Ezekiel warning? RS: Fall of the American Empire?
Pixabay source AI generated image of Ezekiel
Today is the Feast of Trumpets. In the Book of Revelation, seven trumpets are blown.
While that is still for the future (at least six years away), related to a trumpet warning for now, notice how the COGwriter article What is the Ezekiel Warning? begins:
The Ezekiel warning is essentially a message warning the end time descendants of Israel (including the descendants of Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh; cf. Genesis 48:3,11,16) of what will befall them in the last days if they fail to repent.
While there are warnings throughout that prophetic book, at least since the 20th century, chapters 3, 5, and 6 have been the emphasis of the Ezekiel warning.
The prophet Ezekiel had various warnings. Let’s start off with chapter 3 which includes a prophet being a watchman:
17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 20 Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. (Ezekiel 3:17-20)
Warning the Israelite descendants of their sins and fate if they fail to properly repent is a major part of the warning–that is also consistent with other parts of the Bible such as the following:
4 … Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. (Ezekiel 9:4)
1 Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1)Such warnings are regular features of the COGwriter Church of God News page as well as messages from the Continuing Church of God.
Related to this, the old Plain Truth magazine published the following:
In this day, God has made the MASS media available to accomplish His work. But reaching a mass audience with the good news of God’s soon-coming Government requires the freedom to PUBLISH. Notice Mark 13:10: “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.”
Further, God lays a special duty on his messenger and Church to publicly disseminate certain warnings to certain nations. Ezekiel 33:1-7 describes God’s charge upon the watchman. When the watchman sees “the sword” come upon the land — a prophetic symbol of military devastation — he must “blow the trumpet” or God will hold him personally responsible. (Calkins J. FREE PRESS IN THE BIBLE? Was It Prophesied? Plain Truth. May 1981)
Notice part of Ezekiel 5:
1 “And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. 2 You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after them. 3 You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. 4 Then take some of them again and throw them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will go out into all the house of Israel. (Ezekiel 5:1-4)
The first three and one half verses are pointing to the descendants of Joseph (the USA and British descended peoples), whereas the last half of verse 4 is a reference to the rest of descendants of the sons of Israel (see also Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel).
Notice now, part of Ezekiel 6:
1 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: “Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. 6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
8 “Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. 9 Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.” (Ezekiel 6:1-10)
Destruction is coming (cf. Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 8:24-25; 11:39). Slavery will hit, but it will not last (see Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves?).
In 1980, the late Herbert W. Armstrong wrote the following related to the Ezekiel warning:
There is duality here. First, God sets a modern “Ezekiel” as a watchman. Then the PEOPLE set him as their watchman.
UNDERSTAND THIS! In Ezekiel’s day he was a P.O.W.—a prisoner of war, taken from his own country into Babylon. The people of Judah never set him as their watchman. But Christ’s Apostle for our day has been set—first by Christ, then by the people of God—as their watchman. That is, one to watch events as they fulfill prophecy, to perceive and warn the people of the 20th-century house of Israel when such military invasion is reasonably imminent. He would have to be one with facilities available for warning the whole nations of America and the British peoples.
WHO ELSE, in our time, knows who are the modern Lost Ten Tribes—the HOUSE OF ISRAEL? No other church or leader has this knowledge.
Now what is the very crux of Ezekiel’s WARNING? It is found in chapters 5 and 6. God says to 20th-century British and Americans (5:8-9), “Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I, even I, am against thee and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations!” (Emphasis mine.) Compare with Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1-2; Jeremiah 30:3-7.) There can be only one time of trouble more severe than any before or since. These four prophecies all speak of THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Jeremiah shows it will be primarily that of the British and Americans. Ezekiel shows, as quoted below, the nature and extent of that trouble.
Ezekiel’s prophecy continues, “Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. A THIRD PART OF THEE SHALL DIE WITH THE PESTILENCE and with famine will they be consumed in the midst of thee: AND A THIRD PART SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD [nuclear destruction of our cities—see later, from chapter 6] … and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my FURY to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I THE LORD HAVE SPOKEN IT IN MY ZEAL, WHEN I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED MY FURY IN THEM” (Ezekiel 5:11-13, emphasis mine).
This is to be the most terrible fate ever to happen to any people! God is going to send it upon peoples who, more than any others, have KNOWN HIS WILL—and have ignored it and rebelled against Him!
God has blessed us as no other nations! Not only has He blessed us with material wealth and national greatness unmatched, but He has blessed us with His TRUTH which our nations have spurned. We have made atheistic evolution the very foundation of our educational system, in which we have reared our children. Hundreds upon hundreds of our churches have idols that are adored. We Americans took our land away from the Indians and treated them unfairly. Our sins are monumental!
