THE U.S. AND BRITAIN IN BIBLE PROPHECY
Can We Read About the United States and Great Britain in Bible Prophecy?
Was the prosperity which the USA & Great
Britain have enjoyed, prophesied in the Old Testament? Many
British-Israelites have thought so. Moreover, this movement has
had some effect on those who celebrate Jesus as their Saviour.
Certainly the movement is now in great decline, and yet, a number
of people in various sects continue to embrace it. The reasoning
is that the great blessings promised to Abraham, and to his
children, could only have been fulfilled through the British
people, and those closely associated with them. But is this
really true?
During this study we will take a close look at those Old Testament
Scriptures which - it is claimed - foretold the great rise to
prominence of the Anglo-Saxon peoples.
We need to start off in Genesis 12, at the original calling of
Abraham:
"Get out of your country, from your kindred and from
your Father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make
you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great;
and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families
of the earth will be blessed." (Gen 12: 1-3).
We should immediately notice two things here;
a. The name of Abraham himself is to be made great. (Vs 2),
and,
b. All the families of the earth will be blessed because of the
work that God would do. In fairness, it should be said that many
(but not all) British-Israelites did admit that this part of the
promise referred to Christ (Vs 3).
In fact, there is no need for even a moments hesitation in
asserting that this is a reference to Christ since Acts 3: 19-25,
especially verse 25, points this out quite clearly!
The promises to Abraham become somewhat enlarged in Genesis 17:
1-8.
The promise of 'kings' coming from Abraham is stated (Vs6) and
Canaan is promised as an 'everlasting possession' (Vs 8).
It soon becomes evident that Isaac, the son of promise, is
somehow involved in these promises. His birth occurred, of
course, as the result of a miracle. Again, the promises are
mentioned in Genesis 22. Because Abraham has demonstrated his
faithfulness - even to the point of being prepared to take his
own son's life, should God have required it - the promises are
now confirmed:
"In blessing I will bless you; and in multiplying I will multiply
your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which
is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gates
of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall
be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." (Vs 17-18).
Genesis 24: 60 makes it plain that these promises would be passed
on through Rebekah. When she is later pregnant with her twin
boys, she has an intriguing experience and receives a revelation
from the Lord to explain it, but we shall return to that later
for we need to press on in tracing the Abrahamic promises.
Now we find the promises passed on down to Jacob. (It might
initially seem, only as the result of trickery but, in fact,
there was a valid reason for the deception and the Lord's will
was certainly being done). Here is Jacob's blessing:
"Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of the field which
the Lord has blessed. Therefore may God give you the dew of
heaven, of the fulness of the earth, and plenty of grain and
wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be
master over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to
you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who
bless you." (Gen 27: 27-29).
We also may note an interesting antithesis in that Esau, Jacob's
twin brother, necessarily receives an inferior blessing (Vs
39-40). Again, we must return to give some further consideration
to this a little later, and when we do, we shall find great significance to it.
Isaac repeats the substance of the blessings to Jacob in Gen 28:
3-4. Finally, God appears to Jacob again in Gen 35: 9-13:
"Also God said to him, 'I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and
multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from
you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave
Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after
you..." (Vs 11-12).
Here then we see the lineage of the Abrahamic blessings,
culminating in Jacob. We should also note carefully that when the
promises are confirmed to Jacob by the Lord Himself in Gen 35, Jacob's
name is now changed to Israel! (Gen 35: 10). We should,
therefore, reasonably expect to see some fulfillment of these
promises in Israel. This, after all, is simply what the inspired
text would lead us to expect. Too many times the biblically-naive
have presumptuously imposed their own schemas and concepts upon
these sacred Scriptures!
It has been stated by some that "it is a simple fact of history
that these promises were never fulfilled in Israel" - but is that
really so? We shall see, and be prepared for a few surprises.
Let us now start to go a little deeper:
It is too often not noticed that these promises strongly echo the
original blessing which God gave to Man, for, in the first chapter of
Genesis, we already have this:
"God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the
sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that
moves on the earth." (Gen 1: 28).
This is repeated, following the flood, in Gen 9: 1, 7.
The Abrahamic promises are plainly telling us that God's greatest
blessings on mankind would be fulfilled through the line of Jacob
- but these promises do not tell us that no others would receive some blessings, perhaps even many blessings, however, the greatest blessings would come to mankind through
that family line. But what one can never say is, 'Since that nation or people
is highly prosperous, they must somehow be included in the
promises of Jacob' - in fact, this is plainly flawed logic, and yet this is the very logic which 'British-Israelites' have frequently employed.
