Hitchcock Discusses the US in Revelation 18

By Nathan Jones

Can the United States of America be found in Revelation 18?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on his book The Late Great United States. The subtitle of Mark's fascinating book — What Bible Prophecy Reveals About America's Last Days — states the purpose. The book digs deep into the Bible, mining for any textual nugget that might reveal some value as to the United States' future as an end time player.

The US in Revelation 18?

Nathan Jones: What about Revelation 18? Some people when they read "Babylon" they'll say that it is New York City, or it the United States as a whole. Is Babylon, which will be destroyed in an hour, be the nation of the United States?

Dr. Hitchcock: I would say this is the most popular claim that the Bible is talking about the United States today.

Dr. Reagan: It is. Almost every day I get a message from somebody saying it's got to be the United States because this chapter talks about a nation that controls the world and economy and everything, and so it has got to be the U.S.

Dr. Hitchcock: That's right. This view became even more popular after the events of 9/11 took place.

There are several clues in the book of Revelation as to what this means. Revelation 17:18 tells us that Babylon is "the great city that rules over the kings of the earth." The verse tells us very clearly that it is a city. Now, what city is it? When you go back to the beginning of the passage it says that whatever this Babylon is, it is the mother of all harlotry and spiritual rebellion against God. Well, there is only one city that I know of that qualifies as the fountainhead of all of this, and it was Ancient Babylon.

The book of Revelation is called the "Apocalypse" because it is the unveiling. It is not a hiding of truth.

The word "Babylon" occurs about 300 times in the Bible. All the other times that Babylon occurs, with maybe one exception in 1 Peter 5, it refers to Ancient Babylon. It would seem very strange to me for the Bible to refer to Babylon over and over and over again as the literal Babylon and then we come to the very end of the Bible and all of a sudden it would change. Babylon is the most talked about topic in the book of Revelation. There are 44 of the 404 verses in the book of Revelation concerning Babylon, and so 11% of the book of Revelation is about Babylon.

Whatever Babylon is, it is very important to see Babylon as the literal city over in Iraq, but also the false system the Antichrist will develop around that city that will exist in the end times.

Dr. Reagan: That is the point I would make whether it would be Babylon, Rome or whatever — Babylon is going to be the empire of the Antichrist, and that empire is not going to be the United States of America. It is going to arise out of the European Union — the Revived Roman Empire. And so, whether it is Rome, Babylon, or whatever it is going to be, Revelation 18 is talking about the worldwide kingdom of the Antichrist which is going to be a much greater kingdom than the United States of America because it is going to include the whole world.

Dr. Hitchcock: Right, and Bible prophecy focuses on that part of the world as well. I take it as literal Babylon and others take it as Rome, but it is not going to be New York City or the United States. It just simply doesn't fit.

Hitchcock Discusses the US in Revelation 12

By Nathan Jones

Can the United States of America be found in Revelation 12?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on his book The Late Great United States. The subtitle of Mark's fascinating book — What Bible Prophecy Reveals About America's Last Days — states the purpose. The book digs deep into the Bible, mining for any textual nugget that might reveal some value as to the United States' future as an end time player.

The US in Revelation 12?

Dr. Reagan: Revelation 12 foretells there is going to be a great war in the middle of the Tribulation. Satan will be cast down to earth. He will come down in great wrath. He is going to posses the Antichrist and motivate him to destroy and annihilate the Jewish race. Revelation 12:14 says that as he begins to come against the Jews they will flee into the wilderness on the wings of a great eagle. People read this and say, "Uh-huh, there we are, there is the United States in Bible prophecy, because the symbol of our nation is an eagle. Therefore, we are going to provide the end time airlift for the Jewish people."

Dr. Hitchcock: I would see that reference of "the two wings of a great eagle" there as the fleeing Jewish people are given protection by God who gives them speed and swiftness to be able to flee into the wilderness and be protected.

