Decline of the West-WHY?

Promises to Abraham

The U.S., the British-descended peoples and modern Israel are the inheritors of promises God made to Abraham and his seed. Those biblical promises foretold an incredible future. Because Abraham obeyed God, God promised him national greatness and the opportunity to be a blessing to mankind (Genesis 12:1-3). His descendants would be as the sand of the seashore and gain possession of the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:6-7) and the gates of their enemies (Genesis 22:17). Israelite peoples would colonize around the globe and dwell in the choice places of the earth (Genesis 27:28-29; 28:14-15; 32:28). Two of Abraham's descendants would inherit the ultimate promises-Manasseh would become a great nation and Ephraim a great commonwealth of nations (Genesis 35:9; 48:14-22). Nothing explains better the rise to prominence of the U.S. and Britain than knowing that they are the inheritors of these promises (Genesis 49:22-26)!

Warnings to Moses

God warned the peoples of the modern Israelite nations: "When you have eaten and are full [inherited the blessings]… beware that you do not forget the Lord your God and His commandments... [or] you shall perish" (Deuteronomy 8:10-19). God chose and blessed the Israelite people to use them as an example and teach the world about His way of life (Deuteronomy 4:1-8). He promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28; Leviticus 26). However, Israel's descendants have shown a rebellious nature and a tendency to "do their own thing." They have not lived up to the agreement they made with their Creator (Exodus 19:5-8). God understood their nature and told Moses to warn: "after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger" (Deuteronomy 31:29).

Prophetic Judgments

The prophet Isaiah reveals that Israel's rebellious ways would produce a sick and depraved society where good and evil become transposed-like Sodom and Gomorrah-inviting divine punishment (Isaiah 1:1-20; 5:20). In the U.S., prayer is prohibited in schools while homosexuality is promoted as an acceptable alternative lifestyle. Although the Bible labels homosexuality an "abomination" emanating from a "debased mind" (Leviticus 18:22; Deuteronomy 22:5; Romans 1:26-29), gays parade brazenly in London, San Francisco and Sydney. The U.S. outlaws the display of the Ten Commandments in public places, yet allows open display of violent and sexually explicit material-in spite of biblical prohibitions (Matthew 5:28; 1 Corinthians 6:18). These are reasons why American schools have become "killing fields," sexual activity has exploded and American cultural exports are resented in non-Western societies. While God hates divorce because of its devastating effects (Malachi 2:15-17), Israelite nations are among the world's leaders in divorces.

Biblical prophets foretold that dramatic judgments will fall on rebellious Israelites. Disobedient Israelite peoples will be "cursed… in the country" with "extraordinary plagues" that will take away flocks and cattle, and these peoples will "become an astonishment, a proverb" in the sight of other peoples (Deuteronomy 28:15-19, 37, 58-59; Hosea 4:1-3). The sudden and unexpected outbreaks of "mad cow" and foot and mouth disease in Britain have been described as "horrendous" and "apocalyptic," and have earned Britain the reputation of "the leper of Europe" (Time, Mar. 26, 2001, p. 52). Because Israelite nations have forgotten God, He tells them "I will break the pride of your power" and also that "you shall have no power to stand before your enemies" (Leviticus 26:19, 37). As the U.S. and Britain face increasing military challenges around the world, budget cutbacks have weakened our defense forces. Gays in the military and women in combat positions have eroded morale. Leaders who assert, as did the Australian defense white paper Defense 2000, that we are "a secure country thanks to our geography… chances of attack… remain low," seem blind to lessons of the past and realities of the future (see also While America Sleeps, Kagan & Kagan). Once-powerful Israelite nations are increasingly vulnerable at a critical time!

Danger Ahead

Where will these rebellious and shortsighted actions lead? What does the future hold for the U.S., Israel and the British-descended peoples? Judge Robert Bork blames modern liberal ideas promoting abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, the acceptance of violence and disparaging of religious values as contributing to national decline, and he echoes Isaiah (1:10) when he concludes: "Gomorrah is our probable destination" (Slouching Towards Gomorrah, Bork, p. 343). Journalist Morris Berman echoes the prophet Hosea (4:6) when he proclaims that the evidence of our society's "crumbling" is "overwhelming"-that "the system has lost its moorings, and, like ancient Rome, is drifting into an increasingly dysfunctional situation" (The Twilight of American Culture, Berman, p. 2). British writer Peter Hitchens laments that, because of the cultural war raging in England, "a great civilization… is on the edge of extinction… we have very little time to save it" (The Abolition of Britain, p. xi).

While secular analysts see only coincidence or historical inevitability in these momentous events, God states that because "the children of Israel… have perverted their way; have forgotten the Lord their God… I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you" (Jeremiah 3:21; 18:11). Because of the disobedience of these modern Israelites, "the Lord will make the plague cling to you until you are destroyed… and you will be defeated before your enemies" (Deuteronomy 28:15-25) and carried into captivity (vv. 41, 44, 64-68). The peoples of the U.S., Britain and the modern Jewish nation of Israel are prophesied to "stumble together" because they have "cast off the good" and "are deeply corrupted" (Hosea 5:5; 8:3; 9:9). They will be punished by captivity in foreign nations (Hosea 8:1-8; 9:7). This coming punishment is called the "time of Jacob's [Israel's] trouble" and will occur in the "latter days" just before the return of Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 30:7, 24). The returning Messiah will restore the nations of Israel, but only after they repent and the world learns a powerful lesson-that there is a God who rules in the affairs of men (Ezekiel 39:23-28).

We are living in significant times! These are sobering yet encouraging prophecies that the news media and most theologians do not understand. To learn more about the identity of U.S., Britain and other Israelite nations and their prophesied future, request our free booklet What's Ahead for America and Britain? And keep reading Tomorrow's World magazine, where prophecy comes alive. It could change your life!