With the present peace negotiations between the USA and Israel, and assorted Muslim countries, it will be interesting to see if Tunisia and Yemen will join with the UAE and Bahrain in joining the “Abrahamic accord” with Israel.
In April 2000, John Ramsden wrote in The Testimony magazine with regard to Ezekiel 38:13 and “Britain in Prophecy”:
“The reference to the NIV alternative of “villages” instead of “young lions” in Ezekiel 38:13 is unfortunate. I am told that all the known best Hebrew texts have “lions”.
But please note what the Septuagint actually says: “Carthaginian merchants and all their villages”. Surely no one believes that Tunisian-Carthaginian Arabic merchants will combine with Jewish traders to oppose the Gogian confederacy?"
All things are possible with God, and the prospect that Carthage/Tunisia may form an “accord” with Israel for “peace and security and prosperity” like the UAE and Bahrain have done this week, was unthinkable even a month ago, let alone 20 years ago..
Yemen, Qatar and Sudan, and even Saudi Arabia, may soon be included in this “Abrahamic Accord” as well. The possibility of a literal Carthage should not be overlooked in favour of a “traditional” British Tarshish.
The “Abrahamic Accord” with these Muslim countries may be the “holy covenant” that some nations forsake in Daniel 11, when they have an “understanding”(intelligence A.V.) with the “king of the north”.
Chapters 38 and 39 of the book of Ezekiel detail a future invasion on the land of Israel. This will occur after the Jews have been re-gathered to the land, and occupy it in peace.
The northern invader will be a prince called “Gog” who will lead several nations. Two other nations, together with a group of merchants will question Gog with regard to his motives.
These merchants have been the subject of many articles about this particular prophecy.
Controversy has been caused because of the various translations of the text of Ezekiel 38:13, from both Hebrew and Greek.
The Hebrew version of the text of Ezekiel 38:13 reads the “merchants of Tarshish” in the KJV.
There has been much conjecture about where “Tarshish” is located today.
Tarshish, in Biblical time, traded tin, and other metals with one of Israel’s neighbours, the Phoenician merchant city of Tyre.
However, some brethren have proposed that “Tyre” was “Tarshish”, and that the trading power of “Tyre” moved to other locations, including Venice, and Britain. They then conclude that Britain is Tarshish today.
British tin has been found in archaeological excavations in Israel, Turkey and Greece, but there is no proof that the merchants who traded the tin in these countries were British.
Another aspect of the discussion about Tarshish is that it was a maritime power. The theory that Britain is Tarshish evolved in the 18th century when Britain had the largest navy in the world, and was a great mercantile nation. Britain in 2020 has a small navy compared with nations like China, the USA and Greece. With the exit of Britain from the EU, her trade arrangements all have to be started anew. Britain has few trade agreements at present. Much of her economy has been wrecked by the health problems caused by Covid-19 virus.
Those who believe that Tarshish is Britain also use the next phrase in verse 13, “all the young lions thereof” to describe the Commonwealth countries, which were called “young lions”, especially during World War 1, with Britain being the senior “lion”. Since then many of the “young lion” countries have become independent and no longer recognise the British monarch as their head of state. The heraldry of countries like Canada and Australia no longer include lions. The USA, which some think may be a “young lion” has a Roman eagle for its coat of arms.
The phrase “young lions” can also be translated from the Hebrew as “lions” or “villages”.
Recent English Bible translations include the word “villages” instead of the “young lions”, hence removing the aspect of the Commonwealth from the “British” theory.
On the other hand, the Greek version of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel in the Septuagint gives a different reading:
Here the Greek word for Carthage “Καρχηδών” is inserted. This is historically correct as the Phoenician merchants of Tyre moved to Carthage, and continued trading from there after Tyre was conquered by Alexander the Great.
The Greek verse 13 continues with “all their towns”. Carthage was the major trading city in the Mediterranean Sea, even after the Romans conquered her in the Punic War. There was a large harbor and many surrounding towns. The ruins of ancient Carthage are located in modern Tunisia. The port at Carthage is now being developed as a major North African trading hub.
Sheba and Dedan are the two other nations that query Gog. Sheba was famous as the country where frankincense came from and today this is understood to be Yemen, in the south of the Arabian peninsular.
According to the Hebrew text of Ezekiel 27, Dedan was a trader with Tyre in saddlecloths, but the Greek text has “choice animals for chariots”. Dedan was believed to have been located on the Persian Gulf coast of Arabia, and was possibly an island..
Having witnessed the astounding events of the past week, it is important that Bible students should be prepared to consider the possibility of the literal, rather than symbolic, fulfilment of prophecy, no matter how far fetched it may seem at the time.
Ellen and Jean Reid.