To me, if someone is going to build a whole case that America is in Bible prophecy just because of the mention of an eagle, then they will have to go to the other places in the book of Revelation. Revelation 8:13 also says there is an angel like an eagle flying in the mid-heavens proclaiming the gospel. Is that eagle the United States as well?

Revelation 12 is an even more tenuous evidence that the United States is in Bible prophecy than making the young lions of Tarshish in Ezekiel 38:13 refer to America.

Dr. Reagan: I would agree. When you come to symbolic phrases like "the wings of an eagle," the best thing to do is to search with a concordance or computer on that term. You'll find the exact same words in Exodus 19:4 and in Deuteronomy 32:11 where it says that the children of Israel came out of Egypt on the wings of a great eagle. All it means is that they are coming out under the protection of Almighty God.

Dr. Hitchcock: That is right. With speed and with swiftness they are coming out.

People tend to just grab onto very small statements in the Bible and build a whole doctrine around them. That is a warning I think, a good warning to all of us to be careful about not doing that.

Hitchcock Discusses the US in Ezekiel 38-39

By Nathan Jones

Can the United States of America be found in Ezekiel 38-39?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on his book The Late Great United States. The subtitle of Mark's fascinating book — What Bible Prophecy Reveals About America's Last Days — states the purpose. The book digs deep into the Bible, mining for any textual nugget that might reveal some value as to the United States' future as an end time player.

The US in Ezekiel 38-39?

Nathan Jones: Ezekiel 38 talks about the big Gog-Magog Battle when Russia and Turkey and Iran and some other nations like Libya are going to attack Israel. Verse 13 also lists nations that will sit out the battle, like Dedan and Sheba, which are the modern Arab nations.

Also, the merchants of Tarshish are also referred to. Some archeologists believe that Tarshish was the ancient name of Britain. "Tarshish" can also mean "beyond Gibraltar" depending on your translation. Tarshish and her villages or young lions — in other words Britain which then settled Canada and the United States and Australia — these nations of merchants will point out the reason for the Gog-Magog Battle, which is to plunder Israel.

Further on in the second Gog-Magog chapter of Ezekiel 39, verse six reveals that at the end of the Gog-Magog Battle after the invading armies are destroyed that God will send fire on the nations that invaded as well as on the nations who feel they lived in safety on the coastlands. Some put together the two references and conclude that the United States is an offshoot of Britain and one of those nations feeling secure that will have supernatural fire rained on them, and therefore the United States can be found right there in Bible prophecy.

Is the United States one of those merchants of Tarshish? Are we one of those nations that live in safety and so will have fire poured on our nation?

Dr. Hitchcock: Of all the different places where people try to find America in Bible prophecy, Ezekiel 38-39 would be the best one I think. You are right, in Gog-Magog all these nations like Russia and the Islamic nations are invading Israel, but it says that Sheba and Dedan and that Tarshish and the young lions there who are the merchants, they sit on the sidelines and give what I kind of call a lame protest to this invasion.

Dr. Reagan: Kind of sound likes the United Nations, or the present U.S. government, because they are asking, "Have you come to plunder?"

Dr. Hitchcock: That's right. Their statement shows a laissez faire attitude by asking "Have you come to capture spoil?" Well, it is obvious they have. As you know, the U.N. and others are always giving out condemnations for these things, but not doing anything about them.

Really, if you look at Sheba and Dedan being on the sidelines, that lines up with the moderate Arab states today often siding with the West.

The issue, though, comes down to where was Tarshish? Tarshish some people take was Spain because that was where Jonah was going. Tarshish was in the opposite direction of Nineveh. We also know the Phoenicians made it to Spain and Great Britain. The young lions would make sense as a reference to some kinds of nations that came out Spain or Britain. And so, if Tarshish is Britain then we could possibly see America as one of the young lions.

No one really knows that for sure, though. That is why I would say if you want to find America somewhere in the Bible, Ezekiel 38:13 is probably the best place. But, for me personally, the reference is too tenuous to say that this is America in Bible prophecy.

