Is America Mentioned in Scripture? Part 1
For most, if not all of the “Left Behind” crowd, the notion that “America is not mentioned in scripture” fits nicely into their pre-tribulation belief system. They believe that America’s prominence in the world will be destroyed, and all who are left after this devastation will march in lock-step with the Antichrist and his minions. Others suggest that America is even “Mystery Babylon,” and that its destruction will follow from the words in Revelation 18:
2: And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3: For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
This, of course ignores the fact that in verse 10, it says:
10: Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
…and also Isaiah 13:
19: And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20: It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
Clearly, the prophesy is about the “great city” “of the Chaldees’ excellency.” Babylon has been a habitable city dating back to Noah’s time, and it still is. Clearly, it will rise again to be a city of great importance, and it will be “Mystery Babylon” (not Rome and not America).
Then, if America is not “Mystery Babylon,” then where would it be mentioned? First of all, misinterpretations of Daniel’s visions need to be dispensed with. Michael, the archangel told Daniel:
Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Daniel witnessed, listened to, and recorded the visions he saw, but he could not understand them. However, he was told that the words he wrote would be sealed, “even to the time of the end, [when] many shall run to and fro (technology will allow men to traverse the globe), and knowledge shall be increased (technology will allow men to know far more than they had known in any time previously).
So what does this mean? It clearly means that man would not know the meaning of Daniel’s prophesies and visions until “the time of the end.” Only within the past thirty or forty years have we had the ability to “run to and fro” and have had the ability with the use of computers for the increase in knowledge spoken of in Daniel 12, so that would mean that interpretations of Daniel’s visions prior to our time are incorrect.
Therefore, the interpretation of the “four beasts” as Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome are incorrect, since this interpretation was borne out of the Ante-Nicene Fathers in AD 325. Daniel’s vision in chapter 8 also tells of two beasts as being “a ram which had two horns,” and the other as a “goat [that] had a notable horn between his eyes.” These two beasts are clearly identified:
20: The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
21: And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
The four beasts spoken of in Daniel 7 are traditionally identified as Babylon (“a lion, and had eagle's wings”), Persia (“like to a bear”), Greece (“like a leopard”), and Rome (“diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns”). However, how can it be that Persia and Greece, spoken of in Daniel 8 as a ram and goat are also like “a bear,” and “a leopard?” God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33), therefore, the beasts spoken of in Daniel 7 must represent someone or something else.
Also, in the interpretation of this vision in verse 17, it says:
“These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.”
The tense of this sentence is clearly in the future, and since Babylon was on the verge of being overthrown by the Persians, and the Persians were already on their doorstep, no part of this vision can be concerning them either.
So, I believe that it can be established that the traditional interpretation of Daniel 7 is incorrect. I can also establish, by using Daniel 8 that the beasts used in the vision of the four beasts are representative of nations and winds of social change in our time. Again, Daniel 8 identifies the Medes and Persians as “a ram with two horns,” and Greece as a “rough goat.” This identification is due to the fact that, at that time, both nations used these animals as emblems of their respective countries:
Persian monarchs wore a jeweled ram's head of gold instead of a crown.
Amyntas I of Macedon, upon being threatened with an invasion, became tributary to Persia about 547 B.C.
The history of this event is recorded in one of the pilasters of Persepolis, as a Persian holding a one-horned goat in his left hand.
Archelaus of Macedon minted a one-horned goat coin in 413 B.C.
As with this identification of nations with animal representatives in Daniel 8, the same goes with a proper identification of nations with animal representatives in Daniel 7. Let’s see what Daniel says about the first beast:
4: The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
The lion has been a national emblem of England dating back to William the Conqueror (A.D. 1066), and the eagle has been America’s national emblem since its birth. Also, coupled with the description of it being “lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it,” clearly this portion of the vision is speaking of constitutional representative democracy. No other form of societal government can be described as such. Also, the “wings thereof were plucked” clearly describes America’s split with England in 1776.
Therefore, if America can be established as being, in part, the first of the four beasts in Daniel 7, then America will NOT be destroyed as so many false prophets and false teachers claim will happen. We know this from Daniel 7:11-12:
11: I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn [of the forth beast] spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
12: As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
Here, it clearly says that the first three beasts will outlive the forth, although America’s dominion and world prominence will be taken. I believe that America will survive the great tribulation, and that we will have a great role to play in world events as Israel’s friend and ally. I will speak more regarding this in part 2.
