Where is America in Old Testament Prophecy?

By Mike Schroeder

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. ((Hosea 8:7))

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever. ((Is 40:8))

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.  ((Is 55:11))

I have heard it preached by other “stewards of the mysteries”¹ that America is not, in a figurative sense, anywhere in the Old Testament Prophecies.

I beg to differ.

It is generally agreed by most Bible scholars and teachers that the prophetic books of the OT are: a. about the Nation Israel in the kingdom era, a period covering approximately 400 years (cir. 1000 BC – 600 BC), after the division between Judah (which included the tribe of Benjamin) and the other ten tribes (i.e., “Israel”) into two opposing kingdoms; b. The spiritual, political and moral condition of these two kingdoms; c. the predictions of the results of these conditions; and d. the foretelling of a glorious future kingdom where the two divisions will be reunited under a Messiah King.² They are composed of seventeen “books”, beginning with Isaiah (the longest of all the prophecies), and ending with Malachi.

At one end of the Christian theological continuum are folks who believe that some of the predictions in these prophetic writings are presently being fulfilled in the events taking place in the Middle East. This would be the case with what is known as the Evangelical community, most of which is made up of “Futurists”,³ and “Historicists.”⁴ At the other end are those who call themselves Preterists,⁵ who believe that all prophecy was fulfilled by AD 70 (or shortly thereafter) with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Army—which they equate with the “great tribulation” described in Matthew 24—and Christ’s return at that time (the “Parousia”). Within these three categories, there are of course infinite variations.

My purpose here is not to argue for any particular eschatology,⁶ but rather to look at the prophetic writings in a spiritual sense. I do not believe that the prophetic scriptures listed above are about America, i.e., I don’t believe America is “Spiritual Israel,” “New Jerusalem,” or anything related to Israel in prophecy. Nor do I believe the Christian “church” is New Covenant Israel.⁷ I do, however, believe America, as a culture, represents a “type” of Israel during the kingdom age in the sense that it has morphed, from what was once a relatively free society under the rule of law, into a quasi-slave state under the arbitrary rule of a succession of tyrants (presidents) and an elite class of society comprised of individuals from academics, religion, politics, business, law, finance, military, media, etc.)⁸.

Just as Israel did in the kingdom, America is sliding into an ever-increasing state of moral decadence and degeneracy, accompanied by an ever-increasing form of religious posturing.⁹ Looking at the prophecy of Isaiah, we can see a description of this happening in Israel in the latter stages of the OT kingdom era:

Isa 1:2-15

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

4 nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Here, Isaiah equates Israel with the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,¹⁰ accusing them of iniquity,¹¹ corruption, and evil doing.

This is obviously about what is going in “high places”.¹² This is about those leaders in Israel—both religious and political—assuming a posture of righteousness and virtuosity, while simultaneously committing grievous crimes against both God and those under their leadership and influence, particularly the most helpless class of people, the widows and orphans.

Isa 1:21-23

21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. (KJV)

The rich and powerful in Israel are not merely ignoring the plight of the less fortunate among them, which the law clearly tells them not to do,¹³ they are—through chicanery and stealth—robbing them of their God-given possessions and leaving them destitute.¹⁴

Isa 5:7-8

7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

Jer 5:26-28

26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

When we look at the conditions in present-day America, if we do not allow ourselves to be blinded by a craven, phoney form of patriotism,¹⁵ we can plainly see the exact same things going on here as were going on in Israel during the kingdom period.

The American governmental system was originally instituted as a Republic under the rule of immutable law, which was enshrined in three founding documents¹⁶: a Unanimous Declaration of Independence, a Constitution, and a bill of ten unalienable¹⁷ Rights. In its original design, the government was comprised of a democratically elected Executive, Congress and Senate, and an appointed Judiciary. These three branches of the government were to be independent of one another and therefore act as ballasts against each other. The cornerstone of the Bill of Rights was the first amendment, which guaranteed the people’s right to freely speak their mind concerning the three branch’s (particularly the executive) activities as fiduciaries of the public trust, the right to freely assemble together to discuss these and other matters of concern, and finally, the right to directly petition the government and its agents with their grievances.¹⁸

The executive branch was composed of a chief executive officer (the President) and his cabinet, and the agencies associated with the various cabinet posts. The first president, George Washington, had one employee, a male secretary. His office was open at all times to any citizen who had a grievance. The president was also the commander in chief of the armed forces, but there was no standing army; the only permanent military force authorized in the Constitution was the navy. In place of a standing army was a militia, which was made up of every able-bodied male citizen, who was expected, as part of the responsibility of his citizenship, to be prepared to answer the call, at the behest of the Executive, to defend the country against an enemy invasion,

As it is often said, “we’ve come a long way, baby” since those days. And the “way” in which we’ve come is not good.

The similarity between Israel under its original constitution, the Mosaic law, and America under its original constitution, was that the law reigned supreme—even over those princes and heads of the various tribes.¹⁹ No one was above God’s law. In Deuteronomy chapter 28, the LORD, through Moses, tells the children of Israel that if they keep the law the nation would be blessed; if they didn’t it would be cursed.

This idea of the law being supreme was a unique experiment in world history up until that time, and among the surrounding nations of that time that were all ruled over by kings.