The great mistake which many make is to look at the national and ethnic Jews and
expect to see the entirety of the blessings fulfilled in them.
Indeed, up to this point one can agree with the
British-Israelites! But now we must sharply deviate from their
approach in the interests of biblical integrity. For while we can
agree that these promises were not entirely fulfilled among
physical Israelites (though they were to a degree), we should be
able to perceive that they have indeed been fulfilled among
spiritual Israelites - the Church!
Let us start with the concept of 'a nation and a company of
nations.'
It is too easily fogotten that Israel were considered a company
of nations; each tribe being a separate nation in its own right.
Matthew Henry is one of several Bible expositors who have pointed
this out in the past. It is also overlooked by some, just how wealthy and
powerful Israel became during the reigns of its various kings,
including Solomon! This was indeed a 'promised land,' and a land
'flowing with milk and honey.' In purely physical terms (we must
soon consider the spiritual), one does not need to look elsewhere
for a fulfillment of the patriarchal promises. Again, kings did
indeed come from Abraham - many of them. The noblest surely
David, the most prosperous probably Solomon. The land of Canaan
did indeed come to belong to the people of Jacob and many of them
returned to it in the 20th century having been dispossessed by
the various captivities. Without doubt the Jews have also proven
an exceptionally fertile people (which they showed even during
their captivity in Egypt!) The tribes of Jacob have spread around
the earth and normally enjoyed great business and financial success, arousing the
jealousy of many! They have mostly been industrious
and prosperous, frequently heading banking and business empires.
Can any seriously argue with this?
Yet even many British-Israelites admitted that 'in your seed
shall all the families of the earth be blessed' is a plain
reference to Christ (which it is, as we have already noted). But
their great problem has been in failing to perceive that whatever
might not have been entirely fulfilled in physical Israel
certainly has been fulfilled in spiritual Israel. Sometimes it is
the dispensationalist teachings of J.N. Darby which have been to
blame for this (Darby insisted on maintaining a sharp biblical
dichotomy between Israel and the Church). An even more serious
problem, perhaps, has been the imposition of modern concepts of
nationhood upon the Scriptures. The truth is: the Bible has not
concerned itself with modern nations like the USA or Great
Britain. Rather, it states principles which can be applied to all
peoples of all time. It paints national pictures, sure, but is
only interested in using the nations and states of the periods of
its various writers in doing so. Therefore Daniel and Revelation,
between them, identify such kingdoms as Babylon, Greece, Persia
and Rome quite clearly and God's final punishment is pictured
as being poured out on the final 'Babylon' - but perhaps we are
missing the point when we try to closely identify modern nations
with this 'Babylon.' The principles would apply to any national or political system which enjoys great wealth whilst attacking
God's message and God's people, attempting to prevent any preaching of the
Gospel! (Revelation 18:2-3, 9-20).
Another point is that it really is not as easy to identify modern
nations from their biblical ancestors as some would have us
believe! But we will not take the space here to expose the
so-called "proofs" that Britain is descended from ancient Israel,
or from about a tribe and a half of it. Others have done that and, suffice it to say, such
'proofs' are no proofs at all, neither do people with a
particular axe to grind tell you about all the contrary evidence
which is available which they so prejudicially discard.
It is now time to illustrate to the reader what is clearly
revealed about the Church by the patriarchal promises.
Now, Abraham is clearly a type of God the Father, Isaac is a type
of Christ (hence the symbolism when Abraham was asked to
sacrifice his son, also his birth as the result of a miracle).
Isaac's wife Rebekah, in like fashion, is obviously a symbol of
the Church. (Christ is to marry His Church; Revelation 19:7-9). Then, as Paul makes
clear, Hagar is symbolic of the Old Covenant and Sarah of the New
Covenant. These two Covenants cannot co-exist since one replaces
the other, therefore the enmity between the two women. Moreover
Abraham dismisses the Old 'woman' in order to bring in the New
'woman'. (Galatians 4:21-31; also, Hebrews 8: 13 states that the Old Covenant is now
obsolete).
Perhaps we are moving a little fast for the reader here, it is essential to check out Galatians 4:
21-31. The reader should also consult Romans 9:13 and Hebrews 11: 17-19. The Romans text also makes it clear that Jacob, being renamed 'Israel,'
was typical - not only of the Jews - but of the Church too; Jacob
can be seen as the type of every true believer, and Esau the type of
every unbeliever! Again, hence the discord between the two.
