Category Archives: Enemies

Daughter Egypt and “Her” – Assyria

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Questions. When studies collide, you get questions. Daughter, Egypt, and Assyria have generated studies and questions, and it seems they are doing it again. In 2026, I changed my Bible reading from going cover to cover to focusing on Psalms, Isaiah, and the New Testament. Quess what; I have been cover to cover because of looking up references. Some of the biggest question makers have been Isaiah reporting God’s thoughts on daughters, Egypt, and Assyria.

Isaiah was in the cohort of Prophets who lived and wrote during a time period when Assyria was bullying the Levant. Amos, Micah, Hosea, Nahum, and Jonah all witnessed their parts of the action in 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings from Jeroboam II and Uzziah/Azariah through the fall of the Northern Kingdom to the start of King Manasseh. These men came, spoke, and wrote God’s words and thoughts to Jacob’s children; yes, they are still speaking to us today. When you read Isaiah, it is good to remember what Assyria was doing to the nations.

  • Samaria had been defeated and carried off as slaves.
  • All the fortified cities of Judea had been captured and many people were deported.
  • The Philistines had called for Egypt to help them against Assyria. Egypt did not show up.
  • Jerusalem had an 11th hour event and faced destruction.
  • The nations around Israel (many of them enemies) were either defeated/crushed or ‘laid down and let Assyria walk on them’. (they made treaties and started paying them off) But literally, they laid on the ground, and the Assyrian king would walk on them.
  • Egypt could not help the ‘little guys’ because they were not strong enough to defeat Assyria.

Observations generate questions that lead to studies. An observation of Isaiah is that he refers to Daughter and Virgin Daughter Zion many times, he also writes about other nations as daughter. Does he refer to Daughter Egypt? No, that will be found in Jeremiah; who also talks about daughters many times. Daughter Zion and Daughter Zion #2 and Daughter Zion Observations cover a lot of ground and in those studies questions about our Father and daughters have come up; my study for this post started at least one more.

Daughter Egypt

Egypt and Assyria were not nice to Israel. But in God’s plan there is hope and redemption held out to them and the other nations that choose to serve and praise God. In God’s plan, as talked about by Isaiah, a Highway of Holiness will be made to link those nations to Jerusalem. Imagine how Isaiah must have felt when he got that word and wrote it down; then gave it to the people.

Jeremiah, with Baruch recording, also had much to say about Egypt. The main idea was simple, DO NOT GO TO EGYPT FOR HELP. In Jeremiah’s lifetime Babylon was the bully who beat Assyria and Egypt. Chapter 46 God addresses Egypt and other nations and here it reflects the fact He did not want Jerusalem thinking Egypt could help. 46:11 talks about Virgin Daughter Egypt going to Gilead (a part of Israel on the east bank of the Jordan) to get medicine for healing. The term ‘virgin’ here started another level of study. 46:19 speaks to what Babylon would do to Egypt and signals that they will be no help. Translators starting with the Geneva Bible arrange the thought here a little different. Jeremiah 46:19 Hebrew Text Analysis  46:24 continues with ‘they will be given to the people of the north’. On level one that would be Babylon, but on level two it talks to Greece and Rome. Don’t miss the      BIG takeaway, God calls Egypt daughter and virgin daughter; that may mess with some people’s theology.  My observation (not an answer) is that God has a bigger thought for that nation than we do.

Assyria

I am including Assyria to help me sort my thoughts on a very complicated topic. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are about 100 years after Isaiah, but the political climate had not changed much. Those men lived under the shadow of Egypt and Assyria and then felt the iron rod of Babylon. One thing I did not find was God saying Daughter Assyria. The best I could find was a reference to ‘her’ in Ezekiel 32:22,23. Your favorite translation may add some confusion here as the core of those verses talk about Assyria as a woman; except the GNV and KJV started talking about Asshur (Assyria) as a ‘him’. Yes, that was a name of the main male Assyrian god.

