CLEON SKOUSEN ON AMERICA'S DEMISE AFTER SHE MAKES WAR WITH THE SAINTS

We are currently "in it".  Notice how all things are coming together in a perfect storm and at an alarmingly increasing pace??  It is breathtaking - and I love it.  Giddyup!:

And so, as John says, it will continue until at some point the first dictatorship will attain a position of absolute power for three-and-a-half years. Then an amazing thing will happen.

THE FIRST DICTATORSHIP WILL MAKE A DEADLY MISTAKE

However, at this point, John saw that the first dictatorship would make a lethal mistake which will eventually wipe it out of existence. Here is what happens:
“And he [beast or dictator] opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
“And it was given unto him to make WAR AGAINST THE Saints and to OVERCOME them: and power was given him over all mankind, and tongues and nations.” 34

FROM THIS POINT ON, THE FIRST DICTATORSHIP WILL DRIFT INTO OBLIVION

Just as John’s account reaches a point of supreme suspense with the monster declaring war against the Saints – and overcoming them – John tells us the first dictatorship has been obliterated.
But what happened? He doesn’t tell us what happened! He simply closes the account of the first dictatorship with this rather amazing philosophical comment:
“If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” ³⁵
In other words, the first dictatorship has disintegrated into ashes and the faith of the saints is vindicated.
But what brought this about after the first dictatorship turned on the Saints and overpowered them?
Perhaps John left out this vital part of his story so it could be told by his Master. In any event we now have the whole story in the Book of Mormon, and it probably gives us far greater details than John could have provided.

THE RESURRECTED JESUS TELLS WHAT HAPPENS TO THE FIRST DICTATORSHIP

When the resurrected Jesus appeared to his “other sheep” on the American continent in 34 A.D., he talked a lot about America in the latter days. He talked about the Gentiles coming from Europe and setting up the first free people in modern times. He talked about their riches and their power. But he also talked about their wickedness . He said the pure original gospel would be restored among them but unless they embraced it as a people, America would be entirely cleansed of its gentile wickedness and this continent would be largely depopulated.
Here is the way Jesus said it:
“And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret combinations, and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I WILL BRING THE FULNES MY GOSPEL FROM AMONG THEM.” ³⁶

BUT HOW WOULD AMERICA BE CLEANSED?

On God’s prophetic time line, the cleansing of America was recognized in heaven as such a monumental watershed in history that God was talking about it with his prophet Micah clear back around 700 B.C. ³⁷ Having already discussed this momentous event with one of his prophets, Jesus therefore quoted Micah to the Nephites. He introduced it by saying:
“And the Father hath commanded me that I should give unto you this land for your inheritance.
“And I say unto you, that if the Gentiles do not repent after the blessing which they shall receive, after they have scattered my people – then shall ye WHO ARE A REMNANT OF THE HOUSE OF Israel go forth among them, and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many, and ye shall be among them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
“Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. I will gather my people together as a man gathereth his sheaves into the floor. For I will make my people with whom the Father hath covenanted, yea, I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass. And thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. And behold, I am he who doeth it.” 38

WHERE IS THE SEED OF JACOB THAT WILL CONQUER THE FIRST DICTATORSHIP?

