America can be found in bible prophecy

I used to believe that the United States of America is not to be found anywhere in the bible and I used to tell that to people at a prophecy forum I used to post in. It didn’t particularly worry me that I couldn’t find America in bible prophecy (except maybe as Babylon) as there are many other nations also not specifically mentioned in the bible. For example my own nation of Australia is not specifically mentioned in the bible as far as I know. Many nations come and go without getting a specific mention in the bible.

Today however I am 100% convinced that the USA is the subject of prophecy found in the bible. In particular I believe that Isaiah 18 is a prophecy specifically about the USA.

I will make a case below as to why I believe that Isaiah 18 is talking about the USA. Now my interpretation of Isaiah 18 is not the only one that fits the words of the prophecy. The words themselves have multiple possible meanings. If you don’t agree with me then you don’t agree. I can’t present a water tight analytical case that proves that my interpretation must be the correct one.

(It’s not really “my” interpretation as many other people have come to exactly the same conclusion and written about it before me).

I guess to a certain extent my belief that my interpretation of Isaiah 18 is the correct one is based on my own intuition. I would go further than calling it just intuition though and believe that it is an intuition inspired by God, I guess I am claiming a certain level of divine revelation in knowing that Isaiah 18 is a prophecy specifically to the United States of America.

Now the funny thing is that while I am 100% certain that Isaiah 18 is specifically about the USA I am not exactly sure what the prophecy actually is. That is I am not entirely sure exactly what is prophesied is going to happen to the USA in Isaiah 18 though I can analytically draw some general conclusions from the scripture.

I’m not a “KJV only” sort of guy (the original scriptures weren’t written in King James English) but I’ll quote from it as my English source, though I am more interested in what the original Hebrew words say.

I’ll also give the disclaimer that I have no training in Hebrew but only know what I read from the dictionary.

So let’s start then. The first verse in Isaiah 18 (KJV) reads “Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: ”

Now let’s read it again this time in Hebrew “הֹוי אֶרֶץ צִלְצַל כְּנָפָיִם אֲשֶׁר מֵעֵבֶר לְנַֽהֲרֵי־כֽוּשׁ׃”

And if like me you don’t speak Hebrew let’s read it again with an English alphabet and with the dictionary (Strong’s) of what the words mean using Blue Letter Bible translation (https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/isa/18/1/t_conc_697001): “Howy (Woe) 'erets (land) tsĕlatsal (whirring/buzzing) kanaph (wings) `eber (beyond) nahar (river/s) Kuwsh (land of descendants of Cush i.e. land of African’s)”

Let’s look at the word צְלָצַל /tsĕlatsal (Strong’s number h6767). The KJV has translated this word as “shadowing” but according to the dictionary (Strong’s) its more common meaning is whirring/buzzing.

According to https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/isa/18/1/t_conc_697001 the meaning of tsĕlatsal (H6750) is “a clatter, i.e. (abstractly) whirring (of wings); (concretely) a cricket; also a harpoon (as rattling), a cymbal (as clanging):—cymbal, locust, shadowing, spear”.

So the key idea behind tsĕlatsal is vibration. It can refer to a spear because a spear can make a vibrating sound as it whirs through the air. It can refer to a locust because a locust make a vibrating sound.

According to Blue letter bible the KJV bible itself translates tsĕlatsal as cymbal (3x), locust (1x), spear (1x), shadowing (1x).

The bottom line is that the KJV translation of tsĕlatsal as “shadowing” is due to the translator’s idea of what the whole passage is about and not forced by the word itself. The word itself really refers to vibration. It is not clear why the KJV translator thought “shadowing” was a good way to translate this word (though as they lived long before the invention of aero-planes they can be forgiven for having a limited understanding of the passage).

The other word to take note of is the word Kuwsh (כּוּשׁ) meaning a descendent of Cush (one of Noah’s sons) or the land of Cush’s descendent. The KJV has translated this as Ethiopia (which is no doubt correct) but as the biblical world view is that all people of African descent are descended from Cush I would argue (as I know others do – I don’t think it is controversial) that Cush can also refer to all of Africa not just Ethiopia.

I therefor believe that a perfectly legitimate alternative translation of Isaiah 18 (alternative compared to the KJV) is “Woe to the land of whirring/buzzing wings beyond the rivers of Africa”.

I note that the NIV translates Isaiah 18 as “Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush”

So the NIV has gone with “Whirring wings” as I have but has changed “beyond the rivers” to “along the rivers”. So the NIV has translated `eber as “along” whereas the KJV has translated it as “beyond”. There is often not an exact one to one translation between English and Hebrew or Greek which is why the NIV and KJV can translate the same Hebrew word with different English words. In this case though I think the KJV is closer to the original Hebrew for `eber than the NIV.

I see from the dictionary (https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5676&t=KJV)) that `eber means “region beyond or across, side, opposite side” and is translated by KJV as beyond 21 times.

So if you go with the most common meanings of the words (for all the words) Isaiah 18:1 should be translated as I have done as “Woe to the land of whirring wings beyond the rivers of Cush (Africa)”.

