America at 250: Her Rise and Restoration

If you were to ask any American what made their country rise to greatness, the answer might revolve around the blessing of freedom in some way: Democratic elections, the Bill of Rights, the ability to choose where you live and what you do with your life. These are all elements of freedom. 

But if you were to ask the same people to explain how America came to enjoy these blessings, they might hesitate in an effort to pin down an exact cause. Some might cite the natural resources of her land, such as rich soil and various mineral deposits. Others might consider her navigable waterways and natural borders key factors in defending freedom.

These things certainly helped build America and allowed industrialists such as Vanderbilt, Carnegie and Rockefeller to create and expand physical infrastructure to support a nation. But how did these things culminate to make America what it is today? Was it just time and chance?

Historians would tell you that overtaxation by the British on the Colonies and the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence that followed are all major factors that made the United States what it is today. While that is all very true, is that the real source of the freedom and blessings that made America so powerful? 

An ancient story

The real answer goes back millennia before the country was founded. 

Believe it or not, this story starts in Genesis 12:1-3 when the Lord told Abram:

“Get out of your country, from your family 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 shall be blessed.”

America’s rise to greatness started with promises that were made to Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham.

While Scripture does not directly state this, it does reveal what blessings were granted to Abraham and his descendants. By comparing these prophesied blessings to the historical record, the connection between Abraham and America becomes clear.

Blessings handed down

The immediate family tree of Abraham is clearly laid out in the Bible.

While Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, it was to Isaac that Abraham’s blessings passed (Genesis 26:24). From there, the blessing was given to Isaac’s son, Jacob. Although his older brother Esau would have traditionally received the birthright blessing, God told the boys’ mother, Rebekah, that the younger would achieve prominence over the older (Genesis 25:23). The Bible records that those blessings indeed passed on to Jacob (Genesis 27:21-29; Genesis 28:3-4).

While Jacob led a rather unique and, at times, challenging life, God maintained His promise to Abraham through Jacob.

“Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.’ So He called his name Israel. 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 I give this land’” (Genesis 35:9-12).

Later, Jacob (renamed Israel), passed on these blessings to his 12 sons. However, the vast majority of the material blessings he passed on to one son, Joseph, and more specifically Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh:

“Then Israel [Jacob] stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. And he blessed Joseph, and said: ‘God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth’” (Genesis 48:14-16).

Where do these blessings reside today?

God’s blessings are then woven into the stories of these two sons of Joseph. Jacob later foretold in Genesis 49, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; his branches run over the wall” (verse 22).

To identify the modern descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, consider: Which nations do we see on earth today that have rich, material blessings that extend far and wide?

Material or financial blessings were only part of the promises that passed down. Strength and might were foretold as well. Verses 23-24 read: “The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob . . . ”

Loved or hated, there’s no denying that it was through British rule and colonialism that much of our modern world was shaped. While human beings often fall short and inflict terrible abuses on one another, God saw to it His blessings were spread.

Respected historian Fritz Blackwell in his article “The British Impact on India, 1700-1900,” notes an interesting connection about the decision to make English the official language of India: “That decision opened a can of worms: men educated in English law saw the possibilities of constitutional democracy. No one Indian language could claim the majority of speakers, and English provided the bridge that made communication possible between the educated from different parts of India. The importance of this development cannot be overemphasized” (Education About Asia, Fall 2008). He goes on to write about both negative and positive impacts of British rule, “The British engaged in racism and exploitation, and they also provided the doors that would lead to Indian democracy and nationhood.”

Genesis 49:26 makes it even clearer that these God-ordained gifts would pass on through the descendants of Joseph. Here Jacob (Israel) foretells what would happen to his sons: “The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.”

This blessing is the same one passed from Abraham on down to Isaac, who bestowed it on Jacob—a God-given family inheritance. The other brothers’ blessings were much smaller. No other descendants were promised anything close to what Joseph was, with the notable exception of the tribe of Judah, which was to have the lineage of kingship leading to the Messiah (verses 8-12). While that in and of itself is a tremendous blessing, the material blessings promised to Joseph rest soundly in the English-speaking nations of the world today.

In his book, The “Lost” Ten Tribes of Israel . . . Found!, researcher Steven Collins comes to the same conclusion:

“The modern nations which descended from an Anglo-Saxon heritage are England, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These nations have perfectly fulfilled all prophecies about the birthright tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh” (1992, p. 383).

While the United States currently seems more prominent and powerful, it was only following the expansion of the British Empire that its strength and might grew. This aligns with what Jacob told Joseph regarding his sons:

“So he blessed them that day, saying, ‘By you Israel will bless, saying, “May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!”’ And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20). Through this and the prophecy that Ephraim was to become a multitude of nations while Manasseh was to become a great single nation (verse 19), it’s understood that the nations of Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are, in large measure, the modern descendants of Ephraim, while the people of the United States are largely of Manasseh.

