July 1 and 4 are important national holidays—one in Canada, the other in the United States. Along the friendliest border among nations, Canada observes Canada Day and America observes Independence Day, both in the first week of July.

Detroit, Michigan in America and Windsor, Ontario in Canada celebrate Independence Day and Canada Day together as the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival. In some places 13-gun salutes are fired. And on each side of the border fireworks displays celebrate what these two brother nations have in common—they share a common heritage.

They also share a similar ancestry (largely from British and European immigrants), the English language and being mostly Protestant in religion. Yet each celebrates its national heritage from a different perspective.

Prior to 1982 Canada Day was called "Dominion Day" because it was established to celebrate Canada's ties with Britain (and her former empire). But fireworks displays on July 4 on the U.S. side of the border—in places like the harbors of Boston and New York City—all celebrate America's independence from Britain.

These two perspectives are very different!

At the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in Bristol, Rhode Island, on July 4, 1777, thirteen guns were fired, once in the morning and once again in the evening. In 1778 General George Washington marked the Fourth of July with a double portion of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute.

The brotherly connection and symbolism of 13

A common symbol of the United States is an eagle clutching an olive branch and a group of arrows with totals of thirteen olive leaves and thirteen arrows. Interestingly, thirteen tribes also constituted the final make-up of ancient Israel.

By divine inspiration the biblical patriarch Jacob designated his son Joseph's two boys, Ephraim and Manasseh, to each receive an equal portion of Abraham's God-given inheritance as would Jacob's other eleven sons. In bequeathing two instead of one share of Abraham's heritage to Joseph's descendants (Genesis 48:5, 21-22) Jacob increased the total number of Israel's tribes from twelve to thirteen.

God then revealed through Jacob that in the last days the descendants of one of Joseph's sons would become a multitude of nations and the descendants of the other would become a single great nation (Genesis 48:3-19). Starting in 1800 The United States entered a time of growth to where it is today as greatest nation on earth. Add to this that in the 19th and part of the 20th centuries the British Empire ruled over 20% of the population and over 25% of the land mass of the earth.

The fulfillment of this prophecy connects to the ancestry and heritage enjoyed by Canada and America. The ancestors of a large portion of both countries can be traced to Ephraim or Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph. Canada chose to remain a part of the British Empire.

The colonies to the south chose independence and began with thirteen colonies. Their split from Britain came over resistance to an English tax that led to closure of Boston Harbor. Distinguished American historian Barbara Tuchman describes the actions of the British government at this Boston Tea party episode as "wooden-headedness that knew no finer hour" (The March of Folly, p. 244). As ten tribes of ancient Israel split off as a separate kingdom over excessive taxes imposed by King Rehoboam, so did an unfair tax become the last straw for Britain's 13 colonies in America.

In her book, Tuchman quotes from an impassioned letter from John Wesley, the Methodist who traveled between England and the colonies at the time, to King George III about the dangers of imposing a tax. Wesley concluded his letter: "For God's sake, remember Rehoboam" (ibid., p. 258). Boston's anti-monarchist stance was pictured in a drawing with the caption: "We owe allegiance to no crown."

Interestingly, in Judges 8:23, Gideon [of the tribe of Manasseh] refused to usurp God's role as Israel's King by becoming the nation's monarch. He declared "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you." Later in U.S. history George Washington declined the offer to be King.

Could it be that the United States largely represents descendants of the tribe of Manasseh? Is it possible that the founding peoples of the British Commonwealth and later of the United States and Canada are descendants of the supposedly "lost" tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh?

If they are, you need to know what Bible prophecy says will happen to them in the near future. You may check the evidence and decide for yourself by simply requesting or downloading our free booklet: The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.