Comments to "Iraq is gone. Now what?"

Back on November 13, 2006, I posted a reference to an article from Monica Duffy Toft, entitled, "Iraq is gone. Now what?" In my post, I described the prophetic vision of Jeremiah as he saw "a horde of great nations" from "the land of the north" drawing up battle lines against Babylon, who then defeat her and plunder her treasures. I identified these nations from the prophecy itself as the three factions of the Kurds, the Iranian (Mannaeans - "kingdom of Minni"), Iraqi (Adiabenes - "kingdom of Ashkenaz") and Turkish (Urartians - "kingdom of Ararat") Kurds, allied and empowered with the "spirit of the kings of the Medes."

I received the following comment, to which I offered a reply, that I think bears noting at this juncture in the unfolding of the events:

Anonymous said...

Ridiculous interpretation of the Prophecy. THE prophecy stated that 'A horde of great nations from the land of the north'.
The Kurds has never been nor will be a great nation nor it is part of horde of nations.

1:47 AM

yephiah said...

The Kurds descend from the Medes, and the Median empire was not too long removed from Jeremiah's day a great empire. It is true that the Kurds have been downtrodden for many centuries most recently, but your skepticism that the Kurds "never... will be a great nation" is what makes this prophecy so intriguing. From our perspective, this part of the prophecy does seem preposterous.

Now IF the Kurds have a decisive military victory over the Iraqi army, ask a defeated Iraqi if they think that nation is "great" or not. From their perspective, the victors will be greater than the defeated. Won't they? "Great" is certainly a relative term, but the relation is between Babylon -- Iraq -- and other nations.

As for the reference to "nations" plural, the prophecy segments the Medes into three kingdoms, "Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz." That coincides with the existing three factions of Kurds, the Turkish, Iraqi and Iranian Kurds. The Iranian and Iraqi factions under Barzani and Talabani fought each other for decades in fratricidal wars, but now have joined the two parties into one government, and rule the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government together. IF the Turkish Kurds are able to unite with their western brethren, the prophecy of the three kingdoms of the Kurds will have become literally fulfilled. Wouldn't that be something?

You see, all that needs to happen for my "interpretation" to be truly "ridiculous" is for the prophecies of Jeremiah 50-51 not to happen here in this present conflict.

Please come back then and give me "ridiculous." I will deserve it.

In the next couple of posts, I'll explore the current state of the Kurds relative to their empowerment and relationship to Turkey and Iraq. Interesting things happening on the horizon.