Speaking of Iraq…

True or False?

Some of you may have received an e-mail regarding Iraq in the Bible. Some of the alleged Biblical and/or historical facts are actually true, but others are false. Whoever came up with the original list was apparently trying to make modern Iraq appear to be some sort of prophet, which it certainly is not.

“The Garden of Eden was in Iraq.” Well, perhaps. It all depends on whether the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are in the same place as they were before the great flood. Geologists have not made a determination.
“Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, was the cradle of civilization.” Possibly, depending on one’s definition of civilization. It is where Babel was built, the first major city after the great flood...but it didn’t last long (Genesis 11:9).
“Noah built his ark in Iraq.” The truth is, however, no one has ever found any trace of the Ark, although people have searched for centuries.
“The Tower of Babel was in Iraq.” This is true.
“Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq.” This is also true.
“Isaac's wife Rebekah was from Nahor, which is in Iraq.” This is not true. The “City of Nahor,” also called Haran, is located in modern Turkey, near the city of Sanlurfa.
“Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.” Not in Iraq, but in Haran. See above.
“Jonah preached in Nineveh, which is in Iraq.” True. The ancient site of Nineveh is part of Mosul, the second largest city of modern Irag.
“Assyria, which is in Iraq, conquered the ten tribes of Israel.” This is true, somewhat. Assyrian borders partially included the northern part of modern Iraq.
How about “Amos cried out in Iraq!”? Not true. Amos was from a small town named Tekoa near Bethlehem. He prophesied against Israel and several other countries, but scholars say he never went to Babylon or Nineveh.
“Babylon, which is in Iraq, destroyed Jerusalem.” This is true. The site of Babylon was located in modern-day Iraq.
“Daniel was in the lion's den in Iraq.” False. This event happened in the Persian Empire, not the Babylonian Empire (Daniel 6:18-19).
“The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (Jesus had been in Iraq also as the fourth person in the Fiery Furnace!).” This is true. It happened in Babylon.
“Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the ‘writing on the wall’ in Iraq.” True.
“Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.” True.
It is true that “Ezekiel preached in Iraq.” He was in Tel Abib near the Kebar River according to Ezekiel 3:15, which is located in what is now Southern Iraq.
“The wise men were from Iraq.” Possibly, but a different story can be found in Isaiah 60:6. “Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.” Midian and Ephah were in modern Saudi Arabia, and Sheba was in in modern Ethiopia.
“Peter preached in Iraq.” This is false. When Peter said “Babylon” he was metaphorically referring to Rome. Peter lived over 500 years after the destruction of Babylon.
“The ‘Empire of Man,’ described in Revelation, is called Babylon, which was a city in Iraq.” This is true. “Babylon” was used to represent an oppressive government like the real Babylon once was.
“Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq.” This is false. Iraq was not a country at the time the Bible was written, and is never mentioned.
“And think about this: Since America is typically represented by an eagle, Saddam should have read up on his Muslim passages. The following verse is from the Koran (the Islamic Bible). Koran 9:11: ‘For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah; And there was peace.’ (Note the verse number!) Hmmmmmm?!” This statement is false. This passage is not in the Koran. Mohammed never claimed to foretell the future or do any miracles.

We should be extremely careful of what we pass on via e-mail, especially that having to do with religion. If we have doubts about the overall truth of a statement or article we should hit delete, or at least make it known that there is some doubt about its veracity.

As we all know, there is a tremendous amount of garbage being passed on via the Internet, and one should not forget that there are more lawyers in this country than there is legitimate legal work for them to do. Lawsuits claiming libel are becoming more common where there is real, or imagined, personal damage.

Beware!

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The statements listed above were received recently by your editor in a chain e-mail. The major portion of the rebuttals were found on the Internet and were not copyrighted.