By the Prophet
NOBLE DREW ALI
The industrious acts of the Moslems of the northwest and southwest Africa. These are the Moabites, Hamathites, Canaanites, who were driven out of the land of Canaan, by Joshua, and recieved permission from the Pharoahs of Egypt to settle in that portion of Egypt. In later years they formed themselves kingdoms. These kingdoms are called this day Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, etc.
The Moabite Stone 1868
Question: "Who were the Moabites?"
Answer: The Moabites were a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot, born of an incestuous relationship with his oldest daughter (Genesis 19:37). From Zoar, the cradle of this tribe, on the southeastern border of the Dead Sea, they gradually spread over the region on the east of Jordan. Shortly before the Exodus, the warlike Amorites crossed the Jordan under Sihon their king and drove the Moabites out of the region between the Arnon River Valley and the Jabbok River, and occupied it, making Heshbon their capital. The Moabites were then confined to the territory to the south of the Arnon Valley (Numbers 21:26–30).
During the Exodus the Israelites did not pass through Moab, but through the “wilderness” to the east, eventually reaching the country to the north of Arnon. The Moabites were alarmed, and their king, Balak, sought aid from the Midianites (Numbers 22:2–4). This was the occasion when the visit of Balaam to Balak took place (Numbers 22:2–6).
In the Plains of Moab, which was in the possession of the Amorites, the children of Israel had their last encampment before they entered the land of Canaan (Numbers 22:1; Joshua 13:32). If we had nothing else to interest us in the land of Moab, it was from the top of Pisgah that Moses, the mightiest of prophets, looked upon the Promised Land; it was here on Nebo that he died his solitary death; it was here in the valley over against Beth-peor where he was buried (Deuteronomy 34:5–6).
A basalt stone, bearing an inscription by King Mesha, was discovered at Dibon by Klein, a German missionary at Jerusalem, in 1868, consisting of thirty-four lines written in Hebrew-Phoenician characters. The stone was set up by Mesha about 900 BC as a record and memorial of his victories. It records Mesha’s wars with Omri, his public buildings, and his wars against Horonaim. This inscription supplements and corroborates the history of King Mesha recorded in 2 Kings 3:4–27. It is the oldest inscription written in alphabetic characters and, in addition to its value in the domain of Hebrew antiquities, is of great linguistic importance.
Perhaps the most significant Bible character to come from Moab was Ruth, who was “of the women of Moab” but was genetically linked to Israel through Lot, the nephew of Abraham (Genesis 11:31). Ruth is an example of how God can change a life and take it in a direction He has foreordained, and we see God working out His perfect plan in Ruth’s life, just as He does with all His children (Romans 8:28). Although she came from a pagan background in Moab, once she met the God of Israel, Ruth became a living testimony to Him by faith. Ruth, the Moabitess, is one of only three women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5).
Answer: The Moabites were a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot, born of an incestuous relationship with his oldest daughter (Genesis 19:37). From Zoar, the cradle of this tribe, on the southeastern border of the Dead Sea, they gradually spread over the region on the east of Jordan. Shortly before the Exodus, the warlike Amorites crossed the Jordan under Sihon their king and drove the Moabites out of the region between the Arnon River Valley and the Jabbok River, and occupied it, making Heshbon their capital. The Moabites were then confined to the territory to the south of the Arnon Valley (Numbers 21:26–30).
During the Exodus the Israelites did not pass through Moab, but through the “wilderness” to the east, eventually reaching the country to the north of Arnon. The Moabites were alarmed, and their king, Balak, sought aid from the Midianites (Numbers 22:2–4). This was the occasion when the visit of Balaam to Balak took place (Numbers 22:2–6).
In the Plains of Moab, which was in the possession of the Amorites, the children of Israel had their last encampment before they entered the land of Canaan (Numbers 22:1; Joshua 13:32). If we had nothing else to interest us in the land of Moab, it was from the top of Pisgah that Moses, the mightiest of prophets, looked upon the Promised Land; it was here on Nebo that he died his solitary death; it was here in the valley over against Beth-peor where he was buried (Deuteronomy 34:5–6).
A basalt stone, bearing an inscription by King Mesha, was discovered at Dibon by Klein, a German missionary at Jerusalem, in 1868, consisting of thirty-four lines written in Hebrew-Phoenician characters. The stone was set up by Mesha about 900 BC as a record and memorial of his victories. It records Mesha’s wars with Omri, his public buildings, and his wars against Horonaim. This inscription supplements and corroborates the history of King Mesha recorded in 2 Kings 3:4–27. It is the oldest inscription written in alphabetic characters and, in addition to its value in the domain of Hebrew antiquities, is of great linguistic importance.
Perhaps the most significant Bible character to come from Moab was Ruth, who was “of the women of Moab” but was genetically linked to Israel through Lot, the nephew of Abraham (Genesis 11:31). Ruth is an example of how God can change a life and take it in a direction He has foreordained, and we see God working out His perfect plan in Ruth’s life, just as He does with all His children (Romans 8:28). Although she came from a pagan background in Moab, once she met the God of Israel, Ruth became a living testimony to Him by faith. Ruth, the Moabitess, is one of only three women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5).
Barbary Pirates and Wars: A Timeline
(1625-1815)
From the time of the founding of the American Republic in 1776 to the final Barbary war in 1815, the United States contended with piracy and privateering conducted by the four so-called Barbary powers of North Africa--Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Morocco. "These petty Mahometan despots," in the words of the historian Henry Adams, extracted millions of dollars in tribute from the United States (and European powers) even as they held hundreds of Americans hostage, enslaving many, killing some, and releasing others. The Barbary pirates were, in fact, privateers, sponsored by their despots with the blessing of the Ottoman Empire, itself the beneficiary of handsome tributes from the Barbary powers. The following is a timeline of the conflict between the United States and the Barbary powers.
