THE FALL OF AMERICA

CHRISTIAN CAPITOL? OR ANTI-CHRISTIAN CAPITAL?

To many, the U.S. represents the capitol of world evangelism. Missionaries of every persuasion flow from America to all corners of the globe.

Besides hundreds of Christian denominations, there are scores of other organizations, which provide outlets for excess religious zeal… everything from the Ku Klux Klan, Masons, Odd Fellows, and Rechabites, to Youth for Christ, the YMCA, Alcoholics Anonymous, Underground Evangelism, Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship, Christian Literature Crusade, etc. etc.

Presidential candidates would be committing political sucide if they didn’t at least offer lip service to Christian faith, be it Baptist, Episcopalian, Mormon, Catholic, or Presbyterian.

Christian symbols such as the cross, fish, dove and replicas of various saints appear on automobiles, and in homes, as well as on every possible type of jewelry.

But all of this religious activity is a far cry from the teachings of the Founder of Christianity. Read on, and you’ll understand why we can make such a claim.

Along with America’s religious heritage has come a heritage of commercial enterprise. Along with the pilgrims came greedy capitalists, seeking furs, export crops, gold and silver. And these merchants now use religion to justify and support their privileged positions in American society. The money-changers have taken over the temples of the West... so much so, that very few dare to even question the shenanigans of men like Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swagart, Pat Robertson, and similar media millionaires.

Jesus didn't mince words when dealing with merchants. He called them thieves and robbers, which is exactly what they are! (cf. Matthew 21:13 with John 2:16)

The U.S. has no official state religion; so when it became necessary to list the official religion of the U.S. on records at the U.N. someone recorded it as capitalism. The Bible says capitalism (the love of capital) is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Yet, the profit motive is seen by most Americans as the source of all that is great... a principle ordained by God himself!  

Church leaders attack the vices of the poor (drinking, smoking, swearing, gambling, thinking about sex, taking drugs), but say little or nothing about greed. Imagine Billy Graham pouring all his fervour as a public speaker into renouncing greed when he himself is a millionaire!

Graham refuses to travel second class, and stays only at the most luxurious hotels wherever he goes. He has only gotten to where he is today by pandering to the rich and powerful of America. The millions his “evangelistic association” invests in multi-national corporations while much of the world suffers from malnutrition shows his heart is very much serving Mammon. (Matthew 6:21)

 
The gospel according to Matthew says that we must obey Christ, to enter heaven. (Matthew 7:21-24) The gospel according to Mark says we must sell everything we have and give to the poor if we want to inherit eternal life. (Mark 10:17-30) The gospel according to Luke says we must give up everything we own to become Christians. (Luke 14:33) But the gospel according to Billy Graham ignores all this: People “accept Christ as their personal Saviour” by asking a name “into their hearts” and declaring that they are “born again”--whether or not they even hear what Jesus taught, much less obey it!

Billy Graham theology fills churches with people who insist Jesus is God, but who show total contempt for all that he taught. To such people Jesus says, “Why do you call me 'Lord' and refuse to do the things I say?” (Luke 6:46) Obviously, he isn't their Lord; that's why.

The Billy Graham gospel was invented to preserve the image of being a Christian nation without having to deal with the basic values of a materialistic society. Obviously, if Jesus had said no more than what Billy Graham preaches, he too could have lived his life out in luxury, playing golf with Herod, and endorsing books by Annas and Caiaphas.

But Billy is only a symptom of a deeper malady. To understand the problem we must go back a long way...

 

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON

Cain's descendants became craftsmen. To market their goods, they built a city. (Genesis 4:16-22) Noah's descendants also got away from God, built a city. They built one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, a skyscraper nicknamed the Tower of Babel because of the babble, for confusion it caused. (Genesis 11:4-9) Today we call the system or economy a “ratrace”, which is almost synonymous with the word “Babylon” which means “confusion”.