The predominantly Lamanite-Nephite nations – which comprise the seed of Jacob today – are not difficult to identify. They are the Latin American nations from Mexico to Argentina.
But what would provoke them to attack the gentile nations which are located primarily in North America? And how would they ever have the military strength to win a decisive victory of a dictatorship that had ruled the whole world for three-and-half years?
As we have already seen, John the Revelator said the first dictatorship would disintegrate right after it commences to “make war with the saints, and overcome them.” ³⁹
But is this the CAUSE of its downfall or merely a COINCIDENCE which occurs incidental to the collapse of the first dictatorship?
During the past twenty years something has been occurring among the Latin American countries which has kindled a violent bitterness toward the United States, although it has received practically no publicity. Here is what happened.
According to Dr. Patrick S.J. Carmack, the massive privately-owned banks which dominate the United Nations World Bank and International Monetary Fund went down to the Latin American countries around 1980 and offered them huge quantities of money on loan. The Latin American countries and their corrupt leaders eagerly accepted the money.
However, they have not been able to pay the interest on these loans, let alone the principal. The banks said they would just add the unpaid interest to the principal and soon these poverty stricken countries found themselves paying vast amounts in COMPOUND INTEREST on huge sums which represented not only the original loan but the accumulated interest they have not been able to pay. This is called COMPOUND INTEREST.
Dr. Carmack points out that the anguish of the Latin American countries is reflected in the fact that between 1980 and 1990 they paid $418 billion in interest on the original loans of 80 billion. ⁴⁰
The bank managers knew from the beginning that these nations would never be able to pay off these huge debts, but they had a scheme to liquidate the debts by exchanging them for valuable national assets of these nations.
Dr. Carmack reports that such a proposal was made during the Fourth World Wilderness Conference in 1987. The plan allows Third World debtors to transfer their debt to the World Conservation Bank which then negotiates with each nation in terms of their national assets (such as undeveloped mining sites, wilderness areas, etc.) until the full indebtedness is liquidated. This scheme has already been implemented in Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador. ⁴¹
The main significance in all of this is the discovery that there are powerful engines of resentment and desperate hatred being generated among the Latin American countries. They are focused on the United States because they feel these financial traps were engineered by the IMF and World Bank under the control of the United States.
Under certain provocative circumstances this is the type of explosive indignation that might generate an uprising. This would be particularly true if the United States was suddenly engulfed in some natural disaster or plague THAT LEFT HER SUDDENLY WEAK.

THE CRASH OF THE FIRST DICTATORSHIP MAY BE FACILITATED BY DIVINE INTERVENTION

In one revelation the Lord mentions some divine intervention which will be operating during the cleansing of America. He says:
“For behold, and lo, vengeance cometh speedily upon the ungodly as the whirlwind; and who shall escape it? The Lord’s scourge shall pass over by night and by day, and the report thereof shall vex all people. It shall not be stayed until the Lord comes.
“Nevertheless, Zion shall escape if she observe to do all things whatsoever I have commanded her.”
“But if she observe not to do whatsoever I have commanded her, I will visit her according to all her works; with sore affliction, with pestilence, with plague, with sword, with vengeance, with devouring fire.” ⁴²
Joseph Smith saw a vision of the cleansing of America and wrote:
“And now I am prepared to say by the authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquake will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land to open and prepare the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country.” ⁴³
There are three other accounts by those who were allowed to see a vision of what it will be like when the cleansing of America occurs.
The first is the account by John Taylor who was allowed to see the nation in the grip of a terrible scourge which he said would leave whole cities without any life whatever. ⁴⁴
The second is Brigham Young who also saw the terrible plagues and scourges which would make the United States extremely vulnerable to any hostile invasion. ⁴⁵
The third is by Charles D. Evans who describes the nature of the plague which is horrible to contemplate. ⁴⁶
Finally, a modern revelation verifies the reality of this terrible pestilence and it is just as ghastly and abhorrent as that which these three men saw in vision. ⁴⁷
The Lord also says:
“And there shall be men standing in that generation, that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge; for a desolating sickness shall cover the land.” ⁴⁸

UNDER SUCH CALAMITOUS CONDITIONS HOW COULD THE RIGHTEOUS PROTECT THEMSELVES?

Perhaps the reason Nephi was so anxious to tell us about the things he saw was to assure us that our Heavenly Father would not be unmindful of us. As we have already seen, the Lord said:
“Nevertheless, Zion shall escape if she observe to do all things whatsoever I have commanded her.” ⁴⁹
This is confirmed in another revelation where the Lord says:
“But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die…When all these things shall come to pass, ye may know that the promises which have been made unto you will all be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰
As President Heber C. Kimball described these prophecies of the latter days, the people asked him, “What will become of this people?” He replied:
“That will depend, altogether upon our conduct. We have it within our power; God has given it to us to save ourselves from the desolation and calamities that will come upon this nation. How? By doing that which is right… .If we do this, prosperity will be upon the inhabitants…prosperity will be upon the towns and cities erected by this people, the hand of the Lord will be over us to sustain us, and we will spread forth…
“Now we have the choice. It is within our reach… .And on the other hand, we ca n reach forth the hand and partake of wickedness and bring desolation and destruction upon our borders.” ⁵¹