Saturday, January 23, 2010
Does the United States Appear in Bible Prophecy?
Small nations like Egypt, Jordan and Libya are found in Bible prophecies of the time of the end. But what about the major English-speaking countries like the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia? Are they absent from Bible prophecy, or do we just not know where to look?
...Jacob told His son Joseph that his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, would grow to become great powers on earth, not in a tiny portion of the Middle East. Conveying to them the promises originally given to Abraham (and later expanded), he said, "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 48:16)...
...Jacob revealed that the descendants of Joseph would become two great peoples—brother nationalities. Those descended through his son Manasseh would become a great people, while those who would come through his other son, Ephraim, would become a group or multitude of nations (Genesis 48:19). Both would dominate the earth as no others in history.
Thus, through them would be fulfilled the earlier promise to Jacob of a nation and company of nations. But have the prophecies of Israel's global greatness been fulfilled? Yes—by two geopolitical powers on the world stage that have defined global greatness for the last two centuries.
Descended from Ephraim was the group of nations that formed out of the greatest empire the world has ever seen, the British Empire.
It ruled over five times the territory of the Roman Empire, and four times the number of people. Its territory encompassed almost a quarter of the earth's population and surface, including many of its most fertile and productive regions. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy ruled the seas. Out of this power came the British-descended countries of the Commonwealth of Nations—Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
From Manasseh came the great single nation. Its people dwelt with the Ephraimites in Great Britain until it was time for their separation through westward colonization and a war for independence—the American Revolution, by which came the formation of the United States...
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