There seems to be no letting up of the political and cultural divides in the United States and perhaps around the world. Compromise has become an ancient relic. Accommodation appears to be an unreachable goal. The battle of the left versus the right continues to intensify at an alarming rate. Each has its opinions; but very few appears to have any clue as to where this conflict of the passions is headed.

The murder of George Floyd and other African-Americans by white police officers have generated world-wide protests. They have plunged the world into division and unrest such as has not been seen in recent memory. In some areas those protests have resulted into violence, riots, destruction of property and even more killings. The Right has labelled these occurrences as nothing short of anarchy. The Left views the social and political instabilities as necessary catalysts for cultural change. What is undeniably apparent, however, is that the current environment has driven an even  deeper and wider wedge between the Left and the Right. The divide has become manifestly startling.

Peter, the dedicated apostle of Jesus Christ, who is grossly misrepresented in the world today, gives us the only clue that can help us to clearly understand where the current American and world conflict of ideas is headed. God’s servant writes, “We have also a more-sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19). Here the disciple of Jesus Christ is pointing unmistakably to the exclusive prerogative of Bible prophecy to help us understand not only where we are today, but verily where we are headed. Peter is assuring his readers of the absolute veracity of the writers of the Holy Bible to predict the future with unerring accuracy. Take for example, the prophet Isaiah as he speaks on behalf of Creator God: “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them (Isaiah 42:9). Jesus Christ would later declare, “And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe” (John 14:29).

One of the most remarkable testimonies of God’s declaration through His servant Isaiah and His Son Jesus is that of the foretelling the nations that would rule the world and have an impact on God’s plan for the salvation of human souls. Consider the prophetic chain from the time of the mighty Babylonian empire to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The prophecies of Daniel in the Old Testament and John in the New are irrefutable evidences in regard to the fact that only a God who knows the future can accurately predict it. In John’s prophecy, the matter of the formation of and the workings of the Image of the Beast are revealed. John states, “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Revelation 13:15).

Daniel clearly reveals to us what the symbolic language of a ‘beast’ refers to. God’s messenger writes, “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth” (Daniel 7:17, 23). Through the imagery of beasts Daniel accurately identified those nations and the part they would play on the world stage from his time in Babylonian captivity until the end of the world as we know it.

John picks up the story as he focuses on the final two beasts (nations) that would play prominent roles in the final scenes of the Drama of the Ages. Looking back on Daniel’s prophecy, John reveals to us humanity’s future: “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast” (Revelation 13”1-3). A careful study of the Biblical narrative will reveal, as all of the Protestant Reformers discovered and believed, that this beast is none other than the Roman Papacy.

John then goes on to identify another beast that would arise which would be characteristically different from this first beast. Unlike the first beast, it would be a nation that would be established upon the principle of Liberty of Conscience which constitutes the foundation of its strength and greatness. However, John prophesied that it would ultimately become exactly like the first beast. This nation would then form a confederacy with the first beast in the persecution of Jesus’ true followers who keep all of His commandments. Thus, it becomes the Image of the Beast. John the Revelator relates, ” And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). The sure word of prophecy declares that that nation is the United States of America.

As one surveys the religious, cultural and political landscape through God’s prophetic lens, it becomes inescapable that truly the formation of the Image of the Beast is well on its way. On the left of the political/cultural spectrum, we see the apostle Paul’s prediction of the state of affairs in these closing scenes of earth’s history is being manifested before our eyes. He foretold, ” This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Just as prophesied almost 2,000 years ago, no one can deny the rapid moral declension, rejection of and turning away from traditional Biblical values by a large segment of the citizenry. This class is referred to as the Left.

On the other side of the spectrum, referred to as the Right, we see the push for returning the nation back to its Christian principles. Many are passionately working to make America the Christian nation it used to be. There are, however, two significant and potentially dangerous ideas incorporated in the Right’s pursuit of its idealistic goal.

The first is the false premise upon which the Right’s agenda is built. Nowhere in the founding documents of the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave can be found the remotest reference of America being formed as a Christian nation. Quite to the contrary, the Founding Fathers, having intimate knowledge of the consequences of such a declaration, decided instead to establish the new nation as a secular republic. This is a concept, totally in contradiction to the so-called ‘Christian’ nations from which the early settlers fled. This was a revolutionary idea which prescribed that the majority rules with respect for minority rights, allowing each person to worship God according to the dictates of his/her own conscience. Of course, no one can deny the sociological notion that the populace did primarily embrace certain elements of the Judeo/ Christian religion. But this by no means made America a Christian nation as the Right is purporting it to have been.