Israel existed under the rule of God’s supreme law for some 350 years. The only governmental office instituted under the law, other than the princes of each tribe, were judges charged with settling disputes arising among the people.²⁰ This lasted until the people, under the judgeship of Samuel,²¹ demanded a king to rule over them.

1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.

3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 1 Sam 8:1-5

Samuel, after consulting with the LORD, acquiesced and agreed to give them a king.²² The first of these kings was Saul, a tall, handsome man, who typified the long succession of kings who would follow him over the next 400 years: flawed men who were incapable of obeying God’s commandments—men who errantly perceived themselves to be above the law—and thus inevitably lead the people into sin.²³ After the kingdom split at the end of Solomon’s rule, the northern kingdom (Israel) began to enter into forbidden (by the law) entangling alliances with their natural enemies, even to the extent of becoming debtors to them.

We can readily see the similarities here with the succession of rulers in America, particularly those who have ascended to the Presidency over the last one hundred years, with one important difference: Israel’s kings had the absolute authority of monarchs, with no ballast other than the prophets God sent to warn them and the people they ruled over. Only God could depose these rulers.

On the contrary, America’s rulers, under the Constitution, are limited by law in what they can and cannot do, and the people can lawfully remove them, either through the electoral process every four years, or sooner, through the Congress, by impeachment. The people also have a third wall of defense against Executive tyranny known as “jury nullification,” where any unlawful decrees enforced against individuals may be rendered null and void through acquittal by a criminal trial jury.²⁵

Yet, as the size and scope of the central government, and the power of the presidency with it, has expanded over the last 100 years, these walls of protection have become less and less effective. Presidents, in recent years, have been able to step around the law through what has become known as “signing statements.²⁶ Although this practice can be traced as far back as the presidency of James Monroe,²⁷ recent presidents have elevated it to high art, using it to skirt congressional and judicial oversight.

The ABA has stated that these kinds of signing statements violate the rule of law; that the lawful method of dealing with the issues in contention is through the presidential veto.²⁸ The reason recent presidents have forgone the veto in favour of executive orders is obvious: Congress can override a presidential veto.²⁹

Despite the fact that abuse of this privilege seems to continue unabated, ‘the people’, by and large, have remained ignorant of its far-reaching ramifications. While we have not officially declared that the office of the president is actually a kingship, we have, through our willful ignorance and subsequent acquiescence, effectively made it so.

While Israel existed for 400 years under the oppression of her native kings, on a few occasions they got one who turned out to be a good ruler.³⁰ Despite this, both Israel and Judah eventually ended up under the rule of their natural enemies and the kingship of foreigners.³¹

This is exactly where America is headed as a nation. The most recent moves towards this are the Law of the Sea Treaty³²and the proposed North American Union.³³ Both of these initiatives are aimed at dismantling America as a sovereign nation, effectively putting us under the rule of an international tribunal, and both are supported by our current president. Just as Israel, through her disobedience of God’s law became a captive of her enemies, and subject to their arbitrary and oppressive rules, so will America go this way if ‘we the people’ continue in our complacency and silence, sheepishly acquiescing to the unlawful decrees and mandates of our elected and appointed leaders.

What has been said here will, no doubt, be countered by many Christians with the statements: “it’s (opposing the government) a waste of time; it’s (the metamorphosis into a slave state) is inevitable; it’s God’s will; we’ll be raptured out of here before this happens; it’s not our fight, etc., etc. I can assure you that “it” will surely come about if enough folks ascribe to these attitudes. Just as Israel could not blame God for their demise (they were warned by God–through Samuel–of the consequences of being under the rule of human kings), neither will Christians be able to do this when America, under the rule of law, goes down the tubes. We can pray for a good outcome—and we should—all day long, but if we sit on our hands and do nothing, we will go the way of every other great human experiment, with God silently watching.

This world isn’t going to last forever, nor are we, as individuals, going to be here forever. But “woe” is unto us (and our posterity) if we give tacit approval to evil,³⁴ by failing to speak and act when we had the chance.

For Christians to fully partake of the freedoms and the largess resulting from living in a free society (which most do), and then turn around and claim no responsibility for keeping these freedoms is, at best, cowardly and hypocritical. While the “Church” is not spiritual Israel, to do this casts it as a type of Israel under the Old Covenant, who abdicated her freedom within the law for slavery under her native rulers, and eventually, under the oppressive hand of her enemies, who despised her and her law.

All Scripture references are taken from the King James Bible.

Related articles: Make Us a King; Israel: Where does she stand in the Dispensation of Grace?; Is Prophecy being presently fulfilled in current events?; It’s Not My Concern

Post Script

None of us knows when this world in which we presently exist will come to its end. Neither do we know when the Lord will return to take his true church out of it. What we do know is that our individual lives will someday come to an end, and that we aren’t guaranteed another heartbeat, much less another day, week or year here. What we can know is, if the end of this life comes for us today, that we will be present with our Lord in heaven. In this respect may I ask you: are you personally assured of this? Have you ever trusted Jesus Christ and what he did for you at Calvary to secure your salvation?³⁵ Do you know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you are saved, sealed and bound for heaven? If you aren’t sure, make this the day of your salvation by admitting to your lost condition,³⁶ and then simply asking the Lord to save you. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”³⁷

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