Identificación de contextos reales y bases de datos libres que permitan la construcción de

The Hebrew Parallels in the American Revolution

The children of Israel journeyed into Egypt as a free people.

They had the favor of Pharaoh and the protection of Joseph, a Hebrew (Genesis 47). As years passed, Joseph died and the Hebrew population grew, becoming a threat to the Egyptians. To stop the threat, Pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews (Exodus 1:7-12), and they cried out to God for deliverance (Exodus 2:23-25).

In comparison, by the year 1775, the colonists were crying out to God and to one another for freedom from the lion of Britain. It was Patrick Henry who cried out, "Give me liberty or give me death"

(Source: Address to the House of Burgesses-March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry). The desire for independence from England welled up in the hearts of Americans.

In Egypt, Pharaoh oppressed the Hebrews. In America, a tyrannical government oppressed the colonists. The British imposed the Navigation Acts, the Stamp Acts, the Townshend Duties, and the Intolerable Acts. The laws were intended to make the

independent-minded colonists submit to the king. George III wrote to Lord North, Prime Minister of Great Britain, "The dye is cast ... the Colonies must either submit or triumph."

In Egypt, God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh, "Let my people go,, (Exodus 5:1). When the British were pressuring the colonists, Puritan ministers began preaching a message of liberty and freedom from Britain. Colonists were told to protect their right to participate in their government. Soon the king dispatched troops to Boston, the seat of American patriotism, to suppress rebellion in the colonies. The king denied representation of the colonists in Parliament.

In response to Moses' proclamation, "Let my people go,"

Pharaoh heaped more burdens upon the Hebrews. He felt that he could suppress their spirits and cause them to forget their desire to leave Egypt. In a similar fashion, the king believed that he could force the colonists into subjection. In both Egypt and America, the tyrants were wrong!

In March of 1770, the Boston Massacre occurred. In December of 1773, Boston colonists, dressed like Indians, raided British ships and dumped expensive tea into the harbor. This Boston Tea Party became a triggering point for the war. The colonists believed that God had brought them into their Promised Land, and now a new Pharaoh named King George III oppressed them like the Hebrews in Egypt. Moses and Aaron faced the leader of the strongest nation on earth and, with God's help, saw a great deliverance. One of the Founders suggested that our national seal depict Israel crossing the Red Sea and Pharaoh being drowned in the waters. Here, another prophetic parallel unfolds. Just as Israel was delivered from Egypt during Passover, America initiated her liberation during the same Jewish feast of Passover!

America and the Passover Connection

"And thus you shall eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's Passover."

(Exodus 12:11)

As noted in this book, many important events in America's history have coincided with Jewish festivals and special days in Hebrew history. One such parallel involves the creation of the Minutemen. As

The American Revolution and the Children of Israel

tension built in the colonies, British General Thomas Gage sent soldiers to seize munitions that were stockpiled in Sommerville, Massachusetts.

Caught off guard, the colonists met in Worchester, Massachusetts, on September 21, 1774 to organize companies of Minutemen, who were to ride the countryside to warn of approaching British forces. September 21 was the 16^th of Tishri, the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles commemorated Israel's wanderings in the wilderness. The next consecutive Hebrew feast is the Passover, which would take place in the spring of the following year. On another Jewish feast day, America was making itself ready to "separate from Egypt!"

According to Scripture, on the fourteenth day of the Hebrew month Nisan, the Hebrews prepared the Passover meal in Egypt. Late that night, as they sat eating in their homes, the destroyer went through the land of Egypt and killed all firstborn.

April 14,1775 corresponds to the Hebrew date Nisan 14, 5535, the day when Jews prepared for Passover. On April 14, 1775, orders arrived for British Commander Thomas Gage to move against the rebels and arrest their leaders. Captain Oliver De Lancy executed the orders.

De Lancy led the 17^th Light Dragoons, a cavalry unit. The insignia upon their helmets depicted a huge skull and crossbones, which symbolized their mission. Thousands of years before, as the Hebrews prepared for Passover, the destroyer (or death angel) made its way across the land. Is it a coincidence that De Lancy's arrival fell on the eve of Passover, or is this yet another American connection to the Hebrews?

On April 15, the first day of Passover, the Provincial Congress fled Concord after being warned by Paul Revere that the British were coming. On Easter Sunday, Revere rode to Lexington to warn John Adams, John Hancock, and others. On April 18, British patrols scoured the countryside to find colonial informants. One of these patrols encountered a farmer from Lincoln, Massachusetts. The colonial farmer heard them coming and mistook them for countrymen. He asked, "Have you heard anything about when the regulars are coming?" Upon hearing this, a British soldier slashed the farmer across his head with a sword and took him prisoner. The poor man was finally released after being told to keep quiet lest his house be burned and he would again be taken prisoner. This was the first American blood shed at the onset of the Revolution. The man's name was Josiah Nelson and here we find another parallel.

