One might ask, “Is it important?”  “Does it matter who Britain and the USA are in Bible prophecy?” There are many end time prophecies.  It turns out that many of these end time prophecies pertain to Britain and the USA.

A little history

Let’s start off with a little history.

The picture above shows a funeral.  There is a huge Spanish flag hanging on the left and an equally large but tattered French flag hanging on the right.  The settings is St Paul’s cathedral, London, England.  On 9th January 1806, a funeral procession consisting of 32 admirals, over a hundred captains, and an escort of 10,000 soldiers took a coffin to St Paul’s Cathedral where a four-hour service was held.  It was the funeral of Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson.  Why was Lord Nelson honoured so much?  On 21 October 1805, Nelson’s fleet engaged the combined French-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar.  The battle was Britain’s greatest naval victory, and a very significant battle because afterwards Spain was no longer a world power.  Sadly, during the action Nelson was fatally wounded.

In 1815 Napoleon, pictured above, was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, after which France was no longer a world power. 

The defeat of the Spanish Armada and the French army was a pivotal point in Britain’s history.  The two major powers in Europe had been deposed allowing Britain to rise to dominance.

At the start of the 1800’s, Britain arose from a second-rate European country to an empire which controlled about ¼ of the earth’s population and land area, see picture above. 

On the 4^th July 1776, the British 13 colonies on the east coast of North America declared their independence from Britain; the United States was born. 

In 1803 the United States purchased from France the Louisiana territory (over 2 million km²), see picture above.  The Louisiana territory was a vast swathe of land in the middle of what is now the US.  Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory to the United States to raise money in his war with Britain.  With the purchase of the Louisiana territory the United States went from 13 original states occupying just a small portion of the continent of North America to a vast nation, which later became the most powerful in the world. 

Together Britain and the United States have dominated the world for the last 200 years.  The rise to greatness of Britain and the United States was not achieved by chance, nor by the brilliance of their peoples, but by divine providence, the fulfillment of promises God made about 4000 years ago to Abraham.  These promises of blessings were passed on to Isaac and Jacob and then Ephraim and Manasseh. 

Divine Blessings

What were these blessings God promised to Abraham?  They can be divided into two often referred to as the Sceptre and the Birthright.  The Sceptre is promise that in Abraham all nations would be blessed, which was the promise the Messiah would come from Abraham’s descendants.  The Birthright is the promise of national greatness for Abraham’s descendants.

Here are the Scriptural references.

Blessing: All families of the earth shall be blessed – promise of Messiah

Gen 12:3  I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Blessing: A great nation.

Gen 12:2  I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.

Blessing: Father of many nations. 

Gen 17:4  “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
Gen 17:5  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

Blessing: Descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

Gen 22:16  and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—
Gen 22:17  blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

Gen 24:60  And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: “Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them.”

These blessings were passed on to Abraham’s son, Isaac.

Blessing: Very numerous descendants.  All families of the earth shall be blessed – promise of Messiah

Gen 26:3  Dwell in this land, and I will be with you [Isaac] and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
Gen 26:4  And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
Gen 26:5  because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

The blessings promised to Abraham were also passed on to Isaac’s son, Jacob.  The Bible gives more details about the blessings when they were passed to Jacob.

Here are the Scriptural references.

Gen 27:26  Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”
Gen 27:27  And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field Which the LORD has blessed.

Blessing: Greatly blessed with good agricultural land.

Gen 27:28  Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine.

Blessing: Nations to bow before them.  Dominant over other nations.

Gen 27:29  Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!”

Blessing: Numerous and colonising, spreading across the earth.  All families of the earth shall be blessed – promise of Messiah

Gen 28:14  Also your [Jacob] descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Blessing: Very numerous descendants: a nation and company of nations.  Kings will come from his line.

Gen 35:10  And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.
Gen 35:11  Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

Jacob had twelve sons.  The blessings Jacob received were then split between two of his sons.  The blessing was split into Sceptre and Birthright.  The Sceptre passed to Judah; the Birthright passed to the sons of Joseph who were Ephraim and Manasseh. 

Here are the Scriptures which show this.

1Ch 5:1  Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—he was indeed the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright;
1Ch 5:2  yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler, although the birthright was Joseph’s—

Gen 49:10  The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; [Messiah] And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

The Sceptre was passed to Judah.  The Birthright passed to the sons of Joseph, that is, to Ephraim and Manasseh.  Manasseh was to be great, but Ephraim was to be greater and become a multitude of nations.

