Many students of bible prophecy have wondered where America fits in, if it does at all. We are going to use Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51 as our base and work out from there. There are some terms that need to be defined first.
When you see the term “in the latter days” (“acharit yamin” in Hebrew) it refers to “the end of days” or “future days” and it is an eschatological term for when the Messiah comes. By thinking “when Messiah comes” is a good way to think of it. We are going to deal with many verses from other books and they will be cited for you to look up and study for yourself. There is no way to get into a detailed study of them all.
Ancient nations will give us a picture of what modern nations will do. For instance, Egypt will be a picture of Europe in the last days. Assyria will be a picture of Russia, Israel will be Israel and the land of Babylon is a picture of the United States. So, when we come across prophecies in the “latter days” it may be talking about Egypt, but it is also talking about Europe. The Pharaoh will be a picture of the false messiah and so on. So, ancient nations and their dealing with Israel will be a prophecy about the latter days and what nation they portray has to do with what they do. Remember, prophecies can have numerous fulfillments (Ecc 1.9; 3.15).
For instance, we know that Ezekiel 38-39 teach about the coming Russian invasion of Israel. There is a very curious verse in Ezek 38.17 that says “Thus says the Lord God, are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years that I would bring you against them?”
Now, where are all these prophecies about Gog and Magog coming against Israel? The Lord says himself that he has been prophesying through the prophets about it for years, and yet, can you find any prophecies about it? You can if you realize that the Assyrian invasion of Israel is a prophetic picture of this coming Russian invasion. The Assyrian invasion parallels what Russia will do in the latter days (compare Ezek 38.4 with Isa 37.29; both armies will be destroyed by God; weapons burned; Isa 9.5 with Ezek 39.10; Israel saved; Isa 10.12,20-22 with Ezek 39.22). For detailed look at this concept we refer you to the commentaries on Ezekiel and Isaiah by H.A. Ironsides.
But, what we want to concentrate on in this teaching is whether or not America is Babylon. This is not to be confused with the armies of Babylon, which are a picture of the Kings of the East in prophecy. The land of Babylon will be our focus and how it is a picture of America. If the Lord spoke about Russia through the history of Assyria, then he can use other ancient nations and their dealings with Israel as pictures for us in these last days. So lets get started and we will begin in the book of Jeremiah.
To get the time context of Jer 50 and 51, we start in Jer 48.47 with a prophecy about Moab and it says it will take place “in the latter days ” (end of days, future days, when Messiah comes). In Jer 49 we have a prophecy about Ammon (Jordan) and in 49.39 we have the time context as “in the latter days” again. Notice in both prophecies we have the return of the captives back to Israel. Then we go right into Jer 50 and the time context is still in the latter days.
If the land of Babylon is America, then the Chaldeans will signify the inhabitants of the land. Jer 50.2 begins by saying “declare and proclaim” which means the emphasis is that people should not conceal what is going to happen (Rev 18.2=”cried out”; Isa 21.1-10 concerns Babylon). Jer 50.46 says that the affect of the fall of Babylon will be felt all over the world with shock and an outcry.
Bel is the god of Babylon, which is a false god and Marduk is a god of war. It is an idol of bloodshed and it speaks about the warlike nature of the nation, which fits the American legacy. An enemy will come out of the north (Russia) and Babylon will be made desolate and the land emptied (Isa 13.6-22). It will become a wilderness, which is seen as the habitation of demons (Rev 18.2; Matt 12.43).
The time context is explicitly said in 50.4 where it say “in those days and at that time” and it means “when Messiah comes” and the term is used in Jer 23.5; 33.15 and Joel 3.1, which clearly refer to the time Messiah comes. Jer 50.5-7 describes anti-Semitic attitudes in history that has forced the Jewish people to move and it has “devoured ” them. The resting place in v 6 is the land of Israel which they have forgotten, being dispersed for so long.
The Dreyfus Affair in France convinced Theodore Herzl that the Jewish people would never be able to assimilate into any nation they found themselves in and he was one of the founding fathers of the modern State of Israel. Martin Luther’s writings were full of anti-Semitism. Adolf Hitler said he was only fulfilling what Luther started and found that killing the Jews had higher priority than using those very trains for moving troops and supplies. Nazi soldiers had a belt buckle that said “God we serve.”
People say “that would never happen in America” but it will. Spain had a “golden age” and it involved the Jews until the Spanish Inquisition. They were driven out in 1492. The money used to finance the expedition of Christopher Columbus came from money confiscated from the Jewish people leaving Spain. Many historians believe that Columbus was Jewish, as was much of his crew, and he was looking for a new homeland for his people.
The Russian pogroms in the late 19th century was another example of this Jewish hatred that came up (watch “Fiddler on the Roof”; The anti-Semitic hoax book “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” also came out of Russia at this time-1903). The crusades gave out “indulgences” for killing Jews and molesting the women. They saw this behavior as favorable to God. There is no reason or logic behind this attitude but it has had tremendous power.
The majority of Jews in the world still live in America and there is implicit anti-Semitism here now (we have seen it), but later it will get worse (explicit). A picture of this move from a settled Jewish population in America to having to move can be seen in the story of Jacob in Gen 27-32.
Jacob offends Esau and flees. He stays in the area of Babylon (Paddam Aram) for 20 years (2000 years). Then Laban’s sons say that Jacob (Jews) have taken away (stolen) their wealth (Jews cheat their way to success, etc) and Jacob saw that the attitude of Laban and his sons was not friendly like before, so he flees. The same thing will happen in America.
In Jer 50.8 it says that the Jewish people should “wander away” from Babylon, weeping as they go (50.4). They are told to “flee” in 51.6 and to “come out of her” in 51.45, and in v 50 it says “let Jerusalem come to mind.” Isa 48.20 says “Go forth from Babylon” and to “declare” and “proclaim” the coming destruction of Babylon. What is happening so far is this. America may well be Babylon and it will be attacked out of the north by Russia right after the Natzal (Rapture), probably within days of it. It will be a total destruction and this will cause a chain reaction throughout the world.
The governments of Europe (Egypt) will convene and give the False Messiah their authority, believing that they could be next. He will sign a covenant with Israel on Yom Kippur, starting the Birth-pains (Tribulation period) of 7 years. The Jewish people, along with Gentiles, will flee this nation before this destruction happens in another Exodus back to Israel. In that number will be some, if not all, of the 144,000 of Rev 7.1-8. They will be sealed before anything can start (v 3).
So, what we are going to answer in this study is this: Is America Babylon and what about the timing of this destruction? Are the 144,00 among those who leave? Why is it destroyed? During the Iraq war many so-called prophecy experts were saying that Babylon in Iraq was going to be destroyed, fulfilling these prophecies. But does Iraq qualify? We will answer all these questions by the end of this study.
In the prophecies about Israel in the last days, there are three major nations to deal with. We have Babylon, but they are gone as a people. So is Assyria. How many real Assyrians do you know. And the last one is Egypt. It exists in name only, but the Egyptians are gone. They all had dealings with Israel in ancient times, but they are all gone. But, there will be others like them in the latter days and we will talk about who they are.
The Bible will use these ancient names of nations to describe modern nations in the last days. In Part 2, we will begin by talking about the Birth-pains and the “birthing” of a people in his name, the timing of the salvation of the 144,00 and the resurrection and go on presenting the case that America may very well be Babylon.
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