What is America’s Destiny? (Part 3 of 7)
By Dr. David Reagan
Prophetic Types
But before I reveal our prophetic type, let me take a moment to explain the meaning of a prophetic type.
A prophetic type is a symbol of a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. It prefigures a coming reality. It can be a person, an event, a ceremony, or an inanimate object.
Thus, the Greek tyrant, Antiochus Epiphanes (c. 215 BC – 164 BC) was a prophetic type of the Antichrist who will appear on the world scene in the end times.
The Old Testament sacrificial system pointed forward to the finality of the Cross.
Every aspect of the Ark of the Covenant pointed to the Messiah:
– It was made of wood — pointing to the Messiah’s humanity.
– It was overlaid with gold — pointing to the Messiah’s divinity.
– It contained three objects:
1) A pot of Manna — pointing to the fact that the Messiah would be our bread of life
2) The tablets of Moses — pointing to the fact that the Messiah would keep the Law perfectly
3) Aaron’s Rod that budded — pointing to the fact that the Messiah would rise from the dead.
– Once a year the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood on the lid of the Ark, signifying that the – Messiah would have to die in order for the grace of God to cover the Law of God.
America’s Prophetic Type
Now, I believe America’s prophetic type is the ancient nation of Judah.
If you will remember, after the death of Solomon, the kingdom of David split into two nations — Israel and Judah.
The northern nation of Israel was apostate from the beginning. It was founded in rebellion against God and continued in that condition for 208 years until it was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC. During its lifetime, the nation had 19 kings, and not a single one was considered righteous in the eyes of God.
The southern nation of Judah lasted 136 years longer for a total of 344 years. Eight of its 20 kings were considered righteous by the Lord.
Consider the parallels between our nation and Judah:
– They were given great leaders like Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat and Josiah, just as we have been blessed in our history with leaders like Washington, Lincoln, the Roosevelts and Reagan.
– They enjoyed a degree of freedom that was unparalleled for that day and time, just as we have been blessed.
– They were granted great prosperity just as we have been.
– And they were favored with abundant spiritual blessings just as we have been. The Shekinah Glory of God resided in their Temple in Jerusalem. We have been blessed to be used by God to proclaim the Gospel all over the world.
I wish I could stop there with this list of positive parallels, but I cannot. That’s because we share some negative characteristics with Judah.
One is pride. Judah became proud of its blessings and the people deceived themselves into thinking they were the ones responsible for their blessings. They forgot the One who was truly responsible, just as we have.
Another negative parallel is rebellion. As Judah distanced itself from God, it began to rebel against His Word, just as we are now in the process of doing the same thing.
The result for Judah was the destruction of their nation by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
But before God poured out His wrath on the nation, he patiently called them to repentance and warned them of His impending judgment.
He did this in two ways — through prophetic voices and remedial judgments. Let’s consider the prophetic voices first.
In the fourth part of our series concerning America’s destiny, we will read the report card the Old Testament prophets gave to Judah and its parallels to America.