THE GREAT SEAL OF AMERICA

THE ORIGIN OF THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Perhaps there is no instrument in the hands of the government officials of the United States that carries with it more significance than does the Great Seal. With it the official documents, issued either to the citizens themselves, or to the representatives of other lands, become at once the official voice of the nation and recognized as such by the authority of the White House itself. Once the document bears the stamp of the Great Seal, it becomes incontrovertibly the nation’s ruling, without recourse. Such is the Great Seal. Without its stamp, no document is legal. Such is its importance. It is the finger-print of Uncle Sam.

Of course everybody knows that on the Great Seal there is embossed a replica of the Great Pyramid; while besides the Pyramid is the “All Seeing Eye” and the Shekinah Glory. It is not difficult to imagine why the Shekinah Glory should be there or the “All Seeing Eye.” These emblems speak of sacred things. They are in fact the most sacred mind pictures of the Divine Presence that the mind of man could portray. They typify the Infinite, but why associate the Great Pyramid with the Infinite? What can there be in common between the Great Pyramid of Egypt and the United States of America?

One of the first things that occupied the attention of the early convocations of the infant Congressional body of the United States was the production of its seal. It must be a worthy stamp, expressive of the national character of the new-born world-to-be, whose soldiers would fight and live or die for freedom under the waving folds of their proud emblem and banner, the Stars and Stripes.

For the purpose of evolving such a seal, a committee was formed, two of whom consisted of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, and they immediately set to work in earnest to their assigned task.

They worked independently and, strange to say, along identical lines of thought Jefferson devised for the seal a scene consisting of a great concourse of people as in flight they had reached a point where high mountains hemmed them in on their right and deep waters closed them off on their left. A pursuing army was in their rear, whilst in their midst stood their leader with his hands held high to Heaven as in prayer. The scene was that of the children of Israel in their flight out of Egypt.

Franklin pictured a scene where a multitude stood in ecstasy beside great waters where vast open plains reached out into the distance, and the whole assembly was rejoicing in song and dance. There was no army in sight. It had disappeared beneath the waters as the scene indicated. It was again of Israel, but no longer in flight. They had crossed the sea and were now free, hence the rejoicing. Is it not strange that both these great men chose scenes in Egypt (where the Children of Israel were in the very act of flight) to express their country’s seal? Yes, it is more than strange. There was conviction behind it. It was the earlier history of their fathers, on no other assumption could the incident have any bearing whatever to their country’s seal. Both sketches were rejected by Congress, but in their place Congress decided on a third Egyptian scene. That of the Great Pyramid as it is depicted today. Why?

The only answer that fits the case is that the Fathers of the Thirteen States were proud to remember the glorious deeds of their ancestral fathers of long ago, whose flight to freedom reminded them of their own sorry experience and their newfound liberty.

They recognized the Divine leading hand in both occurrences and were thankful. Hence the Shekinah Presence of the Seal and Old Glory at the masthead of the Ship of State. God Bless America.

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THE PASSING OF TWO GREAT BRITISH PATRIOTS

STEVE THOBURN

STEVE THOBURN METRIC MARTYR (1964 - 2004)

Steve was a Sunderland greengrocer who ran a family market stall and was prosecuted for continuing to sell bananas in pounds not kilograms as dictated by the European Union. His Imperial scales were seized and he was dragged before the courts. The Judge gave him a conditional discharge but made the now famous declaration that “PARLIAMENT HAD SURRENDERED ITS SOVEREIGNTY TO THE PRIMACY OF EUROPEAN LAW”. Steve continued to sell in traditional British measures and with other shopkeepers formed the "Metric Martyrs" grouping. Steve’s legal battle ended in February when the so-called European Court of Human Rights refused to hear his plea. The stress of the struggle had taken a heavy toll on his health and he died of a sudden heart attack on March 14th aged only 39.

NORRIS McWHIRTER

Chairman of the Freedom Association and co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records died suddenly aged 78 on 19th April only hours after hearing that the Prime Minister had given in to the demands of British Patriots that a Referendum be held on the proposed European Constitution. Not long before Norris had been amongst those who delivered a “Peoples Petition” with almost I million names to the Queen at Buckingham Palace, requesting the Referendum. In 1975 Norris’s twin brother Ross McWhirter was murdered on his own doorstep by IRA terrorists.

“IN WHOSE STEPS WE FOLLOW”

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CHECK IT OUT

How many Christians in the West are aware that since the Israeli annies invaded the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, that 35% of East Jerusalem has been confiscated for Jewish development - 90% of which was land privately owned by Palestinians?

