There are twelve tribes or brothers of Israel.God blessed one of these twelve brothers with the birthright{Joseph} even though he was not the first born son. These blessing were passed down from Jacob to Joseph to his 2 sons Ephraim and Manasseh,in effect making thirteen tribes.How many colonies did the United States start off with.Could that be thirteen.When was this penaly supposed to end? when would that 2520 year period be over? About 1800...in 1803 The United States buys the Louisiana Purchase and almost overnight becomes a world power.Coincidence? I think not.