The prophet Daniel interpreted a dream by the king of Babylon, in which the king saw a statue with a gold head. Daniel said the statue was of the king, but it also represented all the succeeding empires of man.

King Nebuchadnezzar saw a final kingdom not made by man, which destroyed the statue. Daniel said the final kingdom would come from heaven and cover the earth.

Daniel's interpretation is incredible. He predicts the Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires perfectly. But the most important lesson from this dream is that, regardless of name changes, the spirit of Babylon can never be destroyed by anything less than the kingdom of heaven. Babylon lives on today in the form of capitalism and communism (cf. 1 John 2:18)

Capitalism and communism are both selfish and materialistic. One system is no better than the other; for neither can change the heart of man.

John the Revelator continues the Babylon Story in his description of the world just prior to the return of Jesus. He describes one world power as a red beast, which blasphemes against God and all religion (Revelation 13:6) and he describes the other world power as a prostitute who rules over world trade. The prostitute sits on the beast (Revelation 17:3), but the beast hates the prostitute (Revelation 17:16) and sets out to destroy her – which he eventually does “in one hour”. (Revelation 18:19)

The name of the prostitute is “Babylon”. (Revelation 17:5)

The parallels with Russia and America are obvious. Communism, like the Red Beast, fights an atheistic war against religion. Captalism, like a Prostitute, talks of love, when her real concern is with making money. At the moment capitalism is “sitting on” communism, and lays claim to the title of “Babylon”. But communism hates capitalism, and will one day launch a surprise military attack on the capitol of capitalism – America.

The following description of the destruction of America is taken from the 18th chapter of the Revelation:

I saw another angel and he cried, “Babylon the Great is fallen; for 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.”

I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partaker of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For she saith, 'I sit a queen, and am not a widow, and shall see no sorrow.' Therefore, shall her plagues come in one day – death, and mourning, and famine. And she shall be utterly burned with fire.

“And the kings of the earth shall lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning, saying 'Alas! Alas! The great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgement come!'

“And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore.

“And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'Alas! Alas! The great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate!”  (Revelation 18:1-24)

 

THE BEAST

Just as title of “Babylon” passes from one world power to the next, so does the notion of world powers as being “beasts”.The prophet Daniel described four beasts (Daniel 7:4-8) which represented kings or kingdoms. The four beasts are traditionally taken to represent Babylon (winged lion), Medo-Persia (three ribs being conquests of the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian empires), Greece (divided into four kingdoms after Alexander's death), and Rome. But the animal symbols for present-day Anglo-America (lion and eagle), Russia (bear) and the rising Third World or black power nations (panther) seem more than co-incidental.

Daniel wrote, “I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful...” (Daniel 7:19) God replies, “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth.” (Daniel 7:23)

The Roman Empire conquered the world after the break-up of Alexander's Greek Empire; was partially responsible for the crucifixion of Christ; and killed hundreds of early Christians. Daniel observed this fourth beast “making war with the saints (Christians) until the Ancient of Days (Jesus) came and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” (Daniel 7:21-22)

Rome presecuted Christians after Christ's first coming; but this passage describes a world power that persecutes Christians before and only until Christ comes, and his followers take possession of God's kingdom. It must be speaking of Christ's second coming. There has been no world empire since the fall of Rome, but only East, and West, and the Third World. Yet this passage indicates the fourth beast is still present in the world, and will continue to persecute those who look for a spiritual kingdom (as opposed to an earthly government).

Daniel 7:23 says the fourth kingdom “shall devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it” indicating international, political domination. Neither Russia nor the U.S. has complete control over the other. The only worldwide political body is the United Nations, which is a paper tiger at present.

Daniel goes on: “Out of this kingdom (the fourth beast) 10 kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them, and he shall subdue three kings.” (Daniel 7:24) There are 10 Third World members of the United Nations Security Council, plus five superpowers: three western (the U.S., Great Britain, and France), and two communist (Russia and China). To gain control of the world and/or the U.N. a dictator must “subdue” the three western powers.

