An important warning for anyone who has an interest in Bible prophecy is not to expect things to happen too quickly. Be especially careful about putting dates on things. I have been thankful more than once that I did not speak out my own secret thoughts about how soon things would happen in world affairs, because I cannot think of a time when things happened more quickly than (or even as quickly as) I had expected.
Thirty-five years ago, I and my small family left America. Only a handful of our close friends and relatives knew that part of our reason for leaving the country was because we thought it was going to be judged by God. We would not have been surprised if we had looked out of the window of our plane and seen the whole country sinking into the sea, or bursting into flames. Such was our faith.
But, over the years, we have discovered that the real reason for God getting us out of there was so that we and our children would not become (further) brainwashed with American patriotism, so that we could come to see the world more as God sees it... not with national boundaries or flags waving, but with compassion for all, and appreciation for genuine faith in individuals, wherever they may happen to live.
Then, in 1990, twenty-two years after we had left the country, we felt led to return and to distribute a booklet entitled The Fall of America. Members of our community visited more than 200 American cities, and were featured in an equal number of news reports, on radio, TV, and in the press, as we warned America that the end was not far off. Once again, I was personally thankful that I did not put a time on the prediction. For I naturally assumed that God's leading us to make such a public statement at that time was an indication that now it was finally going to happen, and we were genuinely nervous about whether we would have time to give our warning and then flee.
But that was the same year (a) that communism (and not capitalism) collapsed; and (b) that the first Gulf War broke out. It turned out that we personally were in more danger from red-necked American war-mongers than from an enemy attack on the U.S.
We returned to Australia and more or less kept our mouths shut for eleven more years. Then, in 2001, after reading some of the best-selling Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, I decided to write a similar book, "Survivors", in which I would chronicle future events as I understood them from The Revelation, and from other Bible prophecies. (My vision of the future was markedly different from that of LaHaye and Jenkins, although we both agreed on some important issues, such as the return of Jesus and the future domination of the world by an evil leader.)
Early in 2001, a cover was designed for the book. It featured the New York City skyline, complete with the World Trade Center, and a huge cloud of smoke over it. This artwork and the text of the book were at the printer's when the World Trade Center was destroyed.
Lawyers for LaHaye and Jenkins contacted me and threatened to sue me if I released the book. I dared them to do so, and said that I would go ahead with it regardless, since they did not have a copyright on Bible prophecy.
The first edition of the book came out early in 2002. It sold out in a matter of weeks. We rushed through a number of other print runs, and the fourth edition is now on its way to the U.S.
Though the book is far from infallible, and does not pretend to be a literary masterpiece, I am convinced that it is the best thing I have ever written, because it combines so many different aspects of the ministry which we feel God has given to us... to Cherry and myself personally, and to our community as a whole. It combines our message of obedience to the teachings of Jesus with the message of The Revelation. It is, in fact, the answer to a prayer that I have had for many years.
That prayer has been that I might one day find the means to do what revivalists of the past (John Wesley, George Fox, D.L. Moody, and others) have done to grip the hearts of people and lead them to a place of true repentance toward God... not some superficial, mass-produced recited prayer for forgiveness, but a deeply moving awareness of the authority and might of God, and a humble awareness of our own sinfulness and need for forgiveness, along with a revelation of the unique role of Jesus Christ in solving our personal problems and the problems of the whole world.
Survivors also portrays the message of love and peace which has been so sadly lacking in the Bible thumping sermons of the Twentieth Century genre of televangelists and their sycophants. It presents a picture of the kingdom of heaven, not as yet another ethno-centric denomination, but rather as a miraculous gathering together of true believers from all faiths and all corners of the world, with only one allegiance, and that is to God and to his love.
From a prophetic perspective, Survivors says that American foreign policy will eventually cause that country to be hated by virtually all of the world, until the world will turn on America and destroy her. It says that France will side with the rest of the world, but that Britain will side with America, and although Britain will not be destroyed, it will ultimately be ejected from the United Nations because of its criminal associations with the U.S.
It also says that the new world order, ruled over by the United Nations, will ultimately become even more corrupt than America, and only the return of Jesus will solve the world's problems.
Such a message is ironic, because it creates a number of ethical dilemmas for myself. In particular, I feel that it is absolutely correct to oppose America's present efforts toward world domination, at the same time that I believe the new world order will be even worse.
It is ironic, too, that America is apparently paving the way for that new world order through its own cruel disregard for the sufferings of the rest of the world. Because of that, I must support the efforts of the United Nations and others to speak out against America's present imperialistic stance.
It is significant that at the moment (March, 2003) I am back in America, promoting a book which describes America as the spiritual Babylon of the world, and which predicts its sudden destruction, at the same time that this country is waging a war in which they hope to conquer the ancient geographical center of the Babylonian Empire in a similar sudden attack. I don't doubt that America has the capabilities to do exactly that, and fundamentalists in America assume that God is on her side in doing it, not realising that prophetically, the world power that destroys the Twenty-First Century equivalent of Babylon will itself become the "Beast", or the empire of the Antichrist.
So either America destroys Iraq and becomes the New World Order, through which the Antichrist will rule, or else it (as the real Babylon of the world) is destroyed, and its destroyer becomes the New world Order, through which the Antichrist will rule. Neither scenario allows for America to become the kingdom of heaven that millions of American fundamentalists imagine it to be.
You cannot pick and choose when it comes to Bible prophecy. There is an overall picture, which must be coherent and consistent, and for which the teachings of Jesus must act as the unifying cornerstone. This is what we have portrayed in Survivors, while our Goliath-like opponents (LaHaye, Jenkins, George Dubya, and their supporters) have opted for Hollywood type car chases, romances, and prosperity for themselves and their heroes in the midst of vague snippets purporting to be about Bible prophecy.
We have believed for 35 years now that America is going down, and it could be yet another 35 years away for all we know. But sooner or later, it is going to fall. Just how that will happen continues to remain a mystery. But I believe that it will be as miraculous as was the overnight collapse of world communism, that the world may wonder, and that the world may glorify the God of heaven, knowing that he surely is the last word in the affairs of this world.
(See also Materialism.)
Register or log in to take the quiz for this article