One of the points I like to make is even if Ezekiel 18:13 was a reference to America, or Isaiah 18 was a reference to America, the text doesn't really tell anyone anything about our country. All it tells us is that we exist.

Dr. Reagan: Well, I got tickled because I grew up with people teaching me that this was the United States in Bible prophecy. And then, when archeological discoveries in recent years seemed to point to Tarshish as Spain, the people who believe this was a reference to the U.S. said, "Oh, well, it is still the United States because who discovered America? Columbus, where did he come from? Spain. So, the United States is really one of the young lions of Spain and not one of the young lions of Britain."

Nathan Jones: Ezekiel 38 would then be talking about Argentina or some other South or Central American country, if that is the case. So, while there's a good chance that the United States is indirectly referred to in Ezekiel 38-39, in certainly isn't directly named.

Hitchcock Discusses the US in Isaiah 18

By Nathan Jones

Can the United States of America be found in Isaiah 18?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on his book The Late Great United States. The subtitle of Mark's fascinating book — What Bible Prophecy Reveals About America's Last Days — states the purpose. The book digs deep into the Bible, mining for any textual nugget that might reveal some value as to the United States' future as an end time player.

The US in Isaiah 18?

Dr. Reagan: Mark, I would like to get into the topic of the United States in Bible prophecy by taking a look at some of the places where people historically have found the U.S. in Bible prophecy.

One of those places that I know of goes back a long-time because I read books published in the 19th Century that claimed Isaiah 18 is a reference to the United States. That chapter refers to a nation of people who are tall and smooth (like with no beards), and it talks about a people who live in a nation that is divided by a great river. How about it — is this a direct reference to the United States?

Dr. Hitchcock: A lot of people like to go to Isaiah 18 when looking for the United States in Bible prophecy, and so I have read that as well. This view is from centuries past and is a very old view. The second half of verse two goes:

"to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers."

Everybody would agree that America is not mentioned by name in the Bible. There is just no direct verse where the name "America" is written.

Now, concerning Isaiah 18, to me there are several problems with that chapter supposedly referring to the United States. For one, a lot of people latch onto verse one's reference to a "land of whirring wings" and conclude that the whirring wings are the wings of an eagle. Since verse one points out the location of "Cush", then this is a reference to the Nile Valley area and those whirring wings are the wings of insects, not eagles.

When we read Isaiah 18, it is in the context of God talking about some of the near nations around Israel. God is talking about Egypt and ancient Cush, which is today the nation of Sudan which is south of the modern day nation of Egypt. And so, when verse two and seven say it is a land divided by a river, people take that to be the Mississippi or another river, but by naming Cush we know the verses are talking about the Nile River.

Dr. Reagan: This shows how desperate people are to find the United States in Bible prophecy.

Dr. Hitchcock: Yes it does, and you know people can read things into Scripture. It is like that old statement that goes, "Wonderful things in the Bible I see, especially those put there by you and by me."

One of the big problems with interpreting Bible prophecy is when people speculate on the Bible in light of current events or things we would rather see instead of reading current events through the Bible. Doing the latter I think is so vitally important to correct interpretation.

Mark Hitchcock on Hope in a Cashless Society

By Nathan Jones

Knowing a cashless society is a sign the end of this age is near, is there any hope?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based his book Cashless: Bible Prophecy, Economic Chaos, and the Future Financial Order. It concerns the world presently teetering on financial chaos, global interdependency, and modern technology all converging in such a way that a cashless society and one-world economy are not only possible, but inevitable.

Hope in a Cashless Society

Dr. Hitchcock: I ended my book Cashless with a chapter titled "Cashless and You, Dollars and Cents." I always like at the end of my books to convey one of the main purposes for writing these books — that if someone doesn't know Christ I give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For those of us who know the Lord, I also give some practical challenges and admonitions. I end with some hope.

