Another sign leading up to the beginning of the Great Tribulation and the return of Jesus Christ 3 1/2 years later involves the rise and fall of the British Empire and the United States of America–the two most powerful and successful nations the world has ever seen. Their meteoric rise was phenomenal in its speed and extent. However, their free-fall into oblivion is equally as phenomenal and is gathering speed in these last days. Their descent into Satan’s abyss will ultimately result in their defeat, destruction and, for the few who survive the Lord’s wrath, enslavement. This self-inflicted catastrophe will be the result of England and America’s individual and national sins. They, along with the nation known as Israel, will disappear from the world scene as their peoples suffer defeat at the hands of the heathen masses during what God calls “the times of the Gentiles.” The word “Gentile” means “heathen,” or as the Jews call them “goyim,” meaning “cattle.” Just as the Lord sent the Assyrian and Babylonian hoards to slaughter, defeat and enslave the nations of ancient Israel, He will send the heathen to slaughter, defeat and enslave the  nations of modern day Israel–England, the U.S. and Judah (called Israel). Thomas Jefferson said he feared for his nation when he remembered that God is just. I grieve for my nation and her sister nations when I read His Words concerning those who rebel against Him in the end times. Because of their individual and national sins, the Lord will once again use heathen (Gentiles) to punish and teach His people.

“Israel,” which means “power with God,” is the name the Lord gave to the patriarch Jacob as noted in Genesis 32. The tribes of Israel were the descendants of his 12 sons. Together they formed the Kingdom (House) of Israel which, in the days of King David and his son Solomon, was the most powerful and successful nation on earth. But then an event took place that changed the moral tone of the nation and set them on the path to ultimate destruction. Today the effects of that event are being played out on the world scene as the descendants of three of the Tribes of Israel–Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh–are being primed for the greatest national disasters ever to take place. The initial event under consideration came to pass because of an item over which men have killed each other and nations have gone to war–money.

Three millenniums have passed since the 12 tribed nation of Israel split over a taxation issue. Ten of those tribes pulled away from Judah, Benjamin and Levi (called “Jews”–Judahites) and became known as “Israel.” The two kingdoms then became known as the Southern Kingdom (Jews) and the Northern Kingdom (the other tribes). They are also known as the House of Judah and the House of Israel respectively.

During Jacob’s (Israel’s) pre-death prophesies concerning his 12 sons (Gen. 48:1-22; 49:1,22-26) the patriarch told them (and us) that Joseph’s two sons–Ephraim and Manasseh–would carry his name from that time forward. They would be known by God as “Israel.” Judah (tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi–Judahites) would come to be known globally as the “Jews,” the name King James translators gave them. Jacob, speaking under the power of the Holy Spirit, also prophesied that Ephraim and Manasseh would become the two most powerful and successful nations the world would ever see, which took place during the past 200 years as history attests. L.J.