What’s America’s role in the End Times?

The bible, in entirety, was written before the middle east, Europe, Asia, and Africa knew the western hemisphere ever existed.

True, God knew it was there. But his apostles and prophets had no idea. And God didn’t see any point in informing them. It’s not like the Americas, nor any other yet-to-be-discovered islands in the world, were excluded from the scriptures’ various blanket statements about humanity. The LORD is God, and Jesus is King, of the whole earth. Known and unknown lands alike.

So North and South America—the Indian nations then, and the current nations now—aren’t in the bible. At all. Neither suggested nor alluded to in it.

I’m a citizen of the United States, loyal and patriotic. If you’re like me, or even just a big fan of all things American like so many of our resident aliens, I gotta break it to you: Other than the bits about “all the world,” our country doesn’t figure into End Times predictions whatsoever.

You’d be surprised (okay, if you’re American, you probably wouldn’t be) how many American End-Times prognosticators simply can’t abide that.

Blame American exceptionalism, the idea the United States is special, the greatest country in the world, the greatest country in history, and the related belief that Americans are smarter, more capable, more innovative, more talented, than the folks of any other nation. No offense to the people of other countries; that’s what we grew up hearing. We were told we grew up under more freedom that you, and if you had American-style freedom, maybe you’d do as well… but probably not, ’cause we’ve got other traits you lack. Like drive. And, to be honest, money.

We’ve been taught this exceptionalism all our lives. It’s a huge part of American-style civic idolatry. So yeah, this is a lot of the reason why we Americans behave as if we’re special: We’ve always been told we are. Even those of us who realize this is just patriotic propaganda… still kinda believe it. Look at our inventions. Our influence. All the Olympic medals we keep winning. True, maybe the reason we succeed so often is ’cause we think we’re destined to succeed, and other countries really oughta try American-style positive reinforcement like we do. On the other hand, there’s a lot of arrogance mixed up in it.

This attitude has trickled into our religion. Our End Times prognosticators figure the United States is special, doggone it, so we oughta fit in the End Times timeline somewhere. They’re not entirely sure where, but they shoehorn us pretty much anywhere they can get away with it.

Americacentric prognostication.

Sometimes they include us in End Times predictions at the detriment of common sense. Fr’instance John Hagee’s 2013 book Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change. He spent 274 pages talking about how four lunar eclipses in 2014–15 were some kind of End Times sign. He didn’t specifically state what they signified, but he sure did hint a lot of things. And sold a bunch of books off the idea. Even made a movie.

Thing is, where were these lunar eclipses visible? North America. Nowhere else.

Crack open Revelation, and you’ll notice most of the End Times events appear to be centered on Rome and Jerusalem. So shouldn’t these folks be able to see these world-redefining lunar eclipses? Well you’d think so. But Hagee didn’t. Somebody brought it up during his book tour, and he was gobsmacked. Idea simply never occurred to him.

Hagee’s from San Antonio, Texas. Seems so long that Texas can see the eclipses, that’s all that matters. God has a message to the world… and I guess Rome and Jerusalem can hear that message secondhand from their American friends.

I pick on Hagee, but he’s far from the only American to do this. Every End Times scenario Americans pitch, finds a way to squeeze us into it. In our movies and books, Americans make up most of the protagonists, and often the Beast is American too: He might have a middle eastern or European origin, yet somehow he manages to become our president, or gets financially backed by our billionaires and multinational corporations. (Certainly promoted by our entertainment industry.) On the “non-fiction” front, End Times proclaimers regularly imagine the American economy, technology, culture, and social standards as driving the Beast’s government.

So how do these American prognosticators explain why the United States—or any unknown but powerful new nation in the western hemisphere—never pops up in Revelation? Most of ’em deduce some sort of cataclysm is gonna knock us out of commission before any of the End Times stuff really gets started. Like a plague or economic collapse. Or we’ll elect some idiot whose ridiculous tariff policies drive America out of the global marketplace. Or we’ll turn isolationist and withdraw from the world stage. Then once the States are out of the picture, the End Times events can play out in Eurasia and Africa just as described in the bible.

(Is that why so many conservative Evangelicals are trying to get the United States to withdraw from world events? Yes. Yes it is.)

What if we’re the exception?

Frequently I pitch an alternate theory. One which, I totally admit, is based on wishful thinking on my part. I’d love for this to be true—same as all the folks who’d love for Jesus to rapture us before tribulation happens. Like them, I have nothing solid to pin this belief on. Unlike them, I’m entirely willing to admit this.

Here’s the theory: There might be some form of future tribulation… but because the United States isn’t in the bible, we get to sit it out.

Roughly four out of five Americans figure we’re Christian. According to my theory, once the Beast shows up and starts leading the world astray, American Christians quickly recognize the Beast for what he is, refuse to have anything to do with him, and stay aligned with Christ. We know what he’s up to, and we can stand alone against him if we have to. Somebody has to.

Thus we watch the rest of the world as the Beast plays merry hell with it. But not doing nothing: The United States remains an oasis for Christians, a haven for refugees from the Beast’s persecutions. And after Jesus returns and overthrows both the Beast’s government and ours, that’s that.

True, that’s probably not gonna happen. Considering how so many American Evangelicals are willing to pretend politicians of the vilest character are actually saints simply because they’re in the same political party, considering how many of these Evangelicals are both anti-immigration and anti-asylum, it feels like way too many “Christians” in the States are actually Christianist. I hope I’m completely wrong about this. But most days I struggle to stay optimistic.

Still, Revelation’s description of the End is largely focused on the world superpower of John the Revelator’s day: The Roman Empire. I’m a preterist, which means I believe Revelation’s events largely played out in John’s day. Some have yet to happen; the second coming, millennium, and New Jerusalem, obviously. But any future events which have yet to happen, will be Mediterranean, not American.

Which means the Americas could be the one part of the world where the bulk of the bad stuff doesn’t happen. Where God’s remnant dwells. Maybe even thrives. I don’t know, and the scriptures don’t say. I sure hope so, though.

Regardless: We’re not in there.

In any event, any “End Times prophecy” about a western-hemisphere country—Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, or even the present-day Dumpster fires of Venezuela, Columbia, and the United States—is a false prophecy. Unless the prophecy involves the people of the planet as a whole, there’s no basis for saying any such thing will specifically happen to any of the countries of the Americas.

We aren’t in the bible. God gave us a pass. I’m hoping it’s a passover. Regardless, we aren’t there, and your End Times prognosticator is all wet.

What your End Times guy is doing, is filling in the gaps of his knowledge with his own fears and politics. They all do. They regularly disguise their current-events punditry as End Times biblical commentary. That’s the real reason they spend so much time discussing the United States: They’re trying to influence our country, and get us to behave and vote as they want. It’s nothing to do with God. ’Cause if it were, you’d see fruit of the Spirit, compassion and joy, help for the needy, and love for one’s neighbor. Not all their dark Christian rubbish.

That, plus how their predictions constantly come to nothing, is how you know they’re false prophets. Don’t fret about them. Read your bibles. The bible is way more hopeful.