People who are familiar with my articles concerning the Antichrist know that I hold the position that the Antichrist will be of Assyrian descent. A few Assyrians who came across my web site wrote to me some with lots of anger and some in a gracious manner asking me why I keep pointing to the Assyrians as the people that will give birth to the Antichrist. I said the reason why I do this is not because I am a racist, anti-Assyrian, but simply because the Bible seems to over and over again point to the Assyrians as God's chosen race to chastise His chosen people Israel. I am from Brazil and if the Bible said the Antichrist would be Brazilian, I would not hesitate to proclaim the message.
The Assyrians were first chosen by God to chastise the Northern kingdom of Israel for practicing idolatry. Around the year 722 BC the Assyrian empire invaded the land of Israel taking the ten northern tribes captive. About 100 years later God used the Babylonian empire to conquer the Assyrian empire thus causing Assyria to disappear as a nation, but the Assyrian people remained alive and were kept intact as an ethnic group. Many ancient historians write that the term ''Syria'' derived from ''Assyria'' by the Greeks after Assyria disappeared as a nation. The name Syria derives from the ancient Greek name for Syrians, Σύριοι Syrioi, which the Greeks applied without distinction to various Assyrian people. Modern scholarship confirms the Greek word traces back to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, ultimately derived from the Akkadian Aššur. [1]
When Alexander the Great conquered the Middle East, the region of Assyria was labeled as Syria by the Greeks and came to be dominated by the Grecian empire. After the division of the Grecian empire, the Seleucid dynasty began to rule that region giving rise to many Seleucid kings who ruled from the Syrian province of the Seleucid empire. Around 168 BC a Syrian king named Antiochus Epiphanes invaded the land of Israel and forced many Jews to forsake their religion and desecrated the Jewish Temple. Christians refer to Antiochus as a Syrian because the apocryphal book of Maccabees labels him a such. Because Antiochus was a type of the Antichrist, many conclude that the Antichrist will be a modern Syrian from the modern Syrian Arab Republic.
A little research from a Jewish, not a Christian perspective will show that modern Syria must not be equated with ancient Syria since we have seen that the term Syria derived from Assyria. Many Jews who know their history refer to the army that invaded Israel under Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 BC as Assyrian Greeks or Hellenized Assyrians. Even though they were labeled as Syrians by the Greeks, they were Assyrians ethnically. In writing about the Jewish feast of Hanukkah, Jewish author Nathaniel Segal says the following:
''Some of the Jewish people had returned to the Land of Israel from exile in Babylonia and had rebuilt the Holy Temple. Nevertheless, they remained subject to the domination of imperial powers — first, the Persian Empire; then later, the conquering armies of Alexander the Great. Upon the death of Alexander, his generals divided the vast kingdom among themselves. After a power struggle that engulfed all the lands of the Middle East, the Land of Israel found itself under the sway of the Seleucid Dynasty — Greek kings who saw themselves as the heirs to the ancient Assyrian Empire.
Although at first the rule of the Seleucids was benign, there soon arose a new king, Antiochus IV, who waged a bloody war against the Jews. His campaigns involved obliterating every trace of the Jewish religion. Antiochus' forces invaded and desecrated the Holy Temple. They placed an idol in the outer sanctuary and forced Jews to sacrifice pigs on the altar under the penalty of death. Antiochus forbade the observances of the Torah, especially the Sabbath, circumcision, and Torah study. Jewish marriages were not to be celebrated until the Assyrian Greek authorities "initiated" the bride.
In 3621 (140 B.C.E.) after several years of physical and spiritual destruction in the Land of Israel, Mattathias the Hasmonean, aging son of the High Priest Johannan (Yochanan *), and his five sons staged a rebellion in the mountain village of Modi'in (Modein), several miles northwest of Jerusalem. With a cry of "All who are with G-d, follow me!" they gathered forces to attack the Assyrian Greek troops and destroy idols.
After a year of leadership and many successful battles, Mattathias died and his son Judah took command of the fighters. With the four initial Hebrew letters (MaCcaBEe) representing the Biblical slogan (Exodus 16:11) "Who is like unto Thee, O G-d!" emblazoned on their shields, they would swoop down on the Assyrian Greek troops under the cover of darkness and return to their hilltops before dawn. Their strategy of hammer-like attacks (makevet * being a type of hammer or mallet) eventually routed the heavily armed men in service to Antiochus.
The Maccabee forces entered Jerusalem and gained control of the Holy Temple precincts during the early winter of 3622 (November-December 140 B.C.E.). They searched for a supply of the pure, sacred olive oil needed to light the Menorah. G-d had commanded the Jews in the book of Exodus to place this seven-branched candelabrum in the outer sanctuary of the Holy Temple and to light it every evening.
