A prophetic message for the church in

America
By Jason Lawrence
WATCHMAN ON THE WALL, WHAT IS TO COME FOR AMERICA
AND THE WORLD IN 2017 AND BEYOND?

O
n May 22, 2016 when the altar call was given at my local church I went forward and
got on my knees to pray. I prayed for members of my church family, my wife and
children, and more distant relatives. I asked God to help in various situations with the
people I knew. However, God seemed to interrupt my prayers with something
completely different. Over the course of several minutes, He spoke to me in three visions:

In the first vision I saw a nuclear attack on a coastal U.S. city. I could not see any landmarks that
would tell me what city or even what coast line it was on.

The second vision flashed a chain of events in front of me like an old silent movie. First, a series
of volcanoes erupted causing great damage followed by three major earthquakes along the west
and northwest coast. After that I saw great tsunamis destroying major U.S. cities. These disasters
resulted in widespread civil breakdown with rioting and looting followed by the declaration of
Martial Law.

Next came the most disturbing sight as pastors were dragged out of their homes and places of
worship with blood covering their faces from being beaten. Angry mobs were shouting kill
them! There arose a government-controlled church where only state-approved doctrine was
taught while the true church was driven underground into small home meetings. At these
meetings, someone had to be on guard at all times to avoid discovery. The vision ended with
people lined up for what seemed like miles to obtain the basic needs of survival.

Deeply disturbed by these two visions, I left the altar and went to the prayer room where I cried
and spoke in tongues until the Lord showed me a third vision. In this final vision I heard wailing
and screams coming from large cities. The cities were in rubble, looking like ghost towns in the
dead of winter. The few people who were wandering about all had on gas masks. As I looked up
at the grey forbidding skies, I heard the voice of the Lord proclaim, This is the judgment like
Sodom and Gomorrah and the plagues on Egypt. And so it will be for America, says the Lord.

I do not know if these visions are of things that must happen sometime in the future, or warnings
of things that could happen if Americans do not turn our hearts toward God in repentance. My
research since receiving these visions has convinced me that these things could happen much
sooner than we expect. I believe God has placed in my heart to write this to the church as a
warning to not become complacent and fall asleep. America experienced a short-term spiritual
awakening during the Gulf Wars and again in the aftermath of the September 11th attack, but
each time we went back to spiritual slumber.
Many have decried the dangerous path our nation has chosen over the last few decades, some
even expressing that it may be too late for our nation to recover from its depth of depravation.
Then, with the presidential election of November, 2016 we perceived a hint of a fresh stirring as
the nation rejected politics as usual.

January 20, 2017 was a relief for many American Christians, and a concern for others. Donald
Trump was sworn in as our 45th president of the United States. According to the New York Times
a record number of prayers were read during the presidential inauguration. The official events
included six religious prayers, three invocations, and three benedictions. (The previous record of
five prayers occurred in 1969 at the inauguration of Richard Nixon.) I hope that the positive
symbolism of these prayers, together with the choice of using two bibles for the oath of office,
one used by Abraham Lincoln and the other his childhood bible given to him by his mother,
signal that under this administration our nation is turning away from the road to doom and
destruction and toward God. Personally, there is no doubt in my mind that President Trump was
divinely appointed to lead this nation at this point in our history.

The Trump administration is certainly not a presidency around which the United States will
unite. If anything, it demonstrates the large rift that seems to have been growing in this country.
This rift appears not only in secular society, but between fundamentalist Christians who are
unsure of the route the new president has set us upon. Writing for the conservative Christian
news weekly, World Magazine, J. C. Derrick reported:1

The day after Donald Trumps inauguration hundreds of thousands of demonstrators

descended on Washington, D.C., to advocate for almost every progressive cause:
environmentalism, increased minimum wage, LGBT issues, abolishing the death penalty,
and ending mass incarceration. The Womens March seemed to unite most on two
issues: Protesters liked abortion and hated the new administration.

I didnt come from your ribyou came from my vagina, read one of many vulgar
signs. Abort Mike Pence, said another.

