Egypt to Assyria
Not only in recent times has the land bridge from Egypt to Assyria been strategic. It has been highly disputed throughout history and changed hands many times. The land God gave to Abraham as His covenanted inheritance was this very area.
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates…” Genesis 15:18
It was the ‘belly button of the earth’ (Ezek 5:5) between the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. Most land trade routes passed through this area and also sea routes came to its shores. It was for this reason that God gave Abraham this particular stretch of land, because his descendants were to spread a message to all the known world. By this strategic location, the whole world would eventually hear about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
God’s Peace Plan
God has a peace plan for the region, which is still the answer for this troubled area today.
In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near its border. It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Saviour and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them. In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” Isaiah 19:19-25 (emphasis added)
God’s prophetic plan needed a physical army to clear the ground. That is where the ANZACs came in. From August 1916 to October 1918, the British Forces, with the ANZACs often at the forefront, actually travelled from Cairo in Egypt, to north of Aleppo in the area of ancient Assyria. They opened this biblical highway physically – a distance of about 1,200 km.
Without knowing it, boys from the ends of the earth were entering territory that has a mighty prophetic destiny and they were to become entwined in unfurling the future. They were about to peel back a layer of history that had lain over the land for almost 1,300 years. Except for a brief period during the Crusader period, various Muslim armies had ruled over Jerusalem, but never made it their capital or developed it as a city. That era was coming to an end.
God’s purposes for the region did not just involve the physical aspect as we see in the Scripture above. His purpose is to bring the people to Himself, heal their wounds and establish an altar of worship to the only True God in their midst in Jerusalem.
The Spiritual Anzacs
What is needed now is a spiritual Anzac army of young men and women to volunteer to open the highway in the spiritual realm. The troops had to sacrifice everything to bring the victory and endure unimaginable conditions. In the midst of these they displayed great courage. Satan does not give up territory willingly. Do you think it will cost less to push back the enemy in the spiritual realm than it did in the physical?
In that day the LORD will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. Isaiah 27:12-13
It is a mighty vision which the Lord wants to see fulfilled. God has begun a work and He will bring it to completion. The question is, will we enlist in God’s army to see it come to pass in our day?