What’s behind the various symbolism in the Great Seal of the United States of America?
Those who find the Illuminati behind every crevice of history will be disappointed. But those who understand that the United States fulfills biblical prophesy will be delighted.
It is the contention of this author that the United States of America fulfills the prophecies given to Abraham, passed down to his son Isaac, then to Isaac’s son Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel), then onto Joseph and his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. God made a covenant with Abram which cannot be altered. He even changed his name to Abraham, saying “for a father of many nations have I made thee.” The prophecies were enlarged so that by the time the prophecies got to Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, the promise became a “company of nations” to Ephraim and a “great nation” to Manasseh.
What we call the modern state of Israel today never fulfilled these prophecies. Who did then? Who could have? There is a great case to be made that the United States fulfills the promise of a “great nation” given to Manasseh, and the United Kingdom (with its commonwealth of countries) fulfills the promise of a “company of nations” given to Ephraim (Gen 48:19, 20).
It is not within the scope of this article to lay down the biblical foundations for arriving at this conclusion. The reader is directed to these two resource materials on the web, as well as my Mindshift video below:
USA IN PROPHECY — is an article by Bible scholar and historian Steven M. Collins. This article gives a good overview of America fulfilling the prophecies to Manasseh. It is the most amazing study to understand, through the Bible and secular sources, the hand of God in preserving His word and His people. Thankfully, there are many other resources on the subject (mp3 downloads and books) on his website.
http://stevenmcollins.com/html/usa_in_prophecy.html
JOSEPH’S BIRTHRIGHT AND JUDAH’S SCEPTER by J.H. Allen. This is a marvelous treatise on the two unconditional, but seldom cited, promises given by God to Israel: 1) Birthright promises of national greatness to Joseph; and 2) the Scepter promise to Judah. The fulfillment of these promises, largely overlooked by most Christians, cannot be overestimated in its importance in showing God’s faithful hand in keeping His promises. Either these promises were fulfilled by God or not. Either the Bible is the word of God or not. Most people, once they understand the promises and their fulfillment, will be overwhelmed by God’s faithfulness.
http://cbcg.org/franklin/Judahs_Sceptre_Josephs_Birthright.pdf
However, we will concentrate on the Great Seal of the United States, from information derived from the latter source, “Joseph’s Birthright and Judah’s Scepter.” Please download the free .pdf file now and save it for when you have time to review it.
Before we go to the first point, we need to backtrack to explain about Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, had 12 children, each the leader of one of the tribes of Israel. God’s birthright promises of national greatness were given to Joseph (I Chron 5:2) — Joseph, who was Israel’s favorite son and received the coat of many colors; Joseph, who was given dreams of greatness and power; Joseph, who when sent to Egyptian captivity became second in command to Pharaoh’s Egypt; Joseph, the “fruitful bough” who prospered in all he did and, when famine came, fed the masses.
It is that Joseph — the double portion Joseph — who had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who received the birthright promises. When the aging Israel blessed the two sons, he literally adopted them both as “sons” — thereby making his progeny thirteen tribes (Gen 48:5, 13-20).
Therefore Manasseh is the thirteenth tribe. Now let’s go to the Obverse side of the Great Seal and see biblical parallels back to Manasseh.
The United States, like Manasseh, is also associated with the number 13, since it began with 13 colonies. That’s why in the Great Seal, there are 13 olives, 13 leaves, 13 arrows, 13 feathers, 13 stars, 13 letters for both “E Pluribus Unum” and, in the reverse side of the Seal, “Annuit Coeptis.”
Above the eagle’s head is a constellation of 13 stars in the shape of the Star of David! — a key emblem for Israel, for King David ruled over both the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Surrounding that constellation is a Glory Cloud, the kind that followed and kept Israelprotected through the wilderness.
Now let’s take a look at the phrase, “Annuit Coeptis,” for this too harks back to the Bible. The phrase means, “He [the Lord] hath prospered our undertakings.” This refers to Manasseh’s father Joseph, for we read, “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was aprosperous man….The Lord was with him [Joseph], and that which he did the Lord made it to prosper (Gen. 39:3, 23)”.
As an aside, please note that our nation’s forefathers recognized God’s providence in the origin and success of this nation. And whether or not our forefathers knew specifically of America’s Israelitish history, it seems evident that the very same Providence they acknowledged saw to it, on their behalf, to depict these key signposts of their heritage on the Great Seal for the ages.
Let’s move onto the Eye of Providence, which is depicted above an uncompleted pyramid. The Eye of Providence’s position is key, in that, it is God who completes our structure (America!) and He is in the foremost position — the capstone — of the pyramid. Even as scripture says, Jesus Christ is the chief capstone (Eph 2:20). Yes, it is He who is above all, who makes all things possible; who prospers our undertakings in creating this nation.
But why a pyramid? Out of all the structures known to man, our forefathers picked the Great Pyramid of Egypt. This harks back to Manasseh’s heritage once again. For Joseph sired his two children, Manasseh and Ephraim, in Egypt (Gen 41:50-53)!
It is under this context, ie a nation founded by God, that we can better understand the Latin phrase: “Novus ordo seclorum” — which mean, “A New Order for the Ages.”
How prophetic was that term! For the single great nation that was prophesied by God to Manasseh has come to pass — and for generations the United States has set the terms for the world’s stage; has been the head and not the tail; has been the breadbasket (like Joseph) in feeding the world; has been used by God to save the world in two great wars; has been the city set on a hill, showing the world how prosperous any nation can become that puts its faith in God.
Great Britain (Ephraim) became the greatest world empire, fulfilling the word for “a company of nations.” The sun could never set on all of England’s commonwealth nations.
Sadly, the United States has had a generation of drifting away from the Lord and it shows, with all its insurmountable problems. And both dynasties are showing their age and, coinciding with the end of this present age and the return of the Lord, are losing their prestige and influence in the world.
But that story is for another time.
So, the Great Seal speaks of America’s lineage as one of the tribes of Israel and it speaks of America’s dependence on God for it’s overall prosperity.
ADDENDUM1: Did you know that there were other early versions of the Great Seal and the above is is one of them (from E. Raymond Capt’s book, “Our Great Seal”). Notice the mention of God in the wording, as well as the Fire of God that led the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, and the drowning of Pharoah’s army in the Red Sea.
ADDENDUM2: Since writing this piece, I actually made a compelling video chronicling America’s beginnings as Manasseh. It’s called, “America In Prophecy,” because in order to know where America is headed, we need to know where America has been. See video link below:
