Is America in Bible Prophecy?-Part 1

Most scholars point to Europe and the Middle East as places referred to by Bible prophecies. So, where does America, the one remaining superpower in the world, fit in?
The silence of Scripture on America
Prophecy expert Mark Hitchcock has written a book Is America in Bible Prophecy? (Multnomah, 2002). He believes that America is not found in the Bible, illustrating this by discussing the three most common ways it is suggested:
Is America Babylon the Great? (Revelation 17-18)
In this chapter, Hitchcock presents a number of examples:
One preacher argued that September 11 showed that New York City or America is the Babylon of Revelation.
S. Franklin Logsdon finds it inconceivable that God would not mention America in Scripture.
Jan Van Impe points to Jeremiah 50-51 as well as Revelation 18 as describing America in the last days.
Hitchcock then lays out in detail the case made by R.A. Coombes in his book America, the Babylon: America's Destiny Foretold in Biblical Prophecy.
After analyzing the case for America as Babylon, Hitchcock presents seven arguments against such a position, arguing instead that Babylon is a literal city, concluding, "I believe that the ancient city of Babylon will be rebuilt in Iraq in the last days to serve as the religious and commercial capital for the Antichrist's empire."
Is America the Unnamed Nation in Isaiah 18?
Isaiah 18 "refers to a great nation (not specifically identified by name) whose people are fierce and enterprising."
Jack Van Impe suggests this is a reference to America. But, Hitchcock says the "overwhelming evidence comes against identifying America with the nation mentioned in Isaiah 18." He then describes the context of the Isaiah passage fitting into a larger context of chapters 18-20, which refer to the ancient nations of Cush and Egypt, which were one country at the time.
Is America de "Young Lions of Tarshish"?
Ezekiel 38:13 is another passage used by those who see America in prophecy. Again, the wider context of Ezekiel 38-39, "predict a last-days invasion of the land of Israel by a massive attack force" led by a man called "Gog," the final ruler of Russia ("Rosh"). Hitchcock says the list of nations in Ezekiel 38:1-6, shows that "several key nations will come against Israel in the end times: Russia, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Turkey, and at least some if not all of the nations of Central Asia. … all of these nations (except Russia) are Muslim nations. And many of these hate the nation of Israel and would jump at the opportunity to wipe her off the face of the earth."
While not believing that the young lions of Tarshish is a reference to the United States, Hitchcock concedes "that of all the passages in the Bible that could refer to the United States, this is by far the best one."
To be continued....
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