That would have to mean that the USA is either taken out and destroyed....or taken over and complicit in the anti-Israel Armageddon.
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I have lots of thoughts on this subject and your question.... unfortunately a busy day here so freeping will be at a minimum. I agree with your two options but there perhaps is a third option (a closely related subset of the second) which is this.... It may be that the USA totally embraces the one world guvmint and in fact, leads it. It would be a sad thing to think that the USA would go from being Israel’s staunchest defender to leading the attack against it but that might be the case. The Scriptures dealing with ‘end times’ aren’t completely clear about this even though there are many subjects for which it is very clear. What role the USA plays during the tribulation and great tribulation periods is an open question. Others may suggest something different but I’ve read the scriptures and lots of commentary on this and at best, it’s all speculative. It’s best to stick with what we do know... Scripture says there will be a rapture and Christ will take His own. And no person will want to be left behind once the horror of this period comes to fruition.
“Scripture says there will be a rapture and Christ will take His own. And no person will want to be left behind once the horror of this period comes to fruition.”
My interpretation is that the rapture of the church will only occur at the very end, not pre-trib. Jesus said “those that endure until the end will be saved”. If there was going to be a pre-trib rapture, His comment would not make any sense and would, instead, only confuse and mislead (just my take).
4th option: these troubled times are just a foreshadowing of the end times.
Think about it critically - 3 signs far far away - a one world religion, monetary system, & language.
We the USA and most of the ‘free’ world will overcome when God shows his hand. Many Free Republic nations will be spawned in this ‘Age of Aqurius’.