The Josiah Connection

"And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said 'O, altar, altar; Thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born to the house of David; Josiah by name;

and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt on thee."

(1 Kings 13:1-2)

Another parallel develops regarding the story of King Josiah. In this story, Jeroboam, fearing the loss of his kingdom to Jerusalem, instituted false idol worship in Bethel and Dan so that his subjects would not have to travel to Jerusalem. Three times a year, Jewish males were required to go to Jerusalem to worship. These times marked three festivals: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. One of these three festivals was probably approaching when Jeroboam started considering his predicament. We can determine which one by looking at the context of the story. The Bible tells us in I Kings 12:33 that Jeroboam "devised of his own heart and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel" on the fifteenth day of the eighth month.

To identify the eighth Hebrew month, we must understand that in Judaism there are two calendars. The civil calendar begins with the month Tishiri, making the eighth month Iyar, which follows the Passover season. However, in Exodus 12:2, God told Moses that "this month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." The month referred to here is Nisan, which is the first month of the religious calendar. So, starting with Nisan, the eighth month would be Cheshvan, the month that follows the Feast of Tabernacles season. So, it was either the approach of Passover or Tabernacles that provoked Jeroboam to establish his own religious holiday. Josephus, the Jewish historian, identifies the Feast of Tabernacles as the holiday during which Jeroboam sought to keep his subjects away from Jerusalem. It was at this time of year that the prophet came and delivered his ominous tidings (Source: Antiquities, Book 8, Chapter 8, Section 4).

According to Wilmington s Guide to the Bible, this prophecy

The American Revolution and the Children of Israel

took place around the year 931 B.C. Josephus identifies the unnamed prophet to be Jadon (Source: Antiquities, Book 8, Chapter 5, Section 5).

In Hebrew, the name Jadon means thankful. The name comes from the word meaning hand or to stretch out the hand. If Josephus is correct, this is very significant. The object of the prophecy, Josiah, whose name means founded by God, was born around the year 649 BC—282 years later!

Josiah, the boy king, was born to King Amon and his wife Jedidah. The name Amon means a multitude. It comes from either a root meaning a tumult or a root meaning faith, belief, or training. This particular root also means amen. It is interesting that the name Amon is synonymous with the name of the Egyptian sun god. Amon, the Bible says, was a wicked leader who forsook the Lord God of his fathers.

Some of his servants conspired against him and slew him in his own house (2 Kings 21:23). Due to a revolution, Josiah, meaning founded by God, came to power when he was only eight years old.

Josiah broke a long series of wicked rulers. Before and after him, there existed immorality and darkness. J.G. Greenhough wrote: "Josiah's good reign was like a brilliant sunset, before the final darkness comes on." The Bible says that when he was sixteen, he began to seek after God. At twenty, he began purging Jerusalem and Judah of idolatry. At age 26, he began restoring the temple. During the restoration, a copy of the Law of Moses was found. After hearing the words of the Law, Josiah reinstituted the Law of Moses as the law of the land, basing the government on the Torah. Not long after this, Josiah destroyed the altar and burned the high place at Bethel that Jeroboam had built, fulfilling the prophecy. The Bible continues:

"And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Then he said, 'What title is this that I see?' And the men of the city told him: It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, let him alone; let no man move his bones.

So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had

made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.

And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah."

(2 Kings 23:16-22)

Notice that Josiah completely fulfilled the prophecy and, in doing so, discovered the sepulcher of the man who had prophesied about him.

Instead of desecrating his tomb, Josiah honored him by allowing it to remain. Furthermore, the Bible indicates the general time frame of this event. As soon as Josiah returned to Jerusalem, he instructed the people to keep the Passover. Therefore, the fulfillment of this prophecy happened around the time of Passover.

The Prophetic Implications

As I mentioned earlier, Josiah Nelson became the first man to shed his blood for the American Revolution. Let's look at him as a symbol of the American Revolution. By doing this, we can compare the story of Josiah the King with the American Revolution.

The name Amon (Josiah's father) means faith, training or, it can mean multitude. It is also associated with Amon, the Egyptian sun god.

Originally Amon was the Theban god of reproduction, thus the association with the meaning multitude. Later it was associated with Ra, god of the sun, and became known as Amon-Ra. Amon-Ra was the most revered of the Egyptian gods.

Apparently, the Hebrew King Amon forsook the faith and training of his ancestors and lived like those who worshiped Amon-Ra.

King Amon became so evil that his own subjects killed him in his house.

