Some years ago, I began to ask a question about the Middle East. The region in the world referred to as the Middle East has been at the center of global events that contributed immensely to the shape of the culture of the world today. The role of the region has been so influential that I began to ask for the reason behind it. What is so special about the Middle East? Why is there so much attention on the Middle East? That was 4 years ago.
Like Daniel in the bible would say, God, in His infinite Grace and Mercy has answered my prayers and given me understanding. This first series of 2020 will focus on giving believers in Christ understanding of the role of the Middle East in the plans of God for the earth in this last days. Please, make sure you read the series accordingly. Don’t skip any part.
The bible started with the story of Adam and his wife, Eve. They were living in a place called Eden, the garden of the Lord, but after they fell, they were sent out of the garden and began to live outside the garden. Eden, as we know it is not a physical location as it were, but an atmosphere. The atmosphere was taken up after the fall and Adam’s small family was left living on earth as we know it today. The description of the location of that garden coincides with a place in the Middle East.
That location is between Iraq and Iran. One of the rivers, Euphrates that was mentioned in Genesis still exists till today in Iraq. Others must have renamed. This is a proof that the world started from the Middle East and as the world population grew, man was concentrated in that area till the flood of Noah. After the flood, man was greatly reduced to just 7- Noah and his sons.
They began to give birth and replenish the earth, but they still stayed together. You remember the incidence of tower of Babel. During that period, male child is given more regard than the female child. Therefore, Sons were celebrated and they eventually had huge families because polygamy was the custom. This led to each son growing into a people. You find this in the record of the genealogy of Noah and his sons. So it was normal to find tribes named after the founding father and the fathers would be brothers.
It is safe to say that all the tribes that evolved in that period had fathers who were brothers and cousins. As these tribes grew in number, they was battle for land and supremacy. By the time Abraham was born, they had started going to war with each other. The weak ones were slaves to the strong ones. The nations had been formed and Babel made sure that they had different languages.
The battle for land was fierce. The struggle for supremacy was deadly. Brothers were at war with each other. Now, God made the battle even fiercer when he picked one of the brothers from present day Iraq and decided to give the lands to him. The land that was already hotly contested for. The promise given to Abraham didn’t lead to any battle till the Israelites came out of Egypt.
Everybody was mad at them. They wanted to wipe out the entire region and claim it all just because they were chosen. That is the reason for all of the hatred and battles that Moses fought on the way to Canaan. Joshua continued the battle inside Canaan. He was to wipe out 7 nations gradually. He didn’t complete it. David did a great job in taking lands. The kingdom of David was so big that it spread to the present day Saudi Arabia till the Persian Gulf. The nations just have new names. Consider the map below. That was during the days of King David. Mesopotamia where Abraham was living is present day Iraq. Iran was Persia.
If you trace the history of the nations in today’s Middle East, you will discover that they are all closely connected, but the battle for land and supremacy exists till today. If you ask me, the war will not end until some tribes are completely subdued and that will only happen when Jesus is back to rule for 1,000 years. Presently, the biggest powers of the region are Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel. I will explain the battle between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the next edition of this series.
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