Exceptionalism

Exceptionalism

American Exceptionalism

The subject of American “exceptionalism” is frequently discussed today.  By definition being exceptional means “the state of being exceptional, uncommon, extraordinary” (The American Heritage Dictionary).  We would like to present some of the arguments for American exceptionalism and contrast that with the arguments for Israeli exceptionalism.

 

Additionally, we will submit that American exceptionalism has occurred at just the right time to be used of God to accomplish His purpose through the people of Israel.

Modern America dates back about 400 years to the early English settlements in this land.

Those earlier settlers found all of the resources necessary to succeed in an extraordinary way.  They and their descendants were prepared to utilize these resources.  Indeed, before them were almost unlimited resources.  America, in addition, offered a moderate climate which helped facilitate their prosperity.  So, in about 10 generations, America evolved into most prosperous nation in history.

The descendants of the early settlers devised a unique government that was specifically designed to limit its ability to interfere in their lives.  This was true whether considered on an individual bases, group bases or on the bases of their states.  Americans, therefore, enjoyed an unusual degree of freedom.  Unfortunately, this freedom is now being eroded through growing federal and state bureaucracies.  Through robust bureaucracies and intrusive courts the original intent of the framers has to a large degree been overcome.  Nevertheless, it has taken over 200 years for this to happen.  In the meantime, Americans have prospered in an extraordinary way.

Another important factor in America exceptionalism is the make-up of the population.   The dominant portion of Americans has been Christians with a Biblical worldview and an extremely strong work ethic.  This trait has promoted a stable and orderly nation which was necessary for the nation to prosper.

Finally, the commercial system in this country was designed to reward individual initiative.  Early Jamestown and Plymouth experiments in socialism failed miserably.  This led to the free enterprise system that the nation has enjoyed.  The earlier settlers in modern Israel also tried socialism (Kibbutzim).  Again, individual initiative was suppressed leading to failure.  The system has been or is being replaced with other commercial models.

 

Israeli Exceptionalism

Israel’s history dates back 4000 years to the time when Abraham entered the land then known as Canaan.  The nation of Israel, descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, represents one of the oldest civilizations in human history.  In addition, God used Israel as a vessel of revelation of His purpose, i.e., the Bible.  The Bible has, in turn, been foundational to the development of Western Civilization. 

The most important factor supporting the claim of Israeli exceptionalism is the fact that Israel is God’s chosen nation.  Israel is unique in this way.  No other national people can legitimately claim to have a covenant with God.  Both Moslems and Christians make claims based on the unscriptural doctrine of “replacement theology”.  However, both Islam and Christianity are catholic or universal and therefore distinctly non-national.  The Bible contains hundreds of specific promises of fulfillment which can only be fulfilled through the nation of Israel.  In addition, the Bible predicts that God will intervene in human history in the future.  According to the promise, such interventions will come through the nation of Israel.  So the ultimate hope of mankind is tied up in this small nation.  Hence, the nation of Israel is truly exceptional.

 

Conclusions

America reached “super-power” status at the end of WWII.  America was the only major industrial power whose infrastructure remained intact after the war.  Indeed, the American infrastructure and manufacturing capability had been greatly strengthened by the war.  The United States possessed the strongest military at that time and the economy was booming almost without limit. 

America’s rise to power came just as the tiny nation of Israel was attaining statehood in the modern world.  The independent state of Israel had not existed since the Babylonian destruction over 2500 years’ earlier (Israel gained semi-independence under Greek rule but lost it again under the Romans).  Israeli exceptionalism began to be apparent as the ancient prophecies were being fulfilled seemingly on a daily basis.  The Jewish people living in the land of Israel with God’s anointing represents a totally unique and exceptional situation.  This was never proclaimed more loudly than in 1967 in the “Six-Day War”.  Israel’s potential to serve as the vessel for God’s intervention fueled revival in the church and brought hope to millions across the world.  This is true in spite of the fact that the vast majority of people did not then and do not now realize what is happening.

The truly unique nature and potential of the nation of Israel is recognized by the forces of evil operating in the world.  The Bible identifies and personalizes that evil as “the Satan”.  Satan wants to destroy Israel.  The apostle Paul exhorted believers to be prepared for and to enter into “Spiritual Warfare”.   He exhorted the Ephesians to “wrestle against principalities and power, against the world forces of this darkness” (Ephesians 6:12).  To do so, the objectives of these “world forces of darkness” must be recognized. These forces attempted to eliminate Israel (militarily conquer and drive the Jewish people into the sea) in 1948, 1956, 1967 and again in 1973.  After their failure in the Yom Kippur war the enemy evidently decided on another strategy.  This strategy involved the gradual building of an international hostility against Israel and diminishing the ability of America to defend Israel.

American support for Israel is from the grassroots and not necessarily from the level of the ruling class.  Bible believing Christians are the strongest supporter of Israel.  This is the true hearty backbone of America.  In addition, the Jewish community of America has traditionally supported Israel although that is being challenged today.  High level governmental support of Israel is frequently offset by the apparent need to maintain business interests in the Arab world, i.e., oil.  In terms of the government, the strongest support comes from the House of Representatives.  Support in the Senate is somewhat less.  Finally, the least supportive is the Executive Branch.  This is especially true of the State Department.

The Obama administration is the most anti-Israel administration in history.  The objective of the Obama administration is to divide Israel by establishing a Palestinian state in her midst.  Previous administrations have maintained the same policy but the present administration has placed unprecedented emphasis and energy on this project.  Such a state would render Israel vulnerable to attack.  The disposition of the Palestinians has been adequately demonstrated by the experiment in Gaza. 

A related objective of the administration is to diminish America’s super-power capabilities.  Mr. Obama is the product of his interactions with men like George Soros, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers and others of the same type.  He recognizes that America is exceptional but sees this in a negative sense in terms of his worldview.  This is the reason that he repeatedly apologizes for American exceptionalism.  He promotes unilateral disarmament of the United States.  He appears to support economic policies whose effect is to cripple the American economy.  Administration response to the current crises in Korea and with the so-called Wikileaks will demonstrate its true objectives.

 

Exhortation

In Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians, he declared that God desires to use the church as the instrument of revelation of His purposes to the principalities and powers (Ephesians 3:9-10).  Therefore, believers should use every resource available to shine the light of truth on the “world forces of darkness” operating today.  Preaching on the street corner, writing letters to editors of local newspapers, writing articles for newsletters, maintaining web pages and any other medium available should be used. 

A final exhortation is to keep America strong.  We maintain that God granted America the unique opportunity of exceptionalism at precisely the time when the nation of Israel was coming into being.  Even now, America remains the strongest supporter of Israel in spite of an anti-Israel administration.  America should remember the exhortation presented to Queen Esther by Mordecai.  He reminded her that she had been elevated to her position at that precise time in order to be an instrument of salvation for the Jewish people.  America stands in a similar position today.  A strong America is a bold deterrent to any force that would attack God’s people.