Gen 48:19  But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

We have covered the blessings given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Elsewhere in Scripture these are confirmed and expanded upon.  We will now briefly summarise what we have covered and look at a few more Scriptures covering the Birthright blessings which went to Ephraim and Manasseh.

Blessing 1: Shall possess the gate of their enemies

Gen 22:16  and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—
Gen 22:17  blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

Gen 24:60  And they blessed Rebekah [Isaac’s wife] and said to her: “Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them.”

Blessing 2: Good agricultural land and climate

Gen 27:28  Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine.

Deu 33:13  And of Joseph he said: “Blessed of the LORD is his land, With the precious things of heaven, with the dew, And the deep lying beneath,
Deu 33:14  With the precious fruits of the sun, With the precious produce of the months,
Deu 33:15  With the best things of the ancient mountains, With the precious things of the everlasting hills,
Deu 33:16  With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush. [God] Let the blessing come ‘on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.’

Blessing 3: Nations to bow before them; dominant over other nations

Gen 27:29  Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!”

Blessing 4: Very numerous descendants

Gen 17:4  “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
Gen 17:5  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

Gen 26:3  Dwell in this land, and I will be with you [Isaac] and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
Gen 26:4  And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
Gen 26:5  because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

Gen 28:14  Also your [Jacob] descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Gen 35:11  Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

Deu 33:17  His glory is like a firstborn bull, And his horns like the horns of the wild ox; Together with them He shall push the peoples To the ends of the earth; They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

Blessing 5: Colonising, spreading across the earth, west, east, north, and south

Gen 28:14  Also your [Jacob] descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Gen 49:22  “Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.
Gen 49:23  The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.
Gen 49:24  But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

Blessing 6: A nation and a company of nations

Gen 48:19  But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

Blessings 7: Blessed with riches from the ground

Gen 49:25  By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
Gen 49:26  The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph …

These are the Birthright blessings that were promised to Ephraim and Manasseh.  Remember that the promise of the Sceptre (the Messiah) went to Judah.  Now we will cover a little bit of history of to see what happened to them.

Israel splits in house of Judah and house of Israel

Israel had a period of great prosperity under the reign of king Solomon.  Although prosperous, Ephraim and Manasseh did not receive the Birthright blessings at this time.  They did not possess the gate of their enemies (blessing 1); other nations did not bow before them (blessing 3); they weren’t colonising (blessing 5); they were not a nation and a company of nations (blessing 6).  After king Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became king of all of Israel.  The people of Israel asked Rehoboam to reduce their taxes but instead he increased them.  The northern tribes rebelled and broke away.  The tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi remained loyal to Rehoboam.  They became known as the house of Judah.  The northern tribes that rebelled became known as the house of Israel.  1 Kings 12 gives an account of this.  Although before the split Israel is at times referred to as the house of Israel, the important point is that Israel split into two nations with two different kings.

1. House of Judah: Judah, Benjamin and Levi.
2. House of Israel: Ephraim, Manasseh, and the other tribes.

God warned Israel (all twelve tribes) that He would scatter them if they were sinful.

Deu 4:27  And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.
Deu 4:28  And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
Deu 4:29  But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 4:30  When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice

1Ki 14:15  For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their wooden images, provoking the LORD to anger.

Eze 6:8  “Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries.
Eze 6:9  Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.

Eze 20:23  Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries,

Israel was sinful and so God scattered Israel for being sinful.

Eze 36:16  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Eze 36:17  “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity.
Eze 36:18  Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it.
Eze 36:19  So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.

The house of Israel was wicked and rebelled against God.  Consequently, God removed Israel from His sight.  Israel was taken captive by Assyria, 721-718 BC.

2Ki 17:6  In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

2Ki 17:18  Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.

2Ki 17:22  For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them,
2Ki 17:23  until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.

1Ch 5:26  So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He carried the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into captivity. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan to this day.

The house of Judah fared a little better than Israel, but Judah also was wicked and rebelled against.  Judah was taken captive by Babylon, 604 – 585 BC.

At the time of Christ, the twelve tribes were still scattered.

Jas 1:1  James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.

