Terrorist successor has ancient Biblical name

The leader of Al-aida in Iraq, Al-Zarqawi, was killed a couple of days ago. The name of his successor, which in Arabic means "The Egyptian", is worth noting. Here is quote from AP Saturday, June 10, 2006:

Caldwell said Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub al-Masri — who was named in a most-wanted list issued in February 2005 by the U.S. command and has a $50,000 bounty on his head — would likely take the reins of al-Qaida in Iraq. He said al-Masri and al-Zarqawi met for the first time at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan in 2001, and al-Masri came to Iraq first. Al-Masri is believed to be an expert at making roadside bombs, the leading cause of U.S. military casualties in Iraq. Al-Masri also has had "communications" with Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, Caldwell said.

This news article failed to mention that "Al-Masri" is a nomme-de-guerre meaning "The Egyptian." But other news articles did add this detail.

The Holy Bible, the Word of God, gives the famous "Table of Nations" in Genesis Chapter 10, describing the spread of the human race from 8 persons following the flood of Noah around 2300 BC. If you look in Genesis 10:6, you will find that Mizraim was son of Ham, son of Noah, only the second generation after the flood, and Egypt was populated by Mizraim's descendants. In Hebrew today (similar to Arabic) the name Mizraim is used to refer to Egypt.

Why mention this? Because many folks today seem to view the Bible as a mere collection of fables. But the Bible is extremely historical, giving names, places, and times of key events of human and Jewish history. In fact, there is no such thing as humans living in "prehistoric" times, since the Bible history begins at creation. What we really have in the Bible is pre-human history rather than prehistoric humans, because God describes the creation of all things and all life before the first man was given life.

So to see the ancient name Mizraim as an appellation of a modern-day terrorist is again a reminder that to understand events of today, one needs to understand the Biblical history of the world.

Respectfully submitted,
D.U.