anabatnon

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 

Revelation 13:11

"THE Government of the United States of America is a subject of Bible prophecy.
Q: Why not?
The chief theme of prophecy, next to the coming, work and second

advent, of our Lord Jesus Christ, to set up His everlasting kingdom, is the story of the rise and fall of cities, nations and kingdoms on this earth.
Q: Why should not our own nation come into consideration as well as others?
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon, Nineveh and Jerusalem, the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, and the ten kingdoms which arose out of old Rome, all have had their place on the prophetic page.
Q: Their rise, history, decline, and fall, were all plainly foretold, and every prophetic utterance concerning them has thus far been fulfilled to the very letter. May we not, therefore, look for like particulars respecting a government so prominent and influential as our own?
*Scanning the field of prophecy, and noting the character of the nations which all agree are mentioned in the Bible, two reasons at once appear why they are thus made prominent in the prophetic page: First, if they have been 4 nations which have had a leading influence in the affairs of men; and, secondly, if they have been so closely connected with the people of God, and the great events in the development of the plan of man's redemption through Jesus Christ, that the history of the true church, and the Lord's work in the earth, could not be written without making mention of them. From these facts, as a basis of inquiry, again we ask, 

Every reason which has ever existed to cause the history of any nation to be foretold, exists in a tenfold stronger degree to show that this nation should also receive its share of testimony from the pen of inspiration.

Let us then look a little further at this symbol of Rev.13:11-17,and see if our government has developed any features in its past history, or present character, which answer to the specifications brought to view in the symbol.  

1. John calls this "another beast," showing that the nation was a different one from any which had thus far been represented by any of the preceding symbols. But those symbols, as we have seen, cover all the available portions of the eastern hemisphere; hence we must look for the power intended by this symbol to the western hemisphere.

And when we turn to this locality, the eye is at once attracted by our own country, the great American colossus here arising. 

2. When the nation intended by this prophecy first came to the prophet's attention, it was "coming up." And the point of time is clearly indicated. It was when the preceding, or papal power, represented by the leopard beast, went into captivity (Rev. 13:10), or when, as already mentioned, the Papacy was temporarily over-thrown, in 1798. 

Q: Was our own nation then coming up?

3. It comes up out of the earth. The preceding, or leopard beast, and the four great beasts of Daniel 7, came up out of the sea, that is, arose in territory thickly populated; for waters denote peoples and nations and tongues. Rev. 17:15; Isa. 8:7. Coming up out of the earth would signify, by contrast with coming up out of the sea, the development of the power in question in a territory new, and previously unoccupied by civilized 10 nations. This, again, points directly to the New World, and to our own country.
4. It had two horns like a lamb. Such horns well symbolize the innocent, peaceful, and lamblike professions of this government. The two great principles of civil and religious liberty, - "a State without a king, and a church without a pope," - have been the great attraction which has drawn the world to America. And this pertains equally to both branches of the really dual government, State and national, which here exists.
5. When first brought to view, it was "coming up". That is, it was in a state of visible, tangible growth and expansion. And it was also

coming up in a quiet and peaceful manner, for the words "coming up" (in the Greek, anabatnon) mean "to grow up like a plant out of the earth." In just this way the United States has arisen.
6. "He exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him." That is, it will be no second-rate power, but as strong a nation as has ever been seen, since empire began. Our own country, as already mentioned, answers admirably to this condition.

As long ago as July 30, 1864, the Banner of Light, a Spiritualist paper, of Boston, Mass., said:- "A system will be unfolded sooner or later that will embrace in its folds Church and State, for the object of the two should be one and the same." 

Uriah Smith