Mat 10:5  These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.
Mat 10:6  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Ephraim and Manasseh were still scattered at the time of Christ, so at that point they still had not received the blessings.

Although God scattered Israel among the nations, Jeremiah states that Israel was not to cease being a nation. 

Jer 31:35  Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name):
Jer 31:36  “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.”

This is an amazing statement.  God is saying that if the stars, sun, and moon cease to exist, then Israel will cease to be a nation.  So, yes, Israel was scattered among the nations, but not forever.  It was God’s purpose for them to be a nation again.  How did God do this?  God sifted Israel among the nations.

Amo 9:8  “Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” Says the LORD.
Amo 9:9  “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah give details of how the house of Judah, (the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and some Levites), were allowed to return from Babylon to Jerusalem and rebuild it.  Because they returned to Jerusalem and continued to keep the Sabbath, they can be traced through history.  In 1948 the descendants of the house of Judah founded the modern nation of Israel.  The world recognises the house of Judah as descendants of Jacob but thinks of them as all twelve tribes—not just Judah and Benjamin.  The house of Israel (the other tribes) which had been taken to Assyria became “lost”.  Although these lost tribes exist today as nations, the world does not recognise them as descendants of Jacob. 

To help understand prophecies concerning Israel, there is an important point we should note.

Jacob said of Ephraim and Manasseh: “Let my name be upon them.”

Gen 48:16  The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

What was Jacob’s name?  It was Jacob, obviously, but also Israel because God changed it.

Gen 32:28  And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

This means that many prophecies concerning Israel are actually prophecies about Ephraim and Manasseh.  With all this in mind we can make two important conclusions.

House of Judah

End time prophecies about the house of Judah refer to the modern nation of Israel. 

House of Israel

End time prophecies about the house of Israel refer to either

1. All the twelve tribes.
2. The ten lost tribes, that is all the tribes except Judah and Benjamin.
3. Just Ephraim and Manasseh because Jacob (who God renamed Israel) put his name on them. 

Throne of David

Before identifying Ephraim and Manasseh it is helpful to look at the throne of David because it can help in the identification.  God promised king David his kingly line would last forever.

2Sa 7:12  “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13  He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2Sa 7:14  I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
2Sa 7:15  But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
2Sa 7:16  And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ‘ “

2Ch 13:5  Should you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?

2Ch 21:7  Yet the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

God promised that king David’s throne would exist in all generations.

Psa 89:3  “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David:
Psa 89:4  ‘Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations.‘ ” Selah

Psa 89:34  My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.
Psa 89:35  Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David:
Psa 89:36  His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me;
Psa 89:37  It shall be established forever like the moon, Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

God promised that king David would always have a descendant to sit on the throne of Israel. 

Jer 33:17  “For thus says the LORD: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

Jer 33:20  “Thus says the LORD: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season,
Jer 33:21  then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers.

Jer 33:25  “Thus says the LORD: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth,
Jer 33:26  then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ “

How would king David’s kingly line last forever?  Jesus Christ was a descendant (from his mother’s side) of king David.  When Jesus Christ returns, He will be king forever.  The promise of the Sceptre, which went to the house of Judah, was fulfilled when Jesus was born of Mary.

Luk 1:31  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
Luk 1:32  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

These promises also show that when Jesus Christ returns, He will return to an existing throne because God promised that David would always have a son to sit on his kingly line.  This gives additional information to identify Ephraim and Manasseh.  They, or at least one or more of the twelve tribes, will have a royal family.

The future for Israel

Before identifying Ephraim and Manasseh it is helpful to look at some of the unfulfilled prophecies concerning Israel because they help in the identification.  Here is a list of them:

• Jacob’s trouble
• Punishment of national destruction
• Wicked of Israel will be killed
• A second captivity
• Return from captivity from Assyria, Egypt, the north and the northwest.
• Foreigners shall no more enslave them
• Israel and Judah to be one nation again
• Israel will turn to God after being freed from captivity
• Judah and Israel will return to the promised land (Canaan)
• King David will be their king again

The Scriptures for these prophecies are shown below.

Jacob’s Trouble

The prophet Jeremiah speaks of a future time of trouble for Jacob. 

Jer 30:5  “For thus says the LORD: ‘We have heard a voice of trembling, Of fear, and not of peace.
Jer 30:6  Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale?
Jer 30:7  Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.

