Does the Bible prophesy that Israel would have a powerful ally in the form of the United States of America during the final days of of this world? No, at least not explicitly. Of course, we might learn in retrospect, after all the apocalyptic the events of the book of Revelation unfold, that some of the cryptic language there contained hidden allusions to America. But, there are certainly no clear references to the U.S.A. in Bible prophecy.

On the other hand, there is plenty of precedent for a Gentile super-power to play the role America has been playing until now.

Bible history relates the major role that the Egyptian world power played in the origin of ancient Israel. Joseph, son of the man Jacob whose name had been changed by God to Israel, was serving as prime minister of Egypt. As a gesture of favor toward his prime minister, Pharaoh king of Egypt invited Joseph's father Israel and Joseph's brothers, the heads of the future twelve tribes, to move to Egyptian territory and live there with their families and their flocks. It was there during their alien residence in Egypt, that the Jewish people grew in population to the size of a small nation. Then a later king of Egypt began to fear this growing nationality and enslaved them and became their oppressor. The book of Exodus in the Bible relates the story of Israel's victory over Egypt by means of the mighty hand of God.

Will America similarly switch sides as Egypt did? Will America cease being Israel's ally, and become its enemy instead? Bible prophesy demands it.

The ancient neo-Babylonian empire, like modern-day Iraq under its dictator Saddam Hussein, was Israel's enemy. But, after conquering Israel and Judah, and deporting the Jewish population, a later king of Babylon installed some bright young Jewish men in positions of power in his government. Thus, the Hebrew prophet Daniel was given a high position of as prime minister in the Babylonian government. He rose to become the third most powerful individual in the Babylonian empire. Daniel's Jewish friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were made governors over certain Babylonian territories. And it was due to his high position that Daniel was able to deliver God's message personally to the king of Babylon, the message that led to our modern day expression "the handwriting on the wall," when Babylon was about to fall to its nemesis, the Medo-Persian empire.

Certain Jews later rose to high positions also in that empire of Media and Persia that succeeded Babylon as the world's super-power. The Bible book of Esther relates the story of powerful Haman the Agagite who tried to exterminate the Jewish people, their miraculous rescue by means of King Ahasuerus's Jewish wife, Queen Esther, and the rise to power of her uncle Mordecai, who became prime minister in the empire of Media and Persia.

During the twentieth year of the reign of Persian emperor Artaxerxes, another Jewish man, Nehemiah, had the job of royal cup-bearer. One day, when handing the monarch his glass of wine to drink, Nehemiah looked sad, and the king sympathetically asked him why. The servant replied that he was sad over the condition of Jerusalem, and the king granted his request to return to Jerusalem with imperial authority to rebuild the city and its temple.

Considering this long history of world powers that served as political allies of the Jewish state, or that came to the aid of Israel at one time of or another, it should not surprise us that the British empire would be instrumental in the return of the Jews to the promised land in fulfillment of Bible prophecy by means of the Balfour declaration issued toward the end of the First World War. Nor should it be surprising that the British and American and world powers would combine to defeat Adolph Hitler's attempt to exterminate the Jewish people immediately prior to their return to the Promised Land.

In fact, viewed from a biblical perspective, the First World War was about that Balfour declaration, and the Second World War was about preserving the Jews. If God were to use a modern-day prophet to write additional books to be added to the Bible cannon, that is how the account would read in reference to the two world wars.

It is also significant, biblically, that World War I resulted in the League of Nations, which issued a mandate to Britain to govern Palestine, and that World War II led to the formation of the United Nations, which helped shape the state of Israel.

During recent years America has been Israel's one and only ally, but that will soon change. The Bible foretells that, when Jerusalem becomes a problem for the whole world, all of the nations will share in attacking Israel. So, America must be included in those nations arrayed against Israel at that time.

It should not be difficult to conceive of this happening. Different presidential administrations in Washington have taken different positions vis-a-vis Israel over the years. Some have attempted to play the role of mediator by maintaining strict neutrality between the Jews and their Arab neighbors. Others have presented themselves as staunch allies of the Jewish state. A small swing in public opinion is all that it would take to allow an American president to side with Europe or with the rest of the United Nations in attacking Israel.

On June 8, 1967, during the Arab-Israeli Six Day War a lightly-armed American warship that was engaged in intelligence gathering in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula was attacked by Israeli ships and aircraft, resulting in the deaths of thirty-four American military personnel and the wounding of a hundred seventy-one others. Israel claimed it was an accident, that the U.S.S. Liberty was mistaken for an Egyptian vessel, and U.S. President Lyndon Johnson accepted that explanation. The Israeli government quickly paid reparations to the injured and to the families of the sailors who had been killed. Since then, a number of writers have alleged that the attack was deliberate, launched because Israel was concerned that the intelligence gathered by the spy ship might be shared with some of its Arab enemies in that life-or-death struggle. (See www.USSLiberty.org for articles and links on this topic.)

A similar incident could easily sway American opinion against Israel in a future confrontation.

However, the reversal of America's role towards Israel does not depend on our speculation. Prophecy makes it plain that all of the nations of the world will turn against Israel and will unite for the final attack on Jerusalem.

Although I have chosen "Blue Helmets to Jerusalem" as the title of this book, Scripture does not state that the nations attacking Israel in this final act of rebellion against God will come in the form of United Nations forces wearing blue helmets. The prophet Zechariah indicates merely that Jerusalem will become a problem for the whole world, and that the nations will be united in their attack. "Jerusalem will be a heavy stone burdening the world," and "all the nations of the earth unite in an attempt" to impose their solution. (Zechariah 12:3 The Living Bible Catholic edition) A formal "United Nations organization" is not named in the Bible.

Even if the attack does prove to be sponsored by the U.N. organization, it may not consist of forces wearing the blue helmets common to international peacekeeping operations. It could be a military force mobilized by a coalition of willing states, acting on a mandate from the Security Council, such as the one the United States had hoped to assemble to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq, or similar to the U.S.-led United Nations force used in the Korean conflict of the 1950's.

We chose to use the title "Blue Helmets to Jerusalem" as a metaphor indicating that the foretold military action will be made up of an international force representing the nations of the world, as Zechariah's prophecy indicates—a force of "united nations" in the generic sense, whether or not it turns out to be an official military action under the auspices of the "United Nations" organization as we know it today.

In any case, the purpose of this book is not to speculate on the exact nature of such an attack, nor how it will be organized politically. Rather, my aim in writing is to call attention to the fact that Jerusalem has become a problem for the whole world, as Zechariah foretold, and that political moves are afoot among the nations and specifically within the framework of the United Nations organization, to impose the will of the world in a final solution for the status of Jerusalem.

Although some may see that as a terrifying prospect, the Bible offers reason for hope. As detailed in the other chapters of this book, the Hebrew prophets speak of a time of world peace to follow this international attack on Jerusalem. The New Testament speaks of the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ ruling in peace "for a thousand years" following his victory in that battle. (Rev. 20:4) Jesus' words recorded in Matthew chapter 24, Mark chapter 13 and Luke chapter 21 tell us the signs to look for, and Jesus concluded, "When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near... when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near." (Luke 21:28-31 NIV)