In chapter 6:6-8, a continuation of the above, “In all your dwelling places [different countries to which they shall have emigrated by the 20th century] THE CITIES SHALL BE LAID WASTE … and the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD. Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations when ye shall be scattered through the countries.”
The phrase “YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD” is frequently used by Ezekiel, designating Christ’s Second Coming in GLORY and POWER! This great calamity foretold by Ezekiel actually shall begin in the “GREAT TRIBULATION” but will continue through the “DAY OF THE LORD”—the time of God’s “FURY” mentioned earlier, and until Christ’s coming in SUPREME POWER to RULE!
Ezekiel definitely pin-points this prophecy to “the HOUSE OF ISRAEL”—which is 20th-century United States and the British nations—later in this 6th chapter:
“And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. Thus saith the Lord God, smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD, BY THE FAMINE, AND BY THE PESTILENCE … thus will I accomplish my FURY upon them. Then shall ye know that I am the LORD! …” (verses 10-13).
Again I repeat, “they shall know that I am the LORD” is a phrase Ezekiel uses continually to designate the Second Coming of Christ, when they will KNOW that He is LORD! Also this removes all doubt that this prophecy pertains to the Lost Ten Tribes of THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL who, today are the United States and British nations! (Armstrong HW. AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL – AMERICA THE CONDEMNED. Plain Truth, June-July 1980)
The Ezekiel warnings are now being at least partially fulfilled now by numerous warnings at COGwriter.com, CCOG websites, select sermons, literature, radio appearances, and Bible News Prophecy channel videos. There are an average of at least three posts per day at COGwriter.com, and most of those are consistent with fulfilling the watchman role.
In the Continuing Church of God, we are putting out the trumpet warning about what is and will be happening.
Are the USA and its British-descended allies basically an empire that is declining?
Yes.
Rolling Stone posted the following related to the USA and ancient Rome:
Are We Witnessing the Fall of the American Empire?
September 22, 2025
Mike Duncan knows how empires fall. He’s covered histories most defining collapses, upheavals, and regime changes through the Revolutions and History of Rome podcasts — the latter being a 179 episode, 73 hour long behemoth exploring the trajectory of the Roman Republic and Empire from conception to collapse. He knows what it looks like when things go wrong.
In 2025, it’s clear to Duncan that the American empire, which has dominated global geopolitics for the last century, has passed its zenith. …
“Everybody has a shelf life,” Duncan tells Rolling Stone. “Everybody has a lifespan, and eventually you do get into some sort of decline phase. The United States is still enormously powerful, we’re not on the verge of disappearing from the great power equations of the Earth, but is this thing pushing itself towards some sort of terminal failure? Yeah, sure feels like it.”
So how does the slow unraveling of the American experiment compare to the great declines and revolutionary periods of global history? No one is better positioned to read the room than Duncan.
Let’s start with Rome. … The fall of the Republic feels more like what we’re dealing with right now. It really has to do with the Roman Republic, emerging, for the first time, as the dominant power in the Mediterranean. And that kicks off like the cycle of economic inequality starts to grow between the very richest Romans and the poorest Romans, and that leads to all kinds of social conflict. …
Do you think the U.S. remains the preeminent global empire or are we declining? …
Yeah, the high water mark of America’s influence over the world has come and gone. All empires are transitory, right? If you rise, you’re inevitably going to stagnate and fall. So predicting that the United States would not be as powerful in the 21st Century as they were in the 20th Century was actually a pretty easy thing to say, because the odds were that it would be true. …
Is the U.S. past the point of no return?
I don’t know. I will tell you I am congenitally an optimist. I have a Pascal’s Wager thing going with hope and optimism, that it’s probably better to act as if hope can possibly exist than to just say there is none and we’re doomed. So my official answer is, we’re not doomed, and there are ways out of this, because there’s ways out of anything. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/fall-of-rome-united-states-america-decline-mike-duncan-1235430424/
Yes, the USA will fall like ancient civilizations.
And without national repentance, which is not expected, it is doomed (Hosea 11:1a, 3a, 4b, 5b-7; see also Christian Repentance).
Notice some additional similarities to ancient Rome:
Are we ‘Rome’? The question has weighed heavily on the minds of American conservatives, libertarians and Catholics at their various conferences. Is America headed the way of the Roman empire? Bureaucratic decay, massive public debt, an overstretched military, a political system seemingly incapable of responding to challenges – “the late Roman empire suffered these maladies, and so, some fear, does contemporary America”, notes The American Conservative, a journal which has been pursuing this ‘line’ diligently, and with a growing constituency, over a number of years. (Note that this is not the constituency of Vice-President Pence who represents an Evangelical, fundamentalist, literal insistence on imminent Redemption, with its ‘Rapture’ politics).
