Manifest Destiny

When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him: “My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations. No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations. I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you. I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.” God also said to Abraham: “On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”  (Genesis 17:3-9)

Impressive encounter!  God spoke directly to Abram apparently in the language Abram could understand.  Then God gave him a new name: Abraham.   God made many promises to Abraham especially the one about the land “in which you are now staying” thereby giving Abraham and his descendants permanent possession of all of Canaan.   That’s one impressive land grab dispossessing all the original residents of that land God was taking away.   Seems quite unjust and uncharacteristic of a loving God.

There’s a parallel here with the United States and the concept of Manifest Destiny: a phrase coined in 1845 that the United States was destined by God to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent.  Expansion was justified and inevitable; it was the US right and duty to rule North America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, according to the concept’s proponents.  President James K. Polk (1845-1849) was the leader most associated with Manifest Destiny.  It was a disputed philosophy coined by newspaper editor John O’Sullivan.

The US government used this concept to evict Native Americans from their tribal lands using such tools as the Indian Removal Act of 1830.  Eventually the government demanded that Native Americans abandon most of their lands and move to reservations.

I suspect Manifest Destiny was based, at least in part, on what God allegedly did to Canaan for the early Israelites.  Canaan included parts of modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.  Some piece of valuable territory!

The Bible and this story of Abraham’s conversation with God had far-reaching consequences.   Much of the Bible has been used for self-serving purposes with God being the perpetrator – not the ones justifying immoral acts such as Native American displacement and destruction.

Deacon David Pierce