Perry Stone - Israel and America, Twin Nations in Prophecy
Summary:
The preacher, joined by guest Bill Cloud, argues that America was divinely raised up by God, patterned spiritually after ancient Israel through numerous historical, symbolic, and prophetic parallels. While America has enjoyed the blessings tied to Israel’s covenant, turning away from God’s principles is now activating Old Testament curses on the nation, such as terror, drought, defeat by enemies, and economic decline. Ultimately, these patterns show that nations bring curses upon themselves by abandoning God, but repentance can restore His mercy and favor.
Welcome and Spiritual Connection
Happy to have you join me today on the Manna-Fest telecast. Bill Cloud is with me, and we’re going to be talking to you again about America. We will delve into the aspect of how curses established in the Old Testament are now being activated in the United States. We’ve built the foundation; I hope you caught the past two programs where we laid this out.
One of the things, Bill, that we’re going to explore is how Israel and America are connected spiritually. People have often asked, «Is America in prophecy?» Well, you can’t find it directly, but you can find it by patterns. Bill, I have some notes here if you want to go through those. How are Israel and America parallel by the patterns of both nations? The ancient nation and America? Go through some of these, and there are probably some more you could add.
Historical Parallels Between Israel and America
I was just going to say that right off the top of my head, you already mentioned that 1607 was the year of the first permanent English colony; of course, that’s four hundred years. There’s a pattern there, by the way. On May 14, I was about to say May 14, that 144 men actually established what was Jamestown. Of course, «James» is just the English version of «Jacob.» So we could say it’s Jacob’s Town.
Israel was reestablished on May 14, 1948, with 144,000 Jewish men, as referenced in the Book of Revelation. That’s just one parallel. Why not consider that the shot heard 'round the world, fired on April 19, 1775, was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Of course, that’s tied to Passover.
They had to eat the Passover in Egypt with their loins girded, their shoes on, and their staff in hand because they had to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. And, of course, who were the men who fired that shot? We called them Minutemen. There are all these parallels.
David was king for 40 years; Solomon followed him and was also king for 40 years. After Solomon’s death, when Rehoboam became king, the nation divided into north and south. In 1781, for all practical purposes, the American Revolution ended, and America secured its place among the nations.
If you go from 1781, counting forward 80 years, corresponding to David’s reign and Solomon’s reign, you arrive in 1861. What happened in 1861? The nation divided into north and south. Also, Israel had 13 tribes; America had 13 colonies.
We discovered that Israel was originally ruled by kings, and America, in its early founding before the Revolution, was controlled by a king: the kings of England. Britain divided between the north and the south. Israel’s laws are founded on the Torah; our actual laws in America are based on Judeo-Christian scripture.
I think it’s scary that anyone who really studies American history can’t do so without concluding that America was just some accidental thing, or based on American ingenuity or good old American know-how. If you study American history, you must conclude that the sovereign God of the universe raised this nation up, and He patterned it after things found in ancient Israel.
Quote from Theodore Roosevelt
Absolutely. May I read a quote from one of our past presidents? This is from Theodore Roosevelt. He said, «The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally—I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally—impossible for us to figure to ourselves what life would be if these teachings were removed.»
That’s just one of many quotes from our forefathers, who said the God of the Bible is the one who raised up this nation with those patterns. But I believe this is also where we are going regarding the responsibility He gave to ancient Israel.
The Tabernacle Pattern Over America
Now, I want to show you something about the ancient Tabernacle of Moses. The tabernacle was a large rectangle, and if we start from the east, we will show you a picture of the sacred furniture. The first piece of furniture is the brass altar, whose main substance is fire. Moving forward, you will come to the brass laver, and its main substance is water.
Now, when you come into the Holy Place, to the south is the seven-branched candlestick, whose main substance is oil. If you go directly north of the candlestick in the tabernacle, you’ll discover the table of showbread with 12 types of bread. The main ingredient used to make the bread was grains.
In the center of the tabernacle in the Holy Place, you will discover the altar of incense, and the main substance there had to be coals used with the incense on the altar. Then there was the great veil just past the golden altar, and you would come into the Holy of Holies where one piece of furniture was located: the Ark of the Covenant made of solid gold.
Now I have a map, and you will see it. If you take a map of the United States and lay out the tabernacle furniture in relation to a map of the U.S. starting at the east, here’s what is interesting. It tells you the history of those states as they relate to the tabernacle furniture.
For example, the brass altar on the outside had three fires on it, representing the early revivals in America that occurred in Murphy, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Those were the states where the great fire of revival took place in our early history.
If you go from the altar and move forward, you come to the Mississippi River, where the laver would sit, known as the waterway of America—again, with the main substance being water. If you continue in this exact pattern of the tabernacle, you come into the Holy Place and discover the menorah, which has seven branches, and you have to have oil. Texas has seven major areas, which are huge counties or provinces, and the main substance in Texas and Oklahoma is oil.
