There is grave difficulty in identifying present-day countries with those mentioned in Ezekiel. I have been studying -- rather than simply taking other's writings for absolute truth -- and I am not so convinced that Russia, the USA, China, Japan, etc. can be said to be mentioned in these Scriptures. It takes much conjecture and guesswork to apply names to these countries. The ones in this battle against Israel that are pretty traceable are Turkey, Iran, Libya and Sudan. How Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Russia, etc. fit in (if at all) will remain to be seen.
Remember, we are looking at Scripture the best we know, only armed with the knowledge we see before us -- and we base most of what we "see" because we believe in the imminent return of Christ. Many people who came before us also believed in this imminent return and thus made errors in their interpretation -- that is, they applied current events and current alignment of countries to the prophecies rather than letting the prophecies speak for themselves. I don't want to be blind (or make great leaps in "seeing" things) because I think current events seem to coincide with prophetic events. Just so, I also don't want to say "so and so" country is "in" Scripture because it happens to be in current times. This mistake has been made many times in church history only to see the Jesus' second coming be delayed and hence, disprove the interpretation. Many nations that have been thought to be a part of "end times" have disappeared, or others have become powers that were not at one time.
On a personal level, I'd like to think we are smarter -- or God has "opened things to our eyes" that heretofore have been "shut up". So, perhaps current interpretation is correct, and Russia is the "north", etc., but I want to remain open to a changing landscape. Put differently, if we are correct that we are living in the last days, then surely these verses speak of Russia. If things change dramatically, and all the signs we see happening somehow disappear or change, and Christ's return is 1000 years from now, then perhaps the countries involved will be different -- I DON'T THINK SO!
Therefore, I don't think you can see the USA/Canada in these verses. We just don't know. You can apply your judgment (as I can), but we cannot be certain.
The one part of Scriptural interpretation that I hope is correct is that America is the end-time Babylon. If so, the Bible says it will be destroyed or brought down to an even level with all other nations by judgment. Many believe this is the only way that the prophecies concerning the Arab world attacking Israel can happen -- no threat from the USA, so attack. It does make sense based on what we know now. The other part of this interpretation which I hope is correct is -- what could bring America down so quickly? Let's hope it is the Rapture. This certainly would bring a chaos and confusion that would allow America's enemies to take over or at least ignore America's power. Let's hope it is not terrorism which brings this change about.
I remain,
SOROS |
