China’s Biggest Scandal Against the U.S.

China was mentioned often in this year’s United States presidential campaigns. This nation is now one of the most dangerous on Earth. Becoming increasingly allied with Russia makes China even more dangerous. They have the ambition to rule the world.

For all of the building hostility in America toward China, China’s biggest scandal ever against the U.S. has been almost totally overlooked. American politicians want to forget it. Perhaps the American people do too, because they share in the scandal in some ways. It will plague us in the future. Bible prophecy says so.

On Dec. 27, 1999, the late Charles Krauthammer wrote in Time magazine: “Last week’s handover of the Panama Canal neatly brackets the American century. It begins with Theodore Roosevelt conceiving the Canal, and with it America ascending to the rank of great power.”

Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to really see that America should be a world power. He acted like America was a world power instead of a colony of Europe, which it essentially had been in the past. He wasn’t satisfied with America being like any other ordinary nation.

By the end of the 20th century, as Mr. Krauthammer explained, American leaders had totally reversed the direction of the country. America simply gave away Roosevelt’s “strategic jewel” to a small group of political thugs in Panama!

Building the Panama Canal might be America’s greatest foreign-policy success. It opened up free trade and all kinds of blessings to the world. It was a wonderful creation and an unparalleled spectacle. No nation can make many mistakes like the forfeiture of the Panama Canal and still survive.

Loss of Sea Gates Prophesied

From the very beginning of his ministry, our predecessor, the late Herbert W. Armstrong, talked about a foundational Bible prophecy: God’s birthright promises to America and Britain. This is directly related to the Panama Canal, a gift from God to our nations.

Your Bible foretold the rise of America as the greatest single nation in world history, and Britain as the greatest empire: “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). Kings! This is high-level politics. We must take note of this prophecy.

Here’s a related prophecy: “And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee” (Deuteronomy 28:52). God threatens to take away our sea and land gates, through which our nations have prospered due to abundant international trade. As punishment for our national sins, other nations will engage in trade war against us! God is tired of us trusting in our military instead of in Him for protection. He has blessed us so much, yet we still won’t look to Him.

Again, the Panama Canal is a blessing from God! It makes sense that God would bless America this way under Mr. Roosevelt, who wrote a book called Fear God and Take Your Own Part. Gifts like this allowed America and Britain to virtually rule the world. China is ambitious in a very evil way and would never rule as benevolently as our nations.

The Gate

Britain once ruled the waves. God gave the nation the sea gates of Gibraltar, Malta, the Dardanelles, the English Channel, the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Adan, Dharman, Ichabar Islands, Zanzibar, Cape Town, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the Strait of Malacca, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Falkland Islands. America controlled the great Pacific sea lanes by possessing the Aleutians, Hawaiian Islands, Midway, Guam, Wake Island in the Philippines, and the Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal stands out above the rest. Teddy Roosevelt paid Panama $10 million to build it, more than we paid for Florida and Alaska. Impressive military installations exist there, and we just gave it all away.

The Panama Canal, in particular, fulfills a prophecy about the birthright blessing God gave to America and Britain. (Learn all about this awesome birthright promise in our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy.) “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies” (Genesis 22:17). Deuteronomy 28:52 talks about gates, but this verse talks about the gate. No sea gate besides the Panama Canal could ever be called this. It has served the world for so many years.

In 1977, the political thugs in Panama started to give the U.S. a bit of trouble by threatening to riot and disrupt trade through the Panama Canal. President Jimmy Carter decided to give away this vital sea gate—even though two thirds of Americans disagreed with him! This move was likely unconstitutional. Just like that, America’s foremost symbol of worldwide power was gone.

Enter China

This was a surrender. How could the mighty United States be bullied and blackmailed by crooked political leaders in Panama?

But it gets worse. Because the Panamanian government was grasping for money, the Panama Canal was almost immediately transferred from Panamanian control to the Hong Kong-based Hutchinson Whampoa conglomerate. China, a declared enemy of the United States, now controls the sea gate!

It appears that China was working on this deal before the United States ever forfeited control of the Panama Canal. China is not to be trusted, neither two decades ago nor today.

Panama is a tiny nation of less than 3 million people with just a national guard—no military. Its aggression toward the U.S. was likely emboldened by the backing of China.

Why is the Panama Canal so important to China, and so unimportant to America?

America’s Broken Will

“And I will break the pride of your power …” (Leviticus 26:19). Has God broken America’s will to use its unmatched power? He promised He would as punishment for our sins! Mr. Roosevelt feared God, but who does today?

America has changed radically since the time of Mr. Roosevelt. The Museum of Natural History in New York City has decided to remove a statue of him because it supposedly represents colonialism and racism. What a shame! This man made America strive to fulfill its destiny as a superpower!

In a speech in April 1899 titled the “Strenuous Life,” Mr. Roosevelt said:

I preach to you, then, my countrymen, that our country calls not for the life of ease but for the life of strenuous endeavor. The 20th century looms before us big with the fate of many nations. If we stand idly by, if we seek merely swollen, slothful ease and ignoble peace, if we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at hazard of their lives and at the risk of all they hold dear, then the bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by, and will win for themselves the domination of the world.

Mr. Roosevelt feared and trusted God, which gave him confidence to face any battle. He was a fighter and a powerful president. Where are our courageous leaders today?

America is being cursed for not turning to God and not being thankful for the birthright blessings, including the Panama Canal. You, individually, must look to God to get Him on your side. Because He isn’t on America’s side anymore.