The mass protestswhich tallied more than 3 million U.S. participants across hundreds
of citiesproved a harbinger of things to come. As Trump took decisive action to follow
through on all his core campaign promises, liberal activists intensified calls for permanent
resistance, the mainstream media devolved into hysteria, and some Democrats broke
downliterally.

In the cover story for the same edition, Sophia Lee reported on the major divisions between the
perceptions of evangelical Christians to President Trumps inaugural speech. They observed the
same presidential campaign, prayed to the same God, watched the same speech-- and they all
arrived at divergent conclusions.2 While some saw him as an ignorant, offensive, and
unprofessional Twitter-bullying, woman groping, orange-hued salesman, others saw him as a

1 Derrick, J. C. "Twelve days that shook America" World Magazine | WORLD News
Group. 18 Feb. 2017.

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potential champion of biblical social values. We are reminded of the Scripture If a house is
divided against itself, that house cannot stand (Mark 3:25).

The election of Donald Trump in spite of the confident predictions of mainstream media shocked
large segments of the American population. His unexpected rise to power provided a major
impulse to professional internet and television prophecy teachers to find obscure and mystical
signs confirming the widespread sense among fundamentalist Christians that 2017 must mark a
special year on Gods prophetic calendar. At least some of these teachers act out of a sincere
desire to stand as watchers upon the wall to warn us against complacency and doubt.

We are living in exciting times. I believe God has set me as one of many watchmen on the wall.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not
warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchmans hand (Ezekiel 33:6). Not all of the self-
proclaimed watchmen give a clear message. Some proclaim more speculation and
misinformation than messages arising from sound Spiritual maturity. It is up to the church, by the
guidance and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to winnow out the chaff from the pure grain of
truth that may or may not be found within their words.

Michael T. Snyder, a Charismatic Christian, is a former District of Columbia attorney who, in

2007 began writing controversial books and blogs predicting the imminent end of the age. On
January 9, he blogged 11 Numbers that Connect the Year 2017, Israel and Donald Trump:

Is 2017 going to be the most important year that we have seen in a very, very long time?
Because of the work that I do, I am constantly immersed in research, and lately I keep
coming across very strange coincidences regarding the year 2017. The numbers that I
am about to share with you certainly appear to be quite remarkable, but there will be
many out there that will question their significance. To the naysayers, I would suggest
that God has always put a lot of emphasis on numbers from the very beginning. For
example, He created the world in precisely seven days, and on the seventh day he rested.
All throughout Scripture, we see certain numbers showing up over and over again, and
God has a purpose in that. So please keep that in mind as you consider the following 11
numbers that connect the year 2017, Israel and Donald Trump.3

Snyder began by pointing out that November 29, 2017 will be the 70th anniversary of the United
Nations Resolution calling for the Holy Land to be divided into a Jewish state of Israel, and an
independent Palestinian state. He then compares the 70 years to the length of the Babylonia
Captivity and draws attention to several more occurrences of the number 70 in the Bible. He

2 Lee, Sophia. A Great Divide World Magazine | WORLD News Group. 18 Feb.
2017.

3 Snyder, Michael T. "11 Numbers That Connect the Year 2017, Israel and Donald
Trump." The Most Important News. The Economic Collapse Blog, 09 Jan. 2017. Web.
06 Feb. 2017.

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concludes 70 means complete and perfect judgment or perfection made complete through
judgment.

Snyder then asserts that the number 50 is also a very important biblical number. 2017 is fifty
years after the Six Day War of 1967 when Israel reclaimed control of all of Jerusalem. Fifty years
before that, the Balfour Declaration, a November 2, 1917 letter from British Foreign Secretary
Arthur Balfour to Baron Lionel Rothschild included the important statement, His Majestys
Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish
people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object.
Fifty years also happens to be the length of time between the U.N. Resolution and the World
Zionist Congress, held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897.