Now, go directly north, and you come to the breadbasket of America, which includes the Dakotas, Nebraska, etc. That’s exactly where the table of showbread would be. In fact, there are 12 different kinds of bread, and you can find at least 12 states with agriculture heavily connected to the United States.
Interestingly, Colorado would be where the golden altar is. Of course, that’s where the smoke was, and the Colorado River was referred to as the Red River. The incense was red in color. Look at this on a satellite map; you find the Continental Divide there, which would represent your veil. How was California founded? By the Gold Rush, and everything in the Ark of the Covenant was gold, including the solid mercy seat.
Now, this is interesting because it reveals how God raised up America. The states where certain events occurred, or the main substances that helped make that state wealthy, are connected to the substances referenced in the tabernacle furniture. Now, is that a coincidence? If it is, it’s a very odd one.
Tribal Emblems and Washington D.C.
Here’s where it gets interesting. If you take the twelve tribes of Israel and arrange them in the camp of Moses around the tabernacle, you discover that there were three tribes to the north, three to the south, three to the east, and three to the west. However, there was a leading tribe in each direction.
The leading tribe to the north was Dan, the leading tribe to the south was Reuben, the leading tribe to the east was Judah, and the leading tribe to the west was Manasseh. I’m going to hold up a picture to show you how this works. Here is the encampment of Israel with the tabernacle in the middle, and you have three tribes in each direction.
The head tribe by numbers is Dan to the north, whose emblem was an eagle. Then you have Judah to the east, with their emblem being the lion. You have Reuben to the south, whose emblem was a man. The interesting one is on the west side, where the head tribe was Manasseh.
Now, watch carefully what happens when I overlay the tabernacle area with the four main federal buildings in Washington, D.C. The Washington Mall is a large rectangle. There are four federal buildings, and I will show you each one along with the emblem that represents them.
To the north is the White House, whose emblem is the eagle. The President cannot speak without the emblem of the eagle at the podium. On the right side is the Capitol Building, where the lawgiver is symbolized by the lion, as mentioned in Genesis. Our lawgivers are represented symbolically by lions, and there are actual lions outside near the fountain that has lions on the four corners.
Then there’s Jefferson, representing the humanist. Now, he wasn’t an atheist as people sometimes claim; he believed there was a God but thought God left the affairs of men alone. Thus, he is represented by a man.
The odd one is the Lincoln Memorial. The Battle of Bull Run’s emblem connects to Manasseh, as the bull represents that battle, which started the Civil War in the area of Manassas, linked to the tribe of Manasseh. In fact, the North called it the Battle of Bull Run while the South referred to it as the Battle of Manassas.
It’s important to point out that this connection exists in the region where the tabernacle was stationed; it’s where the Washington Monument stands, dedicated to the father of our country. Most people don’t know that it was originally going to be a temple-like structure. In the beginning, they planned to build a large temple there, which would have made it even more bizarre, as you would have had a tabernacle picture on the mall with emblems.
Some might say it was pre-planned to be that way. They went through much detail to arrange it like that.
Old Testament Curses Activating in America
Here’s my point: We have patterns of ancient Israel. The Word of God clearly states that if Israel did not hearken to the command of God and disobeyed His voice, these curses would come upon them. Bill, we didn’t cover this in last week’s program, but on page 3 of our outline here, there are nine curses that I want everyone to hear. Tell me, do some of these not fit our current situation?
God said, «If you don’t hearken to my voice and obey my word, I will appoint over you…» Number one is terror. Have we been in a war on terror since 2001? Yes. Number two: «You will plant your seed in vain, ” meaning your harvest and your crops won’t produce. Look at California with the terrible drought they’re experiencing.
Number three: „Your enemies will rise up and defeat you.“ I don’t think I need to explain how this great country no longer seems to be able to protect its interests. For example, we just conducted a rescue mission, and hostages were killed. This isn’t to blame our great men in the military, but it shows that things are falling apart. We’re not as great in others’ eyes, and our allies don’t respect us.
The next curse is: „The heavens will be brass, and there will be droughts.“ This is in chapter 26, verse 19, and it’s happening now. „The vines and the trees will not yield their produce.“ This is chapter 26, verse 20.
Again, these are curses that would come on Israel for breaking the covenant and commandments of God. „Your highways will be empty; beasts will roam the land; you will lose livestock; your bread will be diminished; there will be rationing of food. Your cities will be waste, and your sanctuaries will be left empty.“
Look at cities that used to be great, like Detroit. They are sitting empty, and you can buy houses for a hundred dollars because nobody wants to live in them. We’re not picking on Detroit; it’s just an example of what God spoke coming to pass. I preached outside of there many times in Toledo. There are wonderful people and great Christians living there who have had to endure very tough times.
