In preparation of imminent war in the Middle East!
"Behold, beyond the rivers of Ethiopia there is a land where the sound of wings is heard.
From that land ambassadors come down the Nile in boats made of reeds. Go back home, swift messengers! Take a message back to your land divided by rivers, to your strong and powerful nation, to your tall and smooth-skinned people, who are feared all over the world." (Isaiah 18:1-2, Good News Bible)
Rootages of the Sacred Names
Please note that the titles LORD and GOD in upper-case lettering are substitutes for the Sacred Name of the Creator denoted by the consonants, YHWH. Furthermore, the Name by which our Messiah is commonly known, Jesus, was transliterated from the Hebrew word for salvation, Yeshua. Yeshua was a post exilic derivative of the original Name, Yahoshua, which means ' YAH IS SALVATION.'
How do we know that the land referred to in Scripture as 'a land where the sound of wings are heard,' pertains to South Africa?
We can think of two reasons.
Firstly, according to Birdlife South Africa, this country ranks as one of the top birding or birdlife destinations in the world [Birdlife South Africa:
www.birdlife.org.za]. Its lush forests, marshes, freshwater lagoons, flooded grasslands, tidal estuaries and acacia woodlands support an impressive display of birds. Apart from the resident birds, South Africa hosts a number of intra-African migrants such as cuckoos and kingfishers, as well as birds from the Arctic, Europe, Central Asia, China and Antarctica during the year. Imagine how these marshes and estuaries must have teemed with birdlife 2600 years ago when Necho, Pharoah of Egypt, a contemporary of the prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah, sent an expedition of Phoenician mariners and explorers, and maybe even Hebrew scholars, to the country Isaiah had referred to as 'a land where the sound of wings are heard' a century earlier.
It is therefore not surprising that the prophet Zephaniah, whose name quite befittingly means "Yah will hide by covering over," would also in Zephaniah 3:10 refer to this mysterious place beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.
Today there is still a remarkable resemblance between some words the indigenous peoples have been using for the last 2600 years and the Hebrew of ancient times.
The second verse of Isaiah 18 brings into focus the instruction by Pharaoh Necho to his Phoenician explorers to promptly send a return party back to Egypt to inform him of their find once they have discovered the land Isaiah had prophesied about a 100 years before.
Isaiah did not merely described South Africa as 'a land where the sound of wings are heard,' he also pictured a remote part of this country as a mirror-image of the Promised Land.
To reproduce what Isaiah saw, image you are placed on a large globe representing the earth. See yourself standing by the equator in Africa . You are facing Israel, which you are able to see clearly from where you are standing beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. Standing on the equator looking northeasterly you will see that the Promised Land is demarcated by the following four beacons:
 |
Farthest from you, in the north, the Lebanon with its snow-capped peaks and cedar trees; |
|
in the west along the Mediterranean coast, the sandy plains of Sharon renowed for its flowers; |
|
in the east, the Judean wilderness where the Messiah was tempted, and |
|
nearest to you, in the south, the copper mines of Timna near the coastal town of Eilat (Deut. 8:9). |
|
Farthest from you, to the south of this province, the Cedarberg Mountains with its snow-capped peaks and cedar trees; |
|
in the west along the Atlantic coast, the sandy plains of Namaqualand renowed for its flowers; |
|
in the east, the desolate Karoo, and |
|
nearest to you, in the north of this province, the copper mines of Springbok, Okiep and Nababeep. |
South African nationals ought to note with great elation how their country was referred to by one of the greatest Hebrew prophets 2700 years ago. Notice also his usage of the word 'there,' implying a place other than the Promised Land - which can only be the Northern Cape of South Africa!
Isaiah 35:1-9
"The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you."
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there."
What is the majesty of Carmel referred to by Isaiah that will also be given to the place that is a mirror-image of the Promised Land?
In 1 Kings 18:30 we read how on Mount Carmel Elijah repaired the altar of the Almighty that was broken down.
"And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD" (1 Kings 18:31-32).
When the stars came out that evening there was nothing left of that altar except a smoking crater. Could that altar representing the twelve tribes of Israel unified again, be the majesty of Carmel? Did you know the altar of Elijah and the two sticks that became one in Ezekiel's hands, represent the same glorious event - the unification of the twelve tribes of Israel!
In the Northern Cape there's a mountain called 'Mountain of the Y-shaped Branch.' Naturally (or supernaturally?) engraved in the mountain cliff is a massive Y-shaped Branch visible from miles away. From this mountain flows a river called 'River of the Y-shaped Branch.' The area around that mountain is called 'Place of the Y-shaped Branch.' Over Sukkot 2006 we saw a rainbow above that mountain. It had the shape of a Y-shaped branch. When exploring the area around this mountain over Sukkot 2006, we stumbled upon an extraordinary object that looked like something from another world. It was the Y-shaped branch exhibited in the picture on the right!
Have we experienced over Sukkot 2006 the first glimpses of the majesty of Carmel being given to this place that's a replica of the Land of Israel?
Come spend some time here and find out for yourself!
Back to Bible Prophecy 2008 Revelations Home Page for
currently being established at a place that's a mirror-image of the Promised Land
in anticipation of a global economic meltdown!
