There are times when the future is best predicted by observing the past.
The Telegraph recently reported a YouTube video posted by ISIS1 of its destruction of precious artifacts at Nimrud, an ancient city once-considered to be the jewel of the mighty Assyrian Empire, and the modern-day treasure chest of archaeological treasures from the most ancient days. The video (which has not been verified) showed ISIS militants armed with sledgehammers and power tools destroying ancient artifacts, blow-by-blow. Read more. Similar actions are reported to have taken place in Palmyra, Syria and Kirkuk, Iraq. The New York Times quotes a United Nations spokesperson:
By RICK GLADSTONE and MAHER SAMAAN, JULY 3, 2015
… On Thursday, Irina Bokova, the director general of Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, told a meeting in London that the antiquities destruction had “reached unprecedented levels in modern history.” …
Other reports include destruction of artifacts from the ancient city of Dur-Sharrukin near Mosul as well as the famed Nergal Gate of the ancient city of Nineveh, that city the biblical prophet, Jonah, refused to evangelize. For Jonah, disobedience was greeted by the belly of a whale (Jonah 1:17) that helped him to repentance (Jonah 2:5-7, 10). Jonah’s burial place is reputed to be in the Mosque of the Prophet Yunus (Arabic for “Jonah”), a Sunni mosque located in Mosul and previously an Assyrian church (Assyrian Church of the East) until the “religion of peace” destroyed the city and converted the church to a mosque many years prior. Of course, as ISIS recently has done, the destruction included the the removal of Christian symbols from the church. In a recent YouTube video, ISIS reports the blowing up of the mosque. Jonah’s tomb was reputed to be inside the mosque. There are questions as to the actual date of the destruction of the mosque but any question as to whether or not it has been destroyed have been answered. (Read more for date of July 4, 2014 destruction.)
As we might expect, one of the questions is whether or not the destruction of the artifacts was staged while the real artifacts were smuggled to be sold by ISIS. A New York Times report,
By RICK GLADSTONE and MAHER SAMAAN, JULY 3, 2015
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group with a network of monitors inside Syria, said its sources in Manbij, where the purported statue smuggler was punished, said the Islamic State had confiscated the statues “in preparation to sell them in one of the neighboring countries.” The observatory’s account could not be corroborated. Read more.
Interesting isn’t it? ISIS, a Sunni Salafi Jihadi Muslim sect, destroys a Sunni Muslim mosque which reputably entombed the burial ground of the Biblical prophet, Jonah (and, we know that Islam honors the Biblical prophets, right?).2 Why would ISIS select the Mosque of the Prophet Yunus to destroy? Was it the mosque or what was in the mosque? The Guardian reports:
Kareem Shaheen in Beirut, Thursday 26 February 2015 16.26 EST
The five-minute video, which was released by the “press office of the province of Nineveh [the region around Mosul]”, begins with a Qur’anic verse on idol worship. An Isis representative then speaks to the camera, condemning Assyrians and Akkadians as polytheists, justifying the destruction of the artefacts and statues. The man describes the prophet Muhammad’s destruction of idols in Mecca as an example. Read more.
Jonah’s remains were entombed. Supposedly. To ISIS, Jonah’s remains distracted worshippers from the worship of Allah. Islamists cannot have that in Islam. Allah needs protectors, his mujahideen, with sledge hammers and power tools to insure that worship will not be taken from Allah. The Qur’an commands Allah’s protection. Let me show you:
The masajid (places of worship) are for the name of God alone; do not call on anyone else beside God. Qur’an 72:18
I am God; there is no other god beside Me. You shall worship Me alone, and observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) to commemorate Me alone. Qur’an 20:14
There are those who abuse the masjid [the places of worship] by practicing idol worship, dividing the believers, and providing comfort to those who oppose God and His messenger. They solemnly swear: “Our intentions are honorable!” God bears witness that they are liars. Qur’an 9:107
ISIS claimed a religious obligation to destroy the Mosque of Prophet Yunus. Allah seems to be very jealous. Imagine how jealous he is in Egypt. Egypt is the land of the pyramids, tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. The most famous Egyptian pyramids are those found at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo. Several of the Giza pyramids are counted among the largest structures ever built.3 The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still in existence.4 What will ISIS do if it’s jihad reaches Egypt?
