FEAR, ROARING,TARSHISH AND THE YOUNG LIONS
October 2003 article by Andrew Pritchard
September proved to be a month of reflection. 11 September up until 2001 just an ordinary date, is now etched in everybody’s mind. Seen as a day that the world changed, and a day when everybody remembers what he or she was doing at that time, two years on the enormity of what happened is not lost. Yet again, this 11 September, 2 years on, people reflected on the fact that the world is not a safe place.
The Bible, a book not just of the past but also a book for our times and beyond, speaks of fear on a global scale, interestingly enough in the context of events leading to the return to earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider a passage in Luke Chapter 21, verses 25-26.
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear and looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken”.
The Bible in a number of places uses symbolic language. In other passages, the Bible describes peoples and nations as the sea and waves, and rulers of the world as the powers of heaven, to give and paint a very real and graphic picture to which we can relate. September 11th 2001 definitely brought a fear and shaking and has certainly led to a roaring.
A roaring was clearly witnessed in the cry of action by a number of nations to stamp out terrorism. This in turn led to a chain of events leading to a second war by allied forces in Iraq. This event leads to a situation recorded in the Bible in terms of where these forces will be at the time of the end, that is just prior to the return of Jesus. This is found in the Old Testament, in the book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel chapter 38 speaks of the invasion of a nation and its helpers from the north against Israel. This event of size and magnitude is yet to happen and with the events described in chapter 39 are clearly happenings that are to occur at the time of the end, leading to the return of Jesus. In passing, note verse 8 of chapter 38, speaking about an attack in Israel, a land and people brought back from the sword, and gathered out of many nations. Israel is a very significant nation in Bible prophecy, and its return as a nation as fulfilled in 1948 is a major piece of evidence to the accuracy and truth of Bible prophecy.
Our attention in the context of this article, however, is drawn to verse 13 of chapter 38. The northern nation and its helpers have come into Israel and are taking a spoil of the land. Verse 13 speaks of people in the area who are surprised and questioning on-lookers of this northern invasion. Sheba and Dedan relate to the area of Saudi Arabia, but who are the merchants of Tarshish with all the young lions thereof who would be watching the northern invasion as surprised onlookers in the Middle East? There has been dabate on who Tarshish is – Spain, India etc? The most compelling evidence however is the reason why the ancient Phoenicians and others visited Tarshish – where was Tarshish? Tarshish is a name that has its roots in the trading of tin. The main source of tin in ancient times was Britain, particularly around Cornwall. Christadelphians have always believed Tarshish to be Britain. So what about the term young lions? During the Second World War in particular, Britain and the allies which of course included America, were depicted as young lions. The fact that they have been described as young lions fits well with Luke 21 – “the sea and the waves roaring”. It is therefore a symbol familiar to us.
A true Bible student has therefore expected Britain and America to be in the Middle East at the time of the end, i.e. Tarshish and the young lions. I remember giving a talk not long after the first war in Iraq, saying that Britain and America would be back, noting the verse in Ezekiel, and now they are back. It is clear that the players are taking their places, albeit unknowingly, for the events of the last days. There are other events that are occurring, and some yet to happen, which no doubt will be considered in future articles. It is however clear that the Bible is both accurate and a book for today.