This opened up the fact that God refers to cities, regions, and nations as women. Not all cities and nations are called daughter, but He refers to them in female terms. I do not think that is a mistake and actually is very important. Well, you now can see a future study.

Egypt – Different Name Same Problem

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Egypt is an ancient country that has interacted with Abraham’s family for a very long time. That relationship changed throughout the Bible and when the prophecies in Isaiah are fulfilled it will change again. I think it is fair to say much of the time Egypt has not been nice to Abraham’s family through Jacob. The poetry and prophetic books in the Bible use several different names/symbols for the land along the Nile River, and that is what this post is about.

Psalms 105 and 106 are “Sabbath lessons” and part of those lessons include Egypt. Psalm 106 has a telling of the exodus from Egypt: verse 10 uses terms for ‘hand of one hating’ and ‘hand of the enemy’ to describe Egypt, verses 19-20 tell the story of the Golden Calf/Bull (a god of Egypt), and verse 21 uses the names Egypt and Ham (also in 105). Psalm 106 was written after Jeremiah because it includes ‘other foes’ who oppressed Israel (verse 41).

Ham

Ham is Noah’s son who had to tell on his father. For that unkind, embarrassing act he got cursed, especially his son Canaan. This story is found in Genesis 9 and 10. Another of Ham’s sons is Mizraim or Egypt. If you do a word search in the KJV you can find Mitsrayim and Egypt. If you use the Strong’s Concordance it is H2526. Ham appears to come from the word for hot. Ham is used in Psalms 78:51, 105:23 and 27, and 106:22 in connection with or for the land of Egypt.

Mitsrayim or Mizraim is H4714 in the Strong’s and is translated Egypt. It is the lands along the Nile River, both upper and lower Egypt.

Rahab is H7294 in the Strong’s and is another name used for Egypt. It means boaster or storm. When this name is used it is negative. See Psalm 87:4, 89:10, and Isaiah 51:9. PLEASE do not think that is the name of Jesus’ grandmother who helped the spies in Jericho; she is H7343 and her name means to be wide or spacious.  

Pharaoh is the title for the king of Egypt. See H6547. I am including it in this post because of Isaiah 30, where the people thought he would help them against Assyria. Pharaoh is often used as a symbol that Israel thought would help them, they seldom did. That Pharaoh did not help at all during the time of Isaiah.

What do Rahab, Pharaoh, and Mizraim have in common? They all contain RA or the Egyptian sun god. Yes, other words contain that set of Hebrew letters, but I thought it was funny. Strong’s Hebrew: 7451. רָע (ra’) — Evil, bad, wicked, harmful, unpleasant

Isaiah 30:6 refers to Egypt as ‘a people of no profit’ or Hebrew Concordance: yō·w·‘î·lū — 9 Occurrences  This was not a great time for Egypt and they were having problems. Assyria was the new power in the Levant to be reckoned with and they took the idea of being a bully to a whole new level.

Egypt

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Egypt. This topic has been in many of my posts. It played key roles in my Out of Egypt and Passover to Pentecost series. So, this is not really a new study as I have been laboring on this topic a long time and with this series I cannot see me exiting the subject of Egypt soon.

Egypt is one of the three major oppressors of Israel (Assyria and Babylon), and one of two of the longtime antagonists of Jacob and his children (Edom/Esau is the other). So, in reading/studying the Prophet Isaiah it was not surprising to find all of these players in that Book, but there are several massa and amar (God said or oracles) that Isaiah records that are surprising as to how Egypt and Assyria will act in God’s story. (I wanted to write Godstory instead of history. Well, I guess I did.)  

My study starts in Genesis 10:6 and instantly becomes a HOT mess; this is because of the name Egypt or Mitsrayim. 10:6 is a list of the children of Ham, Noah’s son. All of these children are associated with the Levant and Africa. The names Egypt or Mitsrayim are used in various places and translations, but both are the lands along the Nile River or Ham’s son. Explore these Bible Hub references.

