The Future Of the United States And Europe Through The Lens Of The Apocalypse
continued
Here we are given a glimpse of how the wrath of the Lamb begins (verse 17). As this is only the beginning of His wrath (when the seven seals are opened) and not the imminent return of Jesus Christ, these judgments are of symbolic nature. Later, at His return, they will be literally fulfilled (Matthew 24:29-30).
• The earthquake ("...there was a great earthquake") points to the fact that in the last times everything that has held society together up until that time. will begin to shake
• The stars of the heavens serve as a means of orientation. When the sun becomes black, this will mean that there will be no more light. Man will become spiritually blind. The imminent Great Tribulation will have catastrophic results, particularly on the Western World, the so-called "Christian" west. I do not believe it will be easy to be converted after the Rapture of the Church in the dawning Great Tribulation. The Bible says in Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians that God will send darkness and blind the eyes of those who have ignored the truth and have rejected it, "...that they may believe a lie" (see 2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12).
The fact that the moon will become as blood points to war. War will break out on this earth at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. The stars that fall from heaven indicate that there is no more hope. The fact that the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll means that there will be no more means of orientation in the last times. Chaos and terror will rule, governments will lose power, spiritual and moral authorities will lose all significance and justice will fail. The beginning of this development is already taking place. Our time has been described by one man as a "new age of insecurity." Our news media reports of economic crises, wars, conflicts all over the world, unemployment, political instability, immorality and increasing terrorism. These are all clear signs of general degeneration.
Are they really stars that fall to the earth? Revelation 6:13 says, "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth..." Let's compare this text with Daniel 8:10: "And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them." Did this literally take place? No. Antiochus Epiphanes "stamped on," or killed, the great religious and political leaders of the Jewish people at that time. This king foreshadows the Antichrist and his actions in the last days before Christ returns.
Revelation 12:1 describes a woman who is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. These are the twelve tribes of Israel. What does the Antichrist want to do in the last times? He wants to destroy the foundation of the Jewish people by removing the patriarchs from the heavens. He wants to erase the Jewish people from the Bible. He will tear the "stars" from the sky and a part of the "stars" will fall from the sky, for the Jewish people will come into the Great Tribulation and go through darkness, although God will show them His grace therein.
The Lord Jesus Himself is called among other things, "the bright and morning star" (Revelation 22:16 and 2nd Peter 1:19) and the "Sun of righteousness" (Malachi 4:2).
Why will people call upon the mountains and rocks? After the sixth seal is opened, men will call upon the mountains and rocks: "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:16-17). These verses tell us that they will seek refuge in worldly power, but will not find it. All the "mountains," all humanitarian systems, laws and unions, whether they be political, military or economic, (such as the UN or NATO) will collapse and offer no more refuge. No earthly power will be capable of hiding or protecting the people from God's wrath. They will desperately seek safety and flee to these systems, but in the end, they will prove themselves to be theoretical refuges and will offer no protection from the Day of the Lord (compare Isaiah 2:10, Hosea 10:8 and Luke 23:30).
This is all beginning today. Most countries have great debt. Peter is robbed to pay Paul until it can go no farther.
A world power meets its downfall
When something like a gigantic fiery mountain falls into the sea at the end of days, this seems to point to the fact that in the coming days, a world power will fall, making place for another: "And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood" (Revelation 8:8).
Swiss theologian Benedikt Peters wrote, "The burning mountain is a picture of a big power which has fallen." W. Scott comments: "The fact that the mountain is burning means that God is using this power to execute judgment." W. J.Ouweneel also sees this mountain as a strong world power that cannot be the Roman Empire.
The prophet Jeremiah makes it clear that this is not mere speculation. He described the Babylonian Empire as a mountain that is burning and losing its power, "Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth..." (Jeremiah 51:25).
Babylon was God's instrument of judgment for the nations and the Jewish people. But the Babylonians went beyond God's limits and divine judgment ultimately came upon them:
"The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof" (verse 42). If an apocalyptic statement is explained in the Old Testament that the Babylonian Empire of that time is cast into the sea like a burning mountain and brought down to the level of the sea of nations (no longer being like a mountain towering over them), could this not also be the case in Revelation 8:8-9? These parallels are certainly not in the Bible for nothing!
That which looks like a great mountain is burning (Revelation 8:8). This means that God is exercising judgment on the world through this power turning the "...third part of the sea [into] blood." Some Bible teachers see this as a picture of war and base this on Isaiah 15:9.
The fall of this empire...
...has fatal results for the greater part of the world's population: "And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed" (Revelation 8:9). The sea is a picture of the nations; it is restless, continually moving (Psalm 125:2-5; Isaiah 17:12-13; Ezekiel 26:3; Daniel 7:2-3; and Revelation 13:1 and 17:1-15).
The mountain falls from its secure position into the restless sea of a turbulent world, with catastrophic results on all earthly life. It is quite possible that with the downfall of this Empire, a third of the world's economy, trade, communications and riches will be lost. As a result, countless people could lose their livelihood and their lives. Therefore, we ask ourselves without reservation:
Could this picture of a mountain refer to the United States?
No doubt America today is the "mountain" that rises above all other "mountains." All other nations are like plains when compared to America. But will this remain the case?
I do not assume that the United States will collapse completely, but it could be that she will lose her superior position and have to surrender it or share it with the rest of the world. The mountain towers over the sea for a while, as strong and mighty as an empire, but it will be cast into the sea and swallowed up or brought down to the level of the sea of nations. This will probably take place after the Rapture of the Church.
The world power of the United States could be a tool used by God against the world, but be broken by the task. It is generally supposed that she stands shortly before a war with Iraq. Recently, the U.S.A. even threatened with the use of atomic weapons. However, America is also engaged in a conflict with North Korea. The threat posed by terrorism is almost omnipresent.
Some experts say that a war could possibly have unforeseeable consequences for the United States and the entire world. I read an article in the German news magazine, Der Spiegel, that said, "Just as 2,000 years ago the antique world power Rome, America controls the planet today with over 30 large military bases. Yet the Roman Empire collapsed on account of its imperial overexpansion when it had to suppress the Germans, Persians and other barbarians simultaneously on diverse fronts...The share of the U.S.A. in the world product is almost a third..." (Der Spiegel 36/2002). We can imagine what it would mean for mankind if the United States' power was shaken. Then we would have an unprecedented economic crisis.
And yet we may know that God is still on the throne, for "He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again" (Job 12:23). He "...removeth mountains and they know not." He "... overturneth them in his anger" (Job 9:5). Here, too, a mountain cannot know anything, so something else must be meant.
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