Will America recover from this present financial crisis, or could this one be different from all the others in the past?

The financial news keeps getting worse and worse. It has now spread from America to Europe, where leaders are scrambling to put together stopgap measures to keep banks afloat and their economies from collapsing into a depression. Europe is learning they do not have an effective plan to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. I am certain one of the lessons they will learn is they can no longer rely on America as the primary center of economic power.

For America, the handwriting is on the wall. It may soon no longer be the leader of the global economy that it has been since the end of World War II. Don’t misunderstand. America will remain a center of vast economic, military and political power. But economically, it may no longer be the center. The events of recent weeks could have changed America’s world role permanently. It will likely take a few years to fully understand what has happened, just as it did with Great Britain after World War II.

Already blocs of nations are talking of creating new financial instruments and systems to replace the dollar and the reliability of the United States. This morning’s Financial Times carried an article written by the former prime minister of Thailand, “How an Asian Bond Could Save Us From the Weak Dollar.” The irony of this is that 10 years ago Asia was going through a massive economic crisis similar to what is happening to American banks and financial markets. Now, the role is reversed.

So what makes this crisis different? Why should we not think America will rebound from this crisis, just like it has from all those in the past? Because God’s Word shows us that in the end of the age, the balance of power will shift among nations along the divine fault lines of biblical prophecy. Because of national sins, the English-speaking nations’ time of promise and blessing will draw to a close—and it could be happening before our eyes.

This sounds dramatic, but friends, this is the reality of what we are seeing. Our booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy tells the complete story of why this will occur. These are not just cyclical events caused by a powerful few who hold control of world financial markets. The God of Abraham, the source of all our national blessings, is involved in this world and nothing happens beyond His knowledge.

There is hope. Found within the little-understood festivals of God is the light at the end of the tunnel. These festivals are now upon us, and God’s people will be observing these Holy Days around the world. This Thursday is the biblical Day of Atonement and next Tuesday begins the Feast of Tabernacles.

In these days is the answer to how God will intervene in this world and end the problems of war and strife, poverty and injustice that prevent this world from achieving lasting peace. The Day of Atonement shows how the world will come to be at one with God. It is a day of fasting for those who today seek this deep and true spiritual relationship with God. The Feast of Tabernacles shows the time when the entire world will work under the reign of Jesus Christ during the 1,000-year period commonly called the Millennium.

In a time of economic upheaval and fearful uncertainty, these festivals provide a solid anchor to the spiritual bedrock of God’s great plan for this world. Isn’t it time you begin to ask whether all your religious ideas and practices provide you the answers and hope needed to navigate life? You can read all about God’s festivals in our booklet God’s Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind.