The United States and papacy will lead a worldwide effort to force people to worship the beast power and receive its mark or die, known as Armageddon battle (see Study Guide 20).
God promises those who persecute His followers that a series of physical disasters await them, including drying rivers up and an eclipse obscuring the sun and moon.
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What does the Bible say about America?
Simply put, the Bible warns us that God isn’t happy with America or its people – this sentiment rings especially true among Christians living here. Many professing Christ yet serve Him are abandoning his word and falling into sin, just as predicted in scripture. They turn toward homosexuality, tattoos, yoga classes, sensuality in church gatherings, sexual content in sermons, sensuality within worship services – practices which would have shocked people 50 years ago but now are mainstream practices within Christianity itself.
The Bible warns us that, during the end times, many will turn from faith. Maintaining it will be challenging in such an evil world; people will become lovers of self, money and prideful arrogant people with no concern for those suffering or needy. In society and church these behaviors will become commonplace.
Bible prophecies that an evil spirit will arise that speaks against Jesus and His church, ridiculing and denigrating Christianity; many will even be applauded for doing so in our culture. Only through an all-out spiritual renewal in America can America return to Jesus; therefore we should pray for our nation and expose any evil we find there.
The Bible predicts that the end of the world will come as an unexpected and sudden surprise, like a thief in the night. People will not be prepared for its arrival and only those who know Jesus will escape unscathed.
The Bible makes it clear that America will play an essential role in the end times. It will oppose Antichrist and his armies, yet not fight to defend Israel; acting instead as a “death angel” that destroys beast and False Prophet, yet does not defeat Antichrist himself. There have been suggestions that the “wings of a great eagle” mentioned in Revelation 12:14 could represent America airlifting our ally Israel to safety – perhaps Petra? However, that remains only speculation.
Why is the United States so evil?
The United States has long defined itself through its enemies. American rhetoric firmly establishes this image of its adversaries through two distinctively American features: Frontier myth and Puritan-influenced moral and religious beliefs that combine to form its image of them as foes. This binary worldview adds drama to foreign policy debates while constantly reinvigorating national identities by pitting virtuous, civilized Self against an evil, barbarian Other.
First and foremost is the assumption that evil exists as a powerful force that dominates history, be it terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS or rulers such as Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic who threaten world peace directly. Employing religious terminology to dehumanize these adversaries evokes the myth of the Frontier while providing justification for war by asserting they threaten “noble values” that must be secured through violent means.
George W. Bush created an enemy image designed to ensure that only violence and war would work against terrorists; for instance, portraying them as more human than not and full of supreme cunning yet radical evil, and asserted that negotiations cannot persuade or prevent them from slaughtering innocent people on their quest for global destruction.
Domestically, Americans often see the enemy image as a means to bring civilization and order back into an unstable and violent world of drugs, crime and mass shootings. Unfortunately, this creates an illusion which reinforces a dangerous belief: that minority groups like women or minorities will never fully participate in American society and white men must use violent means to defend their way of life in order to preserve it. As such, violent confrontation becomes common place and results in criminalizing entire populations, creating school-to-prison pipelines which further inequality while making subgroups more prone to political violence than ever.
What will happen to America after the Rapture?
Believers in the Rapture will be taken from this world and taken straight to heaven when this happens, which will have an immediate effect on United States and other countries around the globe. It would seem that everyone involved with government, military, business, industry, agriculture, medicine and communications simply vanished without warning – an unprecedented event with global implications that causes chaos and false explanations; those left behind will experience intense lamentations before God unveils antichrist and unleashs His judgments upon earth.
Some Christians hold to the view that Christ will return and reign over all nations before his rapture is fulfilled, which is known as pretribulationism. Others hold that He will come back at some time in the future when His kingdom begins on Earth again (known as posttribulationism), or at any point without any timeline set for Him coming back as King, thus leading them down their respective paths of belief about when or if His return will occur – another view known as posttribulationism. Yet others maintain that His return could occur anytime between now and his return!
No matter one’s beliefs are, it is essential to realize that the rapture is just one aspect of Christian eschatology. There will be numerous events leading up to the return of Christ such as tribulation, Antichrist and Armageddon which must all culminate in His return; Christians who focus too heavily on rapture alone risk overlooking more important events and may miss issues clearly covered in Scripture that are more clearly addressed therein.
Understanding the Rapture requires keeping in mind that Satan doesn’t know when or if it will take place; so he won’t be able to indwell or empower the Antichrist until that point in time has arrived. Therefore, Christians need to regularly read their Bibles and study eschatology as part of preparing themselves for whatever may come in future years.
The Rapture will be one of the greatest events in human history. Millions will vanish from Earth that day as their resurrection bodies from Pentecost to Rapture are taken up into heaven; every atom in their physical bodies will be reconstituted into glorified bodies fit for heaven.
Will America be destroyed?
Since 2014, many have joked nervously that we may be entering “The End Times”. And it is true that our world seems increasingly unsafe with pandemics, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and environmental crises; democratic governments becoming authoritarian; fears that democracies are turning authoritarian; environmental crises. If one takes literally the Book of Revelation it becomes even worse.
On this program, I am Terry Gross from Fresh Air on public radio, and we will explore the Book of Revelation which recounts a series of horrific natural and spiritual catastrophes which threaten Earth until Christ finally returns to eliminate all evil – almost like an action-horror movie script!
The Book of Revelation, the final book in the Bible, depicts an intense battle between Jesus and an enemy known as “the Beast”, often called Armageddon. This epic final battle may well be considered one of the bloodiest fights ever witnessed on planet earth.
Before the battle commences, God’s end-time people will experience a worldwide revival marked by miracles such as healing the sick and converting notorious god-haters and immoral celebrities. Leaders of this revival will urge everyone to join their movement and adopt Sunday worship services; saying the miracles demonstrate it is indeed His work.
At its conclusion, this worldwide coalition led by the United States will spout like a “dragon.” As discussed in Study Guide 20, Satan uses his power over humanity’s consciences to force worshipping against their will. Additionally, this coalition will influence nations around the globe to enforce death penalties on anyone refusing to follow its leader and worship its image.
God will search out those who commit evil in their hideaway, and destroy them. Even those with more wealth won’t escape His judgment; He’ll come after them in forts, caves and open fields – this is what it means to be God’s remnant.
