A Special Relationship
“The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, this place is to strait for me: Give place to me that I may dwell”. Isaiah 49:20
The United States was born out of a rebellion against the British Government, by the original thirteen colonies along the eastern seaboard of America. That rebellion, let it be said in all honesty was due to harsh and unjust laws imposed upon the colonies, not so much by King George III himself but rather by his ministers. Yet, let it be remembered that the founding fathers of the United States were British Citizens, men of Celto-Anglo-Saxon stock, English and Ulster/Scots.
A patriotic prophecy prediction
As in any conflict, much bitterness was engendered and many cruel deeds done during the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence. Even as late as 1812, Britain attempted to regain lost ground, invading from Canada and burning the White House. However, even at the height of the conflict between Crown and Colonies, one of the American Patriots, a man named Jonathan Mayhew predicted that one day Americans would come to the aid of their ancient motherland. These are his words, prophetic words indeed: “Who knows that our liberties being thus established, but that on some future occasion when the Kingdoms of Earth are moved and roughly dashed against each other, we or our posterity may even have the great felicity to save much people alive and keep Britain herself from ruin”.
Sure enough it was this Great Nation spoken about in the prophecies of your Bible, the United States of America that was to come to Britain’s aid in two World Wars.
Together these two nations defeated Prussian Militarism in 1918; and destroyed the twofold menace of Hitler’s Nazism, and the “yellow peril” of Japanese Imperialism in 1945.
Britain and America were to stand shoulder to shoulder throughout the era of the Cold War, the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Falklands Conflict. Nothing has been able until now to destroy this unique and special relationship.
Churchill summed it up
Regarding this bond between Britain and the United States, Britain’s wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill had this to say in his book, “History of the English Speaking Peoples”. He wrote, “The break between Britain and America made by the American Revolution was neither complete nor final. Intercourse continued and grew across the Atlantic. While America devoted her energies to the settlement of half of the North American Continent; Britain began to occupy and develop the many vacant portions of the globe. The Royal Navy maintained an impartial rule over the oceans which shielded both communities from the rivalry and interference of the Old World. The Colonization of Australia and New Zealand, the acquisition of South Africa, created the new and wider British Empire based on sea power and comprising over a third of the human race”.
How true were Churchill’s words, what he wrote was a direct fulfilment of our opening Scripture from Isaiah’s prophecy. Let’s examine it part by part.
The children you shall have, that is, The Daughter Nations of the British Commonwealth; Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa.
After you have lost the other, that is, the loss of the original Thirteen Colonies to form U.S.A. in 1776.
Shall say this place is to strait for me, that is, the British Isles with its crowded cities resulting from the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th Centuries was too small to contain a rapidly expanding population.
Give place to me that I might dwell, that is, tens of thousands of Britons emigrate to the vast new lands of the expanding empire already mentioned.
Recall the words God spoke, “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; Ask thy father and he will show thee; thy elders and they will tell thee. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance. When He separated the Sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is his people and Jacob is the lot of his inheritance”. (Deuteronomy 32:7-9)
In modern terminology when God planned where the nations of the earth would ultimately dwell, He reserved the huge empty areas, rich in mineral and agricultural wealth, with the best climate, to be the homelands of the descendants of the nation of Israel, who were prophesied in the latter days or Christian era of prophecy to multiply and increase in numbers like the stars of heaven, the sand of the seashore, and the dust of the ground. These prophesied territories into which, Israel were to expand, were the same as the vacant portions of the globe of which Churchill wrote, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Southern Africa and the islands of the sea.
America to the rescue
When Britain’s back was to the wall in 1940, as the Nazi legions swept over Europe, it was the United States which came to the rescue with its policy of “Lend Lease”.