The Maccabees found only one small cruse bearing the seal of the High Priest. This was the only sacred cruse that the Assyrian Greeks had not succeeded in defiling. Greek culture was uncomfortable with the Torah's nonrational ideas of holiness. To the Greek mind, one burns oil for the resulting light. Any high-quality oil would suffice — pragmatic materialism. So they made all the sacred oil ritually impure yet otherwise usable. However, the Maccabees had stubbornly persisted in rejecting oil that did not meet the Torah's nonrational standards — especially these standards of ritual purity as set forth in the book of Leviticus.'' [2]
As we can see, this Jewish author always refers to the soldiers of Antiochus' army as Assyrian Greek troops. In an article published by Time in 1955 we read:
''It was Hanukkah; time again for Jewish boys and girls to hear the story of Judah Maccabee, warrior son of the aged priest Mattathias, who dared to lead his tiny band of fighting men against the might of Assyria. It was circa 165 B.C. that the Hanukkah miracle happened. The Assyrians were overthrown in Jerusalem, and according to legend, when the Jews returned to purge the temple of its alien idols and rededicate it, there was only sacred oil enough for one day's burning of the temple lamp. Yet the lamp burned eight full days.'' [3]
Again we see an article referring to the Assyrians as the people who came against the Jews under Antiochus' invasion which gave birth to the feast of Hanukkah. A Jewish web site writes the following about Hanukkah:
'' Hanukkah is called the festival of lights because it commemorates a small miracle that followed a great victory. The Macabees, the Hasmonean priests, and their allies waged a successful guerilla war to oust the Antiochus IV, the puppet dictator installed by the Assyrian Greeks in the 2nd century BCE. . . The Macabees won. They restored the faith with the blade of the sword and even established an INDEPENDENT kingdom of Israel for a brief while. The kingdom unfortunately was sandwiched between the Assyrian Greeks at one end and the Egyptian Ptolemies at the other.'' [4]
We could go on with more quotes from other Jewish sources but I think these are enough. As we can see, the Jews all point to the army which invaded Palestine under Antiochus as Assyrian Greeks. This shows us that once again in history God used the Assyrians as his instruments of punishment against the Jews of the second century BC who had forsaken their covenant with God and accepted pagan Hellenistic practices. But as always God had a remnant of faithful Jews who did not forsake God's covenants such as Judas Macabeus and his family. The reason why I am trying to build on this case is because many point to Antiochus Epiphanes as a type of the Antichrist and indeed he is. They say that since Antiochus ruled the Syrian province of the Seleucid empire, the future Antichrist must be a Syrian, but as we have seen, the Syrians of the second century BC should not be confused with the modern Syrians of the Syrian Arab Republic because Antiochus ruled Assyrian Greeks or hellenized Assyrians, not modern Arab Syrians.
With all that being said, we saw that the Assyrians were used as God's instruments of judgment against his people the first time in 722 BC when the Assyrians took the northern kingdom of Israel captive and the second time under Antiochus Epiphanes who ruled an army of Assyrian Greeks, or Hellenized Assyrians, i.e. Assyrians who had been dominated by the Greek culture which swept the Middle East after the conquest of Alexander the Great. Now we are going to focus on the third time in the past when God used the Assyrians to again chastise His people for rebelling against Him.
In the year 70 AD the Roman army destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple under Titus Vespasian. This was the fulfillment of a prophecy given to Daniel 500 years earlier which stated that the people of the prince that will come, i.e. the Antichrist, would destroy the city and the sanctuary. (Daniel 9:26). Because the Roman army fulfilled this prophecy, many conclude that the soldiers who participated in that particular invasion were European Romans. History tells us that the legions that invaded Jerusalem were:
Legion 10 Fretensis:
Legion 15 Apollinaris:
Legion 12 Fulminata:
Legion 5 Macedonica:
Livius, a web site dedicated to teach ancient history writes the following concerning the Roman invasion of Jerusalem in 70 AD:
'' On 14 April 70, during Passover, Titus laid siege to Jerusalem. To the northeast of the old city, on Mount Scopus, the legions XII Fulminata (a new addition from Syria) and XV Apollinaris shared a large camp; V Macedonica was camped at a short distance. When X Fretensis arrived from Syria, it occupied the Mount of Olives, in front of the Temple.'' [5]
Note that the four specific legions that invaded Jerusalem came from Syria, i.e., the Syrian province of the Roman empire, again, not to be confused with the modern Syrian Arab Republic. Were the Syrians of the first century AD Assyrians as the Syrians of the second century BC who were Hellenized Assyrians? I writing about the Assyrian Identity in Hellenistic and Roman Times, Simo Parpola, Helsinki says
''In the second century AD, two prominent writers from Roman Syria, Lucian and Tatian, ostentatiously identify themselves as Assyrians (Assúrios). This self-identification is commonly misinterpreted to imply nothing more than that these writers were ethnic Syrians (in the modern sense) speaking Aramaic as their mother tongue (Millar 1993, 460). It is perfectly clear from the contexts, however, that they were specifically referring to their native identity and cultural heritage, which they proudly and defiantly contrasted with the Greek culture. That heritage was Assyrian. It is worth emphasizing that while Assúrios in Roman times could refer to an inhabitant of the Roman province of Syria, it basically meant "Assyrian", nothing else. No "Syria" in the modern sense existed in antiquity. In Armenian, Parthian and Egyptian sources of the Roman period, Roman Syria is consistently and unmistakably referred to as "Assyria" (Asorik', 'swry'; 'Išr; see Frye 1992; Steiner 1993).'' [6]
