Could Crown Prince MBS be the King of the South and Edom?
Historically, some Bible prophecy students have thought that the British monarch could be the ‘King of the South’. The British ruled Egypt from 1882 to 1956, when they had to withdraw after the disastrous Suez crisis. After 1956, many believed the King of the South may be represented by the USA, British Commonwealth or ‘the West’. But could there be another alternative today?
The last ‘King of the North’ confronts the ‘King of the South’ in Daniel 11:25-27.
The Lord Jesus mentioned the ‘Queen of the South’ in both Mat 12:42 and Luke 11:31. He said;
“The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”
Picture above: ‘The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon’ by Sir Edward Poynter
This makes it highly likely that the ‘King of the South’ would come from the same region as the Queen of Sheba. There are two regions which are thought to be her kingdom, one in Ethiopia, the other in Yemen, Southern Arabia. The Orthodox Ethiopian church believes that their Queen of Axum had a son with King Solomon, Menelik. They think he brought the Ark of the Covenant back from Jerusalem and it’s been in Ethiopia ever since. This is not mentioned in the Bible at all.
The other region is thought to be Yemen, where there was the Kingdom of Saba. It was at the heart of the ‘Silk Road’ and traded with the Ethiopians, over the Red Sea. The Kingdom of Saba is far more likely to be the real ‘Kingdom of Saba’ than Ethiopia.
Recently an Israeli archaeologist identified an inscription on a clay jar (pictured left) as ancient Southern Arabian. This is the oldest alphabetical inscription ever found in Jerusalem and among the earliest found in Israel. It dates from the reign of King Solomon. The jar is thought to be from the Kingdom of Saba.i
If the ‘Queen of the South’ was the Queen of Saba/Sheba, then this connects ‘the South’ to the Arabian Peninsula, most likely today in Yemen, not Egypt or Ethiopia.
In recent years Yemen has been in turmoil, due to the civil war between the Houthi rebels and the Yemenite ruling tribes. It is a proxy war, between the Iran backed Shiite Muslim Houthis and Saudi Arabian Sunni Muslim Yemenis. Today Yemen has no king, but is thought to be controlled by Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Option
Could the ‘King of the South’ possibly be the King of Saudi Arabia? This kingdom has gone from a desert Bedouin backwater in the 19th century, to one of the most globally significant players. It is now important both geopolitically and religiously, due to their staggering wealth made from oil since the 1940s and custodianship of the Muslim sacred sites at Mecca and Medina, which they seized from the Hashemite King in 1924.
But could the King of the Saudi Arabia, or his crown prince in waiting, have even more Biblical significance?
The prophet Ezekiel said in Ezek 38:13 “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil?”
Dedan (or Dadan) was the capital of the Lihyan people, in North Western Arabia. Today it is called Al-‘Ula, and is being promoted by Saudi Arabia as one of their main historical tourist destinations. This is because of the ancient carved rock tombs, many of which have their Dadanitic lion symbols carved over the top (pictured below). Some tombs rival Nabetean Petra in Jordan, for their magnificence!ii
View a large print size of this picture at https://www.arabnews.com/sites/default/files/userimages/20/ann_p5_11022019.pdf
Who is Edom, Moab and Ammon today?
Today there are no countries called Edom, Moab or Ammon. The ancient people of these territories have most likely intermarried and are widely dispersed, through wars and migration, through the countries which today cover these territories. It is widely accepted that Jordan most likely represents Ammon. However, what of Edom and Moab? These nations all still have Biblical prophecies to be fulfilled, such as in Dan 11:41 “but these shall escape out of his (the King of the North) hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon”.
Jeremiah, speaking of the destruction of Moab by King Nebuchadnezzar, said in Jer 44:42 “Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD”. However in Jer 44:47 he also said “Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD”
The Kingdoms of Moab and Edom extended below Ammon, at the south. It is possible that Biblical Edom, Moab, Ammon, Sheba and Dedan are all represented by today’s Kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Jordan
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia today occupies land at the bottom of the Gulf of Aqaba, where the futuristic city of Neom is being built (pictured left), with a bridge across to Egypt. This is one of the mega projects of Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman or ‘MBS’. This area is becoming very important to the Saudi’s, as they hope to develop their tourism industry to replace oil revenues in the future.
Jared Kushner, the highly influential Jewish son-in-law of President Trump, has been negotiating with the Saudis for many years. He is on their payroll, taking $25million/year for investing the Saudi State funds in Israeli and US companies.iii Together, Kushner and the Saudis were the driving forces behind the Abrahamic Accords with various Arab nations.
The Saudis have not only a financial motive for creating peace, security and prosperity in the Middle East, to drive their tourism boom, but also a religious one. Crown Prince MBS would like control of the three most important Islamic sites, Mecca, Medina and also Al Quds, otherwise known as Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. This has been a Saudi ambition for several decades, partly as they see the Jordanian King’s oversight of Temple Mount to be weak, as he has allowed violence to occur there.iv
Crown Prince MBS is known to still be keen to establish a comprehensive peace settlement, or Abrahamic Accord, with Israel despite the Gaza war. Hamas and Hezbollah are both Iran affiliated Shia terror organisations, which Sunni Saudi Arabia abhors.
