Chapter  24

The United States in Prophecy

A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE

     (234) We have now seen that "the first beast" of Revelation 13:1-10 represents the Papacy, and that it received its "deadly wound" in 1798, when the Papal States had been abolished, Rome declared a republic, and Pope Pius VI taken a prisoner into France where he died in "captivity," August 19, 1799. (Revelation 13:3, 10.) The prophet then sees "another beast coming up." Verse 11. Knowing that a "beast in prophecy represents a "kingdom" (Daniel 7:23) we must conclude that a new nation was to come up about 1798. In 1754 John Wesley, in his "New Testament with Explanatory Notes," applied the beast of Revelation 13:1-10 to the Papacy, and then wrote the following note under the eleventh verse:

     "Another...beast...But he is not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast. And he had two horns like a lamb - a mild, innocent appearance." - p. 427.

     In locating this new nation let us notice the following points in this prophecy:

     (1) When the prophet saw the papal beast go "into captivity" (Rev. 13:10), he "beheld another beast" "like a lamb" "coming up." Verse 11. A lamb is not full grown. This nation, therefore, would be coming up, and not be full grown in 1798, when the papal beast went into captivity.

     (235) (3) The dragon of Revelation 12, and the first beast of Revelation 13, both had crowns, but this beast had none, which would indicate that it was to be a republic, having no crowned head.

     (4) It would exercise its power "before" the papal beast (verse 12), showing that it is not a Catholic nation, nor counted as part of the papal confederacy, therefore it would naturally be a Protestant nation to begin with.

     (6) And yet its principles were to be lamblike, mild (verse 11), or as the Danish and German have it: "Like the lamb," - Christlike. And Christ advocated two great principles: First, separation of church and state. He said: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's." Luke 20:25. That is, keep the two separate. Second, religious liberty. He said: "If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not." John 12:47. "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Matt. 7:1.

     It is evident that only one nation answers to all these specifications: the United States of America. It became an independent nation in 1776, and was not full grown in 1798, having only thirteen states, compared with forty-eight now. Its peaceful growth and principles of liberty answer also to the predictions of this prophecy.

     The words "coming up" used in Rev. 13:11 mean to "spring up, as plants." - T. S. Green's Lexicon, p. 9. And G. A. Townsend says: "The history of the United States was separated by a beneficent Providence far from this wild and cruel history of the rest of the continent, and, like a silent seed, we grew into empire." - "The New World Compared with the Old," p. 635. Hartford: 1870.

     The principles of Romanism had taken such deep root in the human heart that although the Puritans had come to this country to seek liberty of worship for themselves, they soon established a state religion, and persecuted dissenters most bitterly. In several of the Colonies good citizens were put in the stocks for not going to church on Sunday; they were mercilessly whipped, or even put to death, for differing from the established religious belief.

     (236) Many of the nobler minds had grown tired of political tyranny and religious bigotry, and determined to throw off both yokes in one stroke. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, Pa., declaring, "That these United Colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved." A committee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, was appointed to draft a formal Declaration, which was penned by Mr. Jefferson, and on June 28, Congress proceeded to consider it. The discussion that followed was a tremendous struggle. On July 2, Lee's resolution was voted, and finally at 2:00 P.M., July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was voted, and the bell in the tower of Independence Hall, where they were assembled, rang out the joyful news. This bell bore the now prophetic inscription, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Leviticus 25:10.

     "In all the colonies, indeed, the Declaration was hailed as the passing away of the old world and the birth of the new." - "Great Events of the Greatest Century," R. M. Devens, p. 29.

     The noble men who framed the declaration did not ask for toleration. They understood the fundamentals of true liberty and declared:

     "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Sacred truths there are, written in Independence Hall. "Within that temple was born a nation, in whose destiny were wrapped the interests of Liberty and of Civilization to the end of time." - Id., p. 31.