Now when is this referring to?  Is it some past event?  No, it’s future.  How do we know?  Let’s read on.

Jer 30:8  ‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘That I will break his yoke from your neck, And will burst your bonds; Foreigners shall no more enslave them.
Jer 30:9  But they shall serve the LORD their God, And David their king, Whom I will raise up for them.

That’s a future event.

Jer 30:10  ‘Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the LORD, ‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from afar, And your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet, And no one shall make him afraid.

Jacob (Israel) will go into captivity the end of this age, and God will rescue them from that captivity.

Punishment of National Destruction

The prophet Ezekiel was commissioned by God to speak to the house of Israel.  Ezekiel lived about 600 BC, over 100 years after the house of Israel went into captivity.

Eze 3:1  Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”
Eze 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.
Eze 3:3  And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.
Eze 3:4  Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.

The message Ezekiel delivers from God is of a coming destruction.

Eze 7:2  “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: ‘An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.  [National destruction]
Eze 7:3  Now the end has come upon you, And I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations.
Eze 7:4  My eye will not spare you, Nor will I have pity; But I will repay your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst; Then you shall know that I am the LORD!’

This destruction must refer to a second future destruction, because the house of Israel had been carried away into captivity about 100 years earlier.

Wicked of Israel will be killed

When Jesus Christ returns and delivers the Judah and Israel from captivity, those who refuse to repent will be killed.  The “remnant of Israel”, that is those who are left, those who survive captivity, will be those do not lie nor practice deceit.

Eze 20:37  “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
Eze 20:38  I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Amo 9:10  All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’

Zep 3:11  In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds In which you transgress against Me; For then I will take away from your midst Those who rejoice in your pride, And you shall no longer be haughty In My holy mountain.
Zep 3:12  I will leave in your midst A meek and humble people, And they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
Zep 3:13  The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness And speak no lies, Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; For they shall feed their flocks and lie down, And no one shall make them afraid.”

A Second Captivity

Just before the verses in Jeremiah 30 about the future Jacob’s trouble, God says He “will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah”.  This is clearly then a second captivity, a future one.

Jer 30:3  For behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ “

Also, Isaiah mentions

Isa 11:11  It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time [second captivity] To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

Return from captivity from Assyria, Egypt, the north and the northwest

Ephraim will return from captivity from the west, Assyria and Egypt.

Hos 11:9  I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror.
Hos 11:10  “They shall walk after the LORD. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, Then His sons shall come trembling from the west;
Hos 11:11  They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt, Like a dove from the land of Assyria. And I will let them dwell in their houses,” Says the LORD.

The remnant (those who have not been killed) of God’s people (Israel) will return from captivity from Assyria and Egypt.

Isa 11:11  It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

Judah and Israel will return from captivity, from the north.

Jer 3:17  “At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.
Jer 3:18  “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.

Jer 16:14  “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
Jer 16:15  but, ‘The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.

Jer 31:8  Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends [coasts] of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there.

Israel will be gathered back from the northwest.

Isa 49:3  “And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.’

Isa 49:12  Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, And these from the land of Sinim.”
Isa 49:13  Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, And will have mercy on His afflicted.

Israel and Judah will be gathered back from the north.

Jer 23:3  “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
Jer 23:4  I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD.
Jer 23:5  “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
Jer 23:6  In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Jer 23:7  “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
Jer 23:8  but, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”

Foreigners shall no more enslave them

Jer 30:8  ‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘That I will break his yoke from your neck, And will burst your bonds; Foreigners shall no more enslave them.

Israel and Judah to be one nation again

Eze 37:15  Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Eze 37:16  “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’
Eze 37:17  Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.
Eze 37:18  “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’—
Eze 37:19  say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ‘
Eze 37:20  And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
Eze 37:21  “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
Eze 37:22  and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.

Hos 1:10  “Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’
Hos 1:11  Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel!

Israel will Turn to God after being Freed from Captivity

Jer 31:1  “At the same time,” says the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
Jer 31:2  Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness Israel, when I went to give him rest.”
Jer 31:3  The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Jer 31:4  Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
Jer 31:5  You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food.
Jer 31:6  For there shall be a day When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.’ “
Jer 31:7  For thus says the LORD: “Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’

Jer 50:4  “In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the LORD their God.
Jer 50:5  They shall ask the way to Zion, With their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD In a perpetual covenant That will not be forgotten.’