When I saw what the Isaiah 18:1 scripture actually says when translated properly (along with Isaiah 18:2) that is when I became convinced that it was talking about the USA.

Although I cannot prove it and this is just my words not scripture I believe that the term “buzzing wings” refers to aircraft wings with propellers on them (though even the sound of a jet engine probably aligns with the idea of tsĕlatsal – not that they had jets back in the day).

So basically the land which is the subject of this prophecy is a land of aircraft. Is the USA a land of aircraft? I would argue that it is.

If you look at a map of the world’s flight paths the only land area that can challenge the USA for density of aircraft movements is Europe. However as Europe is several different nations not just one nation like the USA no single nation has the same level of aircraft movements today as the USA. We also note that powered (buzzing wing) flight was invented in the USA and that despite the loss of much of its manufacturing industry the US aircraft manufacturing both civil and military is still going strong and dominates the world. (Europe has Airbus but again that is distributed over several nations). No other nation fits the description of “land of whirring/buzzing wings” as much as the US does.

I’ll also mention that the word אוֹי/howy that is translated as “woe” in Isaiah 18:1 can also be translated as “Ah”, “Ho” and “Oh” – though by far its most common translation is “Alas” (see Blue Letter Bible).

Now let’s look at the next verse which is Isaiah 18:2 (KJV) “which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.”

Now let’s look at 18:2 with just a straight dictionary word for word translation:

“shalach (sends) tsiyr (envoy/messenger/ ambassador) yam (sea) kĕliy (vessel/thing/object/weapon/armour) gome' (papyrus/bulrushes) paniym (before/face/presence/open/upon/from/before the face) mayim (waters) yalak (go/come/depart/carry/bring) qal (swift/light/ fleet) mal'ak (angel/messenger/ambassadors) gowy (nation/people) mashak (drawn out/scattered/tall) mowrat (scoured/ smooth/ peeled) `am (nation/people) yare' (terrible/awe/feared/honored/respected) halĕah (beyond/further/yonder) gowy (nation/people) qav-qav (mighty) mĕbuwcah (downtreading/ subjugation) 'erets (land) nahar (rivers) baza' (divide)

With each word having so many options there are so many ways this could be translated (though the gist would be similar). I won’t explain all my reasoning here (or we will be here all day) but suffice to say I believe that a possible way verse 18:2 could be translated is “which sends ambassadors by sea in craft of papyrus over the waters going swiftly; messengers of a nation spread out and peeled (of its trees); a nation feared and respected far and wide; a nation mighty and dominating; a land divided by rivers”.

Note that in my translation the messengers in this verse are all the same messengers from the same nation – whereas in the KJV translation there are two completely different nations and in the NIV translation there are 2 completely different sets of messengers.

In the KJV translation the nation of buzzing (or shadowing) wings that will experience woe sends messengers to a completely different nation which is a nation spread out and feared far and wide (which one is judged?). In the NIV translation the nation of verse 2 is the same as the nation of verse 1 but the messengers of verse 1 are “from” the nation to experience woe and are a different set of messengers to those in verse 2 who are going “to” the nation feared far and wide which is also the nation to experience woe.

In my translation of 18:1,2 there is only one nation and one set of messengers. I believe that the NIV and KJV have both erred in their translator’s choice of punctuation. The original biblical Hebrew does not contain punctuation. Also unlike modern Hebrew biblical Hebrew does not contain tense (no difference between “go”, “going” and “gone” – or as far as the Hebrew word yalak is concerned between “go” and “come”). I believe that my different punctuation and use of the word “going” instead of “go” is therefore a legitimate translation based purely on the words. I also believe it is the correct translation. I certainly believe my translation makes more sense.

I also think that the craft of papyrus over the waters going swiftly are likely aircraft albeit modern airliners use carbon fiber not papyrus (but papyrus being thin, light and carbon based is a good way to say carbon fiber millennia before it comes into existence). But I only mention that as a point of interest, my interpretation that the verse is talking about the US does not rely on that interpretation.

Irrespective of whether there are one or two sets of messengers doesn’t really affect my interpretation that the nation is the USA as it’s the latter bit of the verse that I rely on to identify the USA as the subject of the prophecy.

While I’m on the topic I’ll also add that given the possible meanings of the words I see another possible interpretation for the first bit of the verse as being “which sends government (military) representatives by sea in armed craft of thin skinned material over the waters going very fast;” But again my identification of the nation as being the US does not rely on that interpretation being true.

It is the latter bit of verse Isaiah 18:2 which I use to identify America. While the NIV translates mashak (מָשַׁךְ) as tall people and mowrat (מוֹרָט) as a smooth (clean shaven) people I believe this is an incorrect interpretation. Rather than the people being tall I believe that the verse is saying that the nation (the land not the individual people) is spread out (large like the USA). Similarly in this verse I believe that mowrat does not mean that the people are all shaved of their hair but that the land is shaved “peeled” of its forests, the trees having been felled to make way for farm land. The USA is a large spread out nation and it is a nation which was once covered in trees (apart from the desert bits) but is now covered in farmland instead. So this description fits the USA well.

