By David R. Parsons, ICEJ Senior Vice President & Spokesman

As the United States marks 250 years since its founding in 1776, the Fourth of July celebrations are being clouded by a prolonged war in the Middle East which lacks the support of many Americans. This conflict also has stoked an unprecedented wave of antisemitism on American soil which is infecting both ends of the political spectrum – on the Left and Right. Indeed, the nation seems to be wrestling with something deep within its soul, a struggle over fidelity to America’s founding principles.

This landmark anniversary gives rise once again to the age-old weighty questions about America. Did this nation have a divine mission from the start? Was it founded as a Christian nation? Is the United States to be found in Bible prophecy? And what is the prophetic calling and destiny of America?

The answers to these questions revolve around the prevailing culture of the American colonies in those days, the guiding principles they set to pen for posterity, and the course which the nation has taken ever since.

Inspired by the Bible
There can be no dispute that America was founded by a deeply religious people. The colonies had drawn to their shores many devout Christians seeking to escape the controls of the established churches of Europe and find greater freedom to express their faith in the New World. They were further shaped by two Great Awakenings that stirred widespread revival and sent scores of missionaries to far-away lands.

By the time of the rebellion against King George’s abusive rule, the Bible had permeated the culture of America. The founding fathers were all aware that Western civilisation and its democratic freedoms were inspired and shaped by biblical principles and concepts, much more so than Greco-Roman traditions.

For instance, the “Liberty Bell” in Philadelphia – which cracked while ringing out the news of independence – was engraved years earlier with the words “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.” This inscription is taken from the Jubilee passage in Leviticus 25:10, when slaves were to be freed every 50 years, and it reflects America’s earnest cry for freedom in its infancy.

In another prime example, the founders formed a constitutional republic based on the model of Israel receiving the law at Sinai, when God impressed upon man the precept that every ruler or authority needs to be subject to a higher law than themselves. The Roman Senate was an elitist body that made up its own rules as it went along, whereas the United States would be governed by elected officials who were subject to the Constitution.

In the U.S. Constitution, the founders also provided for a separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches, with checks and balances helping to guard against abuses of power. This was inspired by Isaiah 33:22, which states: “For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.” That is, only God is fair and righteous enough to hold and exercise all three powers at once, while no man can be trusted with all three.

At this point, it cannot be emphasized enough – especially for all the antisemites out there – that every one of these biblical concepts and principles which shaped and inspired our democratic freedoms and institutions came to us through Israel and the Jewish people!

The Founding Spirit and Mission of America
Perhaps the greatest Jewish contribution to America’s founding is inscribed in the Declaration of Independence itself, signed by the founding fathers in Philadelphia 250 years ago. This extraordinary document includes these treasured words penned by Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Many argue these days about whether America was founded as a Christian nation. It is true that most of the signatories to the Declaration of Independence were professing Christians, while the rest were largely Deists. This latter group also believed in a Creator God, but held that He had set the world in motion, subjecting it to the governing laws of nature, but did not interfere in the daily affairs of men, and instead would wait until the end of time to come judge the actions of all men.

So, what cannot be disputed is that the vast majority of the founding fathers indeed believed in a Creator God whose hand of Providence was on their endeavours. These truths were, in their minds, “self-evident” – meaning no one had to first prove them or the existence of God. And they committed themselves to the biblical principle of Imago Dei – that man is a special creation of God made in His image. This means we are all equal in His sight, and every single human life has dignity and value, and deserves respect.

This guiding principle derives from Genesis 9:3-6, which also maintains that humans – like God – have a free will as well as moral agency, the ability to choose between right and wrong. But we also are told that God will require an account one day for our moral decisions and actions. This should leave us with a sense that God is watching our lives, which also gives us an incentive to act uprightly towards each other.

Now these principles also came to us from Israel, and they form the heart of the Judeo-Christian values which have inspired and upheld Western societies for many generations. And they were enshrined in the Declaration of Independence as the founding spirit and mission of America – to guard the concept of the equality of all men before our Creator, who also gave us individual rights and freedoms, as well as responsibilities toward each other.