Eze 36:22  “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
Eze 36:23  And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.
Eze 36:24  For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
Eze 36:25  Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
Eze 36:26  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Hos 14:4  “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him.
Hos 14:5  I will be like the dew to Israel; He shall grow like the lily, And lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
Hos 14:6  His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, And his fragrance like Lebanon.
Hos 14:7  Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Hos 14:8  “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me.”

Judah and Israel will return to the promised land (Canaan)

Jer 30:3  For behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ “

Eze 36:28  Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

Eze 37:25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, the land in which your fathers have dwelt. And they shall dwell in it, even they and their children, and their children’s children forever. And My servant David shall be their ruler forever.

Amo 9:14  I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
Amo 9:15  I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the LORD your God.

King David will be their king again

Jer 30:9  But they shall serve the LORD their God, And David their king, Whom I will raise up for them.

Eze 34:23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, My servant David. He shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

Eze 37:23 Nor shall they be defiled with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with all of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they shall be to Me for a people, and I will be their God.
Eze 37:24 And David My servant shall be king over them. And there shall be one shepherd to all of them. And they shall walk in My ordinances and obey My laws, and do them.

The important point to note to help identify Ephraim and Manasseh is that when they are taken into captivity (shortly before Jesus Christ returns) they are located to the north and to the west of Jerusalem.

When are the Blessings to be Fulfilled?

The question is: when are the blessings to be fulfilled?  The Bible gives the answer.  In Gen 49, where Jacob is blessing his children before he died, God tells what would happen to the 12 tribes the last days.  We read earlier the tremendous blessings for Joseph.  They are the birthright blessings.  The blessings are to be fulfilled in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ.  There is also a Scripture which indicates that the blessings would be withheld 2520 years.

Lev 26:18  ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

A time is sometimes used to denote a year (Dan 7:25, Dan 12:7, Rev 12:14).  And sometimes a day denotes a year (Num 14:33-34, Eze 4:4-6).  “Seven times” then denotes 7 years, which is 7×360 days, which is 2520 days, which denotes 2520 years.  2520 years from the time from when the house of Israel went into captivity, 721 BC, is AD 1800, which was about the time of the birth of the British empire.

The time of the fulfillment of the blessings is also an important point to note to help identify Ephraim and Manasseh.  Somewhere now or in recent history Ephraim and Manasseh have received the Birthright blessings.

Identification

We are now ready to identify Ephraim and Manasseh.

The red dot on the map above is the location of Jerusalem.

• We know that Israel, (which includes Ephraim and Manasseh), will exist at the end time.
• We know that the Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) is a brother of Judah.  Therefore, Ephraim and Manasseh must look similar to the Jewish people.  So, we can rule out Asian nations and black African nations.
• We also know that they live somewhere to the northwest of Jerusalem because Christ rescues the captive Israelites from the northwest.
• We also know that there is a royal family in one or more of the twelve tribes.

What nations are there northwest of Jerusalem which have a royal family, and which have received the Birthright blessings:

1. Possess (or have possessed) the gates of their enemies
2. Have been greatly blessed with good agricultural land and climate
3. Have been dominant over other nations
4. Are very numerous
5. Have colonised, spreading across the earth, west, east, north and, south
6. Are a nation and company of nations
7. Have been blessed with riches from the ground

What nations northwest of Europe have received such blessings?  America and Britain with its Commonwealth nations of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have.  America is, and has been, the most powerful nation economically and militarily since the Second World War.  Britain with her commonwealth nations of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, has been a colonising nation, an empire which controlled about ¼ of the earth’s population and land area.  Moreover, Britain has a royal family that dates back to her roots.  Together Britain and America have spread across the world.  They have been blessed with good agricultural land, with mineral resources.  Together they have dominated the world for the last 200 years. 

Together Britain and America in the last 200 years have received the blessings which were promised to Ephraim and Manasseh.  If Britain and America have received the blessings which were promised to Ephraim and Manasseh in these last days, then surely Britain and America must be Ephraim and Manasseh.  There is one last piece of historical evidence.  I want to bring your attention to a most remarkable historical document that few people seem to know about.  It is the Declaration of Arbroath.  Arbroath is a small Scottish town located on the East coast of Scotland.

The Declaration of Arbroath is document that dates back to 1320.

The Declaration of Arbroath is a declaration of Scottish independence, made in 1320. It is in the form of a letter in Latin submitted to Pope John XXII, dated 6 April 1320, intended to confirm Scotland’s status as an independent, sovereign state.  It was sealed by various Scottish nobles.  It is quite lengthy but the start of the document it states the following:

They [the Scots] journeyed from Greater Scythia [1] by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea [2] and the Pillars of Hercules [3], and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain [4] among the most savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however barbarous.

Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still live today [5].

Is it not remarkable that the Scots of 700 years ago believed they were Israelites?

Objections

We have now reached a point where we can address common objections.  As a reminder, the blessings promised to Ephraim and Manasseh are:

1. Shall possess the gates of their enemies
2. Good agricultural land and climate
3. Nations to bow before them; dominant over other nations
4. Very numerous descendants
5. Colonising, spreading across the earth, west, east, north and, south
6. A nation and company of nations
7. Blessed with riches from the ground

Objection 1 – The blessings of national greatness and prosperity were fulfilled at the time of Solomon.

1.1)  Part of the blessing was that Ephraim and Manasseh would spread across the earth, west, east, north and, south, (5).  Again, that never happened in the time of ancient Israel.  They stayed in the land of Canaan before being taken captive by the Assyrians.

1.2)  Part of the blessing was that Ephraim would be a company of nations, and Manasseh a great nation, (6).  That never happened in Solomon’s time.  Ephraim and Manasseh were just two tribes.  They did not become separate nations.

Objection 2 – The blessings of national greatness and prosperity are for the millennium (when Christ returns).

2.1) In Gen 22:17 and Gen 24:60 which we covered, one of the blessings was to possess the gates of their enemies, (1).  Nations will not be enemies in the millennium.  So, this shows that the promisesmust be for a time prior to the millennium.

2.2) In Gen 49, where Jacob is blessing his children before he died, verse 23 states about Joseph, “The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.”  Nations will not fight each other in the millennium, so the blessings in Gen 49 must be for a time prior to the millennium.

Objection 3 – The Ten Lost Tribes were absorbed into the gentile nations. 

3.1) In Gen 49, where Jacob is blessing his children before he died, God tells what would happen to the 12 tribes the last days. 

Gen 49:1  And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:

Clearly the last days does not refer to the time of ancient Israel, which is roughly 1000 – 720 BC.  The last days has to be sometime after the birth Christ.  According to the prophecy in Gen 49, in the last days, the tribes are clearly separate nations and have not been absorbed into the gentile nations.

3.2) Earlier we read in Jeremiah about Jacob’s trouble, a future event at the end of this age.  In this prophecy, clearly Jacob, that is the 12 tribes, exist as nations at the end of the age.

3.3) In Ezekiel 37:21-22 God said the children of Israel will no longer be two nations, but one nation.  This implies that the children of Israel exist as two nations before Jesus Christ returns.

Eze 37:21  “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
Eze 37:22  and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.

Objection 4 – The Ten Lost Tribes are part of the modern Jewish nation of Israel. 

4.1) Only Judah and Benjamin returned to Jerusalem 70 years after Judah’s captivity later.  Not all the tribes.

Ezr 1:5  Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

Also see the genealogies in Ezra and Nehemiah.

4.2) Ezek 37, which we covered earlier, tells us Israel and Judah are to be joined to become one nation in the millennium.  That means they must be separate now.  So, the ten lost tribes cannot be part of the modern Jewish nation of Israel.

4.3) The Jewish nation has not received blessing of:

• Possessing the gates of their enemies, (1).
• Nations bowing before them.  Dominant over other nations, (3).
• Very numerous descendants, (4).
• Colonising, spreading across the earth, west, east, north and, south, (5).
• A nation and company of nations, (6).
• Riches from the ground, (7).

Some other nation has received these blessings.

Conclusion

We have seen there is ample evidence from Scripture and recent history that the blessings promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and then Ephraim and Manasseh have been fulfilled in Britain and the USA.  Understanding this means understanding that Britain and the USA will be punished by God with national captivity shortly before Jesus Christ returns unless they repent.  That is not the end of their story.  Jesus Christ will rescue the captives and they will return to Jerusalem and prosper again as one nation with the resurrected king David as their king.