NUCLEAR WAR IN
THE MIDEAST
PART 8
(WEST BANK AND JORDAN)
by Steve
Ashburn
In Part 7 of this
series we saw how Jordan was invaded and conquered by
Israel during the Psalm 83 war, its king and chief
ministers taken prisoner, and the remaining survivors
deported to other nations over a period of three years
from a staging area near present-day Al-Karak. After
this, Jordan became Israeli territory, and began to
blossom like a rose and became like the garden of Eden
(Ezekiel 36:35), as God poured out his blessings upon
his promised land.
Although this war
takes place during a drought in the Middle East, it’s a
good guess that after Israel is restored to her ancient
land of Canaan, the drought will be over, and Israel
will begin to overflow with wheat, oil, and wine (Joel
2:23) and fill the world with fruit (Isaiah 27:6). In
addition, she will now settle Jordan into farms, towns
and cities; and Revelation 12:6, Daniel 11:41 and Isaiah
16:4 indicate that it is to this area that Israel will
flee (into the “wilderness”) at the midpoint of the
tribulation.
We now continue in
our studies of this war, with additional descriptions of
God’s judgment on Jordan and the West Bank. The entire
book of Obadiah is basically a description of this
battle with Jordan, and is closely correlated with the
parallel text in Jeremiah 49. Interestingly, these
Scripture passages implicate Iraq as being the
instigator of the entire Psalm 83 war. This explains a
lot, in particular the subsequent third US-led coalition
invasion of Iraq, recounted in Isaiah 13 and Jeremiah
50-51.
Ancient Edom was
founded by Esau, the twin brother of Jacob. Originally
Esau settled south of the Dead Sea; his nation extended
south along the mountain range known as Mount Seir to
the Gulf of Aqaba. The ancient capital of Edom was
Bozrah; Petra, the famous rock city in present-day
Jordan, also was one of their chief cities. After
Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Jerusalem in 597 BC—aided by
the Edomites—Edom was allowed to expand westward into
Israel.
At the same time
as the Babylonian captivity, the Edomites were also
being displaced westward by the Nabateans, and their
kingdom became known as
Idumea.
Today this would be known as the West Bank and southern
Jordan. Although Idumea survived as a nation until the
Christian era, they eventually (like Moab and Ammon)
became amalgamated with Bedouin tribes from Arabia, and
today, generally speaking, are considered Arabs.
Obadiah 1:1–21
contains a prophecy against Edom; Jeremiah 49:7–22
describes the same event with very similar wording in
places. Given the similarity of these two passages of
Scripture, it reasonably can be construed that they are
important. Generally speaking, when the Bible mentions
something twice, it is for purposes of emphasis.
The vision of
Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord
God
concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the
Lord, and
an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and
let us rise up against her in battle. Behold, I have
made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly
despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee,
thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose
habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall
bring me down to the ground?
Though thou exalt
thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among
the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the
Lord. If
thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou
cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had
enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they
not leave some grapes? How are the things of Esau
searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
All the men of thy
confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the
men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and
prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have
laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in
him. Shall I not in that day, saith the
Lord, even
destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out
of the mount of Esau? And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall
be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of
Esau may be cut off by slaughter. . . .
For the day of the
Lord is
near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall
be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine
own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so
shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall
drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as
though they had not been. But upon mount Zion shall be
deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house
of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house
of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a
flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall
kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be
any remaining of the house of Esau; for the
Lord hath
spoken it.
And they of the
south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the
plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields
of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin
shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of
the children of Israel shall possess that of the
Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of
Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the
cities of the south. (Obadiah 1:1–9, 15–20)
The timetable for
this judgment again is found in the key phrase in verse
15, “For the day of the
Lord is
near.” Thus, it occurs in the period of time just
preceding the rapture, i.e., the end times.
Verse 1 exposes
the nefarious plans of the enemies of Israel: “an
ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let
us rise up against her in battle.” (The exact same
wording is in Jeremiah 49:14). This suggests that an
ambassador is sent from another Moslem nation (probably
Iraq, which Jeremiah 50:23 describes as “the hammer of
the whole earth [Middle East]”) to instigate and
coordinate a blitzkrieg attack against Israel. In fact,
the exact same wording in describing this attack is used
in both Jeremiah 49:19 [re: Jordan] and Jeremiah 50:44
[re: Iraq]: “Behold, he shall
come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against
the habitation of the strong [Israel].” Therefore
Iraq is a common denominator in both the Jeremiah 49 and
Obadiah 1 invasions, and this strongly implicates
Iraq as the source of the “ambassador” (although in all
fairness attacking Israel seems to be the favorite
pastime of all Arab nations). This conclusion
further is supported by the fact that many nations, led
by the US, completely obliterate Iraq in the subsequent
Isaiah 13 and Jeremiah 50-51 coalition invasion.
Obadiah and
Jeremiah both describe Edom as “small among the heathen:
thou art greatly despised,” and in fact West Bank
Palestinians are despised by the Jordanian Arabs—they
don’t want them as immigrants. Perhaps this is why they
were prevailed upon by their Arab “brethren” and
essentially used as cannon fodder against Israel, “they
that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee.”
Scripture
indicates that Edom will have been deceived into
becoming part of this conspiracy (“The pride of thine
heart hath deceived thee”) but that God has discovered
their plans: “how are his hidden things sought up.”
Members of the Arab confederacy will have deceived Edom
into massing forces on the border with Israel (“All the
men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the
border: the men that were at peace with thee have
deceived thee, and prevailed against thee”), including
the Jordan River and the West Bank.