     (237) The Federal Constitution, adopted September 17, 1787, and ratified by the several states between December 7, 1787 and May 29, 1790, has this statement in its preamble: "We, the people of the United States, in order to...secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

     Still some friends of religious liberty, who had so long suffered persecution feared that the Constitution did not sufficiently safeguard liberty of conscience, and they wrote to George Washington in regard to it. The following is his reply, dated August 4, 1789:

     "If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed by the convention where I had the honor to preside might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it; and if I could now conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every species of religious persecution. For, you doubtless remember, I have often expressed my sentiments that any man, conducting himself as a good citizen and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience." - "History of the Baptists," Thomas Armitage, D. D., LL. D., pp. 806, 807. New York. 1890.

     A month later, September 23, 1789, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution, also called the Bill of Rights, were approved by Congress. By December 15, 1791, they had been ratified by ten states, and declared in force. The first Amendment reads:

     "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

     (238) In the prophecy this beast "had two horns like a lamb." Dr. Alexander Cruden gives many examples in his Concordance to show that "the Scripture mentions the horn as the symbol of strength." - Art. "Horn," p. 291. And the real strength of this republic has been its two great principles: civil and religious liberty - a state without a king, and a church without a pope. G. A. Townsend, speaking of the real secret of power in this country, says:

     "'In view of this unparalleled progress and combination, what are the little toys with which we vex ourselves in Europe? What is this needle gun, we are anxious to get from Prussia, that we may beat her next year with it? Had we not better take from America the principle of liberty she embodies, out of which have come her citizen pride, her gigantic industry, and her formidable loyalty to the destinies of her Republican land?'" - "The New World Compared with the Old," p. 462.

     The secret of our power at home, and our influence abroad, was the citizens' love for, and enthusiastic devotion to, their country, which guaranteed liberty to all, instead of oppression by taxation and religious despotism, as had been the rule in former ages.

     As the principles of liberty and the inherent equality of all men, enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, and in the first Amendment to the Federal Constitution, spread in Europe, people became awakened to their God-given rights. Mr. Townsend says:

     "Since America was discovered she has been a subject of revolutionary thought in Europe....Out of her discovery grew the European reformation in religion; out of our Revolutionary War grew the revolutionary period of Europe." - Id., pp. 462, 463.

     The prophet saw these two powerful horns on the lamblike beast, and thinking men today have also caught the vision of their power in the world.

A SAD CHANGE

     (239) We wish we could close the picture here, and leave its unmarred beauty lingering in our minds; but, sad to say, there is another chapter to it that must be read. The prophet continues: "He spake as a dragon." Rev. 13:11. A nation speaks through its laws. This prophetic statement, therefore, reveals that a great change in policy is to come over our beloved country. The "dragon" is a symbol of pagan Rome, that persecuted the early Christians during the first three centuries. (Rev. 12:1-5, 11.) And a similar persecution will be inaugurated against the "remnant" church, for we read: "The dragon was wroth with the woman [church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12:17. And he has "great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Verse 12. Here we see what is meant by speaking "as a dragon," and we also see upon whom this persecution will come; namely, upon commandment-keepers.

     This prophecy also reveals what influence will be brought to bear upon our lawmakers and people to produce this sad change. We have already seen that "the first beast" of Rev. 13:1-10 represents the Papacy, and by reading the eleventh and twelfth verses we see that the effort of the lamblike beast will be to cause "the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." That is: The whole trend is Romeward, therefore it must be Rome that is working in disguise to bring about such a trend. And now as to the facts in the case. We quote the following from Roman Catholic sources:

     At the Centennial Conference of American Catholics, held in Baltimore, Nov., 1890, Archbishop Ireland said:

     "Catholics of the United States are called...to make America Catholic....The church triumphant in America, Catholic truth will travel on the wings of American influence, and with it encircle the universe." - "The Pope and the New Era," pp. 222, 223. London: W. T. Stead, 1890.

    (240) A letter from Rome, dated October 14, 1894, says:

     "The United States of America, it can be said without exaggeration, are the chief thought of Leo XIII....A few days ago, on receiving an eminent American, Leo XIII said to him: 'But the United States are the future; we think of them incessantly.'...That is why Leo XIII turns all his soul, full of ideality, to what is improperly called his American policy. It should be called his Catholic universal policy." - "Catholic Standard and Times" (Philadelphis), Nov. 3, 1894; quoted in "Protestant Magazine," Oct., 1913, p. 441.

     The report of "the third Washington conference" says:

     "Our purpose is to make America dominantly Catholic." - "The Mission Movement in America," issued from the Catholic University, Washington, D.C., June, 1909.

