Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Does the Bible prophesy a great political Superpower to dominate the world in the last days? Yes, both Daniel and Revelation say so. And it's not a fanciful, fanatical "guru's" private interpretation that says so. (You know, Peter says, "No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation." We must not be misled by self-appointed expositor-dreamers, but cherish that "prophetic word made more sure" and "do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Peter 1:20, 19).
For hundreds of years serious-minded Protestant Bible scholars have understood that Daniel and Revelation describe a union of church and state that dominated the nations of Europe for 1260 years. Revelation 13 features it as the religio-politico heir to the "power, ... throne, and great authority" of the pagan Roman Empire (vss. 1-8).
John Wesley so understood the prophecy back in the 18th century, but confessed he could not understand who would be the second great Superpower mentioned in verses 11-18; he opposed the American Revolution and Independence of the Thirteen Colonies, never dreaming of their later meteoric historic rise to world prominence.
Revelation pictures this second Superpower as having "two horns like a lamb," understood by Protestant scholars as the twin principles of civil and religious liberty which have been the secret of the phenomenal success of the United States. But as one studies this prophetic scenario, he sees that Islam is not to become the great world super-religion; it has occupied historically the role of a tormentor of apostate Christianity (see Revelation 9), but never dominating or conquering it.
So benign has been the world's current Superpower that its customs and immigration officials have stamped passports and visas and unwittingly told its Muslim suicide bombers, "Welcome to the United States!" Revelation pictures this Superpower as at last angrily speaking "like a dragon," telling the world what to do (Rev. 13:11-14). Study Revelation!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 16, 2001.
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