"Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?"
Ezekiel 38:13
As we talked about last week, many have noticed there has been a lot of talk lately concerning the coming conflict between a coalition of nations and the nation of Israel found in the prophecy called the Gog Magog War. When we read what Ezekiel has to say, we can see a list of nations that join together to attack Israel. Yet what is even more interesting is the fact that God tells us there are a few nations that don't join in. In fact, it would be fair to say that they simply sit in the stands and watch while doing nothing. This is what we find in the Gog Magog passage above.
While I’m sure that many will recognize this passage from Ezekiel’s prophecy about the coming war led by Gog, there is something I believe is very important contained in it that many may not be aware of. It has to do with the identification of the nations which decide to do nothing to help Israel. What we find is that while these people question the motives of Gog and the alliance, they choose not to participate, or for that matter, interfere with what occurs. So who are these people, and does their identification really matter? I think it does for I believe it will give us a more accurate picture of the possible timing of this event if we can figure out who they are and examine their foreign policy positions which exist with Israel today.
Fortunately, as always, we can look to the Bible to answer our questions, and to do this we go to Genesis to find our first clue. There we are told;
"Then Again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country."
Genesis 25:1-6
Here we find information about the many descendants Abraham had. We see that the sons of Keturah, which included his grandsons Sheba and Dedan, relocated from Israel to the east. If you look closely at a map, you find there is only one thing east of Israel, and that is the deserts of Arabia. Two very famous and well-respected archaeologists, Wendell Phillips and W.F. Albright have identified Sheba as being on the southwestern part of the Arabian Desert, and Dedan being located in the northern part. In fact, the capitol of Saudi Arabia has, and still is called Dedan on many maps.
So if we can support the premise that Sheba and Dedan is in fact the present nation of Saudi Arabia, what about "the merchants of Tarshish"? Again, we can find references in the Bible that will help us figure this out. There are several verses in the Bible that mention Tarshish, but I want to use just one to try to explain the position many scholars take on what the Bible is referring to here. The most well-known reference is found in the book of Jonah, where in opposition to God's instructions, Jonah decides to flee. We find when we read in the very first chapter;
"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the lord, and went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Jonah 1:1-3
Now most who have studied this story understand that it is all about choosing to do the opposite of what God instructs us to do, which is exactly what Jonah did. God told him to go to Ninevah, which was located in what would be present day Iraq, and instead, he chose to go the opposite direction to Tarshish, which required the use of a ship to travel over the sea. The obvious picture here is that God told him to go east, and he went west! Although many have tried over the years to identify a specific city as being the ancient city of Tarshish, no attempt has ever produced enough evidence to gain popular support. However, if you look at all the passages in the Bible that refer to Tarshish, it becomes apparent that it seems that rather than trying to pinpoint a specific location, God is trying to show us a direction, and that direction is west. The following excerpt is from an article by Rick Gunter.
The Bible definitely gives the indication that Tarshish was far away from Israel. It was believed to be at the ends of the Earth, as far away as one could possibly go in the known world at that time. The first time it is mentioned in scriptures as a place, it states that King Solomon sent his ships there to trade. It took three whole years to make the trip, and “…the merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys” (2 Chronicles 9:21 NKJV).
Another clue comes from Ezekiel in the Lamentation for Tyre: “Tarshish was your merchant because of your many luxury goods. They gave you silver, iron, and tin for your goods” (Ezekiel 27:12). Silver and iron were minerals that could be found in many locations in the area of the Mediterranean Sea. However, tin only came from a select few places. Tin was a very important and valuable raw material for the ancient world. In the late Bronze Age and into the early Iron Age, tin was a necessary ingredient for making bronze.
There is a long narrow peninsula in southwest Britain called Cornwall. Sometime in the geological past, great fissures occurred in the granite. Magma from beneath the Earth’s crust welled up into these cracks and crystallized, leaving behind many different minerals. One of these minerals was tin. Archeologists have determined that mining began in Cornwall back in the stone age—maybe as long ago as 2000 B.C. In fact, in ancient times, the British Isles were known as the Cassiterides, which means “Tin Islands.”
http://thechristianpulse.com/2018/09/22/where-in-the-world-is-tarshish/
We also know that the historian Heroditus described Tarshish as being “beyond the pillars of Hercules”, which refers to the straights of Gibraltar in the south of Spain. Another point that might seem to support this conclusion is that the word “Britain” comes from the Phoenician word Baratanac, which is translated “land of tin”. So let's consider these conclusions in light of what we know for sure. The "merchants of Tarshish", which includes the "young lions" are engaged in trading or commerce with Sheba and Dedan, and choose to not get involved in, or interfere with, the attempted invasion of Israel. Yet while the attitude of Saudi Arabia might be understandable, one would have to wonder why Britain would adopt this same attitude with their long history of friendship and involvement with the nation of Israel.
The nation of Britain is a constitutional monarchy, ruled by a King or Queen descended from the royal bloodline whose origins can be traced back as far as the tenth century. While technically the Head of State, the King has no executive or legislative role, his desires certainly affect the decisions of the Parliament. King Charles III is currently the King of England, and while I can’t say for certain that he will be the King when Ezekiel’s prophecy is played out, many certainly believe that the events of Ezekiel could occur at any time. That said, the Bible also makes it clear that Tarshish, or Britain if we are correct in identifying its modern day name, will choose to sit on the sidelines and allow Russia to attempt to invade the nation of Israel. It’s entirely possible, considering Britain’s decision just a week ago to sanction Israel by banning imports from them, that the relationship between the UK and Israel is changing.
I believe, however, that many would find it incomprehensible that Britain would make the choice not to get involved in this conflict. Britain has a long history of engagement in the Middle East and it was the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which paved the way for Israel to become a nation. The decision to abandon Israel when their very survival is at stake could come as a result of the UK government making the decision that Israel somehow is simply not worth defending. Fortunately for Israel, there is a King who will come to their defense and the world will see just who has the power to rule with a “rod of iron”.
The nation of Iran chooses to ally itself with Russia in the Gog Magog war. It is no secret that the House of Saud is afraid of aggression from Iran for many reasons, including the fact that two of the three most holy places to Islam, Mecca and Medina, are located in Saudi Arabia. As we have already seen since the beginning of the war between Iran on one side and Israel along with the United States on the other, Iran has targeted Saudi Arabia and damaged some of their petroleum infrastructure. Saudi Arabia has long tried to remain neutral in any conflict in the Middle East and to maintain that position in the future would come as no surprise.
There is no doubt in my mind that the current situation in Saudi Arabia along with the attacks they have suffered in the past few weeks, could be directly related to the future lack of action described to us by Ezekiel. While we may not know for certain what motivates these countries not to help Israel, I believe its entirely possible that they do so as a result of a desire for self-preservation. Considering the current feelings and political positions held by all these nations listed in Ezekiel’s prophecy, I truly believe the stage is set for these events to occur at any time. That said, it should be more than obvious the return of Jesus Christ for His Church, made up of all who have chosen to believe in Him, could happen at any time.
My prayer for you today is that if you have never made the decision to believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again for you, you would choose to do it right now. Invite Jesus to come into your life and forgive your sins, and begin to experience the joy that comes from having a relationship with a living God, and the knowledge that He has promised us eternal life with Him in Heaven if we only believe. Pray this prayer and accept the gift of eternal life God has offered you by the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.
Dear Father in heaven, I believe in your son Jesus. I believe that He died on the cross for my sins, that He rose up from the grave, and that my sins are forgiven. Forgive me of my sin, help me to walk with you, and thank you for saving me. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ydlex9yn3o
