How Lincoln Won the Civil War

Many observers believe America is headed for civil war. The lessons of our history, when Americans were literally killing each other by the hundreds of thousands, are deeply relevant and crucial to remember.

President Abraham Lincoln knew a divided nation could not stand—that unless something radically changed America would become a smattering of divided, insignificant states. He worked to end that war and save the nation. Lincoln knew the secret to national success. His formula saved America. If used again today, it would prevent civil war from even happening!

A Proclamation

To a nation riven by war, on March 30, 1863, Lincoln proclaimed a national day of prayer and fasting. He said: “Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the president to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation. And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

What a proclamation! Lincoln spoke of “sublime truth”—the lofty, noble truth of the Holy Scriptures. And he said it was proved by all history: That is a more profound statement than most people realize.

His proclamation continued: “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God” (emphasis mine). Can you imagine a politician saying this today? Americans’ morals and spiritual lives today are far worse than in Lincoln’s time. And he declared a national day of prayer and fasting, calling on the people to stop forsaking God—and it helped to save the nation!

Two years earlier, in a similar proclamation on Aug. 12, 1861, Lincoln said: “And whereas, when our own beloved country, once, by the blessing of God, united, prosperous and happy, is now afflicted with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a nation and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him, and to pray for His mercy—to pray that we may be spared further punishment, though most justly deserved.”

Lincoln said people needed to humble themselves before God so the nation would be spared further punishment. From whom? From God. Lincoln knew that God was punishing the American people!

I believe his proclamation was referring to 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” This is an iron-clad promise from God: If we will humble ourselves and really seek God, and turn from our wicked ways, the God of heaven will forgive our sins and heal our land.

This powerful verse says there is a way to heal this land. And it was healed! The fruits prove that what Lincoln did, worked. God heard, and saved the nation. Examine the fruits of Lincoln’s leadership. His way worked.

Will the people of America heed this message as they did in 1863? This is our own history. This land desperately needs to be healed! Look at the mountain of problems plaguing us today—yet nobody even considers it divine punishment. But it is!

Where are we morally? We lead the world in producing pornography, making billions in profit from it. What does God think of that? We lead in broken marriages and fractured families. Would you say this country has forsaken God? Yes—much more than the people who fought the Civil War!

In the 1863 proclamation, Lincoln advanced the solution: “It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” How many people think they need forgiveness today?

Lincoln continued, “All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the divine teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.” How wonderful are unity and peace! We can achieve these ideals again only by following what Lincoln is saying.

Lincoln said in another place, “Are we too proud to humble ourselves before the God that made us?” What about Americans today?

Undeserved Blessings

“[W]e have forgotten God,” Lincoln’s proclamation said. “We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.” Lincoln recognized that America’s blessings came from God but the people were taking credit. People today think we somehow created all this wealth by our own ingenuity and wisdom. Others think we stole it from other nations.

The truth is, America did nothing to earn such abundant blessings from God. These blessings came to us because of the obedience of Abraham (prove this by studying our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy).

America is the greatest single nation ever on this planet. The British Empire was even greater. That empire has faded, and now America is fading and will fall unless we repent of offending God by taking credit for these blessings!

Lincoln went on to say, “Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.” Wow!

God foretold the greatness of America and Britain thousands of years ago: “And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins” (Genesis 35:11). This is prophecy for this end time, and it has been fulfilled! You can prove it was never fulfilled until this end time with America and Britain. God did exactly what He said He would.

In Genesis 48 and 49, this birthright promise was handed down to Manasseh and Ephraim, referring to two end-time nations, prophetically: a nation and a group of nations. Birthright means any right acquired by birth. Just by being born, we were prophesied to receive the blessings these nations have.

Clearly, God did His part to bless America. We have failed to do our part to preserve these blessings, and have instead forsaken God!

What will God do in response?

Ezekiel’s Prophecy

“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord” (Ezekiel 13:1-2). How many prophets and ministers prophesy from their own hearts instead of speaking for God?

God warns these “foolish prophets” who have seduced God’s people and built up a wall (verses 3, 10). He is sending a stormy wind (verse 13) before the arrival of the great storm. We could prevent that great storm if we would heed God’s message. God always warns His people. He always warns Israel.

Through the suffering, America “shall know that I am the Lord” (verse 14). During the Great Tribulation, millions will see what they have done and repent and get to know God. And many of them will be spared from death. That stormy wind means “to break through to anyone,” according to the Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon. They will realize that their ministers have been teaching them error, teaching them out of their own hearts, not out of the living Word of God! (verses 10-15). These are not my words. These are God’s inspired words, and it’s a warning.

Ezekiel talks about daubing the wall, which means the false doctrines these men are building. They’re clumsily cobbling it all together, and it can’t be proved from the Bible!

That stormy wind is just the outer edge of the great storm that’s already building. God is always warning us and warning those people who are daubing these spiritual walls with clumsy, erroneous doctrines.

He tells us in verse 16 that even though these prophets say peace is coming, “there is no peace.” God is not going to give us peace. He’s going to give us battles, wars and captivity if we don’t heed Him.

He says again, twice in the last three verses, “and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” That is good news! In spite of our rebellion, He’s going to get us to the point where we know Him. We don’t know God today.

If you’re a minister, you’d better know what you’re talking about. God is making some condemning remarks here about ministers. James 3:1 says those ministers are going to receive the “greater condemnation.”

Before Lincoln left Illinois to become president, he said: “Unless the great God who assisted [George Washington] shall be with and aid me, I must fail. But if the same omniscient mind, and the same Almighty arm that directed and protected him, shall guide and support me, I shall not fail. I shall succeed. Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now.”

Lincoln looked to God. The Civil War almost destroyed America, but Lincoln knew God could deliver.

These days are far more dangerous than Lincoln’s time. Satan and his millions of demons are now confined to this Earth (Revelation 12:12). But their time is short. The good news is, Christ is coming soon! These crises lead directly to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!