The United States In The Light Of Prophecy

If we read the signs of the times aright, events are soon to transpire of such a nature as to preclude the necessity of any apology for the publication of what is contained in the following pages. Excerpt: The numerous rays of light now shining from the book of prophecy, seem to find their focal point in our own times. The present age is illuminated in this respect above all others. Here we find the most emphatic touches of the prophetic pencil. The events to transpire, and the agents therein concerned, are brought out in a vivid and startling light. The question naturally arises, what part the United States has to act in these scenes; for it must seem reasonable and probable that a nation which has arisen so suddenly as ours, made such unparalleled progress, and attained to such a pinnacle of greatness and power, must be a subject of divine prophecy, or at least of divine providence. To this question the following pages undertake to give a brief but scriptural, and so a reasonable and conclusive answer; and to such only as do not believe that God ever foretells the history of nations, or that his providence ever works in their development and decline, can the subject fail to be one of interest. That this little treatise is exhaustive of the subject is not claimed; but some facts are presented which are thought to be worthy of serious consideration, and enough evidence, we trust, produced in favor of the position taken to show the reader that the subject is not one of mere theory, but of the highest practical importance; and so enough to stimulate thought and lead to further inquiry. If the position here taken be correct, this subject is to be one of continually-increasing interest, and information respecting it is necessary to an understanding of our duties and responsibilities in the solemn and important times that are upon us. It is in this light that we especially commend it to the serious consideration of the reader. The United States-what are they? Two hundred years ago, this question could not have been answered; it could not even have been asked. Now it can be answered by the dwellers in every quarter of the globe. Then a few small settlements of earnest men, flying from the religious intolerance of the Old World, dotted a narrow strip of coast line on our New England border. Now a mighty nation, with a vast expanse of territory stretching from ocean to ocean, and from regions almost arctic on the north to regions equally torrid on the south, embracing more square leagues of habitable land than Rome ruled over in its palmiest days, here holds a position of independence and glory among the nations of the earth. And the sound of this new nation has gone into all the world. It has reached the toiling millions of Europe; and they are swarming to our shores to share its blessings. It has gone to the islands of the sea; and they have sent their contributions. It has reached the Orient, and opened as with a password the gates of nations long barred against intercourse with other powers; and China and Japan, turning from their beaten track of forty centuries, are looking with wonder at the prodigy arising across the Pacific to the east of them, and catching some of the impulse which this growing power is imparting to the nations of the earth.