At the 2023 G20 meeting in India, MBS announced, alongside the US, India and EU, a new railway line, to take goods from India (Eastern Tarshish – see 2 Ch 9:21 and 20:36) to the big port in the UAE and across Saudi Arabia and Jordan, through to the now Indian-owned port of Haifa in Israel. These goods, which would not have to go through the Suez Canal, would then be shipped to the EU. It is thought this will be an alternative to China’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, and as President Biden said at the press conference “this is a big deal”!
Are there any other roles for Moab and Edom in last days Biblical prophecies? The short book of Obadiah is thought to have a latter day fulfillment. It is about the humbling of Edom, because of their violence against their brother Jacob (v10).
“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.”
Of note, Crown Prince MBS is currently building the two tallest buildings in the world, one in Jeddah[v] and the other in Riyadh, see picture left[vi]. He is also building the world’s two longest buildings, each over 100 miles long, called the ‘Mirror Line’ at Neom.vii
Esau and Jacob – fraternal twins but opposites, both in looks and nature
Strife between Isaac’s twin sons is at the heart of the Middle Eastern problems. Esau’s foreign wives caused grief to his parents. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, and then regretted it;
“Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” Heb 12:16-17
Esau constantly has sought for vengeance and revenge on his hated brother Jacob;
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.
And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.” Ezek 25:12-14
“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” Rom 9:13.
“I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and,
The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.” Mal 1:2-4
Wow! That’s quite a statement from the LORD God Almighty!
Amos 1:11 “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:”
He said about Edom in Ezek 35;
“Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: (v5)
…I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: (v9-10)
“For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been… and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau;” Obad 1:16, 18.
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession: (Ezek 35:2)… Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey (v5).”
The Kingdom of Jordan
What about the Jordanians? “And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity;… For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel;” Ezek 25:3,6
The Palestinians/Philistines/Canaanites
Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has claimed that the Palestinian people are descended from both the ancient Philistines and also Canaanites.viii It is likely they are a mixed race, whose ancestors are many different peoples who have passed through the region.
It is interesting to read in the Bible that the Philistines originally came from Caphtor, see Jeremiah 47:4, Amos 9:7, Deut 2:23. In the LXX Caphtor is rendered Cappadocia. Cappadocia is in modern day Turkey. It is known today primarily for its ancient underground tunnel cities, staggering in depth and size, which the original inhabitants eventually leftix. It has very similar parallels with the underground tunnel complex dug by the Palestinians in Gaza.
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims (LXX - Cretans), and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. Ezek 25:15-17
Turmoil in the Middle East
The Abrahamic Accords are turning the Middle East upside down. But the recent ‘natural’ disasters have also had a profound effect. The earthquake in February 2023 destroyed much of Idlib province, on the border with Turkey and Syria. This is where many of the remaining jihadists, who fled from Assad and the Russians, ended up, see map right[x]. The earthquake in the Atlas and Rif Mountains in Morocco, a few months later, was also where militant Muslims were known to be living. Then the massive storm and inland Tsunami on Libya’s coast destroyed the city of Derna, an ISIS stronghold, where many more Islamist fanatics could be foundxi.
The extremist Shia Muslims, consisting of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran, and their sympathizers in Turkey, Qatar and other minority groups, are terribly fearful that their hated Sunni brethren are selling out to the Israeli Jews, at the Palestinian’s expense. It is possible, however, that the Sunni Arabs also have another agenda: to remove the Jews from the Land through ‘peace’.
The Land Divided
“In the day that thou (Edom) stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them” Obad v11.
Joel 3:2-3 “…my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.”
For whom did Edom/Esau do this? Why did he betray his brother Jacob? The prophet Joel continues;
“Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.” Joel 3:4-6
Of note, Tyre and Zidon today is where the two largest Palestinian ‘refugee camps’ are located, in Lebanon.
So it appears that this Arab confederacy, led by the King of the South, may deceive Israel into making an agreement, in which Israel comes off worst, in order to achieve peace. The reproach and shame of the heathen is too heavy a burden for Israel to bear.
“Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.
Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.” Ezek 22:4-6
This picture, left, shows the music festival in Israel, replete with a giant Buddha statue, which the Hamas terrorists on paragliders (circled) attacked on Oct 7th 2023. The Reuters video link confirms thisxii. The resulting bloody wars in Gaza and Lebanon, although justified, have led to the worldwide reproach of Israel and their continual calls of ‘genocide’ and ‘nazi’s’.
The Arab Confederacy of the King of the South
All this, inevitably and inexorably, points towards Psalm 83.
“For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 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.
For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.” Psa 83:2-8
The Holy and Brotherly Covenant
It is possible that the Holy Covenant in Daniel 11 verses 22,28, 30 and 32, may refer to the ultimate peace settlement in the Middle East, culminating in an Abrahamic Accord between Israel and the Saudis and Palestinians, and the other Arab kingdoms. This Jewish/Muslim pact may create a land of peace and safety in Israel, resulting in a land without walls, bars, gates, barbed wire and checkpoints: Jewish settlers removed from the West Bank, and Israel totally humiliated in their violent quest for peace in their land.
