Question: God repeatedly promised to gather the descendants of Israel to the land given their fathers. Abraham received land in the Middle East. How can the gathering of Israelites to America fulfill Biblical prophecy?

Answer: When Abram first entered Canaan, God appeared to him and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land" (Genesis 12:7). A generation later he told Isaac, "I will give unto thy seed all these countries" (Genesis 26:4). Jacob heard the same promise when Gold told him, "The land whereupon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed" (Genesis 28:13). Without doubt God gave Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the land in which they lived. They received the land of Canaan for their offspring.

In his dying blessing upon his son Jacob revealed that he received more land from God than either his father Isaac or his grandfather Abraham did. He told Joseph, "The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills" (Genesis 49:26). This awkward verse can be easily overlooked, but a close examination yields a startling revelation. Because Jacob was speaking to his son Joseph, the phrase "thy father" refers to Jacob. When he said "my progenitors," he referred to Abraham and Isaac. His statement means, "The blessings given me have prevailed, or exceeded, the blessings given Abraham and Isaac." He then goes on to specify what he received above that land given to his forefathers. He said, "Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills." The "everlasting hills" are the mountains and plains that form the continent in which these three patriarchs lived. The utmost bound of that continent are its coasts and the isles in the sea.

What Jacob told Joseph was that he received more land from God than what Isaac and Abraham received. That additional portion was the coasts of the continent and the islands between them. After identifying the additional lands he received, Jacob goes on to give them to Joseph and his offspring. He said, "They shall be on the head of Joseph" (Genesis 49:26). Ephraim, although the younger son of Joseph, had already been placed ahead of the elder, Manasseh. This meant that Ephraim received a greater portion of the coasts and isles of the sea.

America, although called a continent by us, could be considered an island in the sea, to which some of Ephraim's descendants would come. Moses made this clear when he prophesied about the land given Joseph. After describing it and likening him to a bull-calf with horns, he adds, "With them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: these are the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh" (Deuteronomy 33:17). America lies at the end, or on the other side, of the earth from Canaan. England, which means "land of the bull calf," has pushed people together to America. America is part of the land given to Jacob. The descendants of Israel, especially if they are descendants of Ephraim or Manasseh, are gathering to the land given their forefathers.