2: And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3: For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
This, of course ignores the fact that in verse 10, it says:
10: Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
…and also Isaiah 13:
19: And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20: It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
Clearly, the prophesy is about the “great city” “of the Chaldees’ excellency.” Babylon has been a habitable city dating back to Noah’s time, and it still is. Clearly, it will rise again to be a city of great importance, and it will be “Mystery Babylon” (not Rome and not America).
Then, if America is not “Mystery Babylon,” then where would it be mentioned? First of all, misinterpretations of Daniel’s visions need to be dispensed with. Michael, the archangel told Daniel:
Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Daniel witnessed, listened to, and recorded the visions he saw, but he could not understand them. However, he was told that the words he wrote would be sealed, “even to the time of the end, [when] many shall run to and fro (technology will allow men to traverse the globe), and knowledge shall be increased (technology will allow men to know far more than they had known in any time previously).
So what does this mean? It clearly means that man would not know the meaning of Daniel’s prophesies and visions until “the time of the end.” Only within the past thirty or forty years have we had the ability to “run to and fro” and have had the ability with the use of computers for the increase in knowledge spoken of in Daniel 12, so that would mean that interpretations of Daniel’s visions prior to our time are incorrect.
Therefore, the interpretation of the “four beasts” as Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome are incorrect, since this interpretation was borne out of the Ante-Nicene Fathers in AD 325. Daniel’s vision in chapter 8 also tells of two beasts as being “a ram which had two horns,” and the other as a “goat [that] had a notable horn between his eyes.” These two beasts are clearly identified:
20: The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
21: And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
The four beasts spoken of in Daniel 7 are traditionally identified as Babylon (“a lion, and had eagle's wings”), Persia (“like to a bear”), Greece (“like a leopard”), and Rome (“diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns”). However, how can it be that Persia and Greece, spoken of in Daniel 8 as a ram and goat are also like “a bear,” and “a leopard?” God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33), therefore, the beasts spoken of in Daniel 7 must represent someone or something else.
Also, in the interpretation of this vision in verse 17, it says:
“These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.”
The tense of this sentence is clearly in the future, and since Babylon was on the verge of being overthrown by the Persians, and the Persians were already on their doorstep, no part of this vision can be concerning them either.
So, I believe that it can be established that the traditional interpretation of Daniel 7 is incorrect. I can also establish, by using Daniel 8 that the beasts used in the vision of the four beasts are representative of nations and winds of social change in our time. Again, Daniel 8 identifies the Medes and Persians as “a ram with two horns,” and Greece as a “rough goat.” This identification is due to the fact that, at that time, both nations used these animals as emblems of their respective countries:
Persian monarchs wore a jeweled ram's head of gold instead of a crown.
Amyntas I of Macedon, upon being threatened with an invasion, became tributary to Persia about 547 B.C.
The history of this event is recorded in one of the pilasters of Persepolis, as a Persian holding a one-horned goat in his left hand.
Archelaus of Macedon minted a one-horned goat coin in 413 B.C.
As with this identification of nations with animal representatives in Daniel 8, the same goes with a proper identification of nations with animal representatives in Daniel 7. Let’s see what Daniel says about the first beast:
4: The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
The lion has been a national emblem of England dating back to William the Conqueror (A.D. 1066), and the eagle has been America’s national emblem since its birth. Also, coupled with the description of it being “lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it,” clearly this portion of the vision is speaking of constitutional representative democracy. No other form of societal government can be described as such. Also, the “wings thereof were plucked” clearly describes America’s split with England in 1776.
Therefore, if America can be established as being, in part, the first of the four beasts in Daniel 7, then America will NOT be destroyed as so many false prophets and false teachers claim will happen. We know this from Daniel 7:11-12:
11: I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn [of the forth beast] spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
12: As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
Here, it clearly says that the first three beasts will outlive the forth, although America’s dominion and world prominence will be taken. I believe that America will survive the great tribulation, and that we will have a great role to play in world events as Israel’s friend and ally. I will speak more regarding this in part 2.
posted by yohannbiimu at 6:09 PM
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