The American Conservative rather warns:
“If libertarians on the Right worry about structural collapse – cultural and religious conservatives add a moral and spiritual dimension to the debate. Rising hedonism, waning religious observance, ongoing break-up of the family, and a general loss of cultural coherence — to traditionalists, these are signs of a possible Dark Age ahead”.
… “For MacIntyre”, Rod Dreher, the author of The Benedict Option writes: “we too are living through a Fall of Rome-like catastrophe, one that is concealed by our liberty and prosperit”. Dreher continues, “In his influential 1981 book, After Virtue, MacIntyre argued that the Enlightenment project cut Western man off from his roots in tradition, but failed to produce a binding morality based on Reason alone. Plus, the Enlightenment extolled the autonomous individual. Consequently, we live in a culture of moral chaos and fragmentation in which many questions are simply impossible to settle. MacIntyre says that our contemporary world is a dark wood, and that finding our way back to the straight path will require establishing new forms of community”.
“The “Benedict Option” thus refers to [those] in contemporary America who cease to identify the continuation of civility and moral community with the maintenance of American Empire, and who therefore are keen to construct local forms of community as loci of Christian resistance against what the Empire represents. Put less grandly, the Benedict Option — or ‘Ben Op’ — is an umbrella term for Christians [and American conservatives], who accept MacIntyre’s critique of modernity”. …
What is so interesting to an outsider, is how the Ben Op’s author, Dreher, situates it within the US political context:
“Many of us on the Right who have been dismayed by the Trumpening (sic), and have been hard hit by the Kavanaugh debacle, have concluded that [nonetheless], we have no choice but to vote Republican this November – if only out of self-defense. (He refers to November 2018)
“But let me quote two passages from The Benedict Option:
“The cultural Left—which is to say, the American mainstream— has no intention of living in post-war peace. It is pressing forward with a harsh, relentless occupation, one that is aided by the cluelessness of Christians [i.e. those mirroring liberalism], who don’t understand what’s happening. Don’t be fooled: the upset presidential victory of Donald Trump has at best given us a bit more time to prepare for the inevitable (emphasis added).
[Those] who believe that politics alone will be sufficient – are not going to be prepared for what’s going to come when the Republicans lose the White House and/or Congress, which is inevitable. Our politics have become so sulfurous that there will be a vicious backlash, and that backlash will fall primarily on social and religious conservatives. When the Democrats regain power, conservative Christians are going to be in very bad shape”.
The Ben Op, in other words, is another important window into what Professor Mike Vlahos has described as the gathering, next chapter to America’s unresolved ‘civil war’: “America today fissuring into two visions of the nation’s future way of life: “Red” virtue imagines a continuity of family and community within a publicly affirmed national community. “Blue” virtue imagines personally chosen communities mediated through the individual’s relationship with the state. So, even though these two divided visions of America have been opposed for decades, and so far have controlled the urge to violence, there is in their bitter contest [of today] a sense of gathering movement toward an ultimate decision”.
“Today, two righteous paths are gridlocked in opposition … Red and Blue already represent an irreparable religious schism, deeper in doctrinal terms even than the 16th-century Catholic-Protestant schism. The war here, is over which faction successfully captures the (social media) flag, as true inheritor of American virtue. Both perceive themselves as champions of national renewal, of cleansing corrupted ideals, and of truly fulfilling America’s promise. Both fervently believe that they alone – own virtue.” https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/03/04/us-conservatives-pursue-ben-option-global-ramification.html
The US is a house divided and will fall, even worse than ancient Rome did. The UK has Brexit and other troubles. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are having issues as well.
Additionally, the USA has been taking steps to turn friends into enemies. With tariffs, sanctions, military pressures, and other policies, the USA is pushing nations away from itself and towards others. This will strengthen them.
Now, that is a bit different than what happened to Rome, but there are some parallels.
With Rome, it started paying ‘barbarians’ to run parts of its military as well as to pay them to be allies. This increased the wealth of the barbarians as well as encouraged them to further arm–and the USA has been pushing the Europeans to further arm.
In time, Rome had less wealth to pay. Finally, the ‘barbarians’ saw that Rome was weak enough to attack. Rome did not expect former allies to attack like they did.
The Bible warns that the one that was great among the nations, will be betrayed by “friends”:
1 How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
How like a widow is she,
Who was great among the nations!
The princess among the provinces
Has become a slave!2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
Her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies. …5 Her adversaries have become the master,
Her enemies prosper;
For the Lord has afflicted her
Because of the multitude of her transgressions.
Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.6 And from the daughter of Zion
All her splendor has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
That find no pasture,
That flee without strength
Before the pursuer. (Lamentations 1:1-2,5-6)
The USA has been considered as great among the nations, but it will be betrayed by “friends.”
The USA’s European “friends” are arming as well as working to take other steps to prosper.
Understand that the Europeans are taking steps to increase their wealth and not need to be as dependent upon the USA.