The High Cost of Compromise
Sadly, a young America did not faithfully adhere to this sacred calling in that it did not treat black African slaves as created equal by God. This departure was written directly into the U.S. Constitution in the “three-fifths clause”, which counted black slaves as merely three-fifths of a person solely for purposes of allocating seats in the House of Representatives; otherwise, they were not even deemed to be persons entitled to equal rights. This clause was included as a compromise to sway the Southern slave-owning states to join the new, centralised federal union.

Several generations later, the entire nation – North and South – paid a great price in the Civil War for constantly compromising over the cruel institution of slavery. In his famous Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln distilled that whole conflict down to a fight over whether this “new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal… can long endure.”

As he grappled with God’s purposes amid the costly Civil War, Lincoln concluded that its essence was a struggle over America’s belief in the equality of all men. Dismissing the new theory of Darwinian evolution, Lincoln maintained a high view of mankind as created in God’s image – a view he was willing to defend by force of arms.

The Prophetic Role and Destiny of America
After the United States emerged from the furnace of that bitter conflict, it began to take on a more prominent role in the world as a defender of faith and freedom. At home, America is still a work in progress, only securing the equal rights of all its citizens under the pressure of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Yet on a global scale, it has repeatedly been the guardian of the principle of human equality and freedom.

For instance, the U.S. beat back the tyranny of the Nazis, who saw Jews as inferior humans that needed to be eradicated to protect the supposed superior Aryan race from genetic regression. America also stood up to and outlasted Soviet Communism, which sought to enslave the world under an atheistic, materialist Marxism.

However, neither of these repressive ideologies would have risen to power if not for the advent and widening influence of Darwinian evolution, which directly challenged the biblical concept that mankind is a special creation of God, instead claiming that we came from animals. This misguided scientific theory was used as a pretext by multitudes to walk away from belief in God, and of any sense of moral accountability to God.

Without Darwinism undermining belief in God, the atheistic Communists could have never taken over a deeply religious Orthodox Christian nation like Russia. Without the mainstreaming of Darwinism, the Nazis could have never seized power in a deeply religious Christian nation like Germany – the Land of the Reformation.

Today, America remains the primary guardian of Judeo-Christian values and democratic freedoms in our world. But we are still in an era of godless totalitarian threats, especially from the radical Left, which is now collaborating with radical Islam to destroy Israel and undermine the West. And if you want to see what the future is like if America does not stand strong in its founding mission, just look at the draconian “surveillance society” taking hold in China, with its more than one billion surveillance cameras. Instead of God watching over us, it is the state watching and controlling our every move, which is a chilling thought!

At our 250^th birthday, all Americans and even the entire world need to appreciate afresh the unique role of the United States in safeguarding democratic freedoms and preserving respect for the value and worth of every human life created by God. These were inspired by the Bible, delivered to us through the Jewish people, and then taught and spread worldwide by Christians. But as Lincoln once asked, can a nation so conceived in liberty and dedicated to the equal station of all men before God – can it long endure?

I believe the prophetic calling and destiny of America is tied to our fidelity to that founding mission of upholding the principle of Imago Dei found in Genesis 9:6. This passage is part of God’s covenant with Noah after the Flood, and in fact it is a condition for mankind to either keep or be found in breach of the covenant. God promised that the seasons will go on – summer and winter, seed time and harvest – so long as we maintain a high view of mankind as a special creation of God made in His image.

You would think it is becoming easier to stand by this self-evident truth, since science itself is proving beyond dispute that positive, random mutation to higher species is absolutely impossible, due to genetic entropy. Instead, more and more credentialed scientists are signing on to the concept of Intelligent Design, that the complexity of life and the universe demonstrate we had a Creator. But once the masses have discarded with God, few will voluntarily come back under His scrutiny. They love too much their freedom to decide right and wrong on their own. Thus, we can expect America will still have to face down the atheists and Marxists and totalitarian forces that seek to control the world. And this will go on until God is ready to judge the world once again, as in the “Days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37-39), but the judgment will not be by water, but by fire this time!

So may God bless America!