AN ANCIENT PROPHECY IN PROGRESS!
Some will recall a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah which I brought up at our World Conference two years ago when the Iraq Mission was first launched. I had been praying about the door of opportunity which had just opened for us in the mountainous north of the country known as Kurdistan of Iraq when this passage was quickened to my mind.
And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. – Isaiah 19:22-24
The Assyrian and Babylonian Exiles
Assyrian Rock Carvings
After the death of Solomon, Israel was divided into two Kingdoms; the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Ten of the twelve tribes of Israel went with the Northern Kingdom, two remained in the South. Around 721-715 BC Israel, the Northern Kingdom, was conquered by the Assyrians, its people were deported and exiled to the area of the empire which is roughly the area we call Kurdistan today. Later, the Assyrian Empire collapsed under its own weight and the Babylonians became the dominant power in the region. Nebuchadnezzar lI, King of Babylon made war with The Southern Kingdom, Judah. He destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and deported a large number of its people to Babylon (modern Iraq) and the surrounding area. These new exiles with the Ten Tribes previously exiled now constituted a large Jewish population. Later, when the Persians conquered the Babylonians, their king, Cyrus would permit their return to Israel; many, especially the wealthy, remained in the region. Certain towns had entirely Jewish populations and their position remained favorable during successive regimes. In the 1st Century BC a Jewish State was set up around Nehardea which lasted for many years. The Jews of Babylon (which contained Kurdistan) remained in constant touch with the Jews of Israel and even supplied their leaders with arms and supplies. Many of these Jews lived in the area where I work (Zakho on the Habur River) until 1948 when they opted to return to the new State of Israel.
The Jewish Roots of Kurdistan
The history of Judaism in Kurdistan is ancient. The Talmud holds that Jewish deportees were settled in Kurdistan 2800 years ago by the Assyrian King Shalmaneser. The Talmud indicates that the Jews were given permission by the rabbinic authorities to allow conversion from the local population. The illustrious Kurdish royal house of Adiabene, with Arbil (Erbil) as its capital was converted to Judaism in the 1st Century BC, along with a large number of Kurdish citizens in the Kingdom. It is generally agreed that Judaism was firmly established in central Kurdistan by the beginning of the 2nd Century AD. Like many other Jewish communities, Christianity found Adiabene a fertile ground for conversion in the course of the 4th and 5th centuries AD. The Jews remained a populous group in Kurdistan until the middle of the present century and the creation of the State of Israel. At home and in the synagogues, Kurdish Jews speak a form of ancient Aramaic called Suriyani (Assyrian). In commerce and larger society they speak Kurdish. Many aspects of Kurdish and Jewish life and culture have become so intertwined that some of the most popular folk stories accounting for Kurdish ethnic origins connect them with the Jews. The tombs of Biblical prophets like Nahum in Al Kosh, Jonah in Nabi Yunis (ancient Nineveh), Daniel in Kirkuk, Habakkuk in Tuisirkan, of Queen Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan as well as several caves reportedly visited by Elijah are among the most important Jewish shrines in Kurdistan and are venerated by all Jews today.
If you have followed my adventures in this part of the world, you recognize many of these names from my writings. I am located 35 kilometers from Nineveh, we have done our medical outreaches right next to Al Kosh, Erbil is capitol of Kurdistan, where I have spent much of my time, its all here … in Kurdistan of Iraq.(Jack)
The Kurds are the Closest Relatives of Jews
In 2001, a team of Israeli, German and Indian scientists discovered that the majority of Jews around the world are closely related to the Kurdish people; more closely than they are to the Semitic-speaking Arabs or any other population tested. The researchers sampled a total of 526 Y-chromosomes from 6 populations (Kurdish Jews, Kurdish Muslims, Palestinian Arabs, Sephardic Jews, Ashkenazic Jews, and Bedouin from southern Israel) and added extra data on 1321 persons from 12 populations (including Russians, Belarusians, Poles, Berbers, Portuguese, Spaniards, Arabs, Armenians, and Anatolian Turks). Most of the 95 Kurdish Muslim test subjects came from northern Iraq. Ashkenazic Jews have ancestors who lived in central and eastern Europe, while Sephardic Jews have ancestors from southwestern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. The Kurdish Jews and Sephardic Jews were found to be very close to each other.
Postscript
Despite their conversion to Islam, the Kurds were never accepted as equals to other Islamic groups. Islamic groups constantly feared a revival of the Jewish faith. There had been several Jewish pseudo-messiahs that had arisen who looked to this community to “raise a Jewish Army to liberate the Land of Israel.” Islamic end-time theologians saw this as a model of the “Daijal” (a kind of Islamic antichrist) coming from Isfahan accompanied by 70,000 “Jews.”
There is much more to this amazing story which will interest those who love history and its amazing connections which have come down the corridors of time and color our present reality. The full article with references on the Jewish roots of Kurdistan may be found on the Internet at http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/kurds.html
Prophesy VS Media
Whatever your political view, you’ll have to concede that Iraq has become the bone of contention used by both parties in our Nation to further their own agenda. I’ve watched the News Media distort the story in Iraq to make it appear to be a disaster, which it is not. It certainly is not another Viet Nam as some have erroneously contended, far from it. My point is this; whatever your views on Iraq politically, it has become the main focus of strong political sentiment which has divided our nation and weakened our position in that country. This, from my viewpoint, is more than a political battle; it is a spiritual battle for the souls of men. The spiritual perspective is that God has opened a door of opportunity into a world that has been closed and isolated from us for over fifty years. The Lord said, “I do those things which I see The Father doing.” This is the crucial element needed for our success. We, as believers need to stop viewing what the world is doing and determining the Will of God based on popular media analysis; rather, we need to look to the Word of God and listen to the voice of the Spirit. Again, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the geography of the Middle East, Kurdistan of Iraq, where I am, was a part of the Ancient Assyrian Empire, remember, I live 35 kilometers north of Nineveh, the capitol of ancient Assyria.
As I prepare to return to Iraq, with all of its intrigue and volatility, I do not see fearful things, though danger is never far away, what I see is our unprecedented opportunity, as Salt and Light, to flavor and illuminate the future course of human history. There are a number of exciting doors open before us, they have been opened by The Lord, lets have the simple faith to step through them and see what The Lord will accomplish – Jack Harris
Our work in Kurdistan of Iraq is supported by contributions sent to
Mission Global Harvest (Iraq)
P.O. Box 1769
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729
Visit our web site at www.iraqirelief.com
Egypt (MNN) — E3 Partners’ Tom Doyle says while Saudi Arabia is the heart of Islam, Egypt is the brains. Islamic clerics are trained in the country, so it only makes sense to hold their own strategic training. “We were blessed to have about 140 pastors and leaders in Egypt at a training where they learned how to share the Gospel in a new, creative way with the Evangecube, and then, how to plant churches. These young pastors went out and started to share the Gospel, and about 90 to 100 people came to Christ in the villages. As a result of that, seven new churches are going to be started.” There is danger involved with ministry in this region. Please pray for safety for new believers and evangelists. “They’re going to have pressure to stay where they are. When they start to worship, it doesn’t take too long before word gets out. So the biggest matter at hand is safety for these believers, because we all know that to leave Islam there is someone that’s going to want to kill them.”
Lebanon (MNN) — The United Nations Security Council is condemning two targeted public attacks in northeast Beirut Tuesday. 
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