Chapter 3: Saving America—Temporarily

The destructive trends of the Obama years were far more dangerous than most people realized at the time. People were naive and ignorant about the extent of the threat. Even most Republican leaders failed to realize what they were dealing with: people committed to destroying the government of this land. We were witnessing a government—and a nation—on the verge of collapse!

Then something abruptly changed. In a result that shocked the radical leftists and surprised most of the nation, Donald J. Trump won the 2016 United States presidential election.

Mr. Trump’s bid for the presidency was derided and mocked. The media called it a joke and clown show. Polls showed him considerably behind his opponent, Hillary Clinton, even just before the election. Yet somehow, what many dismissed as impossible happened. I will show you that his victory was miraculous intervention from God.

Once Donald Trump became president, something else extraordinary happened. His presidency temporarily stopped the forces destroying the country.

Mrs. Clinton’s stated goal was to continue the legacy of Barack Obama. If she had become president, the ruinous trends of the Obama presidency would have continued and intensified. Many people—including me—believe it would have meant an end to our constitutional republic!

I want to show you that Mr. Trump’s presidency was actually prophesied in your Bible. It was only his election that prevented even worse troubles from bringing this nation down even more quickly—and God was behind it!

I will show you something else you may find stunning: God prophesies that Mr. Trump will return to power. Prophecy tells us what God thinks of the Biden presidency. But it also shows that what Trump accomplishes upon his return will prove to be only a temporary deliverance for the nation.

Former Prophets

Few people regard Bible prophecy as reliable. But you simply cannot understand events in America today without it.

The Old Testament is divided into three main sections: the law, the prophets and the writings. The prophets section includes the major and minor prophets, as well as the former prophets, which include the biblical books of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. These books record a broad sweep of history of the nation of Israel—from the time the Israelites entered the Promised Land, through the division of the nation into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, until both kingdoms were conquered and enslaved.

Americans today, and all people, can learn the real causes of world events by studying biblical prophecy, including the former prophets. There is a special message in all these books. The former prophets are mostly about history, but they are called former prophets for good reason. These books were written by prophets, and they are filled with end-time prophecy.

Many people believe the former prophets contain only history. That is not true, but even if it were, it would make these biblical books extremely valuable. Many authorities call history our most effective teacher. There is a lot of truth to that statement. And Bible history is the greatest of all because it is God’s history.

There is a crucial reason why, of all the mountains of human history God could have miraculously recorded and preserved, He chose this history. The principles illustrated here apply to all human beings. But also, because Americans are direct descendants of the Israelites (as proved in The United States and Britain in Prophecy), this history is specific prophecy for them.

Most of the history recorded in these books is prophetic. Perhaps the main example is how the state of religion in ancient Israel determined the state of the nation. This history indirectly prophesies what will happen to the modern descendants of Israel and Judah if we have similar religious problems. It shows that if we live the same lifestyles our forefathers did, we will experience the same results, good or bad. In this way, history prophesies the fate of nations—whether they will thrive or collapse!

But the former prophets are even more. These books contain many direct prophecies from God. They contain pivotal prophecies mainly for the latter days, our generation today. These books contain repeated references to the prophesied return of Jesus Christ, for example. They also contain other direct prophecies that, like much of the Bible, follow the principle of duality: There is an ancient fulfillment and a latter-day fulfillment, a type and an antitype.^[1]

This invaluable material in the former prophets is available for us to study and learn from. We ought to be intensely interested in these biblical books.

There is an event in the history of ancient Israel that closely parallels what has happened in America.

King Jeroboam II

After the reigns of King David and King Solomon, 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel broke away from Judah and formed a separate nation, the kingdom of Israel. Their rebellion against the throne of David, inspired by their first king, Jeroboam i, proved to be a catastrophic mistake. Israel never had a righteous king again, and as a result, it suffered continual curses and, some 200 years later, conquest and captivity.

This history is recorded in 2 Kings. Notice what 2 Kings 14 records about one of Israel’s last kings before its fall: “In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin” (verses 23-24).

King Jeroboam ii was not a righteous man. He did evil and committed the same sins that the first Jeroboam had. Nevertheless, the Bible records something remarkable: God actually used this unrighteous king to help the nation.

Notice this carefully: Jeroboam ii “restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah …” (verse 25). Jonah is well known for his warning to Nineveh. But before that, Jonah prophesied that Israel would expand its power, regain cities that had been lost to Syria, and prosper. This prophecy was fulfilled under Jeroboam ii: Israel became more powerful than at any time since the days of Solomon!

Israel was still in a sinful state. Jeroboam ii followed in the same rebellious traditions of the original Jeroboam. It wasn’t because of the repentance or righteousness of the Israelites and their king that the nation experienced this resurgence. Why, then, did God bless the nation like it hadn’t been blessed in two centuries?

“For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel” (verse 26). The Ferrar Fenton translation reads, “For the Ever-living pitied the immeasurable miseries of Israel both without and within, when there was no ease for Israel.”

