Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.
Proverbs 14:34
American Christians can be a self-centered and blindly arrogant bunch. Many of us tend to think that God functions merely to serve us; that He sits on His throne in heaven draped in an American flag and speaking English. I’ve been there. We see Bible prophecies through our western lenses instead of eastern lenses. The reality is that the Bible was written in an area of the world we call the Middle East, and it is Israel-and-Jerusalem-centric through most if not all of the books.
I’ve got a news flash for you: it can’t be proven yet that America is directly mentioned in the Bible. Many a prophecy teacher has attempted to find verses and passages that allude to the USA. Perhaps they will turn out to be right. Here are some of the more popular examples: Ezekiel 28:7-8, Daniel 11:39, Revelation 12:13-14 and Chapter 18. This last reference is the most popular, as there are those who believe America is “Babylon the Great”. Time will tell.
Certainly America has been blessed by God like no nation in history. We have had the strongest economy and fighting force the world has ever seen. For many years, we have sent out more missionaries and mission funding that any other nation. This has helped to set the stage for the Gospel to be preached to all people groups (Matthew 24:14). We have stood by Israel and been a refuge for the Jewish people (Genesis 12:3). And we have helped to increase knowledge on the earth at an incredible rate as prophesied at the end of Daniel (12:4).
One of the reasons people believe that America is not mentioned in the Bible is because of the rapture. This is due to the opinion that most Americans are Christians. Perhaps the rapture will one day radically alter our population. Since we are viewed as a “Christian” country (and that would be a very generous description of us today), the sudden departure of millions would collapse our economy and defenses, leaving us vulnerable. Once again, I believe this is rooted in a self-centered view of thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought (Romans 12:3).
We may have once been a majority-Christian nation, but no longer. Therefore, we exemplify the verse above from Proverbs. This is reason enough to get on our knees, pray for our country’s leadership and our churches, and look for personal opportunities to witness.
Lastly for today, I would like to leave you with one name of a humble but fiery man of God whom I believe is a prophet of God to the American Church. His name is Jonathan Cahn. Look into what God is saying through him.