Look at the description of the bear and the eagle-lion (Daniel 7:4-5). The eagle wings are plucked off the lion, after which the lion ceases to be a beast (empire) anymore; and the bear, with three ribs in its teeth, sets out to “devour much flesh”. If Russia totally destroys (plucks) America, it will “subdue” the entire western world.

John the Revelator makes it clear the fourth beast is another empire, besides the Roman Empire, in his description of a beast “having seven heads and ten horns.” (Revelation 13:1-8) He says, “The beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the Dragon gave him his power. And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb.” Note: The dragon is the devil (Revelation 12:9) and the Lamb is the Christ (John 1:29).

An angel explained to John about the seven heads and ten horns: “These are seven kings (or world empires). Five are fallen (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece), and one is (Rome), and the other is not yet come (the 10-man world government). And the Beast is the eighth (or the embodiment of them all), and is of the seven, and goeth into predition. And the 10 horns which you saw, are 10 kings which have received no kingdom yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the Beast. These (the 10-man world government) have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast.” (Revelation 17:10-13)

Note that, like Nebuchadnezzar's image, which represented both his kingdom and himself, the last beast is both an empire and a man.

A new world empire is about to arise. It is unique in that it will be run by a committee, after three nations are subdued by the eventual world dictator. This final empire is a conglomerate of the leopard, bear and lion.

But there's no mention of the eagle. The eagle has been so totally plucked that it ceases to exist. The U.S. like Sodom and Gomorrah, will be left uninhabitable when God's judgements upon it are complete!

The dictator will be extremely popular at first. Nations which have been commercially exploited by the U.S., and its many multi-national corporations, will be thrilled at the reforms and initiatives introduced by the new world power. Many will be convinced the millenium has already begun. (Daniel 8:25; Daniel 11:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:3-4)

At some stage the dictator receives a “deadly wound” which a false prophet manages to “heal”. At this point, if not before, the Beast becomes so totally possessed by the devil that he can no longer be regarded as human but is a bionic Frankenstein, a beast masquerading in a human body. (Revelation 13:3, Revelation 13:12-14)

When a number of worldwide catastrophes begin, the Beast blames them on all Christians, whom he slaughters by millions, while exalting himself as God. The catastrophes include plagues, poisoned oceans and lakes, earthquakes, tidal waves, worldwide forest fires, deadly hailstorms, blacking out of the sun, and changes in the earth's orbit, all of which may stem from a collision with a huge meteor and/or warheads launched (perhaps accidently) from earth-orbitting satellites.  (Revelation 8:7-13) It's easy to see how Christians could be blamed for these things, since we know already that they'll happen!


SO GIVE US A DATE

There are precise periods of time mentioned in Bible prophecies, but they mean little until the Beast actually comes to power. The date for the fall of America is not precisely predicted, for example, since that is only a prelude to the real countdown, which begins with an agreement between the Beast and the heads of the world's three main religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) to build a temple in Jerusalem for use by all three.

From this time on, the Bible is very specific about precisely when to expect Christ to return. The figures given are literal, and not subject to the games people often play, twisting them to support a pet theory (see picture).

Two exceptions should be pointed out. The word hour in King James English means only a short period of time. (Like when we say, “Just a second” today.) And the Hebrew word for week is simply “seven”, which can refer to a week of seven days or a week of seven years, as in the story of Jacob working seven years (“one week”) for Rachel, in Genesis 29:27 (KJV).