The Bible shows that anciently, God raised up the kingdom of Israel to represent Him. Satan attacked that nation in every way he could. History shows that at one point in the ninth century b.c., an enemy almost completely destroyed it—but God intervened. How? He raised up a human king to temporarily save the nation.

Notice verse 27: “And the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.”

Israel was in bitter affliction—on the verge of being blotted out of existence! There was an effort to blot out the name of Israel—a very satanic goal.

In God’s plan, physical Israel was merely the forerunner of God’s spiritual nation—His Church—to whom He would give His Holy Spirit and offer spiritual salvation. “[T]he Old Covenant with Israel at Sinai was a type and forerunner of the New Covenant. It will be made with the New Testament Church, which is the spiritual Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31; Hebrews 8:6, 10),” Herbert W. Armstrong explained in his book Mystery of the Ages.

God’s New Testament Church is Israel, spiritually. Ephesians 2:11-19 show that, upon repentance, belief and conversion, anyone of any nation or race becomes part of spiritual Israel.

Spiritual Israel is meant to help lead the entire world to God. And God’s ultimate purpose is to offer all people who have ever lived the opportunity to be a part of His eternal spiritual Family.

“Consider why God created mankind in the first place!” Mr. Armstrong wrote. “God is reproducing Himself through man! He is creating in man God’s own perfect holy and righteous spiritual character! And that, in turn, is purposed to restore the government of God over all the Earth. And, further, to create billions of God beings to finish the creation of the vast unfinished universe!”

This is a spectacular spiritual prophecy that you can absolutely prove from your Bible. This is ultimately what the name “Israel” represents. (It is explained more thoroughly in my book The Former Prophets.)

So what is “the name of Israel from under heaven”? It is God’s master plan to re-create Himself in mankind. This is about all of mankind “under heaven”! Every human being who has ever lived on Earth—under heaven—will get an opportunity to receive the name of spiritual Israel—just as you see in the Church of God today. God’s true Church has members of all races. All people will be able to receive God’s Holy Spirit and a chance to be born into God’s Kingdom, or Family, forever.

This is the incredible hope in the name of Israel “under heaven”! It expands to a majestic vision that reaches far beyond this Earth! God begins our spiritual lives “under heaven”—but His plan is to take us above heaven to rule the entire universe forever under His direction.

Think about that: This means that someone who rejects “the name of Israel” is rejecting God and His Bible!

Satan hates everything God is about and wants to destroy all He does. Throughout history, Satan has continually tried to “blot out the name of Israel,” that of God’s chosen nation. Several biblical examples show this, as do historical examples up to the present day. Psalm 83 even prophesies that the devil will inspire an alliance of nations in the end time to try to destroy Israel and wipe out all memory of its name!

During this period of Israel’s history, had God not intervened, the devil’s plan to blot out the name of Israel would have prevailed! But God granted mercy when Israel really didn’t deserve it. Rather than sending Israel into captivity at that time, God used this king to save Israel and give the nation one last period of prosperity before facing a reckoning for the sins it never repented of.

God saved Israel—“by the hand of” King Jeroboam ii.

Despite the curses Israel was under, and despite the sins of Jeroboam and the wickedness of the nation, Jeroboam reigned for 41 years. He was the longest-reigning king in the history of the northern kingdom. Most other kings died by intrigue or betrayal, but Jeroboam’s reign did not suffer from such violence and curses. The nation experienced a period of relative strength, stability and even prosperity.

This resurgence was not because of any personal greatness or leadership skill by Jeroboam. It was because God took pity on Israel in its affliction. It was because God chose not to let the name of Israel be blotted out. It was because God saved Israel!

But that resurgence was temporary. Israel did not thank God for the blessings, nor repent before God. And soon after, Israel was conquered and its people were taken captive by the Assyrians.

This prophetic history is especially relevant today. Remember the prophetic principle of duality. History is repeating itself.

Prophetically, the name of Israel that is in danger of being blotted out rests on the modern nations descended from ancient Israel, especially America and Britain.

Our people don’t understand their Bibles as they once did. They don’t understand the many scriptures about Satan the devil. But these scriptures show that the devil has his agenda against America, and only God can protect us.

A Modern Jeroboam

“During the long and peaceful reign of Jeroboam ii … the house of Israel had been lulled into a false sense of security,” a February 1978 Plain Truth article explained. “National borders had been extended to their maximum, and the country was basking in comparative opulence and prosperity. Religious activity and ceremony was at a peak, and the people had come to believe that God was benignly smiling down upon them.

“Into this scene of national self-satisfaction stepped the Prophet Amos.” You can see Amos’s indictment of materialistic, luxury-glutted Israel in passages like Amos 6:1-6. His message was unpopular and “met with immediate opposition from the religious and political elements of his nation. He was even accused of conspiracy and disloyalty to the royal house.”

