To some Americans, such as me, the Civil War (sometimes still referred to in the South as "The War of Northern Aggression") seems long ago; and the founding of our country is ancient history.

So it can be startling, even humbling, to realize that our country is only a baby on the pages of the world’s history book. It is no less strange to realize that the U.S. culture, which is internationally watched and mimicked by many, is likewise immature.

I am told that Americans can be snobs. Some say we act like we are the only people in the world who count for anything, and as if what we have is the very best. Perhaps this is true.

I know that it is not uncommon to hear that if the Middle East did not have the oil fields today, no one would give it a passing thought. Maybe this also is true.

But it is not just underground oil that makes this part of the world rich. It surely is rich in culture—even if to us it is a foreign culture. It surely is rich in history. The Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, and the Persian Empire held power and riches that are yet being discovered as the sands of time are dug up and investigated. It also was once rich in Spirit—as in the Holy Spirit. The Lord God has worked mightily in what is now seen as barren and desert lands.

We can even set aside the Land of Canaan; that land flowing with milk and honey, given to the slave-children of Abraham escaping with Moses from Egypt, and the history of the Spirit’s work still stands. A proverbial stone’s throw from where I am writing flow the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. These names occur in the book of Genesis as Moses tells us of the streams that helped water the land in which God planted a garden east of Eden.

No, we can’t be sure that these are still the very same rivers. We would expect that Noah’s flood changed riverbeds. But that these rivers are still in the general area of once-pristine Eden—that I believe.

Nearby was also Ur, Ur of the Chaldeans, the homeland of Abraham. Abraham remains a revered figure in the Middle East. Both Jews and Arabs claim him as their ancestor. The newspaper, the Arab Times today has a few ads inviting people to buy gifts for the upcoming holiday season, but most of the print talks about Eid Al_Adha—the festival celebrating the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son. (The Bible says the son’s name was Isaac, and the Muslims say it was Ishmael.)

You may have recently read that Saudi Arabia is determined to prevent the calamities of past years when hundreds were crushed by the press of the crowds searching for healing waters from a sacred sight. Two million worshippers are expected to take part in the hajj pilgrimage next week.

We may consider this with disconcerting wonder. It may make this part of the world even more emotionally distant from us.

But there is more to the history of this land. More that is weaved into its culture. It was by the rivers of ancient Babylon that the Jewish captives hung their harps and wept (Ps. 137). When some of those captives returned home they rebuilt the temple that Jesus walked and taught in.

And they left something behind. They left the Promise: a Savior of the entire world would come.

Many along the Tigress and Euphrates did not believe it. But there were some who did. They heard, they believed, and they acted upon their faith. We know of some who traveled all the way to Jerusalem as a result.

These men from the East are our spiritual brothers. They rejoiced when the Son of God became man. They were very wise.

"We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him" (Mt. 2:2).


Rev. Paul Ziemer is WELS' national civilian chaplain to the military and Armed Forces liaison.