Consider that right now, the USA has pushed many nations together against it. For example, notice something that happened today:
EU, Indonesia agree on free trade deal
23 September 2025
The European Union (EU) and Indonesia on Tuesday reached an agreement on a free trade pact after more than nine years of negotiations. This process was expedited by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff policy.
EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and Indonesian Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and an Investment Protection Agreement in Bali.
The deal will scrap most tariffs on EU exports including car parts, agriculture and pharmaceuticals, while opening investment in sectors such as electric vehicles.
“I am convinced that today’s conclusion of negotiations is just the beginning of an exciting new chapter,” Sefcovic said.
Airlangga called the agreement “a milestone,” which would “mitigate risks from the impact of the global tariff war.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the pact would boost jobs and growth while securing critical raw materials for Europe’s clean tech industries.
“Our deal with Indonesia creates new opportunities for businesses and farmers in a major and growing economy,” von der Leyen added. https://www.dw.com/en/eu-indonesia-agree-on-free-trade-deal/a-74103321
Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation. It now has a major deal with the EU. India, the world’s most populous nation is close to a deal with the EU.
The USA has intentionally pushed against Europe. And an unintended consequence of USA policies is that this is causing the Europeans to take steps to increase its trade influence, which it is prophesied to do.
Notice, for example, something from my December 2024 article titled 25 items to prophetically watch in 2025:
The major use of sanctions, mainly pushed by the USA, has been continuing.
This is affecting trade and pushing trade away from the USA. …
And Europe?
Well, Donald Trump’s reelection is a major concern for Europe and its trade.
In 2018, I wrote:
The Europeans have been working with Latin America, China, Russia’s Eurasian Union, and other areas of the world to try to set up its dominance of world trade as well as standards for world trade. (19 items to prophetically watch in 2019)
Such deals have been happening. But expect more concrete action, at least partially because of the reelection of Donald Trump, along with J.D. Vance.
Europe will reach out to various ones in Asia and Africa, as well as Latin America. In the next several years, deals and more trade will occur with Africa, Asia, and Latin America. …
The Europeans will work with many nations to secure stronger trade agreements. …
The Bible shows that Europe will, for a time, dominate trade (cf. Revelation 17 and 18).
- Pushing tariffs and sanctions on other countries is contributing to the rise of the final time of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24; Ezekiel 7:24).
- Pushing tariffs and other policies that foreign nations do not like is contributing to other nations looking to bypass the USA dollar, as well as trade more with each other and less with the USA. This will further push various globalist’s moves forward without the USA. This is also helping set the stage for the coming European Babylonian Beast to dominate international trade. …
we are proclaiming the Ezekiel warning (see What is the Ezekiel Warning?).
Yes, the Europeans are working to make such trade deals. And related to Asia, it announced the deal with Indonesia today.
That said, the European power that will arise to defeat the USA and its British-descended allies (cf. Daniel 11:39) will, itself, be defeated and collapse as well (cf. Daniel 11:45).
More on all of that can be found in the free online book: Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America?
But despite all of that, there is GOOD NEWS.
The Bible shows that after the seven trumpets of Revelation are blown, Jesus will return with the last trumpet blast.
And when He does, this world and its systems will be replaced by the millennial Kingdom of God.
Here is a sermon made for the Feast of Trumpets in 2025:
Trumpets and Jesus’ Return
The Hebrew scriptures tell of a “holy convocation” that is a memorial for the blowing of trumpets (Leviticus 23:24). Which kind of trumpets were blown? Does the New Testament prophesy many events associated with the blowing of trumpets? When are these trumpets blown? Are there six seals in the Book of Revelation, including those associated with the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ that are opened first? What happens after each of the seven trumpets of the Book of Revelation are blown? When can Jesus return, according to His own words in Matthew 24:29-31? Were Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, and now David Jeremiah correct that the rapture is the next prophetic event that occurs? Must Jesus return before or after the Great Tribulation? The Apostle Paul said Christians would be changed at the LAST TRUMPET–so is that scripturally impossible to be BEFORE the tribulation? What are the events that the Bible shows will happen after the seventh trumpet is blown? Does Jesus return after the Day of the Lord has begun? Must Jesus return on the Feast of Trumpets? Are there seven last plagues that happen after the seventh trumpet is blown? What about the three woes? Will some Christians be protected and 144,000 sealed? Should we take comfort in what the Apostle Paul and others wrote about prophetic matters in the Bible? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and also blows two types of trumpets (silver chatsotserah and shofar ram’s horn) during this sermon.
Here is a link to our sermon: Trumpets and Jesus’ Return.
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon; When Will the End of the Age Come?; Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.
What is the Ezekiel Warning? Should the end-time descendants of Israel and Joseph be warned? What should the watchman warn about? Regarding a watchman, you can watch the following video: Go, Set a Watchman.
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