Believers Redeemed from the Curse
These are the curses, but let me say this: I know what some of you are thinking: „Perry, that’s Old Testament! Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law!“ Let’s stop there. We are under no curses as believers because we are living a redeemed life and following Him. So, we have nothing to fear regarding all of this. We may live in a country suffering from it, but God provides for His people.
Now, concerning the blessings of the law, has Christ done away with the blessing? No; we want that blessing. But the curses, we would prefer to leave alone.
Ongoing Curses from Genesis
Now, Bill, let me show you this. Are there still curses from the Old Testament book of Genesis on the Earth today? Yes. Let me give you five. Number one: Does a snake still crawl on its belly? Yes. Genesis 3:14 states it was cursed to do that.
Number two: Does a woman still have pain in childbirth? Yes. Genesis 3:16 tells us that was part of the curse in Eden. Number three: Do thorns and normal plants still grow together? Yes. Genesis 3:18 states they do; that was part of the curse from Eden.
Number four: Does the animal kingdom still have conflict? Yes, that’s part of the fall of man, but it corrects itself during the millennial reign of Christ, according to biblical prophecies. Number five: Does death still come to all mankind? Yes. Does man still return to dust when he dies? Yes.
All the items I just listed are part of God’s declaration that there’s a curse because you broke covenant, broke the commandments, and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now, you face consequences for it.
That’s my point, Bill, about when we hear people say, „Wait a minute, are you saying that America has sinned and God’s disfavor is coming?“ It’s a curse. Again, a curse is not God having a baseball bat up there, hitting people on the head trying to punish everyone. That is a misconception; that’s not what a curse is.
In fact, „blessed“ means to favor or show grace, while the blessing of God is grace and favor shown toward you. A curse is, as we discussed in a word study, when something is stopped—like jamming up a stream—where nothing flows, produces, or grows. If you have a dried-up stream, things die, which is what happens in a curse: it institutes death. Trees don’t grow, cattle don’t live, and sheep don’t produce. This is all a part of it.
Self-Inflicted Curses and Call to Repentance
Bill, let’s take this from here and expand on the concept that as Israel was blessed, America has had the same blessings. But as Israel would come under disfavor, we are seeing the very things God spoke of in ancient Israel happen here because of this connection.
We must remember that God told His people, those He had blessed, that He set before them blessings and curses—life and death—and what did He say? „Choose life.“ But what does that infer? They could choose death; they could choose to go the route that is cursed.
This reminds me of something that involved Balaam, who was called three times to come and curse Israel. What does he say? „I can’t curse them; God has blessed them.“ You cannot curse that which God has blessed.
However, from the beginning, we see in the story of Balaam that the adversary, the serpent in the garden, devises a lure and a trap to seduce God’s people away from living a life that aligns with God’s will, whereby they bring a curse upon themselves.
Right. Because that happened when the daughters of Midian entered the camp, and the men of Israel who were blessed saw them. They were seduced and committed the sin of Baal Peor, mirroring what Adam and Eve did in the garden by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
So, regarding America, we have enjoyed these blessings because—I am fully convinced of this—our founders and framers, imperfect though they may have been, believed in the perfect principles found in scripture. They laid the foundations for a nation that would operate based on these principles, and that’s why we reap the blessings.
But now, we are abandoning that; we are pursuing the other fruit, the daughters of Midian, seeking after things that seem good in our own eyes. What are we doing? It’s not so much that God is cursing us; rather, because we’ve abandoned Him and His ways, we’re bringing the curse upon ourselves.
We have to keep this in mind; these warnings are directed toward His people, not those out there. In the Bible, we mention a concept where God lifts His hand. We think that when God puts His hand over someone, it’s always a blessing. The hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, and the hand of the Lord came upon His servants.
But when God begins to lift His hand, He is essentially removing His favor. It’s like a rebellious child. If you see a child going astray, you may say, „Go ahead, do it your way and see what happens.“ They get in trouble, then they come back needing help. God sometimes lifts His hand from a nation. He did it with Israel.
He would say, „You want to worship Moloch? You want to act like the nations? Go ahead! But there will come a day when all hell breaks loose, and your economy will collapse. You will face famine, and then you will return to me.“
What I love about God is His mercy. He doesn’t hold it over people. If they truly repent, if they genuinely say, „God, I am sorry! I need You!”—He’s not saying, „Let me teach you another two to three weeks before I respond.“ No, the moment they sincerely return, He is merciful. That’s what is so great; the father ran to his returning son in Luke 15.
Closing Resource Offer
Now, to conclude, Bill and I decided it was time for us to write a book together for the first time in years. We have titled it, „America’s Broken Covenant with God, ” and it details how it affects us. I want you to get this book and also check out the album I just completed called „Living in the Shadow of the Beast.“ This is a great prophetic series, and I want you to get both. I’ll be back in a moment.