Or that 70% of the West Bank’s land has been confiscated by Israel and 43% of the land in Gaza - land that had belonged to Palestinians for hundred of years.

Or that while the average Israeli is given 348 litres of water per day, the average Palestinian is only given 70 litres - and in the West Bank, Israel reserves 80% of the water for its own use while 20% goes to the Palestinians. If these Arabs need more water, they must pay four times the usual price for it.

Or that five hundred Arab villages have been destroyed by the Israelis since 1948?

Or that the West Bank has been ‘ethnically cleansed’ through the destruction of Palestinian homes -some 2,200 demolished since 1987, and hardly any permissions granted to build new ones.

Or that each year between one thousand and fifteen hundred Palestinians are interrogated by Shin Bet, the Israeli security service, and 58% of them are ‘subjected to interrogation that employs torture.’

Or that in 1999, the total budget for the city of Jerusalem was $ 103 million - but only $9.7 million of that was spent on Arab areas?

Or that Jewish Jerusalem has 36 swimming pools but Arab Jerusalem has none? That there are 26 Israeli libraries - and only two for the Arabs?

Or that at the East Jerusalem Ministry of the Interior office where Palestinians must queue to renew their I D certificates, obtain birth certificates or changes to their addresses, people often have to queue for six hours in the boiling sun? But at the West Jerusalem office which serves Israelis, there is a cafeteria, water fountain and access for pushchairs - and no one waits outside.

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ZIONISTS LEAVE “THE PROMISED LAND”

November 19th 2003 HAARETZ NEWSPAPER quotes an Israeli Immigration official as saying that 760,000 Israelis now live abroad as opposed to a figure of 550,000 in 2002.

AVRAHAM BURG former SPEAKER OF THE KNESSET (Israeli-Parliament) 1999 - 2003 writing in the prestigious Jewish magazine THE FORWARD says:- “The Zionist Revolution has always rested on two pillars, a just path and an ethical leadership. Neither of these is operative any longer. The Israeli nation today rests on a scaffolding of corruption and on the foundation of oppresssion and injustice. As such the end of the Zionist enterprise is already on our doorstep. There is a real chance that ours will be the last Zionist generation.

There may yet be a Jewish state here, but it will be a different sort, strange and ugly.....a state lacking in justice cannot survive..... more and more Israelis are coming to understand this, as they ask their children where they expect to live in twenty five years. Children who are honest admit to their parents shock, that they do not know! The countdown to the end of Israeli society has begun."

MALACHI 1:4 - LUKE 19:27

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KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OUR CROWN!

Addressing a meeting in the House of Lords hosted by Former Ulster Unionist Leader Lord Molyneaux of Killead K.B.E. on 21st April, Philip Benwell M.B.E., National Chairman of the Australian Monarchist League and author of In Defence of Australia’s Constitutional Monarchy said:

"The Crown of the United Kingdom belongs not just to Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but also to the other fifteen Commonwealth Realms. The Australian States are united ‘in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom ... ‘ To subject the Queen and the Crown to an authority, such as the European Constitution, which is totally alien to the other realms, goes against the spirit and intent of the Statute of Westminster of 1931”.

The Statute of Westminster specifies that the ‘British Commonwealth of Nations’ is united by a common allegiance to the Crown and in formally recognising the sovereignty and independence of those nations prohibits the British Parliament from legislating on any matter which will subject the Crown to any authority, save that of the people of the Commonwealth Realms in their respective jurisdictions.

"AIthough I believe that the Treaties of [European] Union are wiping away a thousand years of constitutional and common law and tradition, and are totally repugnant to everything that Britain once meant, this is a matter for the people of the United Kingdom to decide upon."

“However” Mr Benwell continued, “the European Constitution is a very different matter and neither the British Parliament nor the British people have any right whatsoever to do anything which may have even the potential to slightly affect the Crown and consequently endanger the constitutions of the other Commonwealth Realms."

“In 1999, the people of Australia, after a long and bitter campaign, opted to retain our constitutional monarchy by an overwhelming majority, far in excess of that attained by any mere political party. It would be totally unjust if, through the actions of the British people, the Crown we all share was undermined and our own constitution accordingly weakened”.

To obtain a copy of Mr Benwell’s Address on the European Constitution please contact the Australian Monarchist League, P.O. Box 1068, Double Bay 1360, Australia or e-mail secretary@monarchist.org.au

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CHINA NOW IN SPACE: WARNING TO THE WEST?

