Plucking the Eagle's Wings

America: God's Prophetic Vineyard

Around 986 A.D., a Viking explorer en route to Greenland, Bjarni Herjolfsson, was driven off course by a storm. He is believed to be the first European to see North America. Until it was visited by the Icelandic explorer Leif Ericson, the land was not explored. Ericson is believed to have been one of the first Europeans to set foot on North American soil. Shortly before this, he was converted to Christianity in Norway. Upon traveling to Greenland to convert its Viking settlers to Christianity, he lost his way and came upon the North American shore. After completing his mission in Greenland, he wanted to return to the North American shore for exploration. He purchased Bjarni Herjolfsson's ship and, based on his records, retraced Herjolfsson's voyage. He sailed south along the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland. He called this area Vinland, or Wineland, because of the number of grapes growing there (the vineyard). The name Leif means beloved and Eric means the ever powerful . So his full name means the beloved son of the ever powerful. He actually reached Vinland on October 9, 1000 A.D., but the exact location of his landing remains undetermined. Some scholars think that it was Newfoundland in Canada, while others point to Nova Scotia or New England. Leif later lent his ship to his brother for further exploration of Vinland. In 1004 A.D., his brother was killed by natives. It appears that about 1,000 years after Christ's birth, God was already preparing to raise a new nation, America. Thorfinn Karlsefni was an Icelandic trader who led the first known pre-Columbian attempt by Europeans to settle in North America. On a trip to Greenland in the first years of the 11 th century, he met and married Ericson's widowed sister. Thereafter, he led a group of colonists to Vinland with the intent to establish a permanent colony. However, the local Indians banished the settlers after three years and the Vikings were unable to settle their new vineyard. Although the Vikings failed to settle America, I believe their early efforts point to God's preparation of the end-time vineyard described by Jesus. America's Hebrew connections seem to indicate that the United States has been God's end-time spiritual Israel until the "times of the Gentiles" is fulfilled. When the "times of the Gentiles" comes to an end, God will return His spiritual mantel to Israel. Long before America was settled, the physical nation of Israel was destroyed. Christians and Muslims fought in the area that the Romans called Palestine. Over time, the city of Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Byzantines, the Muslims, the Maramalukes, the Crusaders, 43