AMERICA IN THE BIBLE
James L. Melton
https://www.biblebaptistpublications.org/
For decades preachers and prophecy writers have been taking
their stab at locating America in the Bible. I've come across
everything from the "young lions" of Ezekiel 38:13 to the "great
eagle" of Ezekiel 17:7 to the "they" and the "wings of a
great eagle" of Revelation 12:6 and 12:14. The lion, bear and leopard of
Daniel chapter seven might be a type of England, Russia and the United States,
and the book "The Final Babylon" by Krieger, McGriff
and Woodward makes an interesting case for America being Babylon the Great, but
none of this seems as solid as what I am about to show you, at least not in my
view. I'll give you what I believe to be the two strongest references to America in the word of God, one from the Old
Testament and one from the New.
It was during the year 1620 that our pilgrim fathers left the
old world for America. That number 1620 is no accident. As
you should know, the number of fruitfulness in the Bible is the number 9. Well,
1 + 6 + 2 + 0 = 9. You’ll also get a sum of 9, or a number divisible by 9, when
adding up the years 1611, 1629, and 1638, all of which were very fruitful
years. There are 9 fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. The fruit of the
womb makes its grand entrance into the world after 9 months. Well, it was in
Genesis chapter 9 that God told the races of the new world to “be fruitful and
multiply” (Gen. 9:1), and it was in Genesis 9:27 (2 + 7 = 9) that God inspired
the father of the Gentiles to utter some of the most hated and politically
incorrect words in world history: “God shall enlarge Japheth.”
And enlarge Japheth He did, especially in the year 1620. He
could have done it in 1588 when King Phillip II of Spain got the bright idea of taking his
“invincible Armada” up through the English Channel. Phillip, a devout Roman Catholic,
wanted to conquer England and establish Roman Catholicism as the
state religion throughout the growing British Empire. There was just one problem: God wanted the British Empire flooded with King James Bibles, not
Mary statues. So the “ships of Tarshish” were broken
(Psa. 48:7), Phillip sailed back home with his tail
between his legs, and England produced the greatest book ever printed
in 1611. 9 years later, God put Japheth on a boat called the Mayflower[i]
(9 letters) and sent him to America to “dwell in the tents of Shem,” in
accordance with the prophecy of Genesis 9:27.
I know that’s not politically correct, but that’s exactly what
happened according to HIStory. No doubt, one could
name many other applications of Japheth fulfilling the Genesis 9:27 prophecy over the past 4,400 years, but
I know of none greater than the rise of the United States of America and our impact on the world, and I know
of no stronger reference to America in the Old Testament.
Now for the New Testament reference. John Leland was a sound
Baptist preacher in Virginia at a time when there was very little religious liberty
for Baptists and a great deal of persecution from the Church of England and
others. Being an influential preacher, Leland agreed to throw his support
behind James Madison (the Father of the Constitution) in the 1788-89 election
due to Madison's promise to fight for a Bill of Rights
that would include an amendment on religious liberty. Without the large Virginia vote, Madison would not have won the election and
there would have been no First Amendment with religious liberty, and without
Leland's support, Madison would not have carried Virginia. SO! Thanks to the wisdom, prayers and
endurance of a patriot Baptist preacher and his followers, James Madison was
elected, then went on to push for and get a Bill of Rights that included the
First Amendment with freedom of religion (1791).
"So, Melton, what's that got to do with America being in the New Testament?" Hold
your horses, I'm getting to that. Had the Bill of Rights been ratified a year
or two sooner, it would have been signed in New York. Had it been ratified ten years later,
it would have been signed in Washington, D. C. Since the signing of the Bill of
Rights meant that God was about to kick the doors of world evangelism wide open
more than at any other time in history, there was only one city suitable for
the signing: Philadelphia, PA, the city of "brotherly love."
Any signals sounding off yet? They should be: "And to the
angel of the church in PHILADELPHIA write . . . I have set before thee an OPEN
DOOR, and no man can shut it . . ." (Rev. 3:7-8)
SO! You got your King James Bible from the Philadelphia church period, and before that church
period expired, you got the liberty to preach and print that Bible from a place
called Philadelphia, the same place in which the
"Creator" was acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence only
fifteen years earlier (July 4, 1776). If that's not enough, God "made
the stars also" (Gen. 1:16) and placed FIFTY of them (the number of LIBERTY[ii], Lev. 25:10) on a flag that we call
"old GLORY." If the New Testament offers a stronger reference to the
land of the free, I am ignorant of its location.