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of an enemy.... because your guilt is
great, because your sins are flagrant"
(Jeremiah
30: 12-15).
U.S. Decline: "Catalyst
for Prophecy"
George Kennan, former American
ambassador to both the Soviet Un ion
and Yugoslavia, wrote on one occa–
sion:
" 1
think this country is destined
to succumb to failures which cannot
be other than tragic and enormous in
their scope. All this, of course, is not
an easy thing to live with ."
The very near future, for those
whose eyes are open,
is
truly alarm–
ing. Even the
New Yorker
magazine,
on June 6, 1977, said that America's
decline involves "frightening knowl–
edge, hardly utterable, opening to us
a strange future."
But it should not be strange to
readers of
The Plain Truth.
America's loss of direction will
change world-power relationships as
never before. Her allies-Western
Europe and Japan primarily- will
soon be forced to make their own
arrangements to guarantee their own
survival.
During the ill-fated Cuban cri sis,
West Germany's
Frankfurter Allge–
meine Zeitung
said, for example,
that "Mr. Carter has to do some–
thing, otherwise America stands be–
fore the world as a paper tiger: The
Europeans await .deeds from thei r
strongest ally, for their destiny and
that of the Americans cannot be
separated."
They are st ill waiting. Europeans
may be forced to come to their own
terms with the Soviet Union, even if
only temporarily. In the long run,
America's decline will help generate
the prophesied ten-nation European
union.
America's own destiny?
Professor Dona Id M. Dozer,
quoted earlier, adds that, unless
there are radical changes, "in front
of us rises the appalling prospect of
our own decline into powerlessness
and oblivion. "
And eventually- as the editors' of
this magazine have repeatedly
warned from the pages of the
Bible- national captivity. "She that
was great among the nations! She
that was a princess among the cities '
has become a vassal" (Lamentations
1:1).
o
42
Standard of Living
(Continued from page 14)
1
have already covered how in the
days of King Rehoboam, after Solo–
mon's death, they split into rwo
DIFFERENT NATIONS.
At that time, the Birthright promise
remained with the tribes of Ephraim
and Manasseh in the kingdom of
ISRAEL, while the Sceptre promise, to
be realized through Christ, remained
in the nation J UDAH.
In the years
721-718
B.C., King
Shalmanezzar of Assyria invaded.
conquered and removed the northern
nation ISRAEL from their land of
Samaria, carrying them off as slaves
to Assyria.
In the years
604-585
B.C., King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded
and moved the nation JUDAH as
slaves into the land of Chaldea.
Meanwhile the Assyrians,
with
the
ten tribes of ISRAEL. had migrated
northwest. The Assyrians settled in
the land known today as GERMANY.
The Ten Tribes, now known as the
" LosT Ten Tribes," moved on into
western Europe and Britain- Ephra–
im and Manasseh largely settling in
Britain .
But they had LOST their identify–
ing Sabbath. their Hebrew language,
and their identity. They supposed,
and the world supposed, they were
Gentiles.
About
515
B.C., a contingent of
Jews of the former Kingdom of
Judah were sent by King Cyrus of
Persia back to form a colony in
Jerusalem, under Zerubbabel as gov–
ernor, to build the second temple on.
the si te of Solomon's temple.
lt
had
been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar
in
585
B.C.
But NO Eof the ten-tribed "lost"
ISRAEL were among those of this
colony. Their tribal names are re–
corded in the book of Ezra, and NONE
of the ten-tribed ISRAEL is men–
tioned.
Other Jews, outside of this colony,
were scattered into various nations
t~rough
the centuries.
Where the U.S. ls Mentioned in
Biblical Prophecy
Prophecy mentions that Britain
(Ephraim) would lose her first
colony. The colony that grew into
the United States was that colony.
ow the
2520
years the Birthright
was to be withheld from ISRAEL
because of their continued disobe–
dience. breaking their part of the OId
Covenant, expired in the years
1800-
1803.
The big colony Ephraim was to
lose was thc United States- de–
scended from co-Birthright holder
Manasseh. The United States be–
carne the 0:-.IE promised GREAT
nation. Britain became the great
COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS.
Neither Britain nor America
de–
served
the unprecedented wealth,
greatness, and national power of
Abraham's BIRTHRIGHT. But God
had promised it UNCONOITIONALLY
to Abraham.
lt
was CONOITIONAL to
ancient Israel.
Though our two great peoples did
not deserve it. God was bound, and
kept His PROMISE! Yet, once God had
FULFILLED His promise to Abraham
by giving us that national wealth.
power and greatness, it became CON–
DITIONAL on us
whether we should
retain it!
As ancient Israel did not keep
God's statutes, commandments, sab–
baths, NEITH ER HAVE WE!
At this point Jet me bring in
another bit of historie background.
Go back, for a moment, to the
first man, Adam. Prior even to
Adam's creation, the earth had
been populated by angels. The an–
gels had SJNNED
(JI
Peter
2:4).
God
had set over them
H1s
GOVERN–
MENT, administered by the mighty
archangel Lucifer ( lsaiah
14
and
Ezekiel
:28).
This Lucifer, the most
powerful spirit being God had
created, was placed on the throne of
the earth. But he rebelled against
and rejected the GOVER MENT OF
Goo. He led his angels in the
opposite direction-rebellion against
the law of God-vanity, lust and
greed. envy and jealousy, competi–
tion with strife and violence, dark–
ness of error instead of light of
truth, destruction instead of creative
construction. This Lucifer had be–
come Satan the devil. His angels
had become demons-evil spirit be–
ings.
Until a successor qualifies and is
set on that throne of the earth admin–
istering the GOVERNMENT OF Goo,
Satan remains, though now disqual-
The
PLAIN TRUTH