According to Greek and Roman historians such as Herodotus, Strabo, Justinus, and others state: the term Syrian means nothing more than Assyrian. In the 1st century BC Strabo wrote:
"When those who have written histories about the Syrian empire say that the Medes were overthrown by the Persians and the Syrians by the Medes, they mean by the Syrian people, none other than those whom built the royal palaces in Babylon and Ninus; and of these Syrians, Ninus was the man who founded Nineveh, in Assyria. (H.L. Jones Translation of "Geography of Strabo", New York 1916, Vol. VIII p.195) [7]
Again we find Assyrians involved as part of God's judgement against His peoploe for the third time. In the second century BC the Jews had to deal with Hellenized [Greek] Assyrians and in the first century AD the Jews had to deal with Romanized Assyrians. It appears that God had created a pattern in order to chastise his people. Could it be that the pattern will be used during the coming Tribulation? Could it be that just as God used Hellenized and Romanized Assyrians in the past he will use unchirstianized but Islamicized Assyrians in the future?
The fact that the Assyrians were used by God as the instruments of his wrath to chastise his people for the third time in 70 AD under the Romans sets the stage for the fourth and final chastisement because the Antichrist will be of the people that destroyed the Temple under Roman control. We have seen that the Roman soldiers who fulfilled this task were Roman Assyrians, i.e. Assyrians of the Syrian province of the Roman empire which was the same Syrian province of the Seleucid empire, one of the divisions of the Grecian empire which labeled Assyrians as Syrians.
The Bible seems to clearly indicate that the Assyrians will return as a people to be used by God in order to chastise Israel and the Jews in the Tribulation. The prophets speak about a coalition of Islamic-Arab nations coming against Israel in the last days. It is interesting to note that although the Assyrians are not Arabs nor Muslims, they appear in some passages joining the Arabs in their hatred toward Israel. One thing that is also very intriguing is the fact that Assyria joins a confederacy of Arab nations in Psalm 83 where we read:
1 O God, do not keep silent;
be not quiet, O God, be not still.
2 See how your enemies are astir,
how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
4 "Come," they say, "let us destroy them as a nation,
that the name of Israel be remembered no more."
5 With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you-
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal, ] Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them
to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.(Psalm 83:1-8) NIV
This is a famous Psalm which predicts the rise of many Arab nations that will form an alliance to destroy Israel so that her name ''be remembered nor more'' (vs 4). Note that in verse 8 Assyria joins them to lend strength to the descendents of Lot. These are Moab and Ammon of whom the modern Jordanians came from who also brought forth the Palestinian Arabs who became refuges. This passage sounds like Assyrians will also support the Palestinian cause against Israel.
Could it be that we are about to witness the rise of a Islamicized Assyria in the Middle East? The Assyrians who live in Iraq are Christians and are suffering greatly for that. [8] Could it be that not all, but a significant group of Assyrians will eventually give up Christianity and embrace Islam as their religion? Only time will tell but the passage in Psalm 83 could be giving us a hint to that since Assyria joins the Arabs against Israel. The Bible also seems to tell us that Assyrian will return as a resurrected empire. For more information on this, read the following articles:
Conclusion
It seems that God has chosen a particular group of people to use as his instruments of wrath against his people whenever they forsake his covenant. The Assyrians were used by God to chastise his people under Assyrian, Greek and Roman control. I do not want to be dogmatic, but the Bible seems to suggest the Assyrians will once again be used by God to chastise Israel but this time under Islamic control. As I mentioned earlier in this article, I have no prejudice against the Assyrians. All I am doing is proclaiming what the Bible seems to teach about the Assyrians being the rod of God's anger, for he himself said:
"Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation [Israel], And against the people [Israel] of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.'' (Isaiah 10:5) NKJV
Although this passage could be talking about a single individual, it could be used as an illustration for the subject of this article. Micah 5:5-6 specifically says that Jesus will deliver Israel from the Assyrian when he returns. This suggests that the Assyrians will once again become a thorn in the flesh of the Jews. Once God finishes his program of using the Assyrians to chastise Israel, he will make Assyria and the Assyrian people one of the greatest blessings to Israel and the world in the Millennial kingdom of Christ, for the Bible declares:
''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 19:23-25)
God bless you!
Rodrigo Silva
11-06-08
Endnotes
