I've been a Christian since the early 1990's and have read the Bible more times than I can count, read more books than I care to remember, and have listened to more sermons than most ministers have preached in a lifetime - usually more than once. The Bible says to "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15). It is with this background and understanding that I present this edition of My Humble But Accurate Opinion:
In all my years of study, I have never found the United States represented in scripture. Oh, there are the few vague inferences that some have presented. And if you close one eye, and squint the other really hard, you may actually see it. I haven't. Especially when it comes to scriptures that deal with what has been called "The End Times".
Now understand, the Bible can be broken up into several sections of history beyond just the "Old" and "New" testaments. I'm not going into a great amount of detail here, because, as the title of this article suggests, I've got a point to make. I will say that, in the New Testament, the historical records of the events that were occurring during that time, come to an end at the end of the Book of Acts. There are letters (or "epistles") that follow, but for the most part they fall historically during the times of the Book of Acts. Until you come to the book of Revelation.
Okay, I did it. I mentioned that book of books that makes people either get their hearts a'pumpin' with excitement, or makes their eyes glaze over. And to be honest, for the most part, I tend to fall into the latter group. There is an awful amount of imagery there. In some aspects those images lend themselves to the coming of the fall of Rome; in others they present a time that is historically down the road. But understand: the locations represented there are local to the areas around the Middle East. There is not even a remote reference to any nation to the west. No great "eagle" across the great pond. Nothing. The center of the world, in view of the Bible, is Israel - especially the city of Jerusalem.
There are two main books of the Bible that specifically deal in end times events: Daniel (Old Testament) and Revelation (New Testament). I'm not saying that those are the only references; just the main ones. And, read them yourself, you will not find the United States in either.
What's my point? Think about it. Nothing takes place in the world without the involvement of the United States. Our currency is the basis for the world's economy. We are the biggest ally of Israel. You can't find a peace process initiated in the Middle East without the hand of the United States all over it. Good or bad, the United States is intricately involved in everything that goes on in this world. So, how can you have an infallible book that has proven itself over and over to be accurate (historically, archaeologically, prophetically, etc.) completely miss the existence of the United States in the "current affairs" of the events taking place at the "end times"? Did God say, "Oops!"? I don't think so.
Something has to take place that removes the United States as a world power; eliminating any need for its involvement in the events of the end times.
Take a moment to absorb that. I'll wait.
Now don't get me wrong: I love this country and want nothing more than to see it prosper, grow, and be an ever-driving force for good. I believe that this nation was founded by men and women who loved God and sought His guidance in their affairs. More evangelism (a.k.a. "soul winning") has come forth from the United States than any other nation. But something has to happen in order for the end time events to take place. In other words, Jesus isn't coming back until the United States "goes away".
There are many possible causes for the removal of the United States as a world power/influencer, but I think they can all be whittled down to three possible scenarios: The Rapture takes place, economic collapse, or massive terrorist attacks beyond the scope of 9/11.
The Rapture takes place. The Bible says: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them…" That is a instantaneous mass exodus. When this takes place there is going to be an immediate and drastic drop in the population of the United States. At this point there will be chaos. The United States will implode trying to handle it. Just imagine what will happen when a large portion of our armed forces disappear - around the world! This country will pull every one back within its borders and "circle the wagons".
Economic collapse. Already the dollar has lost so much value due to the non-stop printing presses. Understand, we have a LOT of debt. Some say that we should tax the "rich" and that would solve everything. Honey, if you take the total net worth from everyone that is $250k or greater, you wouldn't even dent the amount of debt we have. And if they don't change the amount being spent, the amount recouped by taking it from the "rich" will be forgotten in a year - and then just who do they go after? The "new rich" - a.k.a. "the rest of us"! In order to pay the multiple trillions of debt due annually they crank out more dollars out of the printing presses. And the more they do, the less value those dollars have.
That's right boys and girls, you can blame the "evil oil companies" for the high gas prices, but understand that it takes more dollars to buy the same amount of oil. Ask your parents how much a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, or a gallon of gas cost them when they were kids . . .
Not only are we in such a deep hole financially, but the world is already looking at replacing the dollar as the world recognized currency. Heck! With the President's "apology tour", for one example, how can you blame them?
Massive terrorist attacks. This one is (hopefully) the least likely, but you can't rule it out. Look what happened immediately after 9/11. Yes, I know it got us fired up, but not until after we first went fetal. A terrorist attack now doesn't have to be a plane in a building. You can pretty much take out a couple of city blocks with a nuclear device in a suitcase. A dirty-bomb would take out even more - make Japan's nuclear reactor woes seem more than mild. Getting them into the country wouldn't be impossible either - we all know how secure our borders are (insert sarcasm HERE). Since 9/11 we have full-groping by the TSA at our airports. Can you imagine what this country would be like after multiple, simultaneous, attacks?
Of the three, the first two are most likely to take place. And keep in mind, the scripture referenced above does consider the Rapture "comfort". I think that the second, economic collapse, is most likely to take place first, though there aren't any prophetic scriptures that have to take place before the Rapture can.
Now let's tie this column's title into this.
Muslims believe Jesus is coming back. That's right. They believe in the end times of the Bible. I know they say they follow the Koran, but as the saying goes, "Actions speak louder than words." The picture below (and please follow the link after you finish this article to read the information that the submitter graciously provided with it) shows the East Wall of the holy city of Jerusalem. In particular one of the gates to the city known as the Golden Gate.
Notice what is front of the gate? A cemetery. There is a cemetery, of Muslim graves, put there to prevent Elijah, who is to arrive before the Messiah, from going through the gate upon Jesus the Messiah's return. You see, they believe that a holy man would never step upon the ground of a dead person - they would become defiled and "unclean". Do you get it? They planted graves to prevent this event from happening. I hate to say this, but Muslims believe Jesus is coming back more than some Christians I've talked to over the years.
My point: It is in the best interest of Muslims that the United States remains a world power. They should stop trying to take it out. They should do everything in their power to keep the United States a world power, or the Messiah WILL be coming back and they KNOW it! And when He does, an offensive cartoon will be the least of their worries!
Stop the Jihad, I want to get off!
©
Emittravel 2011