While critics might argue the point, they would be hard-pressed to show any other nations that carry these birthright blessings from Abraham today. (For more on this topic, please read our Bible study guide The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.)

God requires responsibility

While the Spider-Man comic series made popular the phrase, “With great power comes great responsibility,” this concept can be traced to the Bible. Jesus Christ tells us, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required” (Luke 12:48).

In many ways, the United States has done this well. In his article, “Our Ten Contributions to Civilization,” historian Arthur Schlesinger Sr. remarked: “Viewed as a whole, the contributions of America to civilization will be seen to have been for the most part in the nature of methods or processes. They have aimed to release men from political and religious disabilities, from ignorance and poverty, from backbreaking toil” (The Atlantic, March 1959).

Of course, some would disagree. They might say America’s example and intervention throughout the world were for her own selfish interests. Specific instances and motives could certainly be examined, but the fact remains that the United States has far exceeded any other nations’ contributions to help other nations in terms of both financial aid and human lives.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United States has pledged more than $1.8 billion in global humanitarian aid this year alone, nearly twice that of the next closest contributor, the European Commission.

Calculating the number of lives lost fighting to liberate the oppressed is difficult. Perhaps a more sobering way to consider this factor can be found in the words of U.S. Army Gen. Mark Clark about American military cemeteries: “If ever proof were needed that we fought for a cause and not for conquest, it could be found in these cemeteries. Here was our only conquest: all we asked of Italy [along with other nations] was enough of her soil in which to bury our gallant dead” (Calculated Risk, 1950).

Regrettably, while the United States might still lead in financial and military might, it has fallen short elsewhere.

A foundational principle laid aside

When the United States began its independence from British rule, the people weren’t ignorant of who endowed them with basic rights. In the Declaration of Independence, the founders noted they were “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude [rightness] of our intentions.” They understood that it was God alone who had authority over man and that He would ultimately judge their actions. (See the article “The Declaration of Independence and Intelligent Design”)

Likewise, those founding fathers understood where their blessings came from. In instituting a national Thanksgiving in 1789, George Washington wrote that the day should be “devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.”

Many, perhaps yourself included, still look to God as the Supreme Judge and the Being who is the Author of all our blessings. If so, you’ve likely noticed the moral decay of the nation. While acts such as abortion, homosexuality and political corruption were hardly invented in the United States, they’ve certainly been celebrated and advanced here.

Coming fall and restoration

So why does any of this matter? Just as the United States was given divine distinction through God’s promises, we must acknowledge that those blessings can be taken away.

And they will.

As we believe Scripture shows us America’s roots, we must also accept Scripture shows us America’s future.

It tells us: “Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah. ‘For thus says the Lord: “We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask now, and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale? Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it”’” (Jeremiah 30:4-7).

The modern-day descendants of Jacob, including the United States and other nations of British heritage, are in for a difficult time, and not without reason. Continuing in verse 14, “All your lovers [or allies] have forgotten you; they do not seek you; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased.”

Looking at the cultural norms of Western society today, is there any doubt of the retreat from biblical values? From modern-day forms of child sacrifice, such as abortion, to rampant crimes of murder, robbery and sexual assault, to economic oppression of the poor, to the all-out assault on biblical marriage, the modern descendants of Israel have strayed far from their God.

Redemption and another promise

America’s worldly preeminence originates from the promises God made to faithful Abraham thousands of years ago. While those blessings will vanish in the years preceding a terrible time of calamity, a far greater blessing will take their place after that.

Remember the original promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (emphasis added). God said that all families of the earth will be blessed. That blessing was fulfilled to a vital degree through the coming of Jesus Christ, a descendant of the tribe of Judah.

Genesis 49:10 tells us, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [the Sent One] comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” This is a prophecy of Jesus Christ. It is through Him that salvation comes (Acts 4:10-12).

While the physical blessings passed to Ephraim and Manasseh are wonderful, they are worthless compared to this spiritual “scepter promise” through Judah.

Galatians 3:28-29 further explains: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” It could be said today that in Christ there is neither American nor European, African nor Asian. No matter what nation we hail from or where we trace our ancestry, this scepter promise passes to those in whom Christ lives (compare also Romans 15:8-13).

This isn’t just some theological concept. It will take shape as the coming Kingdom of God, which Jesus Christ will establish over all nations at His return. Revelation 11:15 tells us, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” As strong and independent as it has been, America will someday be under the direct rule of Jesus Christ—as will all countries (see “Living the Kingdom Today”).

The day is coming when the blessings experienced in America over the last 250 years will be ancient history. Far greater will be the glorious blessing of inheriting with Christ the eternal Kingdom of God. May God speed that day!