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The book demonstrates who
are the physical descendants of
thc ancient ten-tribed House of
Israel. The English-speaking
world, northwestern Europe and
their settlements worldwide
would be sobered to find where
they are in Bible prophecy.
The sign ificance of this is s tag–
gering! l t means that a good bulk
of the prophecies found in the
Old Testament refer to these
modern nations! Those prophecies
reveal that the United States- as
well as other nations descended
from all the tribes of ancient
lsrael- is in grave peril.
For any leader in the Wcstern
world, thc knowledge revealcd in
Mr . Armstrong's book would
make a vital difference in choos–
ing policy!
One example. A former sena–
tor from Oklahoma, Harold
Hughes, who is now an evange–
list, has derided sorne of Presi–
dent Reagan's own religious sup–
porters by sayi ng , ..
r
ha ve
searchcd the Scriptures diligently
and 1 have not found one word in
them on Jesus Christ's position
on thc Panama Canal." l f Mr.
Hughes would read
The United
States and Britain in Prophecy
he would be surprised! The God
of the Old Testament-who later
became Jesus Christ (J ohn 1: 1),
made a prophecy to Abraham
that his descendants would pos–
sess thc gate of their enemics
(Gencsis 22: 17). And the descen–
dants of Abraham-specifically
America- did come to possess
one such gate-the Panama
Canal!
How ironic that, in 1976, Ron–
ald Reagan almost won the
Republ ican nomination on thc
strength of the issue on the Pana–
ma Canal! The very first primary
he won was the fi rst one where he
criticized the then-President Ger–
ald Ford fo r being wi lling to give
away thc Canal. His campaign
cry of ' 'We bought it. We paid
for it. We own it," made sense to
many Americans.
But Mr. Reagan's special con–
cero for the Panama Canal should
now g ive him pause. The man in
officc before him finally suc–
ceeded in giving the Canal away.
March 1981
What God had given was token
away.
Business as Usual?
There are
GRAVE
implications
from the fact that modern nations
are mentioned in Bible prophecy.
Prophecy revea ls that nations
descended from ancient Jsrael–
including America and Britain–
will s uffer famine, military
attack, and eventual captivi ty by a
foreign power! (See Ezekiel,
chapters 5 and 6.)
No human leader wants the
shame of being the
last
leader of
his country when it collapses. But
to prevent that, he must be will–
ing to s top doing "business as
usual"-stop following "the get
way," the way of exclusive self–
interest, vanity, envy and hostility
toward others. Yet there are
enormous pressures on every
leader toward business as usual–
toward doing things the way they
have always been done- even if
the ends thereof lead to destruc–
tion.
The Bible reveals a principie of
delay. In 1 Kings 2 1, there is a
remarkable story. A leader of
ancie nt Israel, King Ahab. had
"sold" himself to "work evil in
the sight of the Lord ." T he
prophet Elijah went to him and
told Ahab of impending desola–
tion o f Ahab's own family
(1
Kings 21: 17-24). And then a
surprise happened.
"Ahab humbled himself, fasted,
and cried to God in repentance." As
a result, God said, " 1will not bring
the evil in his days, but in his son's
days" (verses 29-30). Had his sons
similarly repented (they didn't),
the evil would have been postponed
indefinitely.
Mueh the same story happened
in ancient Nineveh. The prophet
warned that ancient city-state of
its impending fall, and, lo and
behold, t he king led the people in
fasting a nd prayer! So God
changed his mind. Nineveh was
spared! (Jonah 3:4-1
O).
A human leader should consid–
er doing the same thing today–
calling a day of prayer and fast–
ing. Such days, interestingly
enough, are not that uncommon
in Amer ican history. The Conti-
nental Congress declared a day of
fasting and repentance at least
twice, George Washington did it
once, and Lincoln did it twice
during the Civil War.
But declarations of prayer and
repentance should not be done
just to curry favor with religious
voters. The national leader must
himself set a good example for
the nation.
High Personal Standards
A leader's personal life must con–
tinue
lO
renect persona) moral
standards that must be above
reproach.
The Bible says, " He that ruleth
over men must be just, ruling in
the fear of God" ( 11 Samuel
23:3). And yet sorne figures in
high office have included liars,
users of profane language and
alleged adulterers. A president or
prime minister who does these
tbings may cause sorne people to
t h ink that such conduct is mor–
ally acceptable.
T he same requirement of fear
of God should also apply to a
leader's subordinates. Tbey must
be men and women of personal
honesty and moral backbone–
(see Exodus 18:21-22). The Prov–
erbs say, "When the righteous
are in authority, the people
rejoice" (Proverbs 29:2).
The Plain Truth
cannot give
political leadcrs specific advice on
this or that policy. But there are
certain duties that the Bible does
lay on human ru lers.
A leader is under a duty to see
that his government
does not
active/y attack
the preaching of
the true Gospel, the well-being of
God's Church, or family life in
general. The same verse in the
Bible that says cer tain things are
Caesar's also says certain things
are God's (Matthew 22:2 1).
For examplc, government bu–
reaucrats in the cent ral states in
recent years have attempted to
make the operation of independent
church operated schools and col–
leges very difficult. The public
schools have become a means to
cram anti-God, antifamily, pro–
evolution ideas down the throats of
millions ofchildren. Sorne bureau–
crats have desired to have all chil-
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