The Prophetic Boomerang
For centuries, Protestantism—especially in its English and American forms—has wielded the Book of Revelation as a prophetic critique of Rome. The papacy was cast as the harlot, the dragon, or the antichrist system. Revelation became a spiritual justification for revolutions: the English Civil War, the American War of Independence, even parts of the Thirty Years’ War drew upon apocalyptic imagery to frame Rome as the great enemy of true faith.
But prophecy has a way of circling back.
What happens when the very nation that so long saw itself as the righteous challenger of tyranny begins to fit the prophetic mold itself? Revelation 13 speaks of a Beast, composed of three animal parts—leopard, bear, and lion—and says “its mouth was like the mouth of a lion.” If the swift leopard evokes a rising power like China, and the bear echoes the strength and tradition of Russia, then the lion’s mouth may well point to the one with the voice—the narrative power, ideological reach, and military presence—of the United States.
And what does Revelation say? “The dragon gave the beast his power, and his throne, and great authority.” The Roman system—the dragon—doesn’t vanish. It empowers. It hands down its centralized mechanisms of control, its imperial structures, and its legacy of blending spiritual language with earthly dominance.
The irony is painful: the very nation that once used Revelation to denounce Rome may be stepping into the lion-mouthed role of the Beast it warned others about. Prophetic critique, if not humbled, can become prophetic fulfillment. The challenge for believers today is not to read Revelation only as a mirror of the past—but as a lens for discerning the present. Especially when the empire now wears familiar colors.
