Hey Stephen,
Thanks for weighing in on this topic. Do you note the extreme irony of the the "literalist" position that inserts a non-existent 2000+ year gap into the text? A similar thing happens with the interpretation of "this generation" in the Olivet Discourse in Matt 24, and the meaning of "soon" in Revelation. If the "literalist" position is anything, it most certainly is "non-literalist"!
I find the striking confluence of the Number 70 in Daniel's prophecy very significant. The the 70 weeks fulfilled in 70 AD when Israel was finally dispersed into the Gentile nations (represented by the Number 70). I also think there is "something" going on with the symbols of the Great Seal, but I still don't have any sense that America should be thought of as literal Manasseh, or any other tribe of Israel for that matter. I am getting the impression that you would admit there is no "solid proof" or even "compelling suggestion" that America is a tribe of Israel. I say that because most of your arguments are on the level of symbolic correspondence which does not seem to carry the literalist implications required to support the idea that America is literally a tribe of literal Israel.
Of course, it could be that you just haven't finished presenting your arguments, in which case I will withhold final judgment.
Your brother in the Lord,
Richard
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