If a person doesn't know the Lord, one of the things I talk about in that last chapter is that we can talk all we want to about the coming cashless society, but right now we have a present Christ-less society. For those people who don't know Jesus Christ, accepting His salvation is the ultimate thing they need to do.

A beautiful thing is the Lord offers us the Gospel and forgiveness of our sins without any cost — it is a free gift. That great news is the greatest news in all the world! We have a Gospel that is free and doesn't cost us anything. Now, let me be clear — it cost God. It cost Christ His life there on the cross, but it is free to you and me to accept.

Just thinking about the whole issue of economics worries people a lot. We end up thinking too much about money. I understand money is important to our lives, and God knows that, but God can take care of us financially if we'll trust in Him. If we will be faithful with what He has given to us, and faithful in giving and sharing and being generous, then we can be assured all our needs will be met by Him.

We should never trust in money. There are a whole lot of warnings about trusting money in the Bible. Remember the church of Laodicea thought they were self-sufficient, saying we don't have need of anything, and yet they were so spiritually poor. Money is a great slave, but it is a terrible master. Let's make sure in our lives that while we work hard we do the things that God has called us to do and be good stewards of the money He has entrusted us with.

Don't allow money to dominate your life, because Jesus said you can't serve both God and money. When people allow money to dominate their lives and then the economy goes sour, people feel hopeless and so start jumping out of windows and blowing their brains out and hanging themselves. Their hope in money has failed them. Instead, our hope is in Jesus Christ and His coming.

What I call the "Sign Posts of Armageddon" are lining up. All of this globalism that we see taking place are those sign posts. The move towards a cashless society is another one of these sign posts. When we see these things happening today, we should be lead to believe that the coming of Jesus Christ will be very near. Such a realization should motivate us to live for Him in these last days in which we live.

Difficult economic times create one of the best times to reach people with the Gospel. People are looking for hope because they are desperate. Christians have hope — the Gospel — a word that even means "Good News."

Give those people out there hope!

Mark Hitchcock on the Mark of the Beast

By Nathan Jones

Will technology be involved in the Mark of the Beast?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based his book Cashless: Bible Prophecy, Economic Chaos, and the Future Financial Order. It concerns the world presently teetering on financial chaos, global interdependency, and modern technology all converging in such a way that a cashless society and one-world economy are not only possible, but inevitable.

Technology and the Mark of the Beast

"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name."
- Revelation 13:16-17

Dr. Hitchcock: I believe the Bible makes it clear the Mark of the Beast will be very simple. The Mark the Bible says will be upon the right hand or the forehead. That it is "upon" is especially clear in the Greek.

People generally have failed to understand the two main purposes of the Mark of the Beast.

Revelation 13:18 tells us the Mark will be the numerical value of the name of the Antichrist. When people take that mark they are taking his name on themselves. And so, first and foremost, the Mark of the Beast will be a global pledge of allegiance or an oath of loyalty that one is accepting the Antichrist as God. This is a spiritual issue, as people will either choose Antichrist or they will choose Christ.

The secondary purpose of the Mark of the Beast will be to serve as a commercial passport used in business transactions.

Taking the Mark will be the one time in history when choosing sides will be a clear cut decision. A person will choose whether they are on the Antichrist's side when they take his mark, or by rejecting that mark are telling the world that they are instead aligning themselves with Jesus Christ.

To reject the Mark, though, means one will of course have to pay the consequences. As Revelation 14:9-11 tells us:

"If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."

These verses say that once a person takes the Mark they are doomed. There is no going back and no hope for salvation.

One thing that is important everyone remembers today and that we need to be clear on is that nothing today is the mark of the beast. People can get so afraid that their social security card or this and that is the Mark of the Beast. The Mark of the Beast will be given out after the Rapture. It will be something that people will know they are taking. Those left behind will be making a conscious choice, and we know this because God is going to hold them eternally accountable for what they decide. People don't need to worry that they are going to somehow take the Mark accidentally.