So what is the connection between these numbers and Donald Trump? President Trump was born
June 14, 1946, 700 days before Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948. The fifth, sixth,
and seventh numbers of Snyders list are actually just a restatement of this, with further emphasis
on the implied significance of the number 7. (If you add 77 to 700, you get 777!) This sort of
mathematical coincidence continues for items 8, 9 and 10 on his list.

The last of the 11 numbers revolves around identifying the woman of Revelation 12:1 as the
constellation Virgo (Latin for virgin). And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars
does describe very well this constellation. Virgo has 12 visible stars surrounding her head and
every year at some point between August and September the sun appears to be mid-body to
Virgo while the moon is at her feet. Verse 5 tells us this woman brought forth a man child, who
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his
throne. Clearly the man child of verse 5 is Jesus. Therefore it required no great stretch of the
imagination for the Medieval Catholic Church to see Virgo as symbolic of Mary, the mother of
Jesus.

Although ignoring this historical connection, Snyder declares many are pointing to very unusual
celestial arrangement that will take place on September 23, 2017 suggesting that a key event
will take place on that date. Snyder is wise to distance himself from this interpretation of the
celestial arrangement by merely claiming many are pointing to without saying if he is one of
the many.

The very unusual celestial arrangement referenced by Snyder has to do with the supposed
completion of the crown of stars at Virgos head by adding 3 planets to the nine stars in the
constellation Leo (to the west of Virgo). In addition, the planet Jupiter will transit Virgo from
November 20, 2016 to September 9, 2017, a period of 42 weeks (if we discount the time it is
actually outside of Virgo during that period). Because this transit is reminiscent of the normal
human gestation period, it is assumed to be symbolic of the Virgin giving birth to the King.
Therefore, the presence of these planets in and around the constellation is seen as the rare event
signaling some important prophetic fulfillment, perhaps even the Second Coming.

One of the major problems with declaring this to be very unusual is that Virgo always has
twelve visible stars at its head. Although Leo is the Zodiac constellation immediately to Virgos

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west, there are many dozens more constellations than the twelve of the Zodiac and numerous
visible stars not grouped into constellations. The twelve visible stars forming the crown of Virgo
are between Virgo and Leo in the night sky. If we add to these stars the stars of Leo, and then add
the three planets of September 23, 2017 we end up with 24 stars, not 12. In addition, Jupiter
transits Virgo frequently, sometimes more than once in a year. Finally, the sun is not mid-body so
as to clothe Virgo on September 23, but appears over her left shoulder. Therefore, this celestial
arrangement is not particularly unusual, and the suggested interpretation of it requires some
explaining away of some inconvenient facts such as the Jupiter transit ending two weeks before
the fateful day and includes at least one period when Jupiter is actually outside of Virgos
womb before its birth. Moreover, even if the arrangement of stars on September 23rd was
unusual, rarity does not necessarily indicate significance.4

Since Snyders blog concentrates on numbers that are considered biblically significant, he might
have been wiser to stop at 10, since 10 is considered a significant number. Still, he concludes:

Throughout history, God has always liked to use numbers to get our attention. And as
you just saw, there are a lot of very unusual numbers that seem to connect 2017, Israel
and Donald Trump. And even without any of those numbers, many have long had a
feeling that 2017 is going to be an extremely significant year, and so we all need to be
ready for whatever God has in store for us.

Whether or not Snyders eleven numbers do connect Israel to Donald Trump in some prophetic
manner, we cannot doubt that our new president has already done more to correct this countrys
drift than any president has in the last three decades. However, he is not the Messiah, he is just
the President of the United States.

I believe there are a number of problem zones in which President Trump will face difficult
conflicts which may usher in another world war during his term of office. These zones are:
Russia
North Korea
China
Israel
Iran
Syria
The United Nations, and
Natural disasters in the U.S.

I see these eight zones of conflict as prophetic markers. In the remainder of this document I will
attempt to show how these zones might heat up over the next several months or years and how
the efforts of President Trump to address these situations could move the U.S. and the world
further toward the completion of Gods plan for this age.

