Steve, I read with great interest your articles posted today:

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/july2006/steveb722-1.htm

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/july2006/steveb722-2.htm

Some of the things you mentioned reminded me of some things my friend, and a great numbers guy, Ian Mallett, and I discovered one day as we were studying the Bible together on line. Though he is in England and I am in Atlanta, we are blessed to be able to talk with VOIP for free and spend hours studying the "hidden treasures" of the Word. I cannot think of a more satisfying way to spend time with a brother in Christ.

He has made many interesting discoveries using gematria of the Hebrew and Greek alphabets, as well as the English alphabet, done in the same way. After all, the Authorised King James Version shows many of the same truths through gematria as does the Hebrew and Greek of the Old and New Testaments respectively. The many modern perversions of the Bible do not bear this out, though. As English is the most widely spoken language of the end times, it would stand to reason that the Lord would provide the same clues for us today in the language that we speak.

For instance, A=1, B=2, C=3,... J=10, K=20, L=30,... S=100, T=200, U=300, etc until Z=800. Some would end the English alphabet with using only 22 letters as the Hebrew and Greek alphabets have, but we chose to use the entire English alphabet as that is what God gave us. We believe that the numeric values of words and phrases are to be used to confirm the truth of a matter, not to predict anything. According to scripture, if a matter can be confirmed by two or more witnesses, then we have the Word, the letters, and the numeric values of those letters for confirmation.

Ian and I were both drawn together over our interest in the breastplate of the high priest, and I have been interested since a very young age in the jewel stones on the breastplate, so we were studying to find out which jewel was assigned to each tribe. Using the English gematria and the proper arrangement of the tribes on the breastplate we came up with an interesting confirmation of the same thing you say, Steve, about the USA being Ephraim. See this link for the correct arrangement of the tribes on the breastplate according to the Bible, remembering that in Hebrew one reads from right to left. This is an amazing article, written by Ian under his pen name Aaron B. Cohen, and is the article through which our friendship began nearly a year ago. Scroll down to see the diagrams.

http://www.fivedoves.com/revdrnatch/breastplate.htm

Using the names of the jewelstones given in Ex 28: 17-21, we assigned the stones to the tribes in the same order given, from right to left.

"And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings. And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes."

So the tribes with their respective jewel would appear like this:

Judah Simeon Reuben

Carbuncle Topaz Sardius

Gad Naphtali Dan

Diamond Sapphire Emerald

Zebulun Issachar Asher

Amethyst Agate Ligure

Ephraim Manasseh Benjamin

Jasper Onyx Beryl

Now here is the intersting thing: the value for the word "jasper", as it appears in the text, the stone for the tribe of Ephraim, in Hebrew is 401. The value for USA in English is also 401! U= 300, S=100, A=1. My dear friend Mary Hansen, when I explained all this to her, remarked "Oh, what about the 401K?" I looked it up and sure enough, it is an American plan that many can identify with. So here we have numeric proof that the USA is indeed Ephraim, and I agree with Steve and others who say that the UK is his older brother Manasseh. One would think, using the same logic, that UK or some other name such as Great Britain with Manasseh's jewelstone the onyx, and the numeric values would prove this as well, but so far I come up empty. But then, who can know the mind of God? I am quite sure that all the answers are hidden in the Word, just waiting for a Bible detective to solve the mystery.

I will leave it to you numbers guys to find the proof about Manasseh, and perhaps you can discover where some of the other tribes have gone using the alphabets, the numeric values, and the corresponding jewelstones given to each tribe. Also the banners of each tribe and the arrangements of the tribes as they camped have significance, though at this point I do not know exactly what. God does nothing by chance, as He is a God of perfect order, and though the 12 tribes may be lost to men, they are not lost to Him. He knows exactly where each one is, and He knows exactly who belongs to each tribe. One day all the "hidden mysteries" will be revealed, but He has promised a special blessing to those who diligently study to unravel the mysteries. I challenge you all to study the Word, seek understanding and share the puzzle pieces that He reveals to you.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 1 Cor 13:12

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. Deut 29:29