We must understand that 'Jewishness' becomes re-defined under the New Covenant: notice how this comes out in certain of the parables of Jesus, especially Matthew 22:1-10,
where Gentile believers are able to take the place of those racial Israelites who spurned their divine invitation to the banquet, then, in Romans, Paul clearly establishes this teaching; see Romans 2:28-29. Finally, we see the outworking of this in how the '12 tribes salvation plan' becomes 'converted' to include true believers through 'divine grafting.' Carefully consult Romans 11:17-23; Revelation 7:1-10; Revelation 14:1-5.
Let us now return for one moment to the passing on of the
patriarchal blessings to Rebekah. It might seem strange to some
that the blessing is passed from Abraham to Rebekah and then on
to Jacob, omitting Isaac. But the answer is surely in our
recognition that, as a type of Christ, Isaac did not need the
blessings to be passed on to him since he was the source of them
anyway!
We now return to the event during Rebekah's pregnancy. Genesis
25: 22 shows how the twin boys 'struggled' within her womb. Why
was this event recorded? Of course, fast growing twin boys within
their mother's womb might indeed struggle, but there is obviously
rather more to this:
"And the Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, two
peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be
stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger."
(Vs 23).
When Isaac later passes on Esau's 'blessing' we learn a little
more:
"By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother;
and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you
shall break his yoke from your neck." (Gen 27: 40).
This proved to be the case. David brought the Edomites (descended
from Esau) into subjection for many years until they revolted (2
Chronicles 21: 8). However, the statement that Esau's descendants
would 'live by the sword' needs to be seen in the light of the
larger picture which shows Esau to be a type of the unbeliever.
Esau and Jacob ultimately 'strived' because the one was symbolic
of the unbeliever and the other (Jacob) symbolic of the believer!
Hence when talking about Election, God can say, 'Jacob I have
loved, but Esau I have hated' (Roms 9: 13). In like manner, in
our day, it could be said that Esau and Jacob still "strive." As
Paul pointed out, it is not possible for unbelievers to even
understand the mind of a believer in the Christ, whereas those
believers have little trouble in understanding sinners!
"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges [* 'understands'] all things, yet he himself is rightly judged [* 'understood'] by no one."
(1 Corinthians 2:14-15, [*] my inserts).
Of course, in Gen 25, the text says of Rebekah's twins that one
would be stronger than the other, and that the older (Esau) would
serve the younger. While this indeed proved to be the case at the
time of David, it is also true that - eventually, within God's
plan - the Church does survive, but unbelievers will perish! So
here too there may be an application.
But let us now return to the matter of Jacob's trickery and
connivance with his mother in obtaining the birthright - was that
really fitting imagery for the man who would be a type of every
Christian? Many have pondered over this. Why did God allow Esau
the infidel to be born first? The answer has to do with God's
Election and free choice in that! The man who was to be typical
of the Christian could not bear any indications of
'achieving' or 'earning' on merit! Why? Because we
are justified by faith alone before God, works having no merit.
Jacob was not the 'firstborn' to whom certain rights and
privileges were owed. This demonstrates for us that we can never
earn acceptance with God. This was why God allowed the apparent
deception to go ahead:
"...Rebekah also has conceived by one man, even by our father,
Isaac (for the children not yet being born, not having done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works but of Him who calls) it was said to her,
'The older shall serve the younger' - as it is written, Jacob I
have loved, but Esau I have hated." (Roms 9: 10-13).
So Jacob, like the Christian, was to be a child of grace. Of
course, this is not literally saying that God hated Esau as an
individual - this refers to his representation as the
unbeliever!
So how may the patriarchal promises said to be fulfilled in the
Church and in Christians?
Well, we are to be 'as the sand upon the seashore' (Gen. 22:17). Even though
this is colourful and poetic language, it is hard to escape the
conclusion that this goes beyond what the 12 tribes have
achieved. It is hard not to think of Revelation 7: 9 here with
its description of the Church as,
'A great multitude which no one could number.'
Indeed, 'a nation and a company of nations' also suggests a great
number. Eventually we inherit, as physical Israelites, the land
of Canaan and, as spiritual Israelites, the whole earth! Even the
promise of 'kings' might well be applicable for Christians since
Revelation 5: 10 describes us as 'kings and priests'!
Genesis 12: 3 says,
"I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who
curses you."
