"Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing...To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?" (Isaiah 40:15-18).

It's an amazing story—the unprecedented rise of English-speaking people to their dominant positions of power and influence over the modern world.

History shows that their rise to greatness began in the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation. Having broken from Rome and faced with the combined hostility of both the continental church and imperial Spain, then the most powerful nation in the world, England began to look beyond the seas for her security and trade.

Explorers were sent throughout the world during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). This led to the establishment of colonies that later developed into the United States of America and the nations of the British Commonwealth.

Historians have called these countries "revolutionary empires." They were not despotic tyrannies as were other countries or earlier empires in which everyone was subject to domineering autocrats.

Is it logical to believe that God, in revealing the events that would lead to the return of the Messiah in the last days, would simply overlook the United States and British Empire?

Each colony had its own parliament or house of assembly to which voters sent elected representatives. People could own land, practice their religion and even take their government to court, while newspapers were free to criticize the authorities. Books were freely published. Innovative ideas flourished in what became the most politically stable nations in modern history.

These new ideas led to the gradual formation of a great company of nations, the British Empire and Commonwealth, and the world's most successful republic, the United States of America.

Why has history been so benevolent and economically generous to Britain and the United States? Why have they been blessed so favorably over the nations that preceded them in history? The answer lies in the understanding and fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

Surprising as it may sound, both were destined according to Bible prophecy to become superpowers. One was to precede the other to world-power status. Both would dominate international affairs in their own time. They would even be called upon to save other nations from the forces of despotism. Above all, they would make possible democratic and religious freedoms for the English-speaking nations.

In two world wars the British Commonwealth and the United States saved virtually the entire civilized world from powers intent on world domination. Without them our world would be entirely different in many ways.

The climate that encouraged freedom of expression led to the Industrial Revolution, which changed the world. In the century between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the beginning of World War I (1815-1914), British capital and expertise developed the economies of her colonies (one quarter of the world's peoples) and contributed to the development of the fledgling United States and the newly independent nations of South America. After World War II America's economic prosperity and generosity—through the Marshall Plan—got Europe and Japan moving again.

Today the decline of Britain and America is leaving a vacuum around the globe. Already the dissolution of the British Empire has brought to the surface ethnic conflicts long held in check under colonialism. Wars in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and the Pacific are the direct result of decolonization and have made the world more complex and unstable.

American power may seem to be successfully dealing with these problems. But the international standing of the United States itself is in decline. Long in the vanguard of progress, Britain and the United States are increasingly faced with complex and seemingly insoluble dilemmas at home and abroad. Meanwhile, other powers, in the East and West, flex their muscles, preparing to challenge America's superpower status.

For more than 400 years England and the nations spawned by her have played a crucial role in the world. Together, Britain and the United States have dominated the world scene for two centuries during a time when crucial biblical prophecies concerning the time of the end are being fulfilled before our eyes.

Now we come to some vital questions. Why are economic blessings —and democratic ideals—so evident in the English-speaking nations? Who are the British and American peoples? How do these two great powers—the United States and the nations comprising most of the former British Empire—fit into Bible prophecy?

Are the British and American peoples ignored in the pages of your Bible while less-powerful nations are mentioned specifically and often? Is it logical to believe that God, in revealing the events that would lead to the return of the Messiah in the last days, would simply overlook the United States and British Empire?

Or is it possible that most people, including many students of the Bible, have simply failed to understand the prophecies that accurately predicted the rise to greatness of these nations and what will happen to them in the end time?

Reading through the pages of this publication will take you on an incredible journey through ancient and modern history. You will meet peoples you may never have heard of and visit lands you have not seen. This knowledge is a vital key to understanding our world and age.

This journey will also remind you that the great God, to whom "the nations are as a drop in a bucket" and "as the small dust on the scales" (Isaiah 40:15), is always faithful to His promises.