Meshech
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
Meshech (Hebrew: משׁך, Meshek) was the sixth son of Japheth mentioned in the Book of Genesis.
Contents |
The Descendants of Meshech
The descendants of Meshech were well-known to the people of the Middle East centuries after the great and terrible flood of Noah.
The Assyrians knew them as the Mushku, the Greeks as the Moskhi and by others as Musku, Muskaaia, Moshi and Moska. Herodotus, a well-known ancient historian, calls them Moschi and Tibarenoi. And the ancient capital of Cappadocia was Mazaca.
While in Asia Minor they were inseparable from the Toboli.[1] They were the "natural " or hereditary enemies of the Assyrians and were largely the cause of the Assyrians losing power over other peoples from time to time.
They migrated with Tubal up to the Black Sea and into the Russian plains. Dr. Gesenius wrote, in the nineteenth century, that Meshech became the Moschi, a very barbaric people. They dwelt, he said, in the Moschian Mountains.[2] The Moschian Mountains were the connecting chain between the Caucasus and Anti Taurus Mountains. The Scofield Reference Bible says that the "reference to Mechech and Tubal (Moscow and Tobolosk) is a clear mark of identification". Strabo claimed that here was a district named "Moschice", a very barbaric people, while Lempriere stated in his dictionary that the Moschi were a people to the west of the Caspian Sea.
Expert Milner explains :
| “ | The territory first occupied by Meshech after their descent from the table-lands of Pamir was the plain at present peopled by the Turcomans, between the Oxus and the Caspian ... The whole district within five hundred miles of Moscow seems to be saturated with the name of Meshech.[3] | ” |
He then refers the reader to Steiler's German Hand Atlas to prove his point by referring to the following place-names: Moscow; the Moskva River; the Novo-Mosc-owsk on a tributary of the Dnieper; Mosch-Aisk near Borodino; Mosch-ok between Moscow and Nijini Novogorod; Mosch-arki stood on a tributary of the Volga River; Misch-etski stood between Moskow and the Tula; Mischiritschi on the border with the Ukraine; Mesch-a, a branch of the Dwina River; Mesch-Tschowsk near Tula; Mesch-Tschenskaia on the border with the Ukraine and Meschk-uze near Riga. It should also be noted that the Finns of Russia are divided into two tribes, Erses and Moskshes.[4]
Russian Claims of Ethnic Origins
The history of Russia is fascinating but records, of course, are scanty for the centuries after Noah's flood. However, historians are able to to trace Huns, Avars, Goths, Magyars, Indo-Europeans and others scampering over the land for centuries. From about 770 AD to about 830 AD explorers from the eastern Baltic region, basically Germanic commercial-military bands, sought out new routes to the East. They penetrated the territories of the Finnic and Slavic tribes and found tremendous trade in wax, furs, amber, and honey. Eventually the Rus peoples and Scandinavians extended their raiding activities to other areas and established a dynasty, begun by a certain Rurik of Jutland, which lasted until 1598 AD. These peoples came to be known as Varangians and they extended their control south and eastwards. They were clearly not Scandinavians or east Slavs, but a Germanic-type people, today represented by the Balts and Byelorussians.
To their south-east was the great Khazar confederated state, comprised of a multi-national nomadic military including Turkics (Edomites) and Iranians. This state rose about mid-7th century AD until it was eclipsed by the Hungarians and Rus in the 10th century. The greatest of Varangian princes was Prince Svyatoslav who died in 972 AD. His campaigns and exploits marked the beginnings of a new political force in Europe. His son Vladimir established a code of laws and a dynastic system together with his inviting the Eastern Orthodox Church patriarch of Constantinople to establish an episcopal see in Rus in 988 AD.
Vladimir extended the kingdom centered at Kiev to include Neman, Western Dvina, Upper Volga, Don, Dniester, and Dnieper. His 12 sons and many grandsons clashed with one another producing a series of centralizing and separatist struggles which flowed back and forth over the decades. The Turkic nomads in the 11th century produced a rival power center which produced various periods of conflict and cooperation. After Kiev declined, Novgorod, an important city, declared independence and remained largely sovereign until it was conquered by Muscovy (Moscow). Novgorod found an accommodation with the invading Mongols and it’s prosperity remained until the commercial revolution in the 16th century. It expanded to the north and east to the Urals. To the south lay the westward expansion of the Mongols in the Ukraine.
Under Ivan III (known as The Great and who ruled from 1462-1505 AD) underwent a crusade to gather into the fold the eastern Slavic peoples under Moscow’s rule. To the West he was