If your sound is on you are listening to “There’s a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere.”

AMERICA IN PROPHECY

WHAT HAS GOD SAID ABOUT AMERICA?

Isa. 11:12 “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners {Heb. wings} of the earth.”

Of course, there is no literal mention of America anywhere in the Bible. But neither is there any mention of the Trinity or the Rapture. Such words are acceptable for use because they depict the concepts of things that are mentioned in the Bible. I believe that is the fashion in which we can see America in the above verse; America is shown conceptually.

In Isa. 11:11-12, the prophet Isaiah wrote that God would one day set up an ensign (a flag, a symbol, a sign) for all of the gentiles (nations). And then he would assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four wings of the earth. So what does God mean by the four wings of the earth? In the Nineteenth Chapter, verse 4 of Exodus, God says, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.” The concept in which the word, “wings,” is used in Ex. 19:4 is that of God’s supernatural work in bringing the Children of Israel out of Egypt. I believe that is the same concept of which He speaks of wings in Isa. 11:12.

The four wings of the earth are the four spiritual powers that God has placed in power over the earth to establish a nation whose flag will draw all of the Gentiles of earth, and also gather the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah. Conceptually, that ensign can represent no other flag in history other than The Star Spangled Banner waving over the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. And there can be no other nation than the United States of America so ordained of Almighty God to spread her Eagle’s Wings and call out to the politically, religiously, and economically oppressed of the earth, “LET FREEDOM RING!”

People have gathered into America from every nation of earth, many of them Jews. Since no one but Almighty God knows who the remnants of the lost tribes of Israel are, it seems more than probable to me that many of those people who have come from all over the earth are actually descendants of the lost tribes of Israel and, together with the Jews, represent The Remnant of Promise.

What then are the four spirits? In the Rev 4:6 we are told about four living creatures that are “full of eyes before and behind.” The eye in apocalyptic scripture is often representative of the spirit. These four living creatures are full of the Holy Spirit and can see and know both the past and the future (full of eyes both before and behind). In the Sixth Chapter of The Revelation these four beasts introduce us to four horses and four riders. Because they are full of the Holy Spirit, these four living creatures have power to inspire humanity to accomplish God’s purpose on Earth.

When each of these four living creatures in turn shows us a horse and a rider in the Sixth Chapter of the Revelation, they are revealing to us the concepts that they are busy inspiring in mankind upon the earth. Much more will be said about how these spiritual influences permeate our universe in the page, “Strongholds and Imaginations.” In the prophecies of the First and Third Chapters of Ezekiel, we see these same four living creatures all united together and moving to and fro over the earth wherever the spirit leads them. In Ezekiel’s vision of these living creatures, they are going about over the earth as they are lead by the Spirit, but mankind was not fully apprised of their purpose at that time. It was not until John saw them that humanity was fully apprised of the purpose of all of that activity that Ezekiel had seen them engaging in upon the earth.

From the Seventh Chapter of the Book of Daniel, verses 2 through 14 we can see that these spiritual forces have been given power over the rise and fall of nations in the regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea from the time of the Babylonian Empire until the Return of Jesus Christ. So we see that the four living creatures of heaven are actively involved in inspiring mankind to accomplish the will of God on earth concerning the rise and fall of empires. And from Isaiah, as shown above, we can see that they are also involved in the development of a separate nation whose symbol is the Eagle and whose National Ensign is a clarion call to freedom for all of the people of earth. And thus conceptually, by comparing the prophecies to actual history, we see that The United States of America has been ordained by Almighty God to hold the vanguard position in the battle to set mankind at liberty over the earth and to free them from religious, political, and economic tyranny. This is not a place of privilege, but a place of duty and responsibility. As such, when she fails in her duty she will be judged and punished more harshly than other nations, just as she is rewarded more abundantly when she is faithful to her calling. So the question which we must always consider is whether or not this purpose has now been accomplished, or is God still using America to free mankind from political, economic, and religious tyranny? The answer to that question is simple: The generation that sees either the destruction of America as a world power, or, the Sign of the Son of Man which Jesus told us about in Matt. 24:3--33, in their lifetimes will know that God has now accomplished his purpose in America.