Some astute observers believe that China’s recent space shot has far more symbolic significance than just the first Asian entry into outer space. If ultimately successful, it’s another feather in the Chinese cap - like that of hosting the 2008 Olympics. British historian Andrew Roberts says that this space venture is another strong indication of “the dawn of a Chinese century” (The Sunday Telegraph, Oct. 19). To this historian, It is high time that we woke up to the threat that an awakened Chinese empire poses for our present [English-speaking] global hegemony. Napoleon once referred to China as “a sleeping giant” and then predicted that “when she awakes she will shake the world.”

Beijing’s $100 billion trade surplus with the United States is not the only economic concern about China worrying the Western nations. In the last 10 years the Chinese economy has grown by an annual average of 10 percent (The Times, Oct. 20).

Present growth patterns indicate that it is poised to overtake France in 2004 and Britain in 2005 (The Sunday Times, Oct. 12).

If by mid century (as some are predicting) China should replace the United States as the leading global superpower, the world might be staring into the face of a new dark age of oppression reminiscent of the Third Reich.

The 2003 annual report of Amnesty lnternational comments about China’s performance:

“Serious human rights vioIations continued and in some respects the situation deteriorated. Tens of thousands of people continue to be arbitrarily detaiined or imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or belief. Torture and ill treatment remain widespread” (The Sunday Telegraph, Oct. 19).

Of course, some China watchers pin their hopes on potential political and cultural reforms.

As we go to press, we may be seeing a substantial American policy shift towards China in the wake of China’s new prime minister’s visit to the United States. A front-page feature article in the International Herald Tribune tells us:

“The Bush administration announced Monday that it was dropping the long-standing American policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ about relations between China and Taiwan and clearly warned Taipei not to hold a referendum that could fuel the island’s independence movement” - (December 9).

(Sources: The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times, [all London], International Herald Tribune.)

Revelation 16:12 - warns us of the rise of the Kings of the East

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A TROJAN CONNECTION WITH BRITAIN

A LETTER TO JULIUS CAESAR

Schoolboys know the letter wiitten by Caractacus to Claudius Caesar. But not everyone knows the letter, written about a century earlier, from Cassilbellaunus to Julius Caesar. This is no doubt because it does not come to us from Latin sources. It is given in full by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the twelfth-century writer who, despite his detractors, possessed three advantages: he studied under his uncle, Uchtryd, Bishop of Llandaff, in South Wales; he was himself Bishop of St. Asaph, in North Wales; he also possessed an ancient manuscript from Brittany, which he quotes widely. From any of these sources he could have obtained a copy of the letter of Cassibellaunus which we quote:

"Cassibelaun, king of the Britains, to Caius Julius Caesar. We cannot but wonder, Caesar, at the avarice of the Roman people, since their insatiable thirst after money cannot let us alone whom the dangers of the ocean have placed in a manner out of the world; but they must have the presumption to covet our substance, which we have hitherto enjoy’d in quiet. Neither is this indeed sufficient; we must also prefer subjection and slavery to them, before the enjoyment of our native liberty.

Your demand therefore, Caesar, is scandalous, since the same vein of nobility flows from Aeneas, in Britons and Romans, and one and the same chain of consanguinity shines in both: which ought to be a band of firm union and friendship. That was what you should have demanded of us, and not slavery: we have learned to admit of the one, but never to bear the other. And so much have we been accustomed to liberty, that we are perfectly ignorant what it is to submit to slavery. And if even the gods themselves should attempt to deprive us of our liberty, we would to the utmost of our power resist them in defence of it.

Know then, Caesar, that we are ready to fight for that and our kingdom if, as you threaten, you shall attempt to invade Britain."

The reference to Aeneas provides support for the fascinating belief that the ancient British royal line stemmed from Troy, as did, traditionally, the descent of certain of the early rulers of Rome. The tradition that the Trojan leaders were Judahites is upheld by the Apocrypha record to the effect that the Spartan hierarchy claimed kinship with Judah.

(Historia Britonum. Bk. IV ch. 2)

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THE TRAGEDY OF TODAY’S BRITISH YOUTH

Following World War I (the Great War of 1914-1918), novelist Ernest Hemingway termed the returning, war-weary soldiers “The Lost Generation.” The British media is beginning to use that phrase to describe the current plight of U.K. teenagers. Whether it’s obesity, alcoholism, drug abuse, illicit sex, illegitimacy, abortions or smoking, statistics generally place these young people at the top of the list.