Surely it is difficult not to think of Matthew 16: 19 here,
"And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
We know that this refers to the Church - is there not a
strong similarity? As a people, we represent Christ who is a
stumblingblock to many. We have in our possession - according to this - the very keys to
the gates of heaven! Some who might strive
to attain Eternal Life could be very vexed that it is we who hold
those keys!! In this connection we also need to consider what
Genesis 24: 60 says about Rebekah (again, remember that she was a clear type of
the Church),
"Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten
thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of those
who hate them."
Okay, I am speculating a little now, but could that just be a
reference to the gates of heaven? Of course, British-Israelitism
would see this differently; the ardent British-Israelite and
founder of the WCG cult, Herbert W. Armstrong, had little doubt
that these "gates" were places like the Suez Canal and Straits of
Gibraltar which came into the possession of the British. And this
is one of the great problems with this movement; in trying to
find purely national fulfillments of such prophecies, these
people have blinded themselves to the truly wonderful spiritual
fulfillments! Moreover, Genesis 27:28s reference to the
luxuriant dwelling places of Jacob, as being in 'the fatness of
the earth' with 'plenty of grain and wine' can certainly be
compared to the prophecies in books like Isaiah and Micah which
describe the spiritual joys of the revelation of Christ and the
Church as well as the New Heavens and New Earth to come in very
similar language. (Premillenialists would apply much of this to
the millenium).
So we can see that the divine promises to the patriarchs,
culminating in the divine instruction that Jacob should
henceforth become known as 'Israel' have indeed been fulfilled,
and are continuing to be fulfilled in Israel - both on a national
level, but even more so on the level of spiritual Israel! Again,
putting all of the Scriptures together, this is what we would be
led to believe, and expect, and look for. We are not
disappointed! We need look no further.
Let us now look again at a point raised earlier in this study; In
the original exposition of these promises in Genesis 12: 1-3, two
of the promises seem pretty specific:
1. That through the fulfilment of these promises Abraham's name
would be made 'great.'
2. That through them, 'all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.'
Now one could, we suppose, argue a long time about what a 'Nation
and company of nations' could be said to comprise, but surely
here are two points which should - in our day - be clear to all!
In opposition to the claims of British-Israelitism we must now
ask the following:
Has the great power and prosperity which has come to nations like
the USA and Great Britain during the last 200 or so years, been
associated with the name of Abraham? Has that great patriarch's
name been made "great" because of the power of these
nations?
Secondly, can it really be concluded that 'all the families of
the earth' have been blessed through the British and Americans?
Certainly our peoples have been stalwart supporters of
international charities, but surely this promise looks beyond
these factors. The true answer, of course, is that Abraham's name
has been made great through the Bible and through Judaism, but
then, and mainly, through Christianity!! On a purely national
level, Abraham is even more associated with the Jewish people
than his grandson Jacob, even though Jacob was the first to
actually bear the name of Israel; but Abraham is also justly
famous for his association with Christianity! He is known as 'The
father of the faithful' among Christians. Paul is very careful
that Christians should see Abraham as an example to them, much
more so than Moses! For instance,
"That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in
Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith...now to Abraham and his seed were the promises
made. He does not say, 'And to seeds' as of many, but as of one,
'And to your seed', who is Christ. And this I say, that the law,
which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the
covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it
should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is
of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to
Abraham by promise." (Galatians 3: 14-18).
We see therefore that while a partial fulfillment of these
promises was enjoyed by the Jews, their true and ultimate
fulfillment can only be expected among Christians! We also see
how both Israel and the Church (Spiritual Israel) are stamped
with the name of Abraham. It should also be clear to all that
'all the families of the earth' are only blessed through Christ
and the message of salvation, as the Scriptures clearly show;
(John 3: 16-17, Luke 16: 16, Revelation 7: 9-10 etc.).
So does this study conclude that there are no connections - race
wise - between ancient Israel and the Anglo-Saxons? Not
necessarily, but we do conclude that it is highly irrelevant!
But let us be clear that so-called 'proofs' that
British-Israelites have produced to back up their arguments were
never really 'proofs' at all, but - at best - evidences; but
often 'evidence' highly reliant on folk-lore and legend and prejudicially
refusing to consider counter-evidence.
Let us take joy in the wonderful revelation of Israel - both
physical and spiritual - which is confirmed in our day by what we
witness all around us.
Robin A. Brace
1995, 2001, 2007.
© This article is Copyright Robin A. Brace
1995-2008.