The United States is about to have its highest year of borrowing ever recorded. Not only is it the highest ever, but when the fiscal year ends on September 30, it is expected to be more than double the previous record set in 2009 during the Great Recession. America has allowed a relatively minor disease to destroy its economy within months.

On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office reported that for the first 10 months of this budget year, the U.S. had already borrowed $2.8 trillion—more than triple the same time last year. June alone—the highest month of borrowing—almost equaled the entire deficit of fiscal year 2019.

The U.S. deficit is predicted to reach $3.7 trillion by September 30—almost equivalent to spending just after World War ii, as a percentage of gross domestic product.

These massive deficit levels are the result of the actions taken to curb the spread of covid-19. The lockdown has shuttered businesses and led to mass unemployment. The government’s attempt to mitigate the consequences on individuals and businesses has only increased deficit spending. The government has spent trillions in stimulus packages that, among other things, put $1,200 in the accounts of eligible residents.

Added to this, unemployment benefits of $600 per week were provided. For some, this meant they earned more sitting on the couch than they did working. Though these benefits expired on July 31, President Donald Trump has passed presidential directives to extend these at a decreased rate of $400 per week.

Though the unemployment rate fell in July to 10.2 percent, it is still higher than at any point during the 2008–2009 financial crisis. During the coronavirus lockdown, unemployment peaked at 14.7 percent in April. This is a massive rise from the low of 3.5 percent recorded in February before the pandemic hit the economy.

This is why the deficit is at the level it is now. And it could surpass the projected $3.7 trillion level at the end of September if the government signs off on another stimulus package. Democrats are pushing for another $3 trillion economic package; Republicans want “only” $1 trillion.

The U.S. debt is now over $26 trillion, an increase of more than $3 trillion since January. That’s a scary number—as is the amount of interest America spends on that debt. As Brookings Institute wrote: “The U.S. government spends as much on interest as the combined budgets of Commerce, Education, Energy, dhs [Department of Homeland Security], hud [Housing and Urban Development], Interior, Justice and State.”

Very soon, America will have to borrow money just to pay the interest on the debt. Once this begins, the United States will have entered debt death spiral. If the government does not slash spending or drastically increase tax revenue, the economy will crash.

America’s current economic situation is another sign that the nation has grown very distant from God. Deuteronomy 28 records the blessings that God would bestow on Israel for obedience and the curses for disobedience. As educator Herbert W. Armstrong proved in The United States and Britain in Prophecy, America is the descendant of one of the tribes of ancient Israel.

Verses 43-45 warn: “The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee.”

America is in this economic state because its people have not hearkened “unto the voice of the Lord thy God.” And where is it leading? These verses explain that it will continue “till thou be destroyed.”

This economic hit is the start of much worse things to come. It is the spark that will cause the whole country to be consumed and bring the fulfillment of end-time events.

In “Our Financial 9/11 Was Prophesied,” we wrote: “Mr. Armstrong warned that a massive financial crisis centered in America would ripple across the whole world—and would spark the rise of the seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire.”

In 1984, Mr. Armstrong wrote that a massive banking crisis in America “could suddenly result in triggering European nations to unite as a new world power larger than either the Soviet Union or the U.S. That, in turn, could bring on the Great Tribulation suddenly. And that will lead quickly into the Second Coming of Christ and end of this world as we know it.”

In August 1984, Mr. Armstrong explained the impact of an American economic crisis in even greater detail. Referencing the Matthew 24 prophecy of a coming nuclear winter, he wrote:

Nuclear explosions will produce an Earth-covering cloud that will give us a nuclear night. The sun will not get through. Crops will not grow. Billions will be killed by the nuclear blasts. Those remaining will starve. [T]his is no wolf-wolf cry! It is prophesied in your Bible! It is real! And … economic crisis threatens to bring this about.

We continued in “Our Financial 9/11 Was Prophesied,” “In autumn 2008, the first shock waves of that economic crisis struck.” 2008 was just the start. Though the reality of today’s economic situation has not fully hit, the statistics show that the economy is in a much worse state than it ever was during the 2008–2009 recession. America can only avoid the consequences for so long. The whole world will soon feel the full effects of today’s financial crisis.

For more, read “The Cure Is Killing Us,” by Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry.