“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
A long time ago, right after the Great Flood, Noah’s sons moved to different parts of the Middle East and the Mediterranean Basin, raising families and founding nations: “Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the Flood . . . The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.” (Genesis 10:1, 6-7).
The descendants of Ham (the Hamitic peoples) relocated to an area just south of the Hejaz, today’s west coast of Saudi Arabia. They settled in what is today modern Yemen, bordering Oman.
Sheba (southwestern Arabia/Yemen) and Dedan (northern Arabia) are mentioned in many places in the Torah. These descendants of Ham were known for their dual livelihoods:
- Operating camel caravans along the desert trading routes, carrying gold, spices, oil and embroidered work to Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt. – The Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon because she wanted to develop closer trade ties.
- Attacking other merchant caravans and peaceful settlements, robbing their goods, and enslaving their inhabitants.
There is a long history of the inhabitants of Sheba (modern Yemen) attacking trading routes. In Bible days it was camel caravans; today it is world shipping lanes. It seems that Yemenite piracy is a reality in our day as well. They are today’s pirates of Jihad.
While I am writing this, the United States and Britain are launching strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen. Will that be the end of the terrorists? – Not according to the Bible.
The prophet Ezekiel names some of the enemies who will attack Israel in the future battle of Gog/Magog against Israel. Their motive will be to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to capture great spoils. God addresses Gog and Magog, as well as two of these terror-creating robbers (Sheba and Dedan) participating in that apocalyptic axis of evil.
Yemen is a hotbed of extreme jihadi terrorism, the proxy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards and now an attacker of the State of Israel.
In 2003, influenced by the Lebanese Shi’ite terror group Hezbollah (who is in turn under Iranian tutelage and control), the Houthis adopted their official slogan: “Allah is the greater! Death to America! Death to Israel! A Curse Upon the Jews! Victory to Islam!” (‘Allāhu ʾakbar, al-mawt li-ʾAmrīkā, al-mawt li-ʾIsrāʾīl, al-laʿnah ʿalā ʾl-Yahūd, an-naṣr lil-ʾIslām’).
Saudi Arabia is involved in a behind-the-scenes life-and-death struggle with Shi’ite Iran, who wants to destroy the Royal House of Saud, crush the Sunni majority of Islam (80% of the total), and establish Iranian control over Mecca and Medina. Iran has been using the Houthis as a proxy, attacking Saudi oil fields, military bases, and ports, and recently firing missiles and armed suicide drones against Israel.
Iran and Yemen have a Last Days role to play in attacking Israel, as the prophet Ezekiel clearly states:
“Now the word of ADONAI came to me, saying, “Son of man, turn your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘ . . . I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them completely equipped, a great horde breastplates and shields, all wielding swords. Persia [Iran], Cush, and Put with them, all of them with breastplates and helmet – many peoples are with you . . . Sheba and Dedan [Yemen] and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoils? Have you assembled your hordes to loot, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and wealth, to capture great spoils? (Ezekiel 38:1-13)
As the saying goes: “Once a pirate, always a pirate.”
Standing with Israel 