All sorts of thoughts have flooded my brain because of Genesis 10 and the Tower of Babel. Archeology, history, and shared human experiences are not being ignored, but they are not my main subject in this post. I will put this down as an example, pyramids and ziggurats share a common shape, but academics do not like to state they may have a common origin. I have watched shows where the shared shape is mentioned and marveled at, but no one has said the Tower of Babel and a shared human activity. Why would they make a statement that points to the Bible.

God directs Terah (from Shem) to go to Canaan (from Ham), we are not told why he was to go but Terah never made it. Abram (Terah’s son) does go and the Godstory gets a new chapter entitled FAITH. So, in Genesis 12 we see a famine and Abram and company going to Egypt (from Ham). Egypt now is a place of refuge and this repeats with Joseph/Jacob and Jesus. The refuge changes into a place of problems and slavery.

With all of that in mind it is interesting that Jehovah warns Jacob’s children to NOT go back to Egypt for help. Israel responds to that degree with marriages, treaties, trade, looking to Egypt for military assistance, and running away from Babylon.    

In general, most references from Joshua to David, are references to what had happened and how God had done great things for Israel. From Solomon to Isaiah is a different story, and then comes the time of Babylon and bad things happened as the people thought Egypt would help them. Two very telling verses for the time from Joshua to David are: Joshua 24:14 and 1 Samuel 8:8; both paint the picture of the People forsaking God and worshipping and serving other gods.

Much has been and could be said about Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to Egypt. In God’s story it is a reset in the action to bring salvation to the world, and the Gentiles into the Family, and compares with Abraham and Issac, and then Moses/Joshua and the taking of the Promise Land.

Egypt had history before Abram and stayed a world power right into the time of Rome. The Bible does not record much of that history because it is a different story. One thing they were good at was fighting; they had major conflicts with the Hittites, the Sea People, Assyria, and then Babylon at the time of Josiah. Trade was another thing that Egypt did and it had an effect on the world around it.

Assyria, Our Forgotten Enemy – Cruelization

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Well, I will start by contrasting Cruelization and Civilization. (Yes, I made up a word.) As I have studied the ancient empires of the Hittites, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon then added in Persia, Greece, and Rome I really had to think about our modern term “civil”.

Yes, these empires have contributed to modern society. But have we put on rose-colored glasses because of these contributions and ignored why they were able to pass these contributions on? They were not “civil” in their “ization” of their contemporaries. Archaeology has found evidence of trade and the exchange of ideas and information in the Levant before the Assyrians. That is when Egypt and the Hittites were battling each other. Bullies, however, will be bullies and it was not limited to major empires; Abram faced that problem when he rescued Lot in Genesis 14. Elam is specifically mentioned in the bully group.

These empires not only battled each other; they learned from each other. (Who you listen to or read may spin things slightly different.) Egypt and the Hittites along with the lower Tigris and Euphrates River region seem to be the first major players in building societies. An unknown group referred to as the Sea People showed up from the west and plunged the Levant into a dark age; cities were destroyed, trade ended, and art-work stopped. Assyria rose up to fill the vacuum; they used iron/steel to make weapons (from the Hittites) and rose to great power. They also started a full-time army that did not have to go and gather crops. Add in writing on tablets, efficient routes of communication within the empire, and a consistent administration of the kingdom, Assyria forced themselves on the region. They took what they wanted by demanding tribute or they just wiped cities and people groups off of the map. They also practiced wholesale movement of conquered peoples to new areas, that type of slavery wiped out national identity. Besides taking what they wanted from you it also gave them control of trade from the east to the Mediterranean.

My Point of View

God made this world for His purposes. Adam and Eve messed that up. Even with our freewill, God has directed HIStory for His purpose. He gave us the Hebrew/Jewish people and His Word to give us insight into that plan. The rise and fall of these great empires should be proof of that and His timing.

