraim.

Ephraim’s brother, Manasseh, is the United States of America. Britain’s American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. However, their attempt to operate as a loose federation of independent states quickly ran into major problems. As a result, a group of representatives from the states wrote a new constitution to form one united nation. This constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, marking the beginning of the United States of America. The United States eventually became the wealthiest and most powerful single nation in history, fulfilling the prophecy in Genesis that Manasseh would become a great people.

These blessings did not come to Israel because they were better than other people. The Bible says this to Israel: “Know therefore, that the Eternal your God doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people” (Deuteronomy 9:6). Rather, these blessings came “because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My commission, My commandments, My edicts, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5).

But with these blessings came a responsibility to obey God. God chose Israel to be an example to all nations. If they obeyed God, they would become a positive example for others to follow (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 4:5-8). But if they rejected God and His laws, then God said He would punish Israel first, before punishing other people (Romans 2:9).

Has Israel obeyed God? Are the people of Northwestern Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa righteous, God-fearing people?

Certainly not! In fact, the modern nations of Israel are leading the world in rejecting God and His laws.

In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, God revealed what He would do if Israel rejected Him. These prophecies were fulfilled in the past, but their ultimate fulfillment is for our time. And these prophecies are being fulfilled today.

Notice the sequence of punishments that God foretells in Leviticus 26, beginning in verse 14:

1. “I will appoint terror over you.”

   The terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001 was just one of many times of terror that have plagued the people of Israel and Judah in the past few decades. The terror also comes from within. Mass shootings and bomb threats have become common in the United States and other Israelite nations.

2. “Consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away.”

   Does this accurately describe new diseases like AIDS that have been a curse in recent decades? Are not many of these diseases spread as a result of rejecting God’s laws about fornication and adultery?

3. “You will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it.”

   Who are the largest exporters of food in the world? Who buys the food that they export? Check it out.

4. “You will be defeated before your enemies.”

   What happened in Afghanistan?

5. “Those who hate you will rule over you.”

   Consider the attitude of the leaders of these nations, who openly disdain half of the people in their own nation.

6. “You will flee when no one pursues you.”

   Why did the United States flee from Afghanistan, when no one pursued?

7. “I will break the pride of your power.”

   Does anyone in the world have confidence in the strength and resolve of the United States, after the world watched the Taliban reconquer Afghanistan in a few days, before the Americans could leave? Do Russia, China, North Korea, and others believe that the once-powerful United States is now too weak to stop them from their desires?

8. “I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain; for your land won’t yield its increase, neither will the trees of the land yield their fruit.”

   Consider the major droughts that continue to plague the United States and Australia.

These curses have already begun to come on the modern nations of Israel and Judah. And these are only the beginning of God’s punishments.

The prophecy continues to predict things that have not occurred, so far, at the time that I write this lesson. This is what is ahead for the modern people of Israel and Judah (Leviticus 26:23-39):

• Wild animals will roam their streets and kill people
• War in their land
• Widespread disease while they are besieged within their cities
• Defeat
• Famine
• Cannibalism during the famine and siege
• Cities destroyed
• The people taken away from their land and sold as slaves around the world

It may be hard to believe. But that is exactly what happened to Israel and Judah in the past. It will happen again—unless these nations turn back to God!

Prophecy foretells that these once-powerful nations will be conquered and cease to exist. Israel and Judah will be scattered among the nations, sold as slaves, and put to forced labor. Indeed, another Holocaust is coming, much larger than the first.

These events are not foretold only once. They are repeated again and again throughout the Bible.

Consider the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a prophet among the Jewish captives who were taken away to Babylon. But Ezekiel’s message was not for Judah. God sent Ezekiel to Israel: “I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has sinned against Me” (Ezekiel 2:3).

Ezekiel recorded warnings for Israel, foretelling a time of captivity if Israel did not repent. But Israel had already gone into captivity more than 125 years earlier! His prophecies were not for his day, but for our time today.

Read Ezekiel 5. It gives specific details of how Israel will be defeated. How many will die at that time?

“A third part of you will die with the plague, and they will be consumed with famine within you. A third part will fall by the sword around you. A third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.” (Ezekiel 5:12)

Two-thirds of the modern people of Israel will die in the coming war and famine. And the remaining one-third will be taken away into slavery.

Notice Deuteronomy 28:68: “The Eternal will bring you into Egypt again with ships. … There you will be offered for sale to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.” This has never happened in history. It is a prophecy for the future.

The prophet Moses foretold, “evil will happen to you in the last days; because you will do that which is evil in the Eternal’s sight, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 31:29).

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and many other prophets spoke of the defeat and captivity of Israel and Judah at the end of the age. These prophecies are sure. They will happen. The good news is that the worst period of trouble will only last a few years, and this time of trouble will ultimately lead Israel to turn to God and trust Him. But that story is for another lesson.

Next Lesson: A Prophetic Outline of History

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