The brotherly covenant in Amos 1:9 refers to the covenant which King Ahab made with Ben Hadad, whose father Hadad, an enemy of King Solomon, was of the royal seed of the Edomites. See I Kings 20:32, 34 and 42. This man, Ben Hadad, had been appointed to utter destruction by God, and Ahab had let him go.
“Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:”
Similarly, these Arab nations, such as Edom, Moab and the Philistines, have been appointed to utter destruction by God, but if Israeli makes a ‘peace’ covenant with them, this may bring about God’s wrath.
A Third Temple?
For the first time in 2,000 years, there are 5 red heifers in Israel. They were brought over from Texas and must be reared for 3 years without any white hairs, before they can be slaughtered and burnt to make ashes. They are expected to be ready by March/April 2024. This has caused much excitement and anticipation in Israel, as the water from the ashes will be used for the purification of the priests, as described in Numbers chapter 19.xiii
It is possible that Israel’s far right politicians may agree to a peace settlement, but only if they can build a third Temple, next to the Dome of the Rock.
Picture left is of an Israeli soldier in Gaza, the graffiti reads “the battle is in Gaza, the war is over the Temple Mount”. The picture below left is of a bulldozer in Gaza amongst the rubble, the graffiti reads “Build the Holy Temple!” These photos are from the Temple Institute’s facebook pagexiv.
The Temple Institute, based in Jerusalem, has been part of the Israeli religious right wing’s attempt to prepare a Temple for the Messiah. Many evangelical Christians see this as either the Messiah’s true Temple or where ‘the Antichrist’ will sit.
But, aside from the various opinions of Jewish and Christian commentators, is it a possible fulfillment of Biblical prophecies?
Ezekiel 8:16-17 “And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs (LXX - posteriors) toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.”
Note: Mecca is Southeast of Jerusalem, and is where the Muslims face to pray, on their knees.
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)” Mat 24v15
Many Jewish Bible students think these prophecies about the abomination that makes desolate and the replacing of the daily sacrifice, refer to Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who placed a pig in the Most Holy Place in the 2nd century BC. However, this happened prior to the Lord Jesus’ birth, and he obviously thought it was still to happen. Most Christians think it refers to the destruction of the temple, in AD 70.
However, if the taking away of the daily sacrifice and the placing of the abomination which makes desolate (Dan 11:31) occurs during the time of the last King of the North, then it has yet to be fulfilled! Both Matthew 24 and Daniel 12:11 imply that this occurs right at the end, just before the return of the Lord;
These references, along with that of 2 Thes 2:3-4, make it difficult to reject the concept of a third Temple rebuilt by the Jews, prior to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
How long could the Saudis have control of Temple Mount in Jerusalem?
It may be as little as three years.
“And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.
This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.
But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.” Isaiah 16:12-14.
Deceit, Lies and Betrayal…
Back to the King of the South, in Daniel 11. In verse 26, he is destroyed by those who feed of the ‘portion of his meat’. Compare this with Obadiah v7;
“All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.”
No-one would be surprised to hear that there is betrayal, lies and deceit in an Arab confederacy. The King of the South will think that his Muslim brothers are with him, they have his back, when the King of the North comes to take Jerusalem, and possibly its Jewish Temple. When the Russian King of the North descends upon the mountains of Israel, with the 10 Catholic and Orthodox kings, they will rout the Muslims and Jews from their Holy City. The Arabs flee in disarray, leaving the Palestinians and Jews which are left, to be a prey and spoil.
The King of the North will Come to Take the Prize
“And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?”
The identity of the Kings of the North and South, in the book of Daniel, are important. Clearly understanding who they could be, in a contemporary context, could help in discerning Biblical ‘signs of the times’.
We look forward to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth, a time of peace and good will to all men, but not to the events which occur just before his return. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and hope you find our discussion of interest.
Jean and Ellen Reid
10th January 2024
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i https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/04/clay-jar-points-to-connection-between-israel-under-the-reign-of-king-solomon-and-the-kingdom-of-sheba/146751
ii https://www.arabnews.com/node/1449911/saudi-arabia
iii https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/09/06/jared-kushners-saudi-backed-firm-makes-first-israeli-investment/
iv https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/can-the-temple-mount-be-a-trading-card-to-entice-the-saudis-639395
v https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/will-the-1km-tall-jeddah-tower-ever-be-finished-8ml2n3kml
vi https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-mukaab-giant-cube-riyadh-new-kaaba
vii https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/27/saudis-unveil-eye-popping-plan-for-mirrored-skyscraper-eco-city
viii https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/puncturing-the-big-lie-of-palestinian-identity/
ix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derinkuyu_underground_city
x https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/massive-earthquake-could-reshape-turkish-and-syrian-politics
xi https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/libyas-islamists-who-they-are-and-what-they-want
xii https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYc1PeOFCA
xiii https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-717650
xiv https://www.facebook.com/templeinstitute/posts/pfbid0FLhhVqpkvK3QK5JAkNjNNwJpJ26Uybeo5tFgCvYaaboT4knwQytYfqU2PcVL2PMUl