A Kuwaiti cleric is reported to have stated the following:
By Ben Axelson | baxelson@syracuse.com on March 10, 2015 at 3:42 PM, updated March 10, 2015 at 4:38 PM
An Islamist preacher from Kuwait has issued a “fatwa,” calling on Islamic State militants to destroy Egypt’s Sphinx and pyramids, according to reports. … “The fact that early Muslims who were among prophet Mohammed’s followers did not destroy the pharaohs’ monuments upon entering the Egyptian soil, does not mean that we shouldn’t do it now,” Al Kandari said. … A similar call came from Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who said ISIS followers had a “religious duty” to end the worship of material objects and idols, Al Alam news reported.
Al Arabiya News reported that the same edict was originally issued in 2012, and translated it further:
“(The destruction of) monuments is a duty by Sharia (Islamic) law, as many texts have stipulated… Texts on this issue are many and well-known but (implementing) them is restrained to one’s ability… and so, if it’s not possible to destroy the pyramids and the Sphinx as a result of the presence of an authority preventing that, Muslims would not be committing a sin [if they do not destroy them].”
What does the Bible tell us about the end-of-days and the destruction of precious artifacts (such as the pyramids)?
Daniel 11:42-44 (NASB) “Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many.
Just as specific is the prophecy of Isaiah 19 which prophesies that Egypt will be struck by the Lord, and then will come healing, healing in the Millennium:
Isaiah 19:1-2, 10, 14, 22-25 (NASB) The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor, City against city and kingdom against kingdom. … 10 And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul. … 14 The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of distortion; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit. … 22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them. 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
ISIS may be the hand of the Lord that strikes Egypt and her “precious treasures.” ISIS will come to its end (Daniel 11:45); but there will be many that will fall before that event – the pyramids, quite likely, are one of the many treasures that identifies ISIS and Islam as the hand through which satan will wage his end-of-days war.
Jesus come quickly.
Blessings.
Jack
- The Islamic State or Caliphate has also been known as Da’ash, Da’esh, Da’ish, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). [↩]
- For a discussion of a mosque dedicated to the “prophet” Jesus, read here. [↩]
- Watkin, David (2005). A History of Western Architecture (4th ed.). Laurence King Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-85669-459-9.”The Great Pyramid…is still one of the largest structures ever raised by man, its plan twice the size of St. Peter’s in Rome” [↩]
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_pyramids [↩]
The way things are going it’s hard to believe that “In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” When this happens it will be another sign that the Day of teh LORD is nigh. BTW I wish the English speaking media would settle on one abbreviation for the Islamic State. “IS” uses fewer syllables than “ISIL” and “ISIS”.
Hunt,
Isaiah 19 has a progression to it. It begins with a message of judgment to Egypt (vv 1-15); it continues to salvation which can only occur after brokenness (vv 16-22). To me, a key verse is v 19 where “an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Eygpt, and a pillar to the Lord near its border” are prophesied. This can only take place after judgment, and if you consider judgment as a Great Tribulation event, then salvation occurs at the very end of that period. Salvation then ushers in the time when “there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria…” These are two natural enemies. The Assyrians defeated the Egptians at the height of the Assyrian Empire (around 700 BC). Verse 24 describes Israel as a “third party” with Egypt and Assyria, clearly a next age event when the three nations will worship the Lord together (v 25). This can only be predictive of the Millennium when the nations of the world will acclaim Jerusalem as the center of the earth and will all worship there and the Jews will repent of having denied Jesus as Savior (Zach 12:10, 14:9).
Blessings.