The Missing Country

Where is America found in Bible prophecy?

When it comes to Bible prophecy, America seems to be missing in action.

A number of nations will be active in the last days, according to Scripture. Libya is mentioned by name. Persia, which is now modern Iran and Iraq, is mentioned. Ethiopia is specifically mentioned. It seems that China and Russia are mentioned and Israel is certainly mentioned. But where is the U.S.A.?

Why is it so easy to find nations like Libya, Iran, Iraq, China and Russia, but not America in end-times prophecy? Why do we not appear to be in the last-days scenario? I am going to suggest three possible answers.

First, it may be that the United States will be destroyed from the inside. We may simply decline as a world power. For years now, God and the Bible have been under attack in this country. The spiritual underpinnings in our education system, the courts and the arts are being destroyed and it shows. We are beginning to suffer the consequences of our sins. We are starting to rot from the inside.

Rome was once the reigning superpower on this earth. She had the most powerful military anywhere. Rome collapsed, but she rotted on the inside before she collapsed externally. It started in her soul and spread from there. The empire descended into political corruption and spiritual bankruptcy. The turmoil on the inside made her vulnerable on the outside.

There is a battle for the soul of America being fought. It is a battle between darkness and light, good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness. It is being fought in the courts and the classrooms. It is being fought on television, in the movies and on the Internet. It is a struggle that may be lost to the secularists and it may cost America her life.

It is not hard to see the moral decay in America. The Bible, in the Old Testament book of Proverbs, says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). If we forget God and abandon the Bible, which is His Word, then we will reap what we sow. We will suffer the inevitable consequences of sin. In fact, we are already seeing some of that in the breakdown of the family, rampant crime and crushing debt that come as a result of disobeying God.

Under the Constitution, we are supposed to have freedom OF religion, but that seems to have turned into freedom FROM religion. The secularists have succeeded in getting God out of our schools, out of our sporting events, out of our public places and out of our workplaces.

Christmas, which used to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus, is now Happy Holidays, or Season’s Greetings, or simply the Winter Solstice. Good Friday and Easter, which used to be times to remember the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, have now turned into Spring Break. At our peril, we forget that the freedom we enjoy is built on the foundation of absolute truth and when you remove that foundation, that freedom can turn into anarchy.

The second possible answer for the absence of America in Bible prophecy may be that she will be devastated by nuclear war. It is a nightmare scenario and we hope it will not happen, but, the fact is, it might be in this country’s future. It can’t be ruled out as a possibility. There is no guarantee this will not happen. The possibilities have never been greater.

Many would say with the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, the threat of an American nuclear nightmare is gone. But, many nations have nuclear weapons. A rogue terrorist nation with nuclear capabilities could wreak havoc in this country. Or, a terrorist group might be able to pull off simultaneous, multiple nuclear attacks in big cities all over the country. I hope this is not the case, but it can’t be ruled out.

The third possible answer to why America seems to be missing in end-time prophecies is that a great revival might take place here. If that were to happen, this country could be heavily impacted. Let’s say, for example, that one-fourth of all Americans ended up being followers of Jesus Christ after another “great awakening.” That would mean there would be approximately 78 million believers in the United States.

Then, the Rapture happens and Jesus takes those 78 million saints with Him to Heaven. What would be the result in America if 78 million people disappeared? If people in local, state and federal government were suddenly whisked away, how would those governments continue to function without massive disruptions? What if Christians suddenly disappeared from the military, the economic sector, business, agriculture, medicine and communications? The result would be chaos. Our infrastructure would be in complete disarray.

When the Rapture takes place, it will impact every nation, not just the United States. It will send those remaining into at least a temporary panic. The markets will crash. Jets will fall out of the skies when they become pilotless. The planet will be struggling to explain why millions of people vanished into thin air.

I certainly hope a great revival will sweep across this land and into every corner of the world. It would please the Father to see people turn to Him on a scale such as we have never known before. That is what we need to pray for. We need to pray for revival.

The only hope for America is a return to the true and living God—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God who revealed Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ must again be this country’s focus. Then, and only then, will we see a revival like the Great Awakening of the late 1700s.

The recipe for revival is found in the Old Testament book of II Chronicles. “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14).

Ed Baswell pastors The Clarion Church and is the host of Crossfire Radio, weekdays from 7-9 am, on The Promise, 90.7 FM. The show is streamed live worldwide at promisetalkradio.org and at ktbs.com. It can be seen each day on the KTBS 24-hour, digital news channel.