This confrontation between prophet and king is described in Amos 7. These ancient events were only a type of end-time events, as is so often the case with prophetic duality.

In the prophecy of 2 Kings 14, much of the suffering is inflicted from within the nation. The nation is being destroyed from the inside by Antiochus and his supporters! The name of Israel is about to be blotted out. Then God Himself intervenes and saves Israel temporarily. How? By the hand of an end-time Jeroboam.

The U.S. is the most prominent and powerful of the nations descended from ancient Israel. Britain and the Jewish state of Israel (biblical and prophetic Judah) rely heavily on the American superpower. And this prophecy shows that the U.S. will be ruled by a modern-day “Jeroboam.”

Who is Jeroboam? Who is this specific man that Amos prophesies will be ruling the superpower of Israel when God gives it His final prophetic warning? (See Amos 7:8-9.)

For eight years under President Obama, the forces of the radical left were on the march. Even Republican leaders caved in, and that was after they had taken control of Congress and had considerable power to stop the president!

Donald Trump proved willing to take a stand where others have not. It was quite something to behold him resisting these anti-American forces! He also inspired a few other leaders to challenge the radical leftists and help expose them for who they are.

When you compare what Donald Trump did to what his predecessor did, there was a striking change. His presidency slowed the speed and force by which America was being pulled apart. He did not trash the Constitution as the previous president did. He passed tax cuts that helped many American families. He rolled back the universal health-care mandate and removed regulations that oppressed American businesses. The stock market broke new records.

Out of His mercy, God wanted to prevent the destruction of the nation, and He used President Trump to do it. Not because of that man’s righteousness, but because he has the courage to step out and fight and knows it is the right thing to do.

Mr. Trump also has a strong relationship with religious leaders and has strongly defended religious groups. He speaks publicly about how good and strong and even righteous America is—although the truth is that America today is none of those things. He inspired confidence in a lot of people about this nation’s future.

This was all a modern-day fulfillment of what happened in ancient Israel under Jeroboam ii: a bit of a resurgence, some renewed prosperity, a swell of religious activity—but not the true religion of the Bible—with the blessing of the “king.” It was a time of many people being lulled into a false sense of security and a belief that God was with them. Meanwhile, the spiritual character of the leader was deeply flawed, and the sins of the people grew worse.

It is critical that we realize why God brought about an American resurgence under Donald Trump’s presidency. God Himself was pushing back against the Satan-inspired forces that would have blotted out the name of Israel, including spiritual Israel, God’s own Church. He exposed those forces so that we could see them clearly.

Donald Trump is the modern King Jeroboam ii.

One Last Opportunity to Repent

Realize that these prophecies do not end with America remaining perpetually prosperous and peaceful. This resurgence is temporary, just as it was in Israel under Jeroboam ii.

After Jeroboam’s reign ended, the kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria (2 Kings 18). Prophecies in Isaiah 10 and Habakkuk 1 tell us this will happen to prophetic Israel in the end time too: America, the British peoples and biblical Judah (called Israel today) will be destroyed by a European empire led by Germany—descendants of the ancient Assyrians. We will look more into those prophecies later in this book.

The modern nations of Israel have forsaken God. They know virtually nothing about the Bible and our adversary, the devil.

Prophecies in Amos 7 and 2 Kings 14 reveal why God is saving America through Jeroboam. America is the superpower of these three nations and their peoples. God is not going to allow Mr. Obama and the radical left to blot out the name of Israel. He will expose this conspiracy so the world can see the truth.

America’s temporary resurgence gives these three nations and their peoples one last chance to repent, but that window will remain open only for a few short years or less! Soon we will face consequences for not heeding God’s warning—as you will see in later chapters.

Jeroboam ii was the last king of Israel to receive a direct warning from God’s prophets. He rejected God’s correction. After his reign, there were six more evil, mostly short-lived kings—men who came to power through murder or other ignoble means. They allied with Syria to fight off a rising threat from Assyria, the next dominant regional power (just as Amos had prophesied). In the end, they were forced to pay tribute to Assyria, then ultimately conquered and led away captive by the Assyrians.

A similar nightmarish fate awaits America! Over a hundred biblical prophecies warn of this same punishment for our sins.

God will make America great again! But the Bible shows that He will do so only after hard correction. God is giving these warnings in an effort to save people from that fate. He is extending mercy for a short while before the punishment is carried out. Use this opportunity to prove this truth, heed the warning, and accept God’s offer of protection to you.

Speaking of this time, God says in Ezekiel 33:11, “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?”

God is deeply emotional about this! When He saves Israel, it is only temporary. But He yearns to save Israel permanently! He derives no pleasure in seeing people suffer. This is why He pleads with these people, crying out through His faithful work, beseeching them to repent of their sins.

God is full of mercy and love, and He is quick to forgive and protect. But to receive God’s forgiveness and protection, the people of America—and any person of any race or nation—must repent. We must stop sinning, stop rebelling against God’s law, and stop resisting God.