When I first heard about a curse being placed on America, I was naturally skeptical. I do not believe in curses, mainly because I do not understand how intangible thoughts can transfer to their intended victim. However, as I learned the arguments, I understood that what was being conveyed was more of a judgment than a curse. God was judging America, and every seven years He unleashed some calamity on our country.
The most recent manifestation of judgment came in the fall of 2008. The banking and housing collapse at that time influenced a Presidential election and initiated the Great Recession. Millions lost employment, the housing market went bust, the country fell deeper into debt, the Fed initiated several rounds of quantitative easing, and the government borrowed and spent hundreds of billions of dollars attempting to stimulate the economy.
Seven years earlier, there was 9/11. That infamous day consisted of what was essentially an enemy attack, the horrific loss of life, and the collapse of national symbols of American success. We will never forget the shocking images of hijacked jets crashing into the World Trade Center Towers. However, those acts of evil were just the beginning. Security became the buzzword as new laws, new barriers, and new security features became routine fixtures in our lives. We waged war in Iraq and Afghanistan; a recession grew deeper; and those acts of terror transformed our culture.
The seven years between 9/11 and the banking and housing collapse of 2008 are the basis for the judgment. In addition to the seven-year span, both crises occurred in September and to an extent October. As I better grew to understand the theory behind God’s judgment, I learned that it involved the Hebrew calendar, a seven-year cycle, and a particular day on the calendar. I will not pretend to know the Hebrew language, nor will I use that calendar here. However, using seven years as a criterion, we can go back in time and examine those years, searching for a national catastrophe, economic failure, or the significant loss of life.
I did not recall any national catastrophe in 1994 (seven years before 9/11) and had to do some research. In CNN’s Money website archive, I learned about the great Bond Market Massacre of 1994. I know very little about the bond market, and I do not remember the crash. However, I discovered other online articles about the Bond Crash of 1994, and learned that the bond market losses that year were the worst in history. The U.S. market alone lost over 1 trillion dollars – a staggering loss. While it is not clear that God’s judgment produced such losses, even current articles about the bond market still point to that watershed year – it was that significant.
On October 19th of 1987, after years of economic and employment gains, there was a large stock market crash on a day they called “Black Monday.” Black Monday extended to markets worldwide and produced a global panic. The Dow Jones dropped over 500 points in a single day, and the percentage lost (over 22%) still stands as the largest one-day loss in Dow history. Economists at the time nervously debated whether another Great Depression was inevitable. Fortunately, no global depression ensued, but investors lost billions of dollars.
Seven years before Black Monday, two major international events rocked America. Nineteen-Eighty was the year of the Iranian hostage situation and the second great Energy Crisis. Both events actually began in 1979, but 1980 was truly an inauspicious year. In November of 1979, Iranian students stormed the American embassy, kidnapping the Americans there. A captivated world witnessed how a few Islamic fanatics held a helpless and emasculated America hostage. Months later, an embarrassing failed rescue attempt resulted only in American deaths. The economy faired no better. When adjusted for inflation, the price of oil in 1980 was one of the highest since World War 2. The economy eventually plunged into a double-dip recession that featured double-digit inflation, unemployment, and interest rates. Forces beyond our border controlled our lives, and a declining Superpower appeared powerless to prevent them.
The 1979 – 1980 Energy Crisis was actually the second major energy crisis in a decade. Seven years earlier, in October 16th and 17th of 1973, OPEC initiated an oil embargo. The first Energy Crisis forever altered the world, and in my opinion, Western economies have suffered ever since. In 1973, there were long lines at gasoline stations, rationing, and price controls on oil. Stagflation, a relatively new term, which indicated high inflation along with stubbornly high unemployment, entered the American lexicon. Cheap energy, which for decades had led to an almost continuous rise in the standard of living, was ending. That turning point began in 1973. In addition, there was another infamous event in 1973 that few Americans will forget. That was the year of the televised Watergate hearings. Even today, we compare every scandal to that single event, as the word “Watergate” became synonymous with political scandal.
If God’s wrath is slowly being unleashed on America in seven-year increments, we could consider national crises that extend earlier than the banking/housing crash (2008) or 9/11 (2001). We might be tempted to include the 1994 Bond Market crash – the largest in history; 1987’s “Black Monday” stock market crash, which saw the biggest one-day percentage decline in Dow Jones history; the 1980 Iranian Hostage crisis and the second Energy Crisis, which symbolized our declining political, military, and economic power; the 1973 Watergate hearings; and the 1973 OPEC Oil Embargo, which I believe was the beginning of America and the West’s economic decline.
Whether or not these national crises are part of God’s seven-year judgment of America is debatable. The cause behind this judgment would also be open to interpretation. Whatever the reason, time will not wait for us to decide. The next seven-year event is due in 2015.
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