The Revelation speaks of a period immediately prior to Christ's return, which lasts 3 ½ years, 42 months, or 1260 days. This avoids confusion over the exact length of the period concerned. This is fortunate because our modern solar calendar (365 ¼ days) differs from the Bible (360 day) calendar, in which each month has 30 days.
God told Daniel, “70 seven-year periods (490 years) are determined upon your people: From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince (Christ the Lord) shall be 7 seven-years periods (49 years), and 62 seven-year periods (434 years).” (Daniel 9:24-25)

                                                                                          (see chart below)

In 453 BC (447 BC if you use a solar calendar system) Artaxerexes Longimanus, King of the Medes and Persians, commanded Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:5-9) 49 years later, the re-building was completed; and exactly 434 years later (in 30 AD) Christ was crucified, just as Daniel had predicted!

God goes on: “The people (Roman armies?) of the prince that shall come (the Beast?) shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple).” (Daniel 9:26) In 70 AD Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem and destroyed the city and the temple. To this day the Jews have not been able to resume offering animal sacrifices, an essential ingredient in the Judaic religion.

The prophecy continues, referring to the last 7-year period, out of the original 490 years “determined upon your (Daniel's) people”: “He (the Beast?) shall confirm the covenant with many for one 7-year period, and in the middle of the 7-year period, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and, for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate.” (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15)


This covenant appear to be an agreement between the Beast and the Jews to rebuild the temple which was destroyed in 70 AD, so Jews may once again offer animal sacrifices in Jerusalem.

However, the Jews are no longer God's (Daniel's) people, because they rejected God's son. When Christ died, God tore apart the veil of their temple (Mark 15:37-38). This action was God's nullification of temple worship, and his blessing on a new era, in which people are the temples. (John 2:19-21; 1 Corinthians 3:16)

Daniel 9:26-27 is beautifully written so that the “prince that shall come” may either be the “prince of this world” (the Beast), or “Messiah the Prince” (the Lamb).

The people of the Beast (Roman armies) destroyed the temple in 70 AD. But this was 40 years after Christ's crucifixion. God's true people (those who accepted the Messiah) spiritually destroyed the authority of Judaism. Though organised religion continues its obsession with visible temples, the true people of God carry on without them. When Jesus said, “It is finished” on the cross, the destruction of Jerusalem took place spiritually. (cf. Revelation 11.8) The flood of people joining Christ's army on Pentecost (Acts 2:41), marked the birth of the church, and the spiritual death of organised religion.

So, at the same time that the Beast makes an agreement with organised religion to build a new temple in Jerusalem, Christ makes a similarly significant agreement with his people, which will result in a supernatural, worldwide, visible manifestation of the kingdom of God at last. (Romans 8:19) However, it will still be less than the perfect organisation we will have when Christ returns. (Daniel 11:32-35)

When the agreement is made to rebuild the temple, there are only seven years left before Christ returns. From the time the Jews resume offering animal sacrifices, there are 2300 days until Christ returns. From the day the sacrifices cease, there are 1290 days left.

The Revelation dwells primarily on the last 1260 days, or “The Great Tribulation” (Revelation 13:5), when the kingdom of heaven (the “holy city”) will be trampled by the Beast (Revelation 11:2); when two witnesses will display miraculous powers to the world (Revelation 11:3); and when true Christians will survive in the “wilderness” without dependence upon the system (Revelation 12:6-14).

A very brief outline of these events is shown below. Letters in circles refer to comments next to the same letters in the printed matter below.


WHAT IS YOUR ORGANISATION?

When Jesus said, “It is finished!” he signalled the end of organisational religion, and the start of a spiritual organisation or kingdom, called the kingdom of heaven. The keynote of Christ's gospel was this kingdom, an invisible personal relationship to God alone as King. (Luke 17:20-21, John 4:23-24)

You only enter the kingdom of heaven as an individual – not in conjunction with an organisation or group. You must be stripped of all other loyalties, possessions, and positions, to become like a little child. (John 3:1-3) It is sad that the people who speak most about being “born again” are usually the most concerned about what organisation a person belongs to, strong evidence that they themselves are not, in fact, born again!