The second, is the Old World idea that the state should be empowered to determine the religious moorings of the nation. James Madison, a prominent Founding Father, eloquently addressed such a concept. Said he, “The experience of the United States is a happy disproof of the error so long rooted in the unenlightened minds of well-meaning Christians, as well as in the corrupt hearts of persecuting usurpers, that without legal incorporation of religious and civil polity, neither could be supported. A mutual independence is found most friendly to practical Religion, to social harmony, and to political prosperity” (James Madison, Letter to F.L. Schaeffer, Dec. 3, 1821). His compatriot, Benjamin Franklin, makes a simple but rather profound comment to which the Religious Right needs to take heed: “When religion is good, it will take care of itself. When it is not able to take care of itself, and God does not see fit to take care of it, so that it has to appeal to the civil power for support, it is evidence to my mind that its cause is a bad one” (Letter to Dr. Richard Price, October 19th, 1790).

It is the mission of the church, imbued with the power of the Holy Spirit, to work for the transformation of human lives from sin to righteous. Such a task is not accomplished by the laws of the state; but by the exemplification of the character of Jesus Christ in His word and in the lives of His followers. That regeneration, called salvation, is the only instrument that can change lives, left and right, and enhance society. It’s what the world needs most. The apostle Paul tells us that by beholding Jesus we become changed (2 Corinthians 3:18). Then he proclaims, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16). Political activism is totally incapable of achieving that Divine purpose. However, the Right, claiming to be Christians, seems to have a radically different view.

Franklin Graham, a prominent Religious Right player, poignantly evaluates the battle of the Left versus the Right when he declared, “The hostility, bias, and ridicule of Biblical morality is blatant and obvious…I promise that I will raise my voice each and every day against such injustice and wicked behavior…This is the point to which we have come”. He continued, “The war against Biblical values and those who embrace them is full on. The gloves are off, and the radical left would like to crush all who hold to a Biblical worldview.” He is no doubt talking about the legal and political agenda of his seemingly unstoppable juggernaut, the Religious Right.  To Franklin & Co., Political Conservatism and Christianity are one and the same. They are ABSOLUTELY NOT.

In considering the power of Franklin Graham’s movement, one commentator observed, “The Religious Right has grown so powerful it enjoys a veto over many national Republican candidates. Any Republican who aspires to the presidency must first get a blessing from the Religious Right” (Rob Boston AU, June 20006). Another writer outlined the plans and objectives of Project Blitz, one the main strategies of this Religious/Political behemoth. Similarly, this keen observer shares his insight as he declared, “Evangelical extremists mount “Project Blitz,” a covert campaign to re-create a Christian America that never existed”. The determined purpose of the Religious Right is to establish theocratic rule in America based upon their Dominionist philosophy, contrary to the Bible in which they claim to believe.

Without any consideration of or reference to Biblical prophecies, these political and cultural commentators are unknowingly proclaiming what the Bible has long ago predicted. They, and many others, are unmistakably pointing to a grand movement towards the redefinition of Religious Liberty and its resultant dire consequences which ultimately will lead to the desecration of the American Ideal and the institution of Papal tyranny. And what is the historical character of the ‘beast’, the Papacy? It is an amalgamation of pagan religious ideas offering lip service to the Christian faith, enough to make it appear and claim to be Christian. Its religious ideas are held up by state power which persecute, maim and slaughter those who do not abide by and subscribe to the institution’s dogmas and doctrines.

America, the Bible declares, will become the Image of the Beast with its signature principle, the Mark of the Beast. John predicts, “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:16-17).

The Holy Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the expressed Image of His Father (Hebrews 1:5), and indeed He is; full of grace and abundant in mercy, goodness and truth. He therefore reflects the character and qualities of His Father. So it will be, yeah not too distant, that America will fully reflect the character and qualities of the Roman Papacy of old.

The Left versus the Right, in their relentless fury against each other, is verily the prescription for the establishment  and workings of the Image of the Beast as prophesied by John the Revelator. Each side is firmly saddled in its respective contradictory ideas of what the nation should become and neither is yielding or seeking for compromise. Physical confrontation is inevitable. Some are going so far as to suggest civil war. The sure word of prophecy has long ago declared that the Right will prevail, thus establishing the Image of the Beast. The current state of affairs suggests that they are determined to do so by any means necessary. 

Question is, are you ready? The only way to be ready is to find refuge in Jesus Christ.