4 McHyde, Tim. What The September 2017 Revelation 12 Sign Tells Us. Escape All
These Things Luke 21:36, 26 Oct. 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

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 1. Russia has been a thorn in the side of Europe and the U.S. at least since the invasion of
Georgia in 2008. When we add the ongoing trouble in the Ukraine and Syria and Russian
instigated cyber warfare against the United States, it seems that Vladimir Putin is fixed on
reestablishing the glories of the old Soviet Union. President Putin may see the military
buildup promised by President Trump as a deadline for further adventurism or he may be
so comfortable with the Trump administration that he will feel safe to invade the former
Soviet states in Eastern Europe. It seems unlikely that a successful invasion of Eastern
Europe will tempt Russia to venture into Western Europe, but, if so, it this would no
doubt mark a major overstep on the part of Putin. Although the warfare would be costly
and involve at least tactical nuclear weapons, NATO would surely bring about a Russian
defeat. Such a defeat would likely lead to the downfall of the Russian government. I
believe this would cause a Christian Russia to arise out of Putins ashes. If this is the
case, we may soon see Russia allying itself with a united Europe and the United States.
He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He
gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. (Daniel 2:21).

2. North Korea I strongly believe that the infantile megalomania of North Koreas dictator
will escalate conflict into an eventual nuclear war. However, I also believe within six
months of such an attack the communist regime will be destroyed and the two Koreas
again united. A united Korea may emerge from such a war as the lynchpin for a pan-
Asian union, leaving China feeling more exposed and threatened than ever.

3. China Facing a limited window of opportunity, China may turn to warfare in the South
China Sea and in a relatively brief period also invade Taiwan and Japan in addition to the
nations claiming territorial rights in that region (Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, etc.),
placing China on the front doorstep of Australia. Both Taiwan and Japan will prove to be
difficult targets, and they are both vital to the U.S. information economy. The U.S. will
have no choice but to stand against Chinese aggression, and the defensive coalition it
leads may even include Russia. Facing a prolonged conflict, the Chinese government will
likely fall. The underground church in China may then arise to fill the vacuum left by
discredited communist ethics, bringing a Christian revival like never before seen.

4. Israel. The Obama administration proved itself the most anti-Israel presidency since the
birth of the modern Jewish state in 1948. In contrast, President Trump has announced his
intention to develop much closer friendship with Israel, perhaps making this
administration the most radically pro-Israel presidency ever. In 1995 the U.S. Congress
passed a law requiring the State Department to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem. Every president since then has used a presidential waiver every six months to
avoid the law based on national security. When the current waiver expires in May, 2017
President Trump may make good on his announced intention to move the embassy to
Jerusalem. Jerusalem, he says, belongs to the Jews. The wisdom of this move is strongly
debated, and many Middle Eastern nations and terrorist groups have announced their
willingness to go to war to keep this from happening.

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 Bill Salus, author, speaker and frequent guest on Christian TV is one of the few rising stars
among prophecy teachers who lacks any formal theological training. Perhaps as a result, his
exegeses of biblical prophetic passages are sometimes questionable, and he frequently
develops his own end time scenarios that differ significantly from traditional views.5 In his
book Psalm 83: The Missing Prophecy RevealedHow Israel Becomes the Next Mideast
Superpower (2013, Prophecy Depot Publishing), Salus asserts that Psalm 83 appears to be a
prophecy with an imminent fulfillment. The Psalm presages the coming of a climactic,
concluding ArabIsraeli war. Salus teaches that the enemies mentioned in Psalm 83 are a
future Arab confederacy of ten groups. Using a combination of geographical location and
genealogical descent, Salus identifies these groups with modern Arab nations and racial
groups surrounding Israel. Salus argues that Israel will use its nuclear capability to defeat this
Arab confederacy and greatly expand its territory into a Greater Israel with borders from
the Euphrates River in Iraq to the Nile in Egypt (Genesis 15:18; Numbers 34:1-15).

