One thing I know about Bible prophecy, messages about the future, is that we don’t know much. People who claim to know exactly what will happen, and when, are fakes. We are told by Jesus: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36) and one sign of the end of this time is history will be ‘experts’ identifying the second coming of Jesus ‘here He is.’ We are told to ignore them. (Matthew 24:23-24)

So, I don’t want to be a false prophet, but this is an interesting question: Is the U.S.A. in Bible prophecy? Does that nation have a role in the end of this time in history?

Some things are clear.

• The nation of Israel did not exist a few decades ago, and it does now. That was promised in the Bible; Israel would be restored.
• Also, the modern nation of Israel is usually a close ally of the U.S., and has been protected by its ally, in the dangerous Middle East.
• One more thing; the symbol of the U.S. is the bald eagle, a large and handsome bird. That eagle was chosen because it seemed to project the qualities that the nations founders wanted to build.

• RELATED: The image of an eagle is common in the Bible, and common in Bible prophecy.

The eagle was also the symbol carried by powerful Roman armies, and they were very important in the history of Israel. I remember a sermon when I was young, and the speaker believed that some references to eagles in the Bible could refer to the U.S.A. and might give that nation a role in future events, especially in the Middle East. I remembered the information, but I didn’t know what to do with it.

And then, last week, I followed the news about the dramatic events in Iran. Just like Israel, Persia exists today, under the name Iran, and Persia is important in Bible history and prophecy, future history. The government of Iran today has a strong dislike for Israel, for religious reasons. There is no reason in the economy, or in history, for this strong dislike. The government of Israel is watching Iran with concern as that nation develops nuclear warheads. The Israelis know they are a primary target.

Ancient Babylon, and possibly ancient Assyria are still with us, in the nation of Iraq, right next to Iran. It’s like the ancient world has returned from the history books, only with better weapons. When the prophets of the Bible tell us about the future, they describe nations from their time. That should not fit with our time, except that those ancient nations have returned and are with us today, and they interact with Israel, usually as enemies.

It is kind of spooky that modern history gave us the same nations as in ancient times. Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Babylon and Persia; and Israel have all returned, and there is no logic to make that happen. Those nations were configured differently before the two World Wars. The great wars shook the earth, and the ancient nations returned, including Israel in 1948.

We now live in a world where the predictions of the ancient Bible prophets are possible. One hundred years ago, those prophesies were impossible because the ancient nations did not exist. We can be skeptical about prophecy, including preppers and survivalists who fill their basements with canned food, and guns, but even to an atheist, it is clear, something big is happening.

And now back to the American Eagle. As I followed the news, I found a discussion about the Middle East, by conservative Americans. I thought they would be happy with the events, but they hated them.  They believed that their country should be making deals with China and other great nations and regions. The Middle East is filled with expensive armies, and it produces nothing that Americans need. There is plenty of oil in other regions, and there are no other important exports from the Middle East.

They were not happy with the expensive fascination that all American governments have with the Middle East. They wanted the troops out, and back home.

It does seem, that Israel at the center, and the close neighbors, are a political whirlpool. All the nations of the world seem to be sucked into that vortex, when they have better things to do. Recent events in Iran and Iraq show that, and the major player from the outside has been the U.S.

Some things are clear, and uncanny. The stage is now set so that future events promised in the Bible could happen. I won’t give specific and detailed predictions about the U.S.A. in Bible prophecy, but here are some interesting ideas:

• The prophet Ezekiel promised that Israel would be restored, raised from the dead, and large eagles would make that happen: “A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came …” (17:3) [and] “But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him …” (17:7)

• The New Testament tells us an eagle will warn the world about terrible events to come, and I believe the U.S. is the world center for preaching and teaching about the end of history and the second coming: “As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: ‘Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!’” (Revelation 8:13)

• And, we are told that Israel will be attacked and the people will be evacuated with the wings of an eagle: “The woman [Israel] was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.”(Revelation 12:14)

I think the whole earth is changing rapidly, and we are all being pulled into something. The U.S.A. plays a leading role among the nations, and if we are pulled into the events promised in the Bible, the leaders will play a leading role. Maybe those eagles are more than literary images.