Steven you may already seen this article.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=af9WnV_oByg8&refer=worldwide Do you think anything will come of this. That is will the sons of Ishmael join with Israel and it’s allies in the end time.
William
MYREPLY
Dear William,
Thanks for the Bloomberg link about the Somali pirates situation. I hadn’t seen it, but had seen similar stories on other news outlets. Your question addresses an important issue in how biblical prophecies will be fulfilled. You ask whether the Somali situation will draw the Ishmaelite nations closer to the modern nations of the house of Israel.
I think the possibility of that happening is growing stronger, for several reasons. The inability of the Saudis and Arab oil exporters to protect their own oil tankers from ragtag pirates makes it very evident to the Arabs badly need allies with strong navies to safeguard their oil routes. The USA (and NATO) is one of the few options available. Since the NATO nations (and the West’s Asian allies like Japan) are prime customers for Arab oil, the Arabs and the West have a very good reason to cooperate together in defending those routes.
Also, the Arab nations (the Ishmaelites in biblical terms) have two major schisms separating them from the Iranian mullahs who hate the West. Iran has a Medo-Persian origin (Genesis 10:2 states “Madai”–the Medes–are from Japheth), and the Ishmaelites are Semitic so there is a racial/ethnic divide between the Arabs and Iran. Also, the Arabs are Sunni Moslems and the Iranians are Shiite Moslems so there is a religious divide as well. Did you read my recent blog about the Iranian-Chinese involvement in an apparent mass terrorist attack in which an Iranian ship loaded with Chinese radioactive sand was apparently going to be blown up in a “radioactive dirty bomb” attack off the coast of Israel after transiting the Suez Canal on the way to Europe? The plot was foiled when Somali pirates hijacked the terrorist ship and began dying of radiation sickness (please go back a few weeks and read this blog if you did not see it). That episode has already caused NATO to hastily send warships to the region, induced India to assist with its navy (which thankfully sunk a pirate vessel already) and stimulated joint Arab-NATO naval exercises in the Persian Gulf ). The Iranian involvement in this apparent terrorist strike planned against Israel would also have killed and injured many Sunni Arabs living in the Palestinian regions, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and maybe Iraq (depending on how far the radioactive contents of the blown-up ship would have traveled). This fact graphically demonstrated to the Arab leaders that the Persian Iranians care nothing about the well-being of the Sunni Arab nations.
All the above actions are pulling the Arabs and the West closer together. Barack Obama’s election may also make the Sunni Arabs more likely to cooperate with the American government on security matters due to Obama having an African ancestry and an Islamic upbringing in his childhood years in Indonesia.
Ezekiel 38 lists Persia (modern Iran) as being an ally of Russia, China and other nations in the alliance which will attack the western nations led by the house of Israel at the end of our age. It is most noteworthy that while the Shiite Iranians are listed as Russian allies in the latter days, the Ishmaelite Sunni Arabs are not listed as being in that alliance. Their omission from the list of attacking nations in Ezekiel 38 argues that the Ishmaelites will be allied to the nations of the modern tribes of Israel at the end of our age. Indeed, Ezekiel 38 does not list one Semitic nation as being in the Gog-Magog alliance that will attack the nations of the house of Israel. This indicates that all the Semitic nations will “be on the same side” in the latter days. The modern Assyrians, Aramaens, and Elamites are also modem Semitic nations so they would be on the side of the Israelites as well. Another latter-day prophecy supports the viewpoint that all Semitic nations will be on the same side.
Numbers 24:14-24 is an obscure, rarely-noticed prophecy about the latter days. Verse 24 prophesies that “ships of Chittim” will “afflict” (attack) the latter-day nations of Asshur and Eber. This confirms that all the nations descended from Eber will be victimized by the same attack in the latter days and that the Assyrians will be attacked as well. The nations descended from Eber include not just the ten tribes of Israel, but the Jews, the Ishmaelite nations, and the Edomite nations as well. This strongly argues that the Ishmaelites and the Israelite tribes will be on the same side in a great latter-day war. The attackers (“Chittim”) are from Japheth as Genesis 10:4 confirms. Ezekiel 38 describes an age-ending attack vs. the tribes of Israel which will be launched by many nations of Japheth with help from some Hamitic nations. Ezekiel 38 tells us that Tarshish is a nation of Japheth that is excluded from this Japhetic alliance vs. the Israelites in the latter days. [I identify Japan as Tarshish in the latter days in an article available at this website.] Since “Chittim” is prophesied in Number 24 to attack the nations of Israel (and Ishmael, Edom, Assyria, etc.) in the latter days, it is evident to me that Numbers 24 and Ezekiel 38 are referring to the same end-time attack in which nations from mostly Japheth will attack the Israelite/Semitic nations and their allies. Jeremiah 30 is another latter-day prophecy which foretells that both Israel and Judah (all 12 tribes) will be jointly attacked in the latter days in a time called “Jacob’s Trouble.” These prophecies all have the same time setting (the latter days) so it is evident that they are all discussing the same prophesied war at the end of our age (but giving us varying pieces of the overall puzzle).
Steve
