Anglo-Israel Truth is Important! Here is why:
Ashamed Of The Promises?
Why is the information on this website important? In an interesting tract entitled, "Ashamed of the tents of Shem," a reformed theologian laments the fact that so many of our young people are losing interest in using the Bible in worship. Yet it is perhaps understandable that with the modern focus on "relevance," young people today do indeed lose interest in something which they are told has little direct application to them, being written for and about another people called "Israel." The tract author proceeds to construct an argument by saying that we are outsiders who, as gentiles, dwell in the tents of Shem in a sense by adopting Christianity, a 'Jewish religion.' He gives the promises and covenants of the Old Testament completely to the followers of Judaism, who he believes constitute all of Israel in the world today. He also finds Christianity and the Christian era completely foretold in an obscure prophecy in Genesis 9:27, which Noah (not God) made while in a drunken state: "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." Whether Noah's drunken statement found fulfillment at all, even in ancient times, is considered by theologians an open question; but whether it should be taken as the Bible's chief foreshadowing of the Christian era is even more questionable. This verse has a long history of use and abuse; it found popular support, for example, in the American southern states before the Civil War as a justification for slavery.
Has God foretold the Christian era in prophecy in a clear manner, or must we resort to an obscure and remote passage of scripture to find our place in the plan of God? The Christians of the Reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries found themselves in prophecy, not as Japhethites sneeking under Shem's tent, but as the very Israel of God! For example, when Pastor John Robinson sent the pilgrims to America, he preached to them a sermon based on Jeremiah 3:14-17, a prophecy of God to Israel: "...I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." Pastor Robinson then proceeded to explain that they were going to that land. It was common in Reformation times for Christians to speak of themselves as, "Israel," "God's chosen," and "a seed out of Jacob," Israel symbolism was common; in fact, England adopted as national symbols the unicorn of the northern house of Israel and the lion of Judah, and other European nations did the same.
Before they left for the new world, the Puritans heard a sermon from Pastor John Cotton, one of the most preeminent of Colonial-era ministers. Entitled, "God's Promise To His Plantation," it was based on II Samuel 7:10, "Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more." That prophetic land to them was America. It is at least interesting to note that Samuel's Old Testament prophecy of a future Zion, or place for God's people, was given while Israel dwelled in Palestine; yet it spoke of a future place to be appointed unto them. Anglo-Israelites believe that this was indeed fulfilled when the ten tribes of the House of Israel were exiled and scattered to new lands.
Authors Lutz and Warren, in their book on early Christian American beliefs, "A Covenanted People," state, "Cotton's identification of America with the Israelites remained a dominant theme throughout the colonial period, and one that continues to shape American's conception of themselves today."
Yes, our long-held belief that we are an exceptional people in God's purposes was always tied to knowledge of the fact that we are a covenanted people and represent latter-day Israel in the world today.