Comparing the KJV translation, the NIV translation and my translation of Isaiah 18:1 to 2 side by side:

KJV translation of 18:1,2 “Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!”

NIV translation of 18:1,2 “Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.”

My translation of 18:1,2 “Woe to the land of whirring wings beyond the rivers of Cush (Africa) which sends ambassadors by sea in craft of papyrus over the waters going swiftly; messengers of a nation spread out and peeled; a nation feared and respected far and wide; a nation mighty and dominating; a land divided by rivers.”

As stated earlier if the KJV translation is correct then the nation of buzzing (or shadowing) wings that are to experience “woe” in verse one are a different nation to the scattered and peeled nation of the later part of verse 2 and are in fact sending messengers to that second nation – which doesn’t really hang together well with the rest of the passage. Also note that the KJV inserts the word “saying” which absolutely does not appear in the original.

I think the NIV translation hangs together better but the second set of messengers appear out of nowhere and aren’t heard from again and don’t really do anything. I think that it is more probable that there is only one set of messengers and that the messengers of verse 2 are just a continuation of talking about the messengers of verse 1, I think that makes more sense. It also makes sense that the light skinned craft that is going swiftly (over the ocean) is an aeroplane (something not known in King James time).

Irrespective of who is right about the word “go” (I think I am) it is clear to me that the land of “buzzing wings”, the land that is “spread out” and “divided by rivers”, and the “mighty nation feared far and wide” is the USA. Last I checked the USA spends more on its military than the rest of the world combined.

I note that the KJV translator of Isaiah 18:1,2 has had no problem with inserting the word “saying” into the verse even though it has no analogous word in the original Hebrew (in order to improve readability). I also note that the NIV has no problem inserting a word that has no correspondence at all to the original scripture namely the word “skinned”. If I took the same level of liberty and was prepared to rearrange and insert words to make it clear what I think the verse is saying I would write the verse as “Ho, land of buzzing aircraft beyond the sea of Africa which sends government representatives by sea and in fast aircraft over the seas; government representatives of a nation spread out and cleared of its trees; a nation feared and respected far and wide; a nation mighty and dominating; a nation divided by rivers.”

To me Isaiah verses 18:1, 2 clearly identifies that this prophecy is meant for the USA.

Having established who the prophesy is about we now look at the rest of Isaiah 18 to see what the prophecy is about.

Isaiah 18:3 (KJV) All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.

Isaiah 18:4 (KJV) This is what the LORD says to me: “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

Isaiah 18:5 (KJV) For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches.

Isaiah 18:6 (KJV) They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.

Isaiah 18:7 (KJV) At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers— the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty.

This is straightforward enough that I don’t think we need to go into the original Hebrew again, though I would of course retranslate 18:7 in a similar vein to 18:1,2.

The prophecy appears to involve some level of death and destruction for America. Though I have known people claim that 18:5,6 is not symbolic but a literal prophecy that American wild animals are going to be well fed on literal farm produce. That is there will be a bumper crop one year and as a result wild animals will be well fed. I don’t think that is what is being prophesied here. But I am not sure what is being prophesied (only who is being prophesied about).

My own take on this is that it is a prophecy of judgment on the USA which will involve large scale death and destruction and that is what verses 18:5,6 are talking about.

However there are 2 reasons why I believe that this is not a total destruction of America.

The first reason I believe that this does not involve the total destruction of the USA is that in Isaiah 18:5 the shoots are cut off with pruning knives. That is the whole plant is not cut down but rather it is pruned. The thing about pruning is that it is something you do to a plant not to kill it but to make it healthier and bigger and better in the long run. In the short term you injure the plant and do damage to it, you destroy part of it, you destroy the unwanted parts but in the long run the plant recovers and is healthier and more fruitful in the long run as a result of having been pruned.

Is the chapter talking about a major war or a major military strike on home soil or a world war or a civil war or perhaps a major natural disaster? I have absolutely no idea. The US has already had a major civil war and 2 world wars of course but they didn’t end with the fulfillment of verse Isaiah 18:7 so I don’t believe this prophecy has already been fulfilled by them.

The second reason that I don’t believe that Isaiah is talking about the total destruction of America is that verse 18:7 implies that at the end of this judgement the nation which is the subject of this prophecy is still around (and during the millennium) bringing tribute to Jesus when he is reigning in Jerusalem. (If the US is bringing gifts to the Lord at Mount Zion we are in the millennium with Jesus physically having returned to earth and reigning in Jerusalem).

We also note that at the end of the prophecy not only is the judged nation now bringing gifts to the Lord in Israel during the millennium but the nation has retained (or re-acquired) its status as a large nation respected far and wide.

Actually given that the prophecy ends with the survivors bringing tribute to the Lord as he physically reigns from Jerusalem during the Millennium – the judgement event would likely be the Great Tribulation.