There are no right or wrong organisations, only sincere or insincere individuals. To the extent that one lives in harmony with God's Spirit, he is living in the kingdom of heaven. If he slips away from honesty, humility, or obedience to his highest revelation of what is right, then he slips away from the kingdom of heaven.

All it takes to see God and to join his organisation is sincerity. Religious experts hate sincerity and damn it at every opportunity, for it destroys their monopoly on God. They forget that, although the Good Samaritan was wrong in his theology, he was right in his heart, where it really matters. (Luke 10:25-37) On that basis, a cult member, Hindu or professing atheist might actually be in the kingdom of heaven if he is walking in all the light he has. (Romans 2:14; 1 John 4:7; Matthew 25:34-40)

 

Yet it appears Christ will somehow give tangible form to his kingdom, during the last seven years of Daniel's prophecy. Probably as the forces of evil become more visible, people from a wide variety of backgrounds will suddenly find themselves thrown together, in opposition to the evil world leader.

Initially, however, this organisation will have 12 tribes, with only 12,000 members in each one. (Revelation 7:4-8) Apparently, during the Great Tribulation, these 144,000 leaders must assist millions of others, who now have a confused faith at best – half in God or good, and half in their religious or political affiliations. (Revelation 7:9) When all the systems of man begin to crumble, and the promised “secret rapture” fails to take place, most churchgoers will be totally unprepared for survival as individuals in an alien world.

The spirit of Babylon is a spirit of faith in political solutions (including religious organisations). But we cannot bring peace with a sword; nor can we bring an end to Babylon's rule by playing Babylon's games.


THE MONEY MYTH

The Babylonians invented the use of money as a way of keeping track of who owes whom a favour. It's more efficient than a barter system; but we should never forget that the money itself is nothing. It could be bits of metal, shells, pieces of paper, or just numbers on a balance sheet; the real wealth is the goods and services rendered.

When people say, “You can't live without money!” they are speaking a lie. It is like saying you cannot eat eggs until you can count to 12. Money, like numbers, is no more than a symbol. It symbolises our time – something that rightly belongs to God.

The Ceasars throughout history have created and capitalised on the myth that people cannot live without money.

To say we cannot live without money is to say that we cannot live without Ceasar... or without Babylon.

The ultimate damage caused by the love of money is the senseless loss of human life in wars for material wealth – whether it be nickel mines in Vietnam or oil wells in the Middle East.

Idolatry is valuing an object as end in itself. The U.S. has done this with money, by making it a crime to even destroy your own money. This kind of blind devolution to money destroys a person's (and a nation's) ability to think rationally.

Modern man has become so obsessed by money that it now controls us rather than us controlling it. Until we can again learn to live without money we will never be free to control it. The money myth must be destroyed before it destroys us.

Obviously the idol itself is not the problem so much as people's attitude toward the idol. But destroying an idol can be a dramatic and effective demonstration of one's faith in God, as well as one's lack of faith in the idol. In Colossians 3:5 it says, “covetousness is idolatry”. And, when the Old Testament prophets spoke out against idolatry, they often stirred up violent reactions from the evil forces of their day. We have experienced the same thing today.

Churchgoers are quick to say that times have changed, blaming their idolatry on the complex society in which we live. But if our society has gotten that far away from the truth, it's time for us to drop out of such a society. “Come out of her, my people, that you be not partaker of her sins!” “Come out from among them and be seperate.” says the Lord, “and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17)

Like Elijah, we are challenging the prophets of Bail, who have taken over the churches of America, to put up or shut up. Christ has told us to sell all we have and give to the poor; to stop laboring for the food that perishes; to take no thought for food or clothing; to go into all the world preaching the gospel... If the churches of America are not prepared to do this, then they should stop calling themselves “Christians” and admit that the Jesus they worship is a false Christ!

The many smokescreens and diversions put forth by false Christianity are exposed when one attacks the very root of all evil. And that is what we aim to do with all the strength, time, and resources God gives to us.