Then there came the famous meeting between Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt, which gave rise to the “Atlantic Charter”. It took place on board H.M.S. Prince of Wales in 1941, and here is Churchill’s description of the religious service which was held on board the vessel: “It was felt by us all to be a deeply moving expression of faith of our two peoples and none who took part in it will forget the spectacle presented that sunlit morning on the crowded quarterdeck, the symbolism of the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack draped side by side on the pulpit, the American and British chaplains sharing in the reading of the prayers, the highest naval, military and air officers of Britain and the United States grouped in one body behind the President and myself. The close packed ranks of British and American sailors completely intermingled, sharing the same books and joining fervently together in prayers and hymns”.
As we read this account, we might well ask:
What is the secret of the special relationship?
Is it their shared Christian faith, their common English language, their mutual love of liberty and freedom that creates the bond between these two great nations of Britain and the U.S.A.?
It runs much deeper than even all of these things. The origin of this “Special Relationship” lies in the pages of the Holy Bible, in Genesis, the book of beginnings. For Britain and America are brothers of the same racial kin. They can trace their bloodline back to Joseph, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham, the friend of God to whom the Everliving made the following Covenant Promise. “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 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 22:16-18)
Subsequently Abraham’s grandson Jacob, whilst travelling to Haran, had a dream of angels ascending and descending a ladder from heaven. During the dream Almighty God made Covenant promises to him also: “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac: and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth and thou shalt spread abroad to the West and to the East and to the North and to the South: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed”. Genesis 28:13-14)
Jacob was subsequently to have his name changed to “Israel”, which means a prince ruling with God. “And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day and when he saw that he prevailed not against him he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said ‘Let me go for the day breaketh’. And he said, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me.” And he said unto him “What is thy name? And he said Jacob, and he said thy name shall no more be called Jacob but Israel for as a Prince hast thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed”. (Genesis 32:24-28) Note: The ‘angel’ with whom Jacob wrestled all night was what we call a Theophany or pre-Bethlehem manifestation of the Lord Jesus.
Jacob went on to marry and have twelve sons, the progenitors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. His favorite son was Joseph who subsequently rose from slavery to favour in the land of Egypt to which he brought his father and the rest of the extended family to live.
Let us pick up the story of blessing and brotherhood as Jacob/Israel nears the time of his death. “And it came to pass after these things that one told Joseph behold thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim and Israel beheld Joseph’s sons and said “Who are these?” and Joseph said unto his father “They are my sons whom God hath given me in this place” and he said bring them, I pray thee unto me and I will bless them”. Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age so that he could not see. And he bought them near unto him and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said unto Joseph “I had not thought to see thy face: and to God hath showed me also they seed”. And Joseph brought them out from between his knees and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim’s head who was the younger and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly for Manasseh was the first born. And he blessed Joseph and said “God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long until this day bless the lads; and let my name be named on them and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth”. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his fathers hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said unto his father “not so, my father for this is the first born; put thy right hand upon his head”. And his father refused and said “I know it my son, I know it, he also shall become a people and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he and his seed shall become a multitude of nations”. And he blessed them that day saying “In thee shall Israel bless saying God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.” And he set Ephraim before Manasseh. (Genesis 48:1-20)
So now we know the secret of the “Special Relationship”. The sons of Joseph were to develop in the last days or Christian era of prophecy into a great Christian nation, the United States of America (Manasseh); and a great nation and multitude (company or commonwealth) of nations the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations (Ephraim). Jacob crossed his hands in blessing to make up the multiplication sign (X) which is represented in the Cross of St. Patrick and the Cross of St. Andrew on Britain’s Union Jack and which also featured on the flag of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
Britain and America are indeed brothers of the same blood, nations of a common seed line who have been used by God to bless mankind. They are often depicted by the symbols of “Uncle Sam” for the U.S.A. and “John Bull” for Britain.
Their unity of purpose has stood the test of time and to mark the ongoing respect between the British and American Navies the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke class Aegis destroyer, was aptly named U.S.S. Winston Churchill and “will always go to sea with a British Naval Officer as part of her 350 strong ships company”.
There have only been five U.S. warships named after foreigners and this was the first one to have the name of a British political figure. The ship has been presented with a silver statuette of Sir Winston Churchill.
The “special relationship” has continued for two centuries, but alas today, is under attack. I will write about this in the near future.
