An Ancient Prediction Concerning the United States
By A. O. Tait
The United States has made a history that is the marvel of the whole world; and it has made this history in a most incredibly short time. When we take into account the colossal proportions to which it has grown, the extreme youth of the country is one of its greatest wonders. Those who have the good fortune to live in a country like this, are fond of expressing the desire that the nation may stand forever. And truly a nation with such basic principles as those possessed by this great republic, could do nothing else than stand, provided it always adhered to the justice and truth that are its groundwork. America has given to the world a democracy that has been the admiration of even her enemies, and at the same time a beacon of hope to every down-trodden and oppressed soul on the face of the earth. And this same America, standing firmly upon her unsurpassed Declaration of Independence and just and reasonable Constitution, might go on amid a blaze of ever-increasing glory, peacefully to teach and completely revolutionize the world. The ancient prediction, however, of the seer of Patmos, shows that this nation will depart from its solid principles of righteousness and liberty. The thirteenth chapter of Revelation, verses eleven to eighteen, are a prophecy of this country. This scripture presents this nation under the symbol of a beast that “had two horns like a lamb.” These lamb-like horns represent the perfect freedom in both civil and religious matters that was established in this new nation. All the countries of the Old World have always had their state religions; and religious tyranny, as well as civil despotism, has been exercised. But not so with this New-World power. Equality was recognized as an “inalienable right,” and that governments are established to secure these rights and not to grant them. Such a government was a new thing among the nations of men. The founders of this republic abandoned the “divine right” of rulers as it had been taught to, and received by, the majority of mankind; they bade adieu to the “recognized and established principles of government,” leaving behind them the persecutions and oppressions of the past; they said that since God has created men “equal,” and endowed them with certain “inalienable rights,” let us recognize those facts, and not fly in the face of Providence by opposing them. Such, in brief, is a statement of the lamb-like principles upon which this Government was founded. And every American can read them in full in the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence. But, according to the prophecy under consideration, these mild yet eternally solid principles of civil and religious freedom will be abandoned. The sure Word of God says of this great nation, “And he spake as a dragon.” It is sad to contemplate it. But to controvert it, is to controvert the words of God. It is not mere men who have made the prediction, but God Himself has declared it. He has not decreed that it should be so; but knowing beforehand what would take place, He has simply announced to all who can be led to believe His Word, what will be the end of this nation. Like all the great nations of antiquity, this country will go down. But when this country falls, all the world will go with her. This nation has afforded an asylum for the oppressed. The cruel tyrant saw his victims escaping to this city of refuge, and stopped to consider what would be the outcome of this “new experiment of democracy.” The lamb-like power grew and increased in might and influence. The deriding world began to wonder, then to admire, next to court, and finally to follow the great and glorious and free and liberty-loving republic of the western world. And with the world thus admiring and following, it is perfectly plain that all will fall into the same destruction that shall finally engulf the beloved America. Some may question the fact of America’s leadership in the world; but if you question, we pray you, be careful to recognize the facts. For the questioning of facts does not change them in the least. It only changes our attitude toward them, and may possibly throw us where we will go down in the oncoming destruction. “And he spake as a dragon.” What are the indications to-day that this nation will so far forsake its principles that it will speak as a dragon? Let us consider a few points and see. This country, especially during the last twenty-five or thirty years, has shown an unparalleled amassing of wealth in the hands of a few individuals. Already the principles of equality and freedom are so fully out of sight that a small minority of men hold every commodity of commerce and industry within their grasp. Everything now must be subordinated to the accumulation of money. And the influence of money is that which sways and moves the world. The money power has an iron grip on everything that pertains to this present world. Legislatures, city councils, and public officials in general are corrupted and controlled by the relentless tyranny of wealth. These corrupting influences of the money power are destroying the consciences of men, and the money god is made paramount in every mind. And to make the struggle for wealth all the more intense, this age has adopted a very extravagant manner of living. The simple and satisfying conditions of our fathers will no longer suffice. The glitter of the luxuriant enjoyments that may be purchased with gold, is constantly before the attention. We meet it everywhere. And so every energy must be fully exerted to get money, and still more and more money. And now it seems that America is not large enough. New territory must be conquered and colonies must be formed in order to widen commerce and give opportunity, so it is averred, for the business of the nation to be enlarged and extended. But this will only serve to increase the strength of the money power, and render the slavery of the individual all the more complete. And the saddest feature in all this incoming condition of things is the fact that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are thrown down and trodden underfoot. America is listening to the voices of those who desire religious legislation. America, the beloved America of freedom, the haven for the oppressed of every clime, has reached the parting of the ways. A siren’s voice is enticing her adown the evil road. The plunge over the precipice into the vortex of eternal ruin can not be far off. And the whole world is following her, and all will be engulfed together. These are ominous times! The very air is surcharged with the awful portents of the world’s overhanging doom.