Iraq and the Bible

I received an interesting email today, that apparently has been making the Internet rounds for some time now. The text is quoted below, and my commentary follows:

The Email Text:

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IRAQ - VERY INTERESTING - DID YOU KNOW?

1. The garden of Eden was in Iraq.
2. Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, was the cradle of civilization!
3. Noah built the ark in Iraq.
4. The Tower of Babel was in Iraq.
5. Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq!
6. Isaac's wife Rebekah is from Nahor, which is in Iraq.
7. Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.
8. Jonah preached in Nineveh - which is in Iraq.
9. Assyria, which is in Iraq, conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
10. Amos cried out in Iraq!
11. Babylon, which is in Iraq, destroyed Jerusalem.
12. Daniel was in the lion's den in Iraq!
13. The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (Jesus had been in Iraq also as the fourth person in the fiery furnace!)
14. Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the "writing on the wall" in Iraq.
15. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
16. Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
17. The wise men were from Iraq.
18. Peter preached in Iraq.
19. The "Empire of Man" described in Revelation is called Babylon,which was a city in Iraq!

And you have probably seen this one. Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq! However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq, means country with deep roots. Indeed Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible. No other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associated it than Iraq. And also... This is something to think about! 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!) Hmmmmmmm?! God Bless you all Amen !

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--> My comments on the email start here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ REGARDING Iraq and the Bible: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I agree in principle that all or most of the areas mentioned in that list refer to physical locations that can now be found within the boundaries of Iraq. However, I also have to qualify that by saying "Iraq" is never actually mentioned in the Bible. Iraq ... Iran ... Saudi Arabia ... etc. did not exist as nations when the biblical narratives were written. They are all the result of Western countries cutting up the Ottoman Empire after the first World War. But, if we simply consider the Iraq/Babylon connection, most of those statements are accurate. Speaking of interesting facts about Iraq ... It is said that Saddam Hussein considered himself a modern Nebuchadnezzar. He may have believed himself a descendant of the ancient king and that he wanted to reconstruct Babylon, hence all that palace construction and such. He definitely fancied himself as a leader who could rally the Arab nations. Refer to http://kenraggio.com/KRPN-Saddam-Babylon.htm , http://www.biblemysteries.com/library/saddam.htm , and http://www.gwu.edu/~bygeorge/030403/clineedit.html Here is a good summary of events between the Middle East and the West from 1098 to 2004: http://www.npr.org/news/specials/mideast/the_west/ And this link will take you to "A Seven-Part Series Traces the Israeli-Palestinian Dispute" (has audio and transcript links) http://www.npr.org/news/specials/mideast/history/ Some comments on specific items in the forwarded list of Iraq facts (my comments are indicated by asterisks)... "1. The garden of Eden was in Iraq." ***** Maybe maybe not. There are arguements on both sides of that statement. Some arguements against it use some pretty hokey reasoning based on the "Great Flood." But since so much Biblical/Koranic history occurs in that region, it is probably safe to say that the Garden was there too. (There, or in Africa). ***** "4. The Tower of Babel was in Iraq." ***** Babylon means gate of God. The Biblical or Hebrew word for Babylon was Babel. Nifty, eh? ***** "5. Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq!" ****** Maybe, maybe not. Most sources agree that Ur was Abram's hometown (he was still called Abram when he left Ur), but this one disagrees: http://www.bibleandscience.com/bible/books/genesis/ur.htm . ***** [At this point, I have to tell you about a book I am currently reading: Abraham: Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths by Bruce Feiler (http://www.brucefeiler.com/). Fascinating, stuff ... the story of Abraham has been modified and reinterpreted so many times ... I had no idea. I'll post a complete review when I finish it.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ REGARDING the Koran reference [Koran (9:11)]: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Does a Quranic verse speak of the "wrath of the Eagle cleansing the lands of Allah"? Nope. That's false. In fact, "eagle" never appears in the Koran. And the section corresponding to chapter 9, verse 11 actually reads something like this:

"But if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, they are your brethren in faith; and We make the communications clear for a people who know."

Source: http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/quran.asp and http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/k/koran-war.htm I welcome your comments...