By J. Leland Earls; edited by Kevin W. Earls
Then the second angel sounded; and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (Re. 8:8-9 NKJV)
What does this mountain represent? A mountain in the scripture is a type of a nation or kingdom (Isa. 2:2-3). Thus, a great mountain would be a great or leading nation on the earth. Where do we find on earth a nation which is great enough to fulfill this description? Don’t think that greatness is to be equated with size or land mass, or with numbers of people. There is only one nation which can adequately fulfill the designation given and that is the United States of America. Why will this nation, which is so great in its Christian tradition, be able to give direction and example to the entire world? Why will it be cast into the sea? How will this take place? It is written that to whom much is given much is required. (Luke 12:48). What nation on the earth has received more material wealth than America? What nation has been blessed with such abundance that most other nations are paupers in comparison? What other nation has been so blessed in scientific achievement and accomplishment in the undoing of the burdensome toil that man has known for millenniums of time? What nation besides America has received as great an understanding and enlightenment from the Word of God through many movements of the Spirit of God unto the blessings of untold thousands? But what has American done? She has failed miserably in her stewardship. Therefore, she shall be judged severely.
And what shall this judgment be? It shall be that which shall arise from within her own borders. Don’t think that American will escape destruction from without; for many bombs and missiles shall fall upon this land. But the primary judgment upon America will be the turmoil and unrest that will arise from within, plunging that nation into a “sea” of confusion and strife.
The “sea” is a type of masses of people in agitation and revolution. Already there are signs of this turmoil and unrest evident in many places and segments of society; the trumpet of judgment has already been blown, and the inevitable falling of this great nation into a sea of revolution is now in its initial stages.
Also, it says that as a result of the mountain’s fall a third part of the sea became blood, and a third part of the creatures in the sea died, and a third part of the ships were destroyed. (8:8-9).
The sea is a type of people, and ships are a type of local governments which are amid the sea of peoples. This portrays the fact that one third of the people in this nation shall be embroiled in such serious conflict that they will become a menace to the very life of the nation, and the governing bodies represented by the ships will be so completely overwhelmed that law and order will be completely disrupted in many states and areas, causing a chaotic condition unprecedented in the history of the nation.
Violence shall erupt in many places as strife and unrest increases among the masses of the peoples. One out of every three people shall be involved in one way or another in such violent disruption that the very existence of the nation will be threatened. Then shall come the necessity of clamping an all-powerful dictatorship upon the inhabitants of this land with absolute controls in every facet of life. This will continue as the nation is involved, not only in unprecedented civil strife, but also in increasing peril from without. Only a great awakening and spiritual revival among certain segments of the nation will keep the nation from being completely inundated by the waters of internal turmoil. Truly a once great nation shall fall into the “sea” of conflict which will mean the end of an era.
You will note that it is a great mountain “burning with fire” that is cast into the sea (8:8). Fire is a type of inflamed passion with which the people will become engulfed, and the burning desires which will become an obsession to multitudes. It will be these insatiable and requited “burnings” of lust, greed, avarice, jealousy and hatred which will pit class against class, race against race, employee against employer, people against government and people against religion, and people in general against one another in one mad orgy of lawlessness and violence. This will be the direct result of the moral and spiritual decay which has been eating away at the vitals of the nation for many years. The “flames” will be continually fanned by subversive elements which have become entrenched in the nation in almost every segment of society.
Notice that the third part of the “creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died.” (8:9) The “sea” is not only a type of masses of people in turmoil; but water, whether in the sea or otherwise, is a type of the human soul with its emotions and desires. Even as water is unstable, so is the human soul unstable when uncontrolled by reason and righteous judgment (see Gen. 49:4). The creatures in the sea are a type of the entire gamut of emotions and desire which “swim” in the human soul. Usually, an emotion or desire does not have “life” unless it is stimulated or stirred up one way or another. When “made alive” such emotions and desires have great power unto either evil or good. The picture before us is one of base emotions and desires being stirred up or “made alive” unto evil and destruction. Thus, they are potential “killers” of the peace and wellbeing of others. This is the meaning of the statement that the third part of the creatures which had life, or which were made alive, died. The only way an emotion or desire which is stimulated to life can die, from a carnal perspective, is to give vent to it until its strength is spent and it abates into silence. Thus, it will be to a once great nation which has lost its moorings, and to a people who are no longer anchored to the faith of their fathers.
First published in March of 1967 by Word of Life Fellowship in the book:
Prophecies for Our Time 01: The Finished Mystery
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