1625: Earliest documented attack by Barbary pirates, believed to be from Morocco, on merchant ships with home ports in North American colonies.
1645: Seamen from Cambridge, Massachusetts, repel an assault from Algerians.
1678: Algerian pirates seize 14 ships from American colonies (one from Massachusetts, 13 from Virginia)
September 1783: Algerian pirates harass American ships on their way home from peace negotiations with Britain. Americans allege that Britain is secretly paying the pirates to attack Americans.
October 1784: The Betsy, a 300-ton ship from Boston, is attacked 100 miles from Africa's western coast, in the Atlantic. The ship's sailors are captured, chained and carted off to slave markets in Morocco.
January 1785: The Dauphin and the Maria are captured by Algerians, their 21 crewmen chained and paraded before jeering crowds on their way to the Algerian leader, or dey, who reportedly spits on them and says, "Now I have got you, you Christian dogs, you shall eat stones."
March 4, 1789: The U.S. Constitution is adopted. Driven by the founders' realization that a stronger central government with the power to raise a national military was necessary, it was in part inspired by the need to respond more effectively to the Barbary wars. "In an indirect sense," wrote the historian Thomas Bailey, "the brutal Dey of Algiers was a Founding Father of the Constitution."
December 1790: Thomas Jefferson, as George Washington's Secretary of State, recommends that Congress declare war on the pirates. The Senate rejects the call, earmarking $140,000 instead for ransom payments.
March 27, 1794: President George Washington signs a bill authorizing $688,888.82 to build six frigates "adequate for the protection of the commerce of the United States against Algerian corsairs." The Barrbary pirates, in other words, had led to the birth of the U.S. Navy.
September 1800: The frigate George Washington, commanded by William Bainbridge, becomes the first U.S. Navy ship to enter the Mediterranean when it is ordered to go to Algiers with $500,000 worth of tribute for the Dey of Algiers. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the Navy's Sixth Fleet would be permanently posted in the Mediterranean.
May 14, 1801: Following a decision by President Thomas Jefferson no longer to give in to piracy and to provoke a war, the Dey of Tripoli orders the American consular flagstaff to be cut down, signaling a declaration of war, when his demand for more money is refused. He had had received $83,000 in tribute in three-and-a-half years. Without waiting for Congressional action, Jefferson dispatches four warships to the Middle East, later expanded to six.
Feb. 6, 1802: Congress passes the Act for Protection of Commerce and Seamen of the United States Against Tripolitan Corsairs. It is, essentially, a declaration of war.
Oct. 31, 1803: The 307 sailors aboard the warship Philadelphia, captained by William Bainbridge, is forced to surrender after the ship founders on a reef close to Tripoli. The ship becomes part of Tripoli's navy as The Gift of Allah.
Feb. 16, 1804: Stephen Decatur and 67 volunteers aboard the USS Intrepid daringly attack the former Philadelphia as it anchors in Tripoli harbor and set it ablaze. Britain's Lord Nelson calls the raid "the most bold and daring act of the age" while Pope Pius VII credits the U.S. Navy for doing "more for the cause of Christianity than the most powerful nations of Christendom have done for ages."
May 1804: William Eaton, a bigot and corrupt consul to Tunis during the Jefferson administration, is appointed U.S. agent to the Barbary States.
April 25, 1804: With a motley force of mercenaries, William Eaton, acting without formal U.S. government authority, begins a military campaign against Barbary regimes by demanding the surrender of Darna, the second-largest port after Tripoli. Thomas Jefferson opposes regime change by force and appoints a negotiator instead, Tobias Lear. Eaton is forced to withdraw from Darna under cover of darkness.
February 1809: Taking advantage of increasing tension between Britain and the United States, which forced the reduction of U.S. Navy ships patrolling the Mediterranean, the Dey of Algiers sacks the Sally and enslaves 15 crew members. More attacks followed.
April 1815: Hostilities with Britain over, Congress declares war on the Barbary power,s at President Madison's urging.
May 15, 1815: Stephen Decatur leaves New York, heading a military expedition against the Barbary powers.
June 28, 1815: Decatur's armada is in sight of Tripoli. He begins his campaign, advancing on to Tunis and defeating the Barbary powers decisively for the first time in 30 years.
Dec. 15, 1815: In his State of the Union message to Congress, President Madison declares the Barbary wars over.
The First Barbary War (1801-1805)
The First Barbary War was an undeclared war waged by the United States against the North African states of Morocco, Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis. The principle cause of the war was that those states harbored and supported the actions of pirates against American shipping vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. The war, which lasted from 1801 to 1805, did not completely end the acts of piracy against American vessels, but it did prove that the United States was capable of waging war, if necessary, in places far from its own shores.
The Second Barbary War (1815)
also known as the Algerine or Algerian War, was the second of two wars fought between the United States and the Ottoman Empire's North African regencies of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algeria, known collectively as the Barbary states. The war between the Barbary states and the U.S. ended in 1815; the international dispute would effectively be ended the following year by Great Britain and the Netherlands.
After the end of the war, the United States and European nations stopped their practice of paying tribute to the pirate states to forestall attacks on their shipping. It helped mark the beginning of the end of piracy in that region, which had been rampant in the days of Ottoman domination (16th–18th centuries). Within decades, European powers built ever more sophisticated and expensive ships which the Barbary pirates could not match in numbers or technology.
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