Darkness is descending on the long, historically extraordinary Anglo-American age. Britain’s Empire, commonwealth and throne are gone or deteriorating fast. The American superpower is suffering a cultural revolution and staring into the economic abyss.

History teaches that world orders don’t last. They come and they go. This present one is giving way to something very different, and it truly will be the world’s loss.

However, Britain and America’s brightest days are not history. Glowing within their remarkable past is the promise of a far more luminous future.

The British and the Americans long believed they were duty-bound, even destined, to lead the world. “The glory of the British Empire was its service to a cause that transcended Britain, that transcended history, that transcended time itself,” wrote Harry V. Jaffa in the Foreword to Winston S. Churchill on Empire. That cause was “to lift human life away from barbarism and savagery towards civilization and human excellence.” Churchill passionately devoted himself to promoting that Empire and “the fostering of civilization.” “Empire civilizes both the ruled and their rulers,” he wrote.

The United States’ founders sought to establish a lasting beacon of liberty and democracy to the nations. Lyman Beecher said the nation was “destined to lead the way in the moral and political emancipation of the world.” Abraham Lincoln said America must ensure “that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the Earth.”

Britain dominated the 1800s and early 1900s. America has dominated since then. Both were imperfect, but both produced far more good than bad when compared to other great powers. Bible prophecy reveals that there is an awesome reason for this—one that points back to ancient history and yet illuminates an inspiring future. You can read about it in Herbert W. Armstrong’s book The United States and Britain in Prophecy (request a free copy). The reason is that these nations are the modern descendants of ancient Israel.

The Bible records that God gave Israel a great responsibility: to represent Him and to set an example for the world! Biblical history and prophecy show that, in spite of their failings and sins and the imminent disastrous consequences, God still intends for Israel’s descendants to fulfill this glorious purpose.

“Here is the big overview. God created the tribes (later nations) of Israel for an incredible purpose,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes. “They were created to be ‘a praise, and a glory’ to God. The nations of Israel were to cause the whole world to praise and glorify God!” (Jeremiah and the Greatest Vision in the Bible; request a free copy). The garments of Israel’s priests were made “for glory and for beauty” (Exodus 28:2). The nation had a priestly calling (Exodus 19:5-6), which means a responsibility to serve other nations and point them to God. Jeremiah 13:11 describes Israel as a priestly garment worn by God Himself!

Yet God told Jeremiah not to wash this linen belt (verse 1), and to leave it in a cleft of rock on the riverbank until it was ruined and unusable. This vividly depicted Israel’s failure to fulfill its beautiful calling. Verses 9-10 also apply to Israel’s modern descendants, who are arrogant, evil, disobedient, self-willed, idolatrous and as worthless to God as a rotten girdle.

When John Winthrop spoke of America as a “city on a hill” in 1630, he issued a warning based on prophecies such as this: “We must consider that we will be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.”

This is where Britain and America are now because of their sins. The sun is setting on Anglo-American dominance, and the world is plunging back into the blackness of barbarism and savagery.

However, the Bible that prophesied the great rise and terrible fall of the nations of Israel also prophesies that Britain and America’s brightest days are yet to come. Jeremiah 33 depicts the time after America and Britain have endured terrible tribulation as punishment and correction for their sins. God promises to restore prosperity to them—and make them a positive example. They will become “a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth” (verse 9).

God will help these nations use that greatness to become the positive example they have always struggled and failed to be. Jesus Christ, King of kings, will be ruling the nations of Israel and the world and lifting all human life toward civilization and excellence. Britain and America finally will submit to Him, becoming the beautiful, godly ornaments they were always intended to be. It is and will be abundantly obvious that Israel’s greatness has nothing to do with the people of Israel and everything to do with the God of Israel!