Recently the British Medical Association (BMA) released a devastating report on teenage health. Times health editor Nigel Hawkes summed up the sad situation:

“Britain is breeding a generation of adults that will tend to be infertile, obese and prone to mental illness ... Tomorrow’s adults are overweight, smoke and drink too much, and have rising levels of sexual infection and mental illness” - (December 9).

Vivian Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the British Medical Association, said:

“Young people in Britain are increasingly likely to be overweight, indulge in binge drinking, have a sexually transmitted infection and suffer mental health problems.”

Further, the number of British girls indulging in underage sex has doubled in 10 years’ time. One in four who have reached ages 15 and 16 smokes and about a third have experimented with marijuana. Early teens are consuming alcohol as never before, with more than a third relating that they got drunk for the first time at 13 or under. No wonder the BMA predicts that “today’s teenagers are condemning themselves to years of poor health and an early death” (Daily Mail, Dec. 8).

It was Israel’s King Solomon who perhaps first said,

“Do not be overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time.” - Ecclesiastes 7:17.

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AMERICA’S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE

President George Washington said: “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible.”

John Quincy Adams said: “so great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society.”

Andrew Jackson said: “That Book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.”

Abraham Lincoln said: “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower said: “To read the Bible is to take a trip to a fair land where the spirit is strengthened and faith renewed.”

Douglas MacArthur said: “Believe me, sir, never a night goes by, be I ever so tired, but I read the Word of God before I go to bed.”

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VALUED TIME

VALUED TIME

I have just a little minute,

Only sixty seconds in it

Forced upon me,

Cannot refuse it,

Did not seek it,

Did not choose it

But it is up to me to use it.

I must suffer if I abuse it;

Just a tiny little minute

But eternity is in it.

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GOD’S WITNESS OF STONE

In a dry weary land; in a wilderness lone;

In a desert of sand, is the witness of stone,

So majestic the whole and so deep its design,

It convinces the soul of a Builder Divine.

Over four thousand years, it has stood in that place,

‘Mid the sighs and the tears of the poor fallen race.

With its secret unknown some have gazed at this tower,

While Jehovah alone knew the depth of its power.

Now there’s wonderful skill, that is seen all within;

Come! behold, if you will, the dark symbols of sin;

And then trace from “the fall” how the Lord doth atone,

Showing hope that’s “for all” in this Bible of Stone.

‘Tis a chart for the wise, giving signs for that day,

When mankind will arise and pursue the right way;

hey’ll read the glad story which before was unknown,

And God will have glory through the Witness of Stone!

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Open-Bible Ministries Online Resource Centre

You must visit our new Open-Bible Ministries Online Resource Centre from where you can listen to available talks and download them to your computer in MP3 format or purchase them as audio CDs or even MP3 CDs. We plan to increase the number of talks available from this new Resource Centre over the coming weeks while still maintaining our cassette tape facility for those folk who need this medium.

"Add To Your Faith"

"Study in Psalm 12"

"Study in Psalm 13"

"Study in Psalm 14"

"Britain - European Union and Bible Prophecy" - (1-3)

In the above messages recently added to and available from our Open-Bible Ministries Online Resource Centre, Pastor Alan draws lessons for our own personal spiritual development and also casts the prophetic searchlight of Scripture upon matters of vital importance for us today. You should listen to the series "Britain - European Union and Bible Prophecy" in which Pastor Alan considers the reasoning behind the frantic efforts to create a "New Constitution" for the nations of the European Union - a "United States of Europe" or latter day version of the old "Holy Roman Empire" as it were - and shows from the prophecies of Daniel that this enterprise will not ultimately succeed. We believe you will be both blessed and encouraged by listening to these and the other topics available.

Books and Tapes

Books

Tapes

TAPE SERIES OF THE MONTH

"Britain - European Union and Bible Prophecy" - Parts 1-3

By

Pastor Alan Campbell

(An excellent series in three parts in which Pastor Campbell examines the current drive towards a "new" Constitution for the "expanded" nations of Europe and shows clearly from the word of God and Prophecy, in particular, that this venture is neither "new" nor beneficial but rather the latest attempt to rebuild a latter-day "Tower of Babel" - the original of which the Lord had to throw down.

Price £3.50 UK or $8.00 US plus Postage

(See our 'TO ORDER' page for exact ordering details)

Any of the above titles available for a Suggested Donation of £UK 2.00 or $US 3.00 (Plus Postage) from:

Open-Bible Ministries
P.O. Box 92
Belfast
BT5 7SA
Northern Ireland

(See our 'TO ORDER' page for exact ordering details)

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