Riots Prophesied

Where are the riots in America leading? God has the solution—and He will implement it in spite of human efforts. This will take some time and suffering because of human rebellion.

On May 25, a black man in Minnesota, George Floyd, was murdered by a white police officer. If the evidence is as it appears, I believe the officer should be charged with first-degree murder. But what is the cause of this tragic incident and the resultant riots?

While proclaiming a national day of fasting during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln exposed the cause of national suffering: “[W]e have forgotten God.” He also quoted Jesus Christ, who said: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand” (Matthew 12:25). In the 1860s, America had at least a measure of repentance. Is our nation even thinking about repentance today?

Slavery is one of the greatest sins ever committed by any nation in history. Lincoln freed the slaves because he knew slavery was a sin against God! But to this day, America is still plagued by racial division. We must realize that the problem is not political, but spiritual. Neither major political party in the U.S. will prevail in the coming civil war. God will punish our people His way—not giving more power to either side, but taking it all away from both sides.

A Burning Warning

Anciently, God commanded the Israelites to treat foreigners and strangers as their own—as long as they obeyed His law like everyone else. All people came under the same law. One law for all! Today, we need God’s perspective. We must dig into the Holy Bible, God’s Word, which is Christ in print.

The modern descendants of ancient Israel consist primarily of two groups of people: America and the British peoples of the Commonwealth, which includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others. (Study our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy for proof of this.) Bible prophecies addressing Israel are speaking about these nations, usually. (God’s one true Church, the Philadelphia Church of God, is known as spiritual Israel. We are composed of many races and nationalities but are one spiritual nation.)

Thousands of years ago, the Prophet Isaiah wrote a book specifically for this end time (Isaiah 30:8). He warned of the riots now crippling America: “Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers” (Isaiah 1:7). America isn’t yet experiencing the devastation described here, but it’s coming soon. Only God can stop it—and only if we as a nation turn to Him for deliverance.

Plenty of Americans are praying for national unity to be restored. Are their prayers being answered?

Our cities are burning!

God intended for America to be a shining city on a hill—an example for the entire world to follow! Instead, the world is watching and hoping to avoid our fate. Remember: This is a spiritual problem.

An article at Unherd.com from June 1, titled “COVID Has Exposed America as a Failed State,” says:

The idea [America] can be considered a viable model of governance to follow is now patently absurd! As I sit typing this, troops are deployed on the streets of cities across the country, their Humvees still painted desert tan, as looters smash and burn and ransack shops ….

It is surely impossible to view the U.S. at this point as anything other than a cautionary tale, a burning city on a hill ….

America isn’t a shining example right now; it is a burning warning.

During the 1992 riots stemming from the police beating of Rodney King, which led to 63 dead and 2,300 injured, I wrote: “As the economy grows worse, the rioters are going to burn more and more because God’s wrath is upon us! And God is far more wrathful toward the white people in Israel than He is with the black people” (Philadelphia Trumpet, June 1992, “The L.A. Riots: Only the Beginning”). Why would God hold whites more accountable? Because they are descendants of ancient Israel. They have a history with God! The nations of Israel, both anciently and today, have failed to set an example. God is punishing us.

“The problems are going to intensify until our people repent! … The Los Angeles rioting is just a type of what is going to happen to the whole nation!” (ibid). How could I have possibly known this? Well, have you studied your Bible lately? The answer is in Bible prophecy.

Racial problems are intensifying, just like I wrote 28 years ago. We must examine both sides. In 2016, a black man murdered five police officers in Dallas, Texas. A week later, a black man inspired by that shooting murdered three officers in Louisiana. In the most recent riots, two more officers have been murdered. An officer in Las Vegas was shot in the head and is fighting for his life. Last year, 89 officers died in the line of duty. Do the police have a case?

If the police were gone, chaos and anarchy would devour America. The nation would fall apart. Our foreign enemies have been waiting for decades for America to weaken itself so they can destroy us. We have many vicious enemies.

God could solve these problems in a flash, if only we would let Him. Man can’t rule over man! Human forms of government fail every time. Going back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God has told mankind this truth. But the first humans refused to listen to God, choosing instead to build their own governments, religions and systems of education. To this day, mankind suffers for that wrong choice.

One Last Time

America isn’t being blessed by God today as it once was. There is a spiritual reason why. We sing “God Bless America,” and God wants to bless us. So what’s the problem?

“And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more” (Amos 7:8). A “plumbline” is a measuring device. God’s Church must measure the destruction as it descends upon Israel! This message has been delivered for many years, and now God is delivering it one last time. He says, “I will not again pass by them anymore.” Barring a miraculous national repentance, our people will experience the worst suffering ever on the planet!

The good news is, all the violence and suffering is tied directly to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He will save all mankind from extermination (Matthew 24:21-22). The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, a combined period of 3½ years, will give way to the return of our Savior.

“And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword” (Amos 7:9). The sword is coming! God wants to save us, but there’s so much sin in America.

God warns His people that “the land is not able to bear all his words” (verse 10). I have a responsibility to speak God’s words, even if the whole nation can’t stand it! Doing anything else will lead to utter failure. Once these prophecies I have taught for decades all start coming true, everyone will realize this message came from God (Ezekiel 33:33).

Race riots are a spiritual problem. “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12). Satan and his millions of demons are stuck on Earth, causing the heavens to rejoice with relief! These evil spirit beings are behind all the riots, violence and murder happening in America. God sees both sides. Both sides need to be heard, and all of us need to confess our sins if we ever want to solve our problems. Sadly, the trouble will only get worse before it gets better, to the point of being difficult to believe.

Our people are learning the hard way that it’s a “fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). God has saved America many times in the past, including during the Civil War. But we won’t win any more wars until we repent.

As the suffering intensifies, we must remember that God will resurrect all who die and give them a chance to finally live His way and be happy.

Back to Isaiah’s warning: “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me” (Isaiah 1:1-2). God’s chosen nations and 95 percent of His own Church have rebelled against Him.

“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity [lawlessness], a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward” (verse 4). It is possible to provoke God to anger! What a terrifying thought.

“Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint” (verse 5). Israel today, physical and spiritual, is sick to the core and faint of heart. They lack the courage necessary to deal with their problems!

This is the revealing context of verse 7, which I quoted earlier: “Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.” “Strangers,” or Gentiles, are non-Israelites—those not descended from the white line of the ancient nation of Israel.

The solution to America’s deadly problems is clear: “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11). Israelites and non-Israelites are mixed together in America today, and all must be accountable to one law. God’s law applies to everybody!

No one will prevail in a second civil war—except God. You can stake your eternal life on that!