Most of the experts I have watched or read acknowledge parts of the Bible and use it when it suits their purpose. The Prophets that reference these empires and especially Assyria are noted and sometimes agreed with on their historical facts. Many experts love to try and find things to disprove the Bible that is being sighted as fact. The timeline seems to be a favorite attack point; assign different dates that make it seem that the prophets are not telling what is to come but what has happened. Ground Number 2 in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) seems to fit many of them.

A Case in Point

Sennacherib (2 Chronicles 32, 2 Kings 18,19,20:20, and Isaiah 36+37, his Nineveh is also in Jonah) is a good study. He would have made a good poster child for socialist dictators. He built up his three major cities, even diverting a river to water his gardens and lake, with high walls and giant palaces. If he did not get what he wanted he went and took it. On one such excursion to Sidon and Tyre he kept going to Israel. His first stop was Lachish. He was so proud of the destruction it went on his palace walls in Nineveh. That relief shows whole families being carted off and people impaled on stakes. Archaeology attest to the devastation from the siege. (A moment of comparison. Vlad the Impaler/Dracula also put people on stakes, but Sennacherib has a better reputation. In Romania, Vlad is a national hero.)

The rescue of Jerusalem is documented by non-Bible sources, so his attitude and boasting did not help when he insulted God. It took several years but his sons did kill him. When the Assyrian Empire fell to the Medes it was not pretty or nice; bodies were left (and found) at the city gates were the warriors fell. No one moved them or buried them, no one was left, sand storms and time did the work.

Micah 1:13 is about Lachish. She was a source of sin for Daughter Zion. She is also mentioned again when Babylon invaded Judah.

God Used Assyria

It may seem strange to say Assyria was enemy of Israel and that God used them. God wanted a righteous relationship with Israel and still does. When you read through the “Prophets” it is easy to see that many in Israel was not following the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They would obey the call to follow God for awhile and then go back to worshipping the demon gods of the countries they interacted with. The northern Tribes had even made their own gods and priest. You have to wonder if they kept any part of the Law of Moses. God sent many prophets to warn them and bring them back. When they refused, He had Assyria take them away from His Land and out of His sight (Isaiah 8). Sennacherib did some of this in the attack of Judah, especially Lachish. Isaiah 10:5-19 talks about Assyria and their punishment for going overboard on attacking nations.

Much of the “sin” Judah did was in the time of Assyria. These sins had finally reached the breakpoint under Babylon. Babylon beat Assyria and Egypt and inherited Judah; they carried out the punishment on them when Jerusalem was destroyed. Christians, we need to wake up and not do what ancient Judah did, God wants us to have a righteous relationship with Him.

-ization suffix – Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Assyria, Our Forgotten Enemy – A Little History

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In this series of posts, I want to study Assyria. They were for several hundred years and many Books of the Bible, an enemy of Israel. Christians tend to focus of Egypt and Babylon and ignore Assyria. If Egypt and Babylon have lessons to teach us, so does Assyria. Many of the prophesies about the coming Messiah are in Books that were penned while Assyria was coming against the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Assyria starts with the time of Ahab (not in the Bible) and is still mentioned in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Nehemiah. Several kings of Judah had dealings with the kings of Assyria, they include Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. The Assyrians are the ones who took captives and relocated the northern Tribes and parts of Judah (Lachish, 2 Chronicles 32:9).

Egypt is Israel’s oldest enemy in the Bible; they started with Abraham and go to Jeremiah’s time. In movies and print there is a lot of information about Egypt. Babylon is mentioned in Genesis, but really is a problem for Judah after Hezekiah. They were one of the four major empires of the ancient world. The Bible is HIS STORY, and how he deals with the descendants of Abraham through his grandson Jacob. There is a lot of historical mentions of other kingdoms. Some of them have major impacts on the Hebrews, while some have minor or indirect effects on the land and people of Israel. Israel’s neighbors are written about many times and frequently they at war with the Twelve Tribes.

