Unleashing the Beast

210 / U NLEASHING THE B EAST

tribes  Amraphel, king of Shinar—this was the area of Babel  Arioch, King of Hasar— a city near Ur in Mesopotamia The five kings from Mesopotamia ruled from the area of modern Syria and Iraq. Abraham, the father of the Hebrews, went to war against these five kings and reclaimed the possessions they had seized during the battle. Following his war victory, Abraham went to Jerusalem where he met with Melchizedek, the first priest of God (Genes 14)' Abraham was involved in this battle with kings from the same area where Israel's worst enemies still live. Since 1979, the countries of Syria and Iraq have led the opposition against the Jews, against the rebirth of Israel, against the re-unification of Jerusalem and against the return of the Jews to their historic land. Just as the kings surrounding ancient Babylon initiated the first conflict with the father of the Hebrew nation, the future Islamic kings of a new Babylon will instigate the final mother of battles that will climax in the valley of Megiddo in central Israel (Revelation 16:16). After Abraham, the next mention in the Bible of the Babylonian area is found in the prophetic Book of Daniel. By this time Babylon was not just a city built on the Euphrates River, but had grown into a mighty kingdom, overpowering Mesopotamia. It extended its dominion by conquering Israel and Jerusalem. Many Jews were carried away captive to