Could America be Judged Before the Rapture of the Church?

This past week, I spoke at the Prophecy in the News Summit at Pikes Peak, taking place in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  The attendees numbered over 700 plus a very large global audience viewing through the live stream facility.  I spoke on two topics.  One was AFTER THE BLOOD MOON:  WHAT COMES NEXT.

My presentation before the largest audience was THE COMING JUDGMENT ON AMERICA: IS RUSSIA DESTINED TO NUKE THE UNITED STATES?

My theses:

1.  The U.S. has grown increasingly vulnerable over the past ten years to a possible Russian first strike attack, in part because of a partial unilateral disarmament by the United States, and because Russia has put an emphasis upon modernizing their nuclear capabilities, particularly their anti-ballistic missile system which has not been restrained by the ABM treaty (which has also expired), and because their ABMs can be offensive as well as defensive.  They have over 11,000 of these weapons surrounding their country.  They use small nuclear warheads as a means to knock out incoming ICBMs, but can serve as powerful tactical nukes as well to attack enemy ships (both aircraft carriers and even submarines).

2.  Russia has a window of opportunity to attack the U.S. It may have to take action very soon or it may lose the ability to do so—not because of growing Western weapon systems, but because economically Russia’s financial situation appears to be worsening monthly. There is significant economic pressure on Russia due to the falling price of oil (oil accounts for 52% of their federal revenue), western sanctions against Russia are taking a big toll on their economy, and finally the debasing of the Russian Ruble.  It has fallen to half its value in one year’s time.  Russia must use a significant amount of its economic resource to purchase dollars backing the Ruble in an attempt to stabilize its price.

3.  There is a significant new interpretation of Ezekiel 38:10-13 being argued by yours truly.  As Gog is plotting its attack on Israel in cahoots with Iran, Turkey, and the North African nations, the scripture says “At the same time, an evil thought will come into the mind of Gog.”  It attacks the land of unwalled villages, a country dwelling securely.  Verse 13 is usually interpreted as a “lame protest” against the attack on the land of unwalled villages by the Merchants of Tarshish, their young lions, and Sheba and Dedan.  But what if the verse is not a protest by Europe, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, not because of what Russia is doing to Israel, but because of what Russia is doing in attacking the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and parts of Europe?  In other words, it is the United States that is the land of unwalled villages.  If we connect this passage in Ezekiel (known as the attack of Gog and Magog) to Jeremiah 50-51, a surprise attack on the U.S. may in fact be the fulfillment of how the Daughter of Babylon is destroyed.

Explanation:

Today, we can envision Iran attacking Saudi Arabia.  The Shiites hate the Sunnis.   We can envision Western Europe, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia being the subject of the attack.  The fact is that Ezekiel 38:10-13 seems to be an important “aside”; a parenthetical comment by the prophet which broadens the scope of the attack by Gog and its confederation. Strategically, an attack on the allies of Israel concurrently with the attack on Israel, makes both political and military sense.  Bottom line:  Is the Daughter of Babylon attacked by armies from the “northern quarters” the same entity identified in Ezekiel as the Merchants of Tarshish and the young lions?  Ezekiel MAY be indicating that the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy (the daughter of Babylon) is one and the same attack Ezekiel outlines and identifies as Gog and his collection of armies also from the north?

If this attack is imminent, then perhaps the thesis of Psalm 83 as it has been promulgated by brother Bill Salus might need to be reinterpreted not as a future war, but as a war that has been underway since 1948.  The war between Israel and its immediate neighbors would be superseded by the attack of Gog and his hordes from around Eurasia, the Middle East, and North Africa.  Given that it is inconceivable that Israel could soon be a nation of unwalled villages and dwell in safety in the near term, it pushes the war of Gog and Magog to perhaps two decades away… or longer.  If we believe that the return of the Lord will happen within a generation from that generation that saw Israel first bloom through the 1947 UN resolution to partition TransJordan and create modern Israel, it suggests 2017 might be yet another significant date for an event that further establishes Israel’s security and possession of its land.  Is that event Psalm 83?  Or is that event the War of Gog and Magog?  Are the dates of 1917 and 1967 significant as Jubilee dates that validate Israel has been regaining its land in accordance to Bible prophecy?  Is the date of 2017 yet another date in which a war will transpire that brings Israel even closer to acquiring its ancient land as promised by the Lord to Abraham?

How the book is laid out:

The book recaps the history of what has been happening in the Ukraine and Crimea during the past 18 months, how NATO has responded, the saber rattling of Vladimir Putin, and why his threats are not likely to be empty threats.  I also provide in an appendix a history of the relationship between Russia and the Ukraine and why Ukraine and Crimea have been at the center of the major wars of the past 150 years:  The Crimean War, World War I, and World War II.  Given this, is it any accident that a dispute over the Ukraine and Crimea could be the fuse that ignites the third World War?  The language being used and the military escalation now underway on both sides (Russia and NATO) strongly suggests this could be the triggering event.

What this means: I propose the judgment of God will come against America who I argue is the Daughter of Babylon.  And I am suggesting that there is no scriptural evidence that this judgment has to be during the Great Tribulation–that it has to be among the “trumpet and vial judgments” in Revelation.  In other words, the U.S. has been under judgment already for almost three decades.  Every time we demand Israel give up land for peace, we experience judgment in the U.S. (see Koenig, McTiernan, Brennan, Cahn).  We can still affirm the pre-tribulation rapture and recognize that God’s judgment on the Daughter of Babylon could happen BEFORE the rapture.  After the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage and the revelations about Plan Parenthood (with federal subsidy) selling “baby parts”, I have found evangelicals (even those who are staunchly pre-trib) acknowledging that the judgment on America is now imminent and may in fact be more imminent than the rapture itself!

This leads to another subject which is the timing of the fall of Mystery Babylon in Revelation as opposed to the fall of the daughter of Babylon.  Are they the same events?  Are they different aspects to a multi-year process?  We know the beast turns on the whore of Babylon, the woman that rides the beast, and burns her with fire.  The destruction of the beast clearly occurs AFTER the destruction of the woman.  Does this occur at the beginning of the tribulation, at the mid-way point, later on during the Great Tribulation?  I am not sure at this time.  I believe my duty at this moment, however, is to point out that we could be approaching America’s destruction in the next few months or the next few years.  We must watch even more carefully now than ever.  The footsteps of the Messiah are unmistakable.

Conclusion:  

This discussion flows from and rides upon considerable momentum surrounding the notion put forth in my 2013 book The Final Babylon, co-written with Douglas Krieger and Dene McGriff, that America comprises the daughter of Babylon.  In essence, America is THE critical empire comprising the final form of Babylon, and its destruction stands as one of the most important aspects of last days’ prophecies.