Psalms 83
1
Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
2
For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
3
They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden
ones.
4
They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of
Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5
For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6
The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7
Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8
Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.
9
Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
10
Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.
11
Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as
Zalmunna:
12
Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
13
O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.
14
As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
15
So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
16
Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.
17
Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and
perish:
18
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over
all the earth.

5 Koenig, Don. "Bill Salus teaching blazes an alternate path to Revelation Road."
World and Church Trends and Bible Prophecy. The Prophetic Years, 18 Aug. 2012.
Web. 08 Feb. 2017.

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 5. Iran. It should not surprise anyone if Iran is frequently in the news in 2017. It should also
be of no surprise that Bill Salus has much to say about Iran. In his 2014 book, Nuclear
Showdown in Iran: Revealing the Ancient Prophecy of Elam (Prophecy Depot
Publishing), Salus uses Jeremiah 49:34-39 and Ezekiel 38-39 to predict that the Iranian
nuclear reactor at Bushehr will be destroyed, either by the Israelis or by an earthquake,
releasing radiation that will force the evacuation of the entire region.

Salus argues that the Lords fierce anger will be focused on the area of Elam
(Southwest Iran) because Iran is using that area to develop a nuclear weapon for the
purpose of destroying the Jewish state. He concludes that the destruction of Elam is
imminent and is most likely to occur before the Psalm 83 war.

In an interview published July 25, 2012 another well-known prophesy teacher, Joel
Richardson, predicted Irans present regime is on the verge of being toppled. The Iranian
people are extremely unhappy with their leadership. Recent and credible intelligence
reports argue that the looming fall of the Assad regime in Syria will be a devastating blow
to the ayatollahs regime. The nation of Iran is presently experiencing the greatest
Christian revival in the world. Richardson believes that prayer, rather than war is the
appropriate way to deal with the Iranian threat.6

6. Syria. Syria has been immersed in a nearly decade long civil war, which has assisted in
the creation of ISIS (the Islamic State), Russian military expansion in the Middle East,
and an international refugee crisis. But, perhaps worse times are still ahead for Syria. A
prophecy concerning Syrias capital city declares See, Damascus will no longer be a city
but will become a heap of ruins (Isaiah 17:1). This may occur during the Psalms 83 war
when Israel launches a nuclear strike against Syria as part of its defense against the Arab
confederation.

7. The United Nations. The U.N. has had a major part in the speculation of prophecy
teachers since its creation. In recent years, we have witnessed more aggressive U.N.
actions in an attempt to weaken national sovereignty and bring about a worldwide
consensus. To achieve this, the U.N. has frequently worked to weaken the United States
and challenge its dominance on the world stage.
Although God used the U.N. to help establish the modern state of Israel, it has been
increasingly vocal in supporting Israels enemies. It seems likely that the Trump

6 "Greatest Christian revival in the world in Iran." WND. World Net Daily, 25 July
2012. Web. 08 Feb. 2017.

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 administration will come into conflict with the United Nations on a wide range of policies
with as yet unforeseeable results.
8. Natural disasters in America. After much prayer and study concerning the visions I saw
in May, 2016, I have come to the tentative conclusion that there will be three or four
major earthquakes in this country. These earthquakes will probably be along the Cascade
Fault Line in the state of Washington, the San Andreas Fault along the California coast
and perhaps also include the New Madrid Fault in the Midwest. There may also be large
tectonic activity along the east coast causing multiple earthquakes and tsunamis.
How much of this prophetic message is chaff and how much is pure grain? That is for the
unfolding events of the future to reveal. But the church need not be at the mercy of the
unexpected. No matter what the next few months or decades reveal, God is in charge. I pray that
the church is not lulled into complacency, that the United States is swept by a revival of
repentance and regeneration, and that peace and prosperity will flourish in all the world. But I
know that there will eventually come great destruction like never seen before in history. The
Bible clearly proclaims what is ultimately in store for this corrupt and sinful world. I will
continue winnowingcontinue looking for the grain among the chaff, and continue sounding the
call of the watchman. I invite you to join your voice with mine to proclaim the justice, mercy and
sovereignty of our almighty God, Jesus Christ, the Judge of all the earth.