AMERICA'S ROLE IN REVELATION

A short, passionate attempt to discern America’s place in God’s ultimate plan.

In her latest book, the main obstacle faced by Townsend (Thine is the Kingdom, 2011 etc.) is one she quite honestly acknowledges right up front: America has no place in biblical prophecy. Nothing even close to a specific allusion to the United States is made in the Old Testament, the New Testament or the Book of Revelation. “I have searched the Bible for some reference of our involvement or some description of a land mass which would describe the United States,” Townsend writes, but “I could not find it.” Townsend overcomes this seemingly insuperable obstacle in the only way possible: She looks to a higher power for additional information. “I dedicate this book to the Holy Spirit of God,” she writes, “who helped me to write it.” Specifically, she went on a four-day fast in 2009 and received “insight from God” about not only America’s role in coming days of tribulation but also in the confused and stressful present. “If we ever needed God to be part of our lives,” Townsend emphasizes, “we really do need His direction now.” There follows a short but systematic and very readable tour through a great deal of biblical prophetic verses, with particular emphasis on the Revelation. There are questionable portions: An “artist’s rendition of ancient ships on the open oceans,” for instance, shows an 18th century sailing vessel, and in a discussion of the prophet John’s ignorance of the existence of North and South America, readers are told: that “John’s whole earth, in reality, is truly only about half of our planet,” when in actual reality North and South America—and Israel—comprise about one-tenth of the planet. Nevertheless, the book’s central thrust is that, assuming we “take back our nation and reestablish the Godly principles we once had,” God has preserved for the United States a role as “the end-time influence.” Christians, at least, will find these extrapolations interesting, especially, of course, American Christians. A concise, fascinating account of a personal revelation of America’s spiritual destiny.