     "It seems to me that the main support of Protestantism comes from the United States and England....If we put an end to this effort in England and the United States by making these nations predominantly Catholic, we will have removed the chief obstacle to the conversion of the world to the true faith....A vigorous effort in the United States at this time will reduce the opposition to an insignificant condition....In the course of another century, the [Protestant] sects will be a study for the historian and antiquarian along with Arianism." - Extract from a letter in "The Missionary" (Roman Catholic), Washington, D.C.: May, 1910; quoted in "Protestant Magazine," Vol. II, p. 22.

    This Catholic movement has already made such progress in England, that, with a little careful manipulation, its leaders anticipate very little opposition in the future. (See "History of the Romeward Movement in the Church of England," London: 1900, and "The Secret History of the Oxford Movement," London: 1899, both by Walter Walsh; and "The Oxford Movement in America," by Rev. C. E. Walworth, New York: 1895; also "The Jesuits and the British Press," by Michael J. F. McMarthy."

     (241) Now the "Catholic Action" is focused on America, not in an antagonistic way, but quietly, in wisely planned, systematically organized, and well directed efforts along numerous lines, so as to gain favor among Protestants, and not to be suspected as propaganda. And, remarkable as it may sound, Protestant leaders and people are totally asleep on the Catholic question, even more so than the Huguenots were in France before the St. Bartholomew's Massacre.

     Dr. E. Boyd Barrett, for many years a Jesuit, and still a Roman Catholic, as far as the author knows, has the following to say about the plans of his church:

     "In theory, Catholic Action is the work and service of lay Catholics in the cause of religion, under the guidance of the bishops. In practice it is the Catholic group fighting their way to control America." - "Rome Stoops to Conquer," p. 15. New York. 1935.

     "The effort, the fight, may be drawn out. It may last for five or ten years. Even if it last for twenty - what is twenty years in the life of Rome? The fight must be fought to a finish - opposition must be worn down if it cannot be swept away. Rome's immortal destiny hangs on the outcome. That destiny overshadows the land.

     "And in the fight, as she has ever fought when battles were most desperate in the past, Rome will use steel, and gold, and silvery lies. Rome will stoop to conquer." - Id., pp. 266, 267.

     In a communication from Vatican City, published in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Nov. 4, 1936, we read:

     "Pope Pius feels that the United States is the ideal base for Catholicism's great drive....

     "The Catholic Movement, Rome's militant organization numbering millions all over the world, will be marshaled direct from Rome by Monsignor Pizzardo - next to Pacelli the Holy See's shrewdest diplomat and politician - instead of by the local bishops as before. The priest's education is to be thoroughly revised and modernized - with special attention to modern propaganda methods. In addition there will be established in each country a central bureau, responsible only to Rome, to combat red agitation with every political weapon available....The church must fight, and at once.

     (242) "Coughlin has shown us the way of getting at the modern man. He has embarrassed us by showing and using the political power of the church so openly....We know how to tackle America today, and that is our most important problem at the moment.

     "Pacelli is contacting the American cardinals and leading Catholic personalities,...to explain the Vatican's plan for the new crusade....The Catholic political organizations in the large cities, like Tammany Hall, will give the church a good lever. Those contacts are also being carefully inspected by the pope's minister.

     "The Vatican itself resembles a general staff headquarters preparing plans and arms for a big offensive. Since the time of the Counter-Reformation, churchmen say, no such extensive reorganization of personnel and propaganda methods has been undertaken. The whole world-wide net of Catholic organizations and sub-organizations is being contacted directly from Rome and cleared for action. The church is to be adjusted to modern political, social, and cultural conditions." - p. 10, col. 3, 4, used by permission.

     This article speaks of Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, then papal secretary of state, coming from the Vatican to effect the above mentioned reorganization. He toured the United States "in a chartered airplane." Christian Science Monitor says: "The visit of a high Roman prelate to the United States on the eve of an election is as unprecedented as it is delicate." - Oct. 2, 1926.

     This Catholic plan of conquest was well understood years ago. An illustration in Harper's Weekly of October 1, 1870, pictured the pope pointing to America as "The Promised Land."