The Late Great USA

This book was written as a result of personal searching and discovery. It is not a repetition of tradition or a restatement of the work of others. It is not a slave to some denominational party line. It was derived from the notion that there is meaning waiting to be uncovered in the Bible. This book is therefore dedicated to honest searchers, who have no axe to grind.

There once was a radical religious terrorist who hated Christians. He put them to death and thought he was serving God in doing it. If he had thought that the World Trade Center Towers were full of Christians he would have found ways to destroy them. His name became demonized to Christians everywhere. He was dedicated to seeking them out and terrorizing them.

Then a mighty power judged this radical religious zealot. That’s right; this bloodthirsty terrorist had to be put in his place. He had to have a just sentence executed over his murderous ways. Here is a partial record of that sentence:

This is the account of how the Mighty Judge proclaimed a death sentence over this radical terrorist. Converted, this radical terrorist, the apostle Paul, would later write:

Yes, the Lord gave the great apostle Paul forgiveness, a death sentence to his old legalism, and He gave him a mission to carry the gospel to the world. Yet if we were to listen to some of the most famous names in Christian leadership today, we would be joining in the approval of bombing religious zealots. These same leaders would have justified putting the apostle Paul to death. How many people would not be Christians today if the apostle Paul had been put to death at the time the Lord was putting him to "life" on the Damascus road?

A group of famous Christian leaders signed a statement to President Bush about his plans for bombing Iraq. They wrote that the administration's efforts were "within the time-honored criteria" of "just war" theory. In short, this is some kind of philosophy that says it is okay to kill people. This is not the voice of God. This is not, to quote Jesus in the greatest sermon every preached, "turning the other cheek." Jesus died so that the people of Iraq could live. There are millions of people in need of the gospel in Iraq. Christian leaders have a Christian duty to try and bring the gospel to the people of Iraq. That is sure. That is plain. That is the Great Commission. It is the stewardship over which we will give the most solemn accounting in the Judgment Day.

Is there a heavenly mandated duty for Christians to be giving a green light to our President to "fire away?" I am not sure that there is any Christian duty to do that. That is not sure. It is not plain. And it certainly is not the Great Commission. I think such counsel shows the carnality of Christendom in our day and its distance from the pulse and center of God’s heart. As fallen beings, with dulled senses and damaged perceptual capabilities, we easily succumb to such counsel and join in the chorus of saying to the misguided religious zealots, "Crucify them!"

Jesus said in His high priestly prayer recorded in John 17 that to know His Father is eternal life. Maturity in the Christian life has to do with knowing God. Jesus did not teach His disciples to burn the bars, to close down the houses of ill repute or to pick up arms against Roman armies. He did not encourage them to run for the Roman senate. He did command them to go everywhere telling the good news and teaching people the things He taught. That is what this book attempts to do.

The book has five short chapters, all based on prophetic chapters from the Bible: Daniel 2, 7, and 8, and Revelation 13 and 17. These chapters place the U.S. in a Biblical context. It is the purpose of this little book to center on that context. Jesus said to shout from the rooftops what you hear in secret.

I have had the same basic understanding of these chapters for over twenty years. My outlook has changed a bit over the years, and I have had to adjust my understanding of some parts of Scripture. That is the way study of the Bible will always mature. The Bible was not written in some heavenly language, known only to God. It was given to men, in their languages, and is "alive" in the sense of revealing more as the human agents who study it grow. Hebrews 4:12 says the Bible is "living." Living things grow. I may not be seeing everything with perfect clarity in the pages of this little book, but I have tried to use my God given talents to figure out the prophetic parts of the Bible while being sensitive to God’s guiding and the direction of His Spirit.

There will always be debate in matters of interpretation. But because the Bible was given to be understood it seemed better to me to try and understand it than to say, as is the habit of some, "We will never know what it means." Is the God of heaven teasing us?

These chapters are offered now for the reader’s consideration as an honest attempt to unpack the prophecy puzzle in the prophetic books of Daniel, from the Old Testament, and Revelation, from the New.

Larry Pahl

January 2003