A lot of the technology today may be leading towards controlling what people buy and sell, but nothing today is the Mark of the Beast. People today do not need to be afraid of the Mark, and we don't need to be afraid of technology. Technology ultimately is a tool. If it is used rightly it is a good thing. Ultimately, all technology will fall into the hands of the Antichrist — the man who declares himself to be God — and He will use it for evil purposes.

Mark Hitchcock on Biometrics in a Cashless Society

By Nathan Jones

How do biometrics fit into a cashless society?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based his book Cashless: Bible Prophecy, Economic Chaos, and the Future Financial Order. It concerns the world presently teetering on financial chaos, global interdependency, and modern technology all converging in such a way that a cashless society and one-world economy are not only possible, but inevitable.

Biometrics in a Cashless Society

Dr. Hitchcock: The importance of biometrics, and I wrote a whole chapter on in my book, I think is ultimately heading us towards the time when people are going to buy everything with their cellphone. We'll have radio frequency identification (RFID) encoded on a chip in our phones, and instead of having barcodes we are going to have RFID that will register what is being purchased so it can be automatically deducted. We won't have to go up and swipe or anything as the transaction will just automatically happen.

Now, I could take your cellphone or you could take mine and go buy things with it, so there is going to have to be some way to prove that the telephone that you have belongs to the correct person using it. That is where biometrics come in. You will need to go up to a scanner and place your thumbprint on it. It can also be done with an iris scan.

Scanning can even be done with body odor as everyone has it, like your breath. Your body odor is unique. That is how really advanced this technology is. When you think about the technology that is out there today it is truly staggering!

What security will do with biometric technology is make sure that the person using the device is the person who is supposed to have it. So, all you will have to do is have your cellphone duplicate your thumbprint, your iris, or whatever. The seller will then know it is you who owns the cellphone. You can walk through with all the groceries or whatever you purchased and it will just immediately register all of it in your cellphone.

Nathan Jones: Biometrics are becoming more and more popular with laptops and security systems and data centers. High security areas have almost all gone biometric.

Dr. Hitchcock: Yes, so this whole growing boom that is out there in biometric technology is the wave of the future. Biometrics will appeal to us on how it simplifies life and how much easier it makes things. That is they way biometrics are going to be sold to people.

Dr. Reagan: Biometrics is another essential part of becoming a cashless society.

Let's suppose everybody had to buy everything with a credit card. Well, credit cards can be stolen and credit cards can be lost. For security's sake we've got to have some way to control that. Preventing theft or loss can naturally be done with fingerprints, irises, or maybe some device placed under the skin. I've read of some devices that can be embedded under the skin for when you walk into a room that makes the lights automatically come on and other things can happen.

Nathan Jones: What is beyond the cellphone, though, because really when you think about it a cellphone can be stolen? You could get a thumbprint of somebody else and then repurpose it. Biometrics are not a fool-proof system. Identities can be stolen right out of the databases, bypassing biometrics. What technology beyond the cellphone do you think the Antichrist might use?

Dr. Hitchcock: Well, I don't know, and nobody knows for sure what will be out there in the future. We see an exponential growth in the way things are going, though.

One thing that is interesting to see are commercials on television which show someone like a herdsman over in the middle of Africa and they've got a cellphone. My question is, "Where did you get the reception? Where is the cell tower? Who are they talking to?!" And yet, cellphone connectivity is becoming available everywhere. Just two decades ago cellphones didn't widely exist, and now everyone has one. Whatever will be the next great thing we maybe can't envision, but it can be discerned.

Dr. Reagan: We already have what, like five hundred of more plus apps for every phone?

Dr. Hitchcock: Oh, yes, it's incredible. I read the other day that there are two or three billion cellphones now that have been proliferating out there — unbelievable! So, there may be some newer technology that is coming very soon behind this.

Biometrics are a pretty failsafe technology. That adds to another advantage as to why biometrics are vital to the whole cashless system, in that while it doesn't completely eliminate identity theft, it certainly reduces it greatly.