It must be carefully noted that America has not been ordained to spread Christianity over the earth. America has been ordained to influence the spread of religious, political, and economic freedom over the earth. The church has been commissioned to proclaim the Gospel over the entire world. Jesus said that “The End” would not come until this had been accomplished. A summary of these things being accomplished until the end comes is given to us in the Sixth Chapter of the Revelation, verses 1-17.

It is also important to understand that America has been ordained to be a “Separate Nation” while influencing the spread of the freedoms of Democracy to all other nations without becoming their master, but their friend. Developing separate, independent nations over the earth where the liberties and prosperity of Democracy within the constraints of Christian Behavior can be enjoyed by all is the only way the world can avoid the coming imperialism of Satan’s New World Order. If any nation or person selfishly uses any of the three powers that God has ordained to spread freedom over the earth to liberate mankind from religious tyranny, political tyranny, and economic tyranny, then, instead of that nation or person fulfilling God’s mission for them, they become a sevant to the Whore of Babylon. 

There are three kinds of forces that exist in all communities of mankind from families to empires. These forces, when under the control of tyrants, oppress mankind and deny them the liberty to choose even life or death for themselves. These three forces, when they are held by tyrants, are religious tyranny, political tyranny, and economic tyranny. All cultures that have ever existed on the earth, or that are now existing, or that will ever exist in the future are dependent upon these three forces for their existence, and that is why tyrants have sought control of these forces in order to maintain control over the affairs of mankind. No culture, civilization, nation, or empire can form, or stand, without holding to some kind of religious power, economic power, and political power. These cultural powers are shown to us as horses and riders in the Sixth Chapter of the Revelation, so we need to examine the famous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in this light to see what they really signify.

Four Seals, Four Horses, Four Riders

In the Revelation we read of seven seals and the things that were revealed as Jesus Christ removed those seals from the Book. These seven seals reveal an overall outline of the prophetic history of earth during the age known in scripture as the last days. Chapter Six of The Revelation specifically summarizes the spread of particular kind of religious, political and economic power as those force spread freedom over the earth. The first five seals of the Sixth Chapter of The Revelation summarize these forces taking hold within nations where the Gospel has been believed and prospered. Then the sixth seal summarizes the time of Jehovah’s judgment of earth for mankind’s failure to conform to his law and purpose. The last five verses of that chapter summarize the judgment of the earth that will follow when those nations use these three cultural powers for their own selfish ends, and the church becomes so apostate that she has lost her saltiness and is fit for nothing but to be swept out and trodden down by man. (Matt. 5:13) The removal of the Seventh Seal revealed Seven Trumpets and Seven Bowls (or vials) of Wrath each of which reveal in greater detail the wrath of God’s judgment which had been previously outlined for us in Rev. 6:12-17. In this section we are concerned with the first five seals and what they describe.

First, it is important to understand that if Jesus is going to be King of His Empire when he returns to earth, His empire will have some administrative characteristics that are designed to serve the purpose of His Empire. We are told in Isa, 9:7 that the increase of His Government (read as dominion) shall have no end.  If Jesus’s Dominion shall have no end, it must continue to spread forever. The Earth will eventually be completely under His Dominion, and His empire will continue to spread throughout the Universe. An empire must have some means of governing its citizens and providing for their welfare, and the Empire of Jesus Christ will be no different. The Sixth Chapter of The Revelation explain the nature of the Empire that Jesus Christ will spread throughout the Universe, beginning on Earth during the Church age. Albeit, the forces that form this empire will be corrupted by mankind before Jesus returns to rule it with a rod of iron. 

