Sunday 25 October 2020

Trump comment on 'blowing up' Nile Dam angers Ethiopia and lifts the lid on a 2,600-year old, Old Testament prophecy from the pages of Isaiah which until recently had remained a mystery for centuries.

Painting of Isaiah by Antonio Balestra

If you thought 2020 couldn't get any stranger, well, think again. In a remarkable speech, yesterday during a ceremony marking "a peace deal between Israel and Sudan," remarkable in itself, President Trump lifted a 2,600-year old, Old Testament prophecy right from the pages of Isaiah and dropping it into the laps of the world press.

I am not sure of President Trump's understanding of the Old Testament but when he claimed  Egypt will “blow up” a disputed dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile he brought to life a prophecy which until recently had remained a mystery for centuries.

Mr Trump went on to say regarding the massive GERD dam in Ethiopia, the project has created a “very dangerous situation,”, because one of the country’s downstream neighbours, Egypt, which relies on the Nile and its tributaries for most of its irrigation and drinking water, “is not going to be able to live that way.” Suggesting the massive dam will cut off the Nile's life-giving water supply to Egypt.

The president’s comments came during a ceremony marking a peace deal between Israel and Sudan, which ironically is also downstream from Ethiopia's dam. “They’ll end up blowing up the dam,” Trump said of Egypt. “And I said it and I say it loud and clear – they’ll blow up the dam. And they have to do something.”

Mr Trumps claims although unhelpful to Ethiopia have brought to light one of Isaiah's more exciting prophecies. Ethiopia's new dam, the Renaissance Dam is almost complete and will bring much-needed hydroelectricity to the country, however, a long-running dispute between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt has threatened to boil over into war with Sudan and Egypt worried their very water supply will be compromised.

Below is a small segment of Isiah's prophecy of a war between Ethiopia and Egypt.

Ethiopia's war with Egypt.

Isaiah 18:1 Woe to the land of whirring insect wings in the region of Ethiopia.

Isaiah 18:2 It sends envoys by sea. Across the waters in papyrus vessels (Egypt used papyrus vessels), saying: Go you, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth-skinned nation. (Egyptians were famous for shaving hair from their bodies). To a people feared everywhere. To a strong conquering nation, whose land is washed away by rivers. 

Interestingly, Isaiah 19:1 begins with a "pronouncement against Egypt." Jehovah is riding on a swift cloud and is coming into Egypt.

Isaiah 19:2 I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians and they will fight one another.

Isaiah 19:3 And the spirit of Egypt will become bewildered.

Isaiah 19: I will hand Egypt over to a hard master. And a harsh king will rule over them.

Isaiah 19:5 The water of the sea will be dried up. And the river will become parched and dry and the rivers will stink: The Nile canals of Egypt will become low and parched.

Isaiah 19:7 The plants along the Nile will dry up and be blown away.

Isaiah 19:8 And the fishermen shall mourn.

Isaiah 19:14 Jehovah has poured out on Egypt a spirit of confusion;

Time will tell whether events will escalate between the two sides.

Almost 86% of the water reaching Egypt originates from Ethiopia. This can rise to almost 95% in the rainy seasons. Despite Ethiopia’s massive contribution to the Nile River flow, its use of the water from the river system is almost nothing. It also still rankles that Egypt opposed external funding being sought which thwarted Ethiopia’s past attempts to develop water storage facilities and use the Blue Nile water for hydropower generation and irrigation

The last 10 years have also seen significant economic and political changes in the Blue Nile basin. These have included the birth of a new state (South Sudan), the Arab Spring in Egypt, and impressive economic growth in Ethiopia with large-scale foreign investments in agriculture. Taking advantage of this changing environment, Ethiopia officially launched its long-planned and its largest-ever engineering project, in April 2011. This dam, with a budget of $4.8 billion and an installed capacity of 6,450 megawatts, is situated about 15km from the Sudanese border. The project will create a reservoir with a volume of more than 74 billion cubic metres according to Quartz Africa.


1 comment:

Melly said...

Foreign investments in Ethiopian agriculture & most of Africa's fertile land, who could that be? Hint, the country of 1.5 billion people to feed.