Biblical figures, places, events, and Books of the Bible are referred to in documentaries and scholarly writings. It is one of the oldest historical writings. With that said, many scholars seem to fit our Bible into their work as it pleases them. I have heard references to the Garden of Eden, Jonah, and the Torah that do not match the biblical time frames. Secular scholars do not ignore the Bible; they just don’t want too valid it too much. I feel who is paying for their grants and projects may have a lot to do with it. Using God’s Bible might mean you have to believe all of it and change how you are living.

Well, with that written, you may have noticed I have not given references. In my studies I never thought I would be writing about some of this. I may add references as I view some of the documentaries again; this is a study not a finished thesis. For weeks I have been looking up names, cities, kingdoms, and regions and have seen these references in the Bible written about in extra-biblical publications and movies. So yes, this post will be changing.

Neighbors

The Land of Milk and Honey is in the Fertile Cresent and is part of the greenway along the Mediterranean coast. Some of the countries are “family” because of Abraham, Isaac, and Lot.

  • Moab and Ammon – Lot’s sons by his daughters (Genesis 19:36).
  • Edom – Esau’s family. Esau married a daughter of Ishmael, so that is also part of his family tree. Seir is the land they settled in.
  • Ishmael and the sons of Keturah (Genesis 25) – Many people groups are children of Abraham through these men; they stretch all the way to the Tigris River and into the desert. Midian is a notable tribe that was an enemy of Israel.
  • Aram/Damascus – There is much history here with Israel.
  • Tyre and Sidon are north of Israel and were allies and enemies.
  • Byblos is north of Sidon and is also associated with Phoenicia. The Sea People figure into this mix.
  • Philistia is a well-known enemy and also associated with the Sea People.
  • Hamath is an area that is part of the curve in the Crescent. Some of its history is associated with Nebuchadnezzar.
  • Kadesh – There is a town/area in southern Judea with that name. Kadesh in Hamath is the site of great battles. This was a very wealthy, important city that controlled trade from the east to the Mediterranean.  

The Four Great Early Empires and Elam and the Medes

  • Egypt was a great nation before Abram, Joseph, and Moses. Most of its history with the Hebrews is not good and there are many prophesies about and against it. At the time of Josiah Egypt and Assyria were allies against Babylon (2 Chronicles 35:20).
  • Babylon the city is ancient and has been a religious center for millennia. The city we think of may not have been the tower of Babel; Ur may have that ziggurat. Babylon has been destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout history.
  • Hitties – Their capital city of Hattusha was in Turkey. They had a powerful empire built on conquest and fear. They controlled much of the Fertile Crescent. Once they marched down to Babylonia, leveled it and marched back. They had a battle with Egypt at Kadesh in 1270 BC. Who won? It depends on what ancient chronical and expert you read. Their empire fell apart from within; civil war within the family. Hitties are mentioned several times with Abraham and Esau; some scholars do not think they are related to Hattusha. From what I have seen, they, or their minions, did control that much territory. Battle of Kadesh – Wikipedia
  • Assyria or Asshur – This is the first Iron Age empire in the Fertile Crescent. They learned from and made improvements over other empires. A huge thing for them was a year-around standing army. There are six named Assyrian kings in the Bible. Like leaches and fire, they wanted more and usually took it. For many years they controlled or directly ruled over Babylon and fought with Egypt. Asshur is also a name of several different men in the Bible.
  • Elam is a country you will find in the Bible. They were not a major empire, but they did their share of destroying other nations. Frequently, they waited until an enemy was in a weaken state and then rushed in. Ur was beaten and razed to the ground by them and do not forget the looting.
  • Medes – They may be best known for joining with the Persians and defeating Babylon.

Elam and Media may not have been major empires, but they caused plenty of trouble in the area.

If you think about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream statue, there was Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.