Because horses are strong, powerful animals, when they are used symbolically in scripture, they represent things that have power. The power represented by horses and riders in Rev. 6:1-11 are the forces that have been given power over humankind. These forces can be generalized as: the force of what a person believes, the force of what a person needs in order to live, and the fear of Death. Because these three forces can be used to control humanity, a fourth force develops from them that seeks to gain control over mankind by controlling the other three of these four forces. This force invariably seeks to exercise control over the other three forces in order to have complete control over the people within its domain of influence. Kings, Caesars, Dictators, Tyrants, Emperors, Democratic Majorities, etc. have all tried to gain and keep absolute control over the powers of what men believe, and what they need to survive, while keeping them in fear of death in order to have absolute authority over people. This fourth force with power over mankind then is the political power under which men are subjected either willingly or by force. Since these four forces are common to all cultures, they can be understood as the fundamental cultural powers around which communities, nations, and empires are formed. The degree to which people can be subjected to tyranny within any culture depends upon the degree to which the people perceive that the political power has control over the other three forces, especially the power of Death.

Normally, all political powers have sought to control the other three powers in a culture in order to control the people of that culture. But, in the picture of the culture that God has ordained to spread over the earth in Rev. 6:1-11, Jesus Christ is shown as spreading His control over the religion of humanity. The people then have been given control over the political power, and the political power then has control of the economic power. Death then is shown as having control of all people who have rejected the Gospel, and who are now, all of their lifetimes, subject to bondage by the fear of Death. Hell and Death lose their power over a person who turns to Jesus Christ as the Gospel spreads over the earth. All other forces within the culture will become subject to the Will of Jesus Christ only to the extent that the people of the culture belong to him and submit themselves to His reign. This picture of the culture that I have described here will only be fully and finally accomplished when Jesus Christ returns to earth as he spreads His Dominion throughout the Earth during the time that Satan has been bound in the Abyss. This period of time is summarized in the Twentieth Chapter of The Revelation, but much greater detail of it is found in the prophecies of the Old Testament. These will be discussed in the section on The Millennial Kingdom.

The increase of His government about which Isaiah prophesied is shown in the Sixth Chapter of The Revelation, and this increase of the Dominion of Jesus Christ begins with the spread of the Gospel by the Church. During this age Satan will be able to corrupt the forces that Jesus has commanded to go forth over the earth to facilitate the spread of the Gospel, but when Jesus returns and Satan is bound for a thousand years, the spread of Jesus’ dominion will be completed in perfection.

But during this age, the commission and ordination to spread the Gospel over the earth are seen as Jesus Christ riding the white Horse of Christianity as the church spreads the Gospel over the earth. The political power, that has been given a sword to take peace from the earth, and which is shown riding the red war horse, has been ordained to spread a particular kind of political power over the Earth. The kind of political power that it has been commissioned to spread, using whatever force that becomes necessary, is the political power that sets mankind free from all forms of tyranny so they may choose for themselves to believe or reject the Gospel.

The economic power that is represented by the black horse, and the rider who holds the balance scales, is shown to be following both the religious power of Christ and His Church and the Political Power that is represented by the Red Horse and rider.  The extent to which Jesus Christ and His church control the political and economic power within a culture will determine the extent to which that culture has been freed from tyranny. This economic power shown by the black horse and rider is that of modified or regulated capitalism. Balance scales are symbolic of the market place. Because this particular economic power has been given specific instructions concerning the price of the necessities of life in relation to the wages to those who work to produce the economic prosperity of the culture, we can see that this economic power is that of regulated or modified Capitalism. 

The power of Death is shown riding the pale (literally the green) horse of the people who are all their lifetimes subject to his bondage by their fear of him. Only by believing the Gospel can people escape from his grasp. When people reject the Gospel they remain in his power all of their lifetimes. Make no mistake. When people reject the Gospel, as it is given to us in the New Testament, every moment and choice of their lives is made subject to their fear of death. Even when they are living their lives in oblivion to everything around them, they are doing so because they do not want to face the reality of Death.

The Four Horsemen in Chapter Six of The Revelation were introduced after John heard the sound of thunder. Thunder is symbolic of the voice of Almighty God speaking in power, usually to speak of war, judgment, or destruction concerning some person, some nation, or the entire earth. In this case it is to send the Son of Man forth to wage war over the earth in order to advance the particular culture that God wants planted everywhere on Earth because He wants all of mankind to be free to choose for themselves to either believe in Jesus Christ or to reject Him.