You might say they revolted! Only then was Josiah allowed to ascend to the throne.

As I have suggested, aspects of the American Revolution can be compared to Israel's exodus from Egypt. Egypt's chief deity was Amon, the sun god. As Americans, we owe our love of liberty, law, and the Gospel to our English forefathers. Their faith and example shaped our

The American Revolution and the Children of Israel

nation in its infancy. However, there arose a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph and his name was King George III. Just as Amon was overthrown in his own house, British subjects revolted against their tyrannical king. It was at this point that the sun began to slowly set on the British Empire. The Americans, personified by Josiah, began the ascent to the throne. Josiah means founded by God. I believe that God founded America and that the Revolution symbolized the construction of His house in the midst of His end-time vineyard.

Josiah's prophecy was delivered 282 years before he was born. If we compare America to Josiah, at what point was America's prophecy proclaimed and who spoke it?

"I said that some of the prophecies remained yet to be fulfilled.

These are great and wonderful things for the earth and the signs are that the Lord is hastening the end. The fact that the Gospel must still be preached to so many lands in such a short time this is what convinces me" (Source: Book of Prophecies, Christopher Columbus)

"Establish us as thy chosen vineyard and make us as a tree planted by the streams of water ... plant us, we pray, upon a fruitful sod." (Source: portions of prayers recited on Hoshanah Rabbah)

Remember that Columbus saw himself as a tool functioning to fulfill prophecy. He believed that his expedition had accomplished God's will and that he had been God's instrument in spreading the Gospel and in liberating Jerusalem. Consider also that the day he stepped foot in the New World was Hoshannah Rabbah. On this day, the Jews pray,

"Establish us as His chosen vineyard ... Plant us ... on a fruitful sod."

Remember that Columbus saw his discovery as a last day fulfillment of God's plan to take the Gospel to the nations. Knowing these facts about Columbus, we could see him as the personification of the prophet that spoke to Jeroboam. As mentioned earlier, 282 years after the prophet spoke to King Jeroboam, Josiah, whose name means founded of God, was born. According to Josephus, a man named Jadon delivered the prophecy at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. Jadon comes from a word meaning to extend a hand.

Hoshannah Rabbah, the day of Columbus' discovery, falls on the first day—after the Feast of Tabernacles. This holiday is considered a

minor Yom Kippur because of God's resolve to seal His decisions from the High Holy Days season. To illustrate God's seal, a hand is baked upon the holiday bread. The theme of God setting His hand is linked to the prophecies concerning the return of the Jews to the land of Israel.

"And 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, which shall be left ... from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

(Isaiah 11:11,12)

So the timing of Columbus' discovery and the festival theme of God's extended hand (the meaning of Jadon) symbolize the prophecy of 1 Kings 13.

October 12, 1492 corresponds with the Hebrew date 21 Tishri, 5253. If we add 282 years to this year, it brings us to the Hebrew year 5535. On the Gregorian calendar, this year corresponds to the fall of 1774 until the fall of 1775. This means that April 19, 1775, the first day of the Revolution, would have been during this Hebrew year!

Furthermore, the Bible says that Josiah fulfilled the ancient prophecy at about the time of Passover. The first shots of the Revolution were fired during the seven days of unleavened bread known as Passover.

After Jadon delivered the prophecy, he began his return to Jerusalem by a different route, obeying the word of the Lord saying "eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. So he went another way and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel" (1 Kings 13:9, 10). However, the prophet, being coaxed by another "prophet," fell into disobedience and was killed, though not consumed, by a lion.

Likewise, Columbus was coaxed by greed and fell into disobedience. Spain, the nation he represented, followed suit and killed, persecuted, and sold into slavery those they intended to convert. In the name of Christianity, Spain dominated New World exploration for a century. That changed in 1588 when Great Britain (the lion) defeated the Spanish Armada. This defeat did not totally destroy Spain, but it helped to bring about its decline. Spanish coffers, previously filled with gold from the New World, were depleted. In 1588, Britain was established as the chief naval power of the Old World and the dominant power in the

The American Revolution and the Children of Israel New World.

Although the United States was born in April 1775, it would not officially realize its freedom until September 3, 1783. In 1783, Great Britain recognized the independence of the colonies in the Treaty of Paris. After only eight years of struggle, America assumed her role in the destiny of nations. In like manner, Josiah became king not at his birth, but when he was eight years old. The Bible indicates that Josiah reigned for thirty-one years. This means that he died at the young age of 39.

Thirty-nine years after the Revolution began, America, having survived another war with Britain, signed the Treaty of Ghent. This treaty forever

Thirty-nine years after the Revolution began, America, having survived another war with Britain, signed the Treaty of Ghent. This treaty forever