Terrorist groups
in the West Bank (e.g., Fatah) long have been a security
threat to Israel; they have attacked her seemingly with
impunity and with the support of other terrorist groups.
In fact, two of the largest terrorist groups—Hamas and
Fatah—signed a peace treaty in May of 2011 in Cairo and
agreed to combine their forces against Israel. Fatah
President Mahmoud Abbas said they had “turned forever
the black page of division. Hamas is part of the
Palestinian people.” In February of 2013, Hamas and
Fatah reportedly were in talks to form a national unity
government.
Our Scripture
passage says, “as thou hast done, it shall be done unto
thee”; the complicity of West Bank and Palestinian
groups in attacking Israel, along with other nations,
results in God finally repaying them for years of these
attacks and their refusal to recognize Israel as the
Jewish homeland; as a result, “they shall be as though
they had not been.” Jeremiah 49 describes the same
event, again with very similar wording in places:
Concerning Edom,
thus saith the
Lord of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is
counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom
vanished? Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants
of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon
him, the time that I will visit him. If grapegatherers
come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have
enough. But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his
secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself:
his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his
neighbours, and he is not.
Leave thy
fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let
thy widows trust in me. For thus saith the
Lord;
Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup
have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall
altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished,
but thou shalt surely drink of it. For I have sworn by
myself, saith the
Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a
waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be
perpetual wastes.
I have heard a
rumour from the
Lord, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen,
saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and
rise up to the battle. For, lo, I will make thee small
among the heathen, and despised among men. Thy
terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine
heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock,
that holdest the height of the hill: though thou
shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will
bring thee down from thence, saith the
Lord.
Also Edom shall be
a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be
astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the
neighbour cities thereof, saith the
Lord, no
man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell
in it. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the
swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong:
but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who
is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is
like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is
that shepherd that will stand before me?
Therefore hear the
counsel of the
Lord, that he hath taken against Edom; and his
purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants
of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them
out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate
with them. The earth is moved at the noise of their
fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red
sea. Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and
spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the
heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a
woman in her pangs. (Jer 49:7–22)
It seems somewhat
foolish for a few thousand haphazardly armed
Palestinians to confront the modern and well-equipped
Israeli Defense Forces, but apparently they will have
been deceived into doing this by the “ambassador” who
was sent to them from another Arab country. In response
God asks, “is their wisdom vanished?” Our passage says
that Israel will discover his “secret places”—presumably
hideouts from where terrorists operate—and will make
their habitations desolate with them.
Neighboring
countries in the Arabian Peninsula (“Dedan”) are advised
to flee from the destruction, as God will bring the same
judgment on them that he brought upon Edom; the
reference to “Sodom and Gomorrah” may indicate the use
of nuclear weapons. It’s not clear to what extent
nuclear weapons will be used on Jordan, however, since
at the conclusion of the war Israel is said to possess
“the mount of Esau . . . the fields of Ephraim, and the
fields of Samaria” (West Bank and Jordan) and “the
Philistines” (Gaza). Isaiah 34:6 and 63:1 both indicate
that the battle of Armageddon will extend to Bozrah
(southeast of the Dead Sea), which implies that this
area will not be radioactive; although, eventually, Edom
will be “a desolation” like “Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Apparently Jordan
and the West Bank were not expected to be part of the
conspiracy, but were deceived into joining the coalition
(“Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the
cup have assuredly drunken”). Verse 10 says that Edom’s
children, brethren, and neighbors will be destroyed, but
that he will not. This could mean destruction of the
population of West Bank, Jordan, and neighboring Arab
countries, but preservation of the physical land itself.
Apparently some fatherless children and widows will be
spared (“Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve
them alive; and let thy widows trust in me”).
There have been
many stories in modern Israeli military history where a
few soldiers defeated an overwhelming number of enemies.
Verse 20 indicates that this may happen again: “Surely
the least of the flock shall draw them out.” Apparently
the battle will extend to the Gulf of Aqaba (“Red sea”)
since Jordan shares a border with Israel there. The use
of Israeli aircraft seems to be indicated by “he shall
come up and fly as the eagle,” in which case enemy
forces shall be terrified “as the heart of a woman in
her pangs”; in addition, although aircraft from Jordan
may be used in this battle (“Though thou exalt thyself
as the eagle”), Obadiah indicates they will be shot down
(“thence will I bring thee down”; Obadiah 1:4). Ezekiel
25 also seems to look ahead to this battle:
Therefore thus
saith the Lord God;
I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will
cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it
desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the
sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand
of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according
to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall
know my vengeance, saith the Lord
God.
(Ezekiel 25:13–14)
Ezekiel says,
“they of Dedan shall fall by the sword,” meaning that
the nations of the Arabian Peninsula will be attacked.
Apparently, Israel will responsible for direct military
action against Edom (“And I will lay my vengeance upon
Edom by the hand of my people Israel”) and since this
invasion by Israel has never happened before, it must
therefore be in the future.
We’ll cover more
about this war with Jordan in Part 9 of this series,
including the rebuilding of the third temple; the
expansion of Israel’s borders “as in the days of old”
under King David (Amos 9:11); and the eventual
destruction of the land of Edom at the battle of
Armageddon, where it will be like “burning pitch…for
ever and ever” (Isaiah 34:9–10). So stay tuned for Part
9!
I provide more
details of this and many other end-times prophecies in
my recently published book, END TIMES DAWNING: Get
Ready! (available from
www.endtimesrecord.com). Please read it! Also if you
would, please leave a book review on Amazon!
Yours in Christ,
Steve Ashburn
