by Alan Langstaff

The last couple of issues of the Langstaff Letter have dealt with the nation of Israel. As was expected, there were a number of responses to these letters, and I want to try to answer some of the questions.

Many of the responses contained words of encouragement regarding Israel. The following gives one of those replies:

“I loved this Langstaff Letter. Thank you for writing it. Most young people today are not for Israel, and antisemitism is coming. We saw it coming from not just the left but from the right.”

A QUESTION REGARDING “WHEN”

The question regarding the restoration of Israel, i.e., the grafting back in of Israel according to Romans 9-11. When did this happen?

One response was:

“Good letter. I was in agreement with you, but there is one question I cannot reconcile. Will Israel finally accept Jesus as Messiah, and when will this happen?”

My answer to this is that the restoration of Israel described by Paul in Romans 9-11 began to take place in 1948 when Israel became a nation again.

Perhaps to understand this, one should see the difference between an “event” and a “process.” An Event happens in a short period of time, whereas a process takes a longer period of time.

For example, when Moses led the children of Israel across the Red Sea, that was an event. In later years, that is how Israel saw it. By contrast, when the children of Israel under Joshua began to conquer the Promised Land, it took a long time for that to happen – actually, it took years. That “process” began in 1948 when Israel became a nation again.

It is a process, and we are in the midst of that process. It has not been completed yet. My own feeling is that it will occur in the Great Tribulation. At that time, many Jews will receive Christ as their Messiah.

So the process has begun, but it is not completed as yet.

A QUESTION REGARDING “ISRAEL & AMERICA”

Another question, which relates to Israel and America, bearing in mind that America is the one nation that has stood with Israel: Why is it that America is not mentioned in the Bible?

I came across an article that gives a teaching by evangelist Tiff Shuttlesworth that goes into possibilities as to why America is not mentioned in the Bible. Let me quote the article:

“Let’s be honest. For a nation that dominates headlines, finance, culture and military power, America’s absence from Bible prophecy feels… glaring.

Evangelist Tiff Shuttlesworth doesn’t try to force America into the text. He says it plainly in a recent video: “America is suspiciously absent from the final pages of Bible prophecy.”

That statement alone should stop people in their tracks.

So what happened?

Shuttlesworth lays out four possibilities. None of them are comfortable. All of them demand attention.

1. America Is Simply Omitted From Scripture

There’s a quiet, unsettling option that many overlook. America could still exist in the last days, just not as a central player.

“The Scripture gives us no basis whatsoever… that America is found in Bible prophecy.”

That’s not speculation. That’s restraint. Scripture’s spotlight is fixed elsewhere, particularly on the Middle East and a revived European power structure. If America is missing, it may be because it no longer matters on that stage.

2. America Is Destroyed By External Enemies

History doesn’t treat empires gently. They rise, expand and then fall, often at the hands of enemies.

“Empires are often times destroyed by a coalition of other opponents.”

Shuttlesworth points to the modern reality. Hostility toward the United States isn’t theoretical. It’s vocal, global and persistent. Add in nuclear capability and the stakes shift dramatically.

Could America be removed through war? It wouldn’t be the first empire to vanish that way.

3. America Is Destroyed From Internal Enemies

This is where things get uncomfortably close to home.

“Perhaps America is absent… because of an internal moral rot.”

Not invasion. Implosion.

Shuttlesworth doesn’t dance around it. He points to cultural breakdown, political division and spiritual decline. A nation doesn’t need to be conquered if it collapses under its own weight.

History confirms it. So does Scripture. When the foundation cracks, the structure doesn’t stand long.

4. America Collapses After The Rapture

Then comes the scenario that hits like a lightning strike.

“One very plausible explanation is that the rapture itself is what cripples the United States of America.”

Imagine tens of millions of people gone in an instant. Not random people, but leaders, workers, first responders, believers across every sector.

The result?

Immediate chaos. Economic shock. National paralysis.

Jesus called His followers the salt and light. Remove that influence overnight and darkness doesn’t slowly creep in. It floods.

The Real Issue Isn’t Geography

At some point, the question shifts.

It’s no longer about where America is in prophecy. It’s about why it isn’t.

Power shifts. Nations rise and fall. Scripture already told us that would happen. What it doesn’t do is reassure any nation of permanent relevance.

Shuttlesworth drives it home with a line that cuts deeper than geopolitics:

“The church can and will endure without America. But America cannot endure without the church.”

That’s the headline. Not dominance. Not decline. Dependence.

And if that’s true, then the real issue isn’t national survival. It’s spiritual readiness.”

(By James Lasher, Charisma Media)

CLOSING THOUGHT

I would emphasize that various people have various views on the End Times. Therefore, we must be gracious to those who are different from our point of view. One day, we will all know the truth of Jesus and His second coming. Remember “He is coming again.”

It might be noted that His soon return should bring with it an excitement, a looking with expectancy, that God will wrap it all up when His Son returns.

Maranatha – the Lord cometh.