THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES
By Ira B. Howell M.D., R.A.M.

THE NEW AGE - JULY 1948

How many people in their busy daily pursuits realize that, wherever
thewy go, they always carry with them (that is, if they have it)
the Great Seal of the United States on the greenback of the one
dollar bill? Each American soldier likewise goes to battle with the
Great Seal on his buttons. But how many pause for a moment to study
the symbols on it?

History has shown that it is the nature of nations, as well as
individuals, to live by symbols. From the very earliest times in
man's development, various emblems and signs were used by the
peoples of the earth with which to identify themselves. The twelve
tribes of Israel, for example, were each identified by a separate
emblem. The lion symbolized Judah; the serpent Dan, and so on.

Of all countries and peoples in the world we of America possess the
strangest of all emblems - the Great Seal of the United States. The
Seal itself was thought of and adopted by the Founding Fathers.
From the records available on the history of the Seal, it is known
that Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, after
being appointed by the Continental Congress as a special committee,
first prepared and submitted separate designs before they adopted
the one we now have.

Would one believe, for example, that he would find the Hebraic
six-pointed star of David on the Seal? Of course not. Yet it is
there. Right above the eagle on the obverse side, formed by
thirteen stars and encased in a cloud (a symbol of the Biblical
cloud appearing above the Tabernacle of the congregation of the
children of Israel). The number 13, usually accepted as being
unlucky, seems to play a dominant part in both the obverse and
reverse sides of the Seal. Though this may be partially based on
the fac t that there were thirteen original states, seems the
signification goes further than that. That there happened to be
just thirteen states and not any other number is no mere
coincidence.

On the obverse side, besides the thirteen stars forming the Shield
of David, we find the words E Pluribus Unum, thirteen letters, and
meaning "One Out of Many." The eagle, another Biblical symbol,
holds in one of his talons a olive branch with thirteen leaves, and
in the other thirteen arrows. Our flag covering the eagle's body,
has thirteen bars - seven standing out as in the seven-branched
candlestick.

On the reverse side of the Seal we find the Pyramid standing in a
wilderness and built in thirteen layers of stone. Above it, in the
headstone, is the all-seeing eye of our Creator, and the words
Annuit Coeptis - meaning "He hath prospered our beginning," and
again thirteen letters written over the Pyramid. Below it we find:
Novus Ordo Seclorum," meaning "An Old Order of the Ages Is Born
Anew."

To fully realize the significance of the number 13 we must again go
back to the early history of Israel and endeavour to understand the
difference between the terms Israel, Hebrew and Jew. Perhaps a lot
of people would be surprised; that is, some would be, if they were
told that Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Joseph, and a lot of other
Biblical characters were not Jews. Why do I say this? Eber, the
grandson of Shem, was the first Hebrew, as his very name - Eber
(Eberi, Ebrew) - itself signifies. His descendants, in cluding
Abraham, were all Hebrews. The words Israel and Jew (Jehudi) had
not yet come into the world. "Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat
Jacob" - all Hebrews.

The Bible record shows that Jacob was surnamed Israel; namely,
Yis-sar-el ("God will rule"), because he "had ruled with man and
prevailed." Thus, Jacob was the first Israelite in the world, but
he was also a Hebrew.

The 120 Pilgrim Fathers who reached America on the Mayflower in
1620 left England because of religious differences. They broke with
the Church of England because, as a body of people, they not only
believed differently from the ruling Church, but by the very act of
their separation they also proved to be different in character. To
know what type of people these Pilgrim Fathers were and how they
looked upon the Old Testament one can judge from a little incident
occurring just before the Mayflower left Englan d. Cotton Mather
took his Bible and opened it to II Samuel, 7-10, and read:
"Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will
plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move
no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any
more, as beforetime." After the reading of this passage from the
Bible, he said: "We are now going to that land."

In the first design of the Great Seal that was submitted to the
Continental Congress by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and
John Adams, the reverse side showed Moses with the Israelites safe
on the shore, while the Egyptians were being drowned by the Red
Sea.
