THE PROMISES:
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
-- Genesis 12:1-3
"And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee."
--Genesis 13:14-17
"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
-- Genesis 17:1-8
"And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."
-- Genesis 22:15-18
WHO INHERITED THEM?
Herbert Armstrong and his followers reasoned that it isn't plausible that the Bible would ignore/not mention nations as important as the United States and Britain in terms of the prophecies which apply to our times. They assert that God never fulfilled the promises he made to Abraham through the ancient nations of Judah and Israel and reason that God had to fulfill those promises by some other means. They reasoned that the U.S. and Britain must have acquired the wealth and power which they have experienced because God was fulfilling those promises which he made to Abraham so long ago. They implied that - because these nations worship the God of Israel, have accepted their scriptures and professed their belief in a Jewish messiah - they must be Israelites themselves. They have asserted that God's promise to David required someone from his lineage to occupy his throne down through the ages of human history and have reasoned that it must currently exist somewhere else since the Bible itself records the fall of David's dynasty.
Unfortunately for Armstrong and his followers, their reasoning and assertions in this regard can be easily demonstrated to be faulty/erroneous. As a consequence, their conclusions about the "true" identity of the Anglo-Saxon peoples are not sustainable. It is much more implausible to believe that folks who lived many hundreds of years before the U.S. and Britain existed (and were only familiar with the "world" that encompassed the Mediterranean region which they inhabited) would make any mention of those nations in their writings. And, even if we assume that the existence of Judah, Israel and the Solomonic empire did not constitute a fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham, it does not automatically follow that the U.S. and Britain are of necessity the fulfillment of those promises. Using that line of reasoning, couldn't we make a case for the Romans, Spaniards, French, Germans, Russians, Mongols, Chinese or Japanese being candidates for the fulfillment of those promises? Once again, not only have the Brits and Americans adopted the Hebrew Bible, the entire Western World has embraced the Hebrew God and his scriptures (indeed, much of the Eastern World has done the same thing)! Finally, as for the promises God made to Abraham and David, what about all of the clear scriptural references to the fact that they will find their ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ?
A recent post over at Banned by HWA, provoked a discussion of the genetic plausibility of the Anglo-Saxon peoples being physical descendants of Abraham. One of the commentators on that blog, pointed out that science has demonstrated that patrilineal descent is reckoned through a series of haplogroups. He went on to point out that most European males belong to haplogroups other than the "J" haplogroup which represents Abraham and his descendants. Unfortunately, a few individuals refuse to yield to the findings of genetic science and introduce migrations, intermarriage and mutations in an attempt to make the evidence sound less convincing. The fact that DNA testing has conclusively demonstrated that the Anglo-Saxon peoples are not the physical descendants of Abraham is clearly revealed in the length of time which scientists have determined that it took these haplogroups to form. In other words, the chronology of haplogroup origins refutes the attempts of the naysayers to obfuscate.
According to Wikipedia, in their article on human Y-chromosome haplogroups, they state: "In human genetics, a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by mutations in the non-recombining portions of DNA from the Y chromosome (called Y-DNA). Mutations that are shared by many people are called single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
The human Y-chromosome accumulates roughly two mutations per generation. Y-DNA haplogroups represent major branches of the Y-chromosome phylogenetic tree that share hundreds or even thousands of mutations unique to each haplogroup.
The Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (Y-MRCA, informally known as Y-chromosomal Adam) is the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living men are descended patrilineally. Y-chromosomal Adam is estimated to have lived roughly 236,000 years ago in Africa. By examining other bottlenecks most Eurasian men (men from populations outside of Africa) are descended from a man who lived 69,000 years ago. Other major bottlenecks occurred about 50,000 and 5,000 years ago and subsequently most Eurasian/non-African men can trace their ancestry back to four ancestors who lived 50,000 years ago."
Notice the amount of time required for the formation of these haplogroups. When we combine this information with our knowledge of the migration of human populations and history, we see that it is impossible for the vast majority of European males to be the patrilineal descendants of Abraham. Moreover, for those of us who do have Jewish ancestry, it is a bit of an affront to try to appropriate an inheritance which your DNA clearly demonstrates you are not entitled to claim.
On the other hand, if we focus on these promises relative to Jesus Christ, it is clear that we can all participate in their benefits. Christians can share in the blessings and throne which Christ inherited from his ancestors, because he has invited us to share in them! We must remember that God chose Abraham and his descendants to introduce himself to the rest of the world - not to be the small sliver of humanity that he decided to grace with his blessings and presence!
For those who are interested in exploring this subject in more detail, there are numerous other posts on this blog and elsewhere that demonstrate the falsity of Anglo-Israelism. Here are links to the principal ones that appear here:
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2014/09/gods-promise-to-david.html
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2016/02/god-david-and-anglo-israelism-part-1.html
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2016/02/god-david-and-anglo-israelism-part-2.html
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2016/02/god-david-and-anglo-israelism-part-3.html
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2018/04/is-british-israelism-inherently-racist.html
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
-- Genesis 12:1-3
"And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee."
--Genesis 13:14-17
"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
-- Genesis 17:1-8
"And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."
-- Genesis 22:15-18
WHO INHERITED THEM?
Herbert Armstrong and his followers reasoned that it isn't plausible that the Bible would ignore/not mention nations as important as the United States and Britain in terms of the prophecies which apply to our times. They assert that God never fulfilled the promises he made to Abraham through the ancient nations of Judah and Israel and reason that God had to fulfill those promises by some other means. They reasoned that the U.S. and Britain must have acquired the wealth and power which they have experienced because God was fulfilling those promises which he made to Abraham so long ago. They implied that - because these nations worship the God of Israel, have accepted their scriptures and professed their belief in a Jewish messiah - they must be Israelites themselves. They have asserted that God's promise to David required someone from his lineage to occupy his throne down through the ages of human history and have reasoned that it must currently exist somewhere else since the Bible itself records the fall of David's dynasty.
Unfortunately for Armstrong and his followers, their reasoning and assertions in this regard can be easily demonstrated to be faulty/erroneous. As a consequence, their conclusions about the "true" identity of the Anglo-Saxon peoples are not sustainable. It is much more implausible to believe that folks who lived many hundreds of years before the U.S. and Britain existed (and were only familiar with the "world" that encompassed the Mediterranean region which they inhabited) would make any mention of those nations in their writings. And, even if we assume that the existence of Judah, Israel and the Solomonic empire did not constitute a fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham, it does not automatically follow that the U.S. and Britain are of necessity the fulfillment of those promises. Using that line of reasoning, couldn't we make a case for the Romans, Spaniards, French, Germans, Russians, Mongols, Chinese or Japanese being candidates for the fulfillment of those promises? Once again, not only have the Brits and Americans adopted the Hebrew Bible, the entire Western World has embraced the Hebrew God and his scriptures (indeed, much of the Eastern World has done the same thing)! Finally, as for the promises God made to Abraham and David, what about all of the clear scriptural references to the fact that they will find their ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ?
A recent post over at Banned by HWA, provoked a discussion of the genetic plausibility of the Anglo-Saxon peoples being physical descendants of Abraham. One of the commentators on that blog, pointed out that science has demonstrated that patrilineal descent is reckoned through a series of haplogroups. He went on to point out that most European males belong to haplogroups other than the "J" haplogroup which represents Abraham and his descendants. Unfortunately, a few individuals refuse to yield to the findings of genetic science and introduce migrations, intermarriage and mutations in an attempt to make the evidence sound less convincing. The fact that DNA testing has conclusively demonstrated that the Anglo-Saxon peoples are not the physical descendants of Abraham is clearly revealed in the length of time which scientists have determined that it took these haplogroups to form. In other words, the chronology of haplogroup origins refutes the attempts of the naysayers to obfuscate.
According to Wikipedia, in their article on human Y-chromosome haplogroups, they state: "In human genetics, a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by mutations in the non-recombining portions of DNA from the Y chromosome (called Y-DNA). Mutations that are shared by many people are called single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
The human Y-chromosome accumulates roughly two mutations per generation. Y-DNA haplogroups represent major branches of the Y-chromosome phylogenetic tree that share hundreds or even thousands of mutations unique to each haplogroup.
The Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (Y-MRCA, informally known as Y-chromosomal Adam) is the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living men are descended patrilineally. Y-chromosomal Adam is estimated to have lived roughly 236,000 years ago in Africa. By examining other bottlenecks most Eurasian men (men from populations outside of Africa) are descended from a man who lived 69,000 years ago. Other major bottlenecks occurred about 50,000 and 5,000 years ago and subsequently most Eurasian/non-African men can trace their ancestry back to four ancestors who lived 50,000 years ago."
Notice the amount of time required for the formation of these haplogroups. When we combine this information with our knowledge of the migration of human populations and history, we see that it is impossible for the vast majority of European males to be the patrilineal descendants of Abraham. Moreover, for those of us who do have Jewish ancestry, it is a bit of an affront to try to appropriate an inheritance which your DNA clearly demonstrates you are not entitled to claim.
On the other hand, if we focus on these promises relative to Jesus Christ, it is clear that we can all participate in their benefits. Christians can share in the blessings and throne which Christ inherited from his ancestors, because he has invited us to share in them! We must remember that God chose Abraham and his descendants to introduce himself to the rest of the world - not to be the small sliver of humanity that he decided to grace with his blessings and presence!
For those who are interested in exploring this subject in more detail, there are numerous other posts on this blog and elsewhere that demonstrate the falsity of Anglo-Israelism. Here are links to the principal ones that appear here:
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2014/09/gods-promise-to-david.html
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2016/02/god-david-and-anglo-israelism-part-1.html
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2016/02/god-david-and-anglo-israelism-part-2.html
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2016/02/god-david-and-anglo-israelism-part-3.html
https://godcannotbecontained.blogspot.com/2018/04/is-british-israelism-inherently-racist.html
The following comment was posted to my private e-mail account:
ReplyDelete"You do know that the USA is indeed mentioned in the Bible, no?
Isaiah 9:6 - "For unto US A child is born, unto US A son is given." The evidence is undeniable!"
And -
"But seriously, the belief in Anglo-Israelism is rooted in the belief in American exceptionalism, the idea that this nation has been specially chosen (going back at least to Winthrop's "City Upon A Hill" sermon). In this view, the unique status of this nation parallels the Biblical narrative of Israel, God's chosen nation in antiquity.
In my view, this deep-rooted belief is also the reason evangelical Christians view elections in this country as a Manichean battle between good and evil. I have lived and worked in several different countries over the years and experienced their election cycles. None of them treated elections in our sui generis way. To the best of my knowledge, the US is unique in doing this.
So, HWA just carried this belief to the next level. It strikes me as so very American! (Much as Joseph Smith was uniquely American in re-forming Christianity to fit the American landscape. American ingenuity and innovation didn't just apply to making machines and money but also in religious matters!) Which is not to say that these views or adaptations are correct -- it's just that they fit well within the historical American landscape.
So, HWA was a product of both his time . . . and his country. He came of age in a period in American history in which ideas such as those of Anglo-Israelism seemed not just acceptable but self-evidently true. As is so often the case, the context is the clue.
Thanks for another thought-provoking column!"