HERALDRY: THE CLUES TO HISTORY
MANASSEH: THE THIRTEENTH TRIBE
Jacob’s blessing to his sons as described to us in Genesis 49 tells the remarkable story of Joseph’s sons. Joseph had brought his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to be blessed by their grandfather on his deathbed, for they would be the heirs of the Birthright which was vested in Joseph’s posterity. Jacob’ s sight was growing dim in his old age, and when Joseph presented his sons, he was perturbed to see that Jacob laid his right hand on the head of the younger boy, Ephraim, thus transferring the Birthright to him. Joseph had carefully positioned his sons in front of Jacob, so that his right hand would touch Manasseh and his left, Ephraim, but Jacob deliberately crossed his hands so that the blessing was transferred. Joseph questioned this, and tried to make Jacob change his hands over, but Jacob said (v. 19):
“I know it, my son, I know it: he (Manasseh) shall also become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.”
At the time, Joseph must have been troubled about this, but he would have realised that Jacob had faith that this was God’s will for the future of the Israel people and submitted to that will.
After the tribe of Levi was set apart for the purposes of the priesthood, administration and medicine, there was a gap in the Brigades of Israel, so Manasseh became a separate tribe to fill that gap, under the banner of Ephraim, together with his youngest brother, Benjamin. Jacob’s blessing to Joseph, which covered both brothers, was “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. ” (Genesis 49:22 to 26).
In Romans 11:24 Israel is likened to an olive tree, so Joseph was symbolised by an olive branch. The blessing also mentions arrows, which two symbols we should bear in mind when looking for the tribe of Manasseh in today ‘s world.
Moses also gave his prophetic blessings to the tribes and in Deuteronomy 33:17 we read his blessing to Joseph:
“His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of Manasseh”.
 We have traced the unicorn symbol throughout the nations, and pointed out that the ox and/or unicorn and the horn became Ephraim’s emblems, while the olive branch and the bundle of arrows were left for Manasseh ‘s symbols. Where is there a great nation in the world today which uses these emblems in its heraldry?
The emblem of the United States of America, a branch of the Celto-Saxon people, has an eagle (pointing to members of the tribe of Dan) holding an olive branch and a bunch of arrows. The arrows number thirteen and Manasseh was the thirteenth tribe! There are also thirteen bars on the shield, thirteen stars in a circle above the eagle, and the motto “E pluribus unum (One out of many)” has thirteen letters.
Recent discoveries in North America have pointed to Celtic penetration of the Continent, and for a good many years now it has been known that the Vikings crossed the Atlantic and discovered the eastern seaboard at least. The Vikings were from Scandinavia and obviously would have had members of the tribe of Dan amongst them, since the Danites settled in that area, particularly in Denmark. The founders of the original republic must have been divinely inspired in their choice of emblems, unless in those days they knew of the true origins of their people.
In the Great Seal of the United States of America all the foregoing emblems are displayed, with a circle above the eagle edged by a cloud and with thirteen stars in the middle. The cloud is reminiscent of the Shekinah glory which went before Israel in the Wilderness wanderings, and which hovered over the Tabernacle. The stars remind us of Joseph’s dream, which so annoyed his brothers that they made up their minds to kill him. In Genesis 37:9 we read of this dream, which, coupled with the fact that Joseph was his father’s favourite, really angered the brothers because they thought that he was vain and spoiled.
”And he dreamed yet another dream and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me”.
 The stars could be a folk memory of Joseph’s prophecy transferred to Manasseh ‘s distant descendants.
Another significant fact about the young “daughter” nation’s heraldry is that the colours chosen were red, white and blue , (purple or royal blue), which are the Israel colours, being those of the Tabernacle hangings . (Exodus 25:4).
The first national flag of U.S.A . was called the “Grand Union” and had the Union Flag in the upper corner. It was composed of thirteen stripes of alternate red and white, one for each British colony. This dated from 1707. When the flag was first raised there was a salute of thirteen guns. Today, there are forty nine stars on the flag, but still thirteen stripes. Tradition tells us that the idea of the stars and stripes was adapted from George Washington’s family coat of arms, and as Washington was a Briton, it is obviously an ancient and richly symbolic escutcheon.
The country was discovered on 13 October. How significant this number is in America’s history! The Revd. F. W. Bullinger, D.D., in his book “Number in Scripture”, makes the point that thirteen is the number of rebellion. The United States of America rebelled against the mother country’s unfair taxation, and thus became a separately great nation as prophesied by Jacob so many centuries before.
We have previously mentioned the Great Seal, but only one side of it. On the reverse side there is still more rich symbolism. It shows an unfinished pyramid with thirteen steps, (thirteen again!) surmounted by a triangle with rays surrounding it and the eye of Jehovah in the centre. Compare Psalm 121:4, “Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep”. The motto above the triangle is “Annuit coeptis” (“He prospers our beginning”). (Thirteen letters). The pyramid is a symbol of Egypt. Manasseh was born in Egypt.
Taken together these heraldic devices make a great deal of evidence to link the nation across the Atlantic with its Israelitish origins. That there is a great interest in and revival of Christianity in the New World is significant and there are many believers in the identity message in the United States. How wonderful it will be when the British Isles awaken to their true role in world history and God’s Plan. Together with their brethren in the United States, they will be able to work out the Lord’s will for the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth.
