Earlier this week, while on his Mideast trip, Vice President Mike Pence met with King Abdullah II of Jordan.  The Jordanian king expressed his deep dissatisfaction that the U.S. has declared Jerusalem to be the one and only capital of Israel.  Instead, the king suggested, we should support East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestine, living side-by-side with Israel.  Full story here:

King Abdullah is unfamiliar with scripture in two major regards.  One) Not only will Jerusalem be recognized throughout the world as the capital of Israel, both his nation and virtually all other nations on earth will voluntarily lend their support to financially participate in Israel’s growth and success.  Two) Jordan’s days are numbered as a sovereign nation–that is, it will soon change from it’s current composition into something radically different.  It will be so different, Jordan will eventually become three separate nations, not one.  If King Abdullah had any understanding of that upcoming event, he might embrace his alliance with the U.S. and Israel in much stronger terms than he’s doing now.

Modern-day Jordan is a country that’s almost as young as the nation of Israel.  Jordan, as we currently know it, began in 1946, eventually becoming a member of the United Nations in 1955.  Israel’s Declaration of Independence in 1948 followed two years after Jordan’s formation.  This historic moment did not sit will with the Jordanians so they joined forces with their Arab neighbors and attacked Israel twice in her first two decades: one in 1948; the other in 1967.  Neither violent attack ended very well for Jordan, as they lost both battles and retreated back to their own young country.

So, for the king of Jordan to suggest that they have any moral authority to dictate the foreign policy of the United States and our recognition of another nation’s capital is absurd.

When Israel was re-formed as a modern nation in 1948, the Jewish people returned to a nation that they had originally called their home over 2,000 years ago.  Jordan can make no such claim. In fact, 2,000 years ago, the land which is now Jordan belonged to several nations: Edom, Moab and Ammon.  While Israel can boast of very deep, ancient roots, Jordan can do no such thing.  And if King Abdullah had any idea what his future held, he would probably be more supportive of both Israel and the U.S.

In less than three months, Israel will have finally completed the “70 years of indignation” spoken of by the prophet Zechariah and a time of peace will begin that the region hasn’t enjoyed since probably the days of Solomon.

Zech. 1:12–“Then the angel of Yahweh answered and said, Yahweh of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?”

When this moment occurs, the composition of nations in the Middle East will be patterned exactly as they are described in Psalms.  The following passage identifies, by name, each of the 10 nations that will surround Israel in these latter days.  At first, these nations will be in a friendly alliance with Israel, but over the next decade and a half, they will unite in a battle against them.  Who are the 10 nations that will unite in their desire to destroy Israel?  The first five verses set the stage for the assault to come:

Psalm 83:1–“Keep not thou silence, Elohim: hold not thy peace, and be not still, El.  ² For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.  ³ They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.  ⁴ They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.  ⁵ For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:”

The battle plans have been drawn up and these antagonists are now preparing to destroy Israel.  Here are their names:

Psalm 83:5–“⁶ The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;  ⁷ Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;  ⁸ Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.”

[Pro tip: When the Bible identifies ancient nations by name, modern readers must understand that each name is describing the land that those nations occupied, not the people themselves.  In order to understand which geographical location is identified by “Gebal”, you need to juxtapose an ancient map with a modern map and it’s easy to know which modern nation it pertains to.]

There you have it.  Ten nations that will form a confederation of Arab nations that will attempt to destroy Israel so that “the name of Israel my be no more in remembrance.”  In the above verses, you will recognize three familiar names–those I mentioned above–as Edom, Moab and Ammon.  These three nations, which today are encompassed in the land we call Jordan, will become three separate nations which will form three of the coalition of ten nations surrounding Israel in the latter days.

The remaining seven nations are also very easy to identify, but for the purpose of today’s post, I won’t go into all those other details.  Anyone can look at where each of these ancient nations were located on a historic Middle East map and see which modern countries occupy those same lands today.  One of the easiest to pinpoint is Assur, which is another spelling for Assyria, or what we today recognize as Iraq.  Okay, now you only have to check on the other six for yourselves.

King Abdullah’s reign may not come to an end, but the geography of his nation will.  If he maintains power over any part of Jordan, it will be only 1/3 of the nation that he rules today.

On the other hand, the borders of Israel will also change, but it will be in the opposite direction.  Scripture describes in great detail all of the land that was promised to Abraham that Yahweh would give to Israel.  Much of those lands have never been officially part of the nation of Israel.  But, Israel’s eastern border will eventually reach all the way across Jordan, Syria and Iraq to the Euphrates River–

Gen. 15:18–“In the same day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.”

King Abdullah better think twice because for Israel’s eastern border to extend to the Euphrates River, it means Israel would eventually encompass 100% of what is today’s nation of Jordan.  Dividing Jordan into three smaller nations is one thing.  But it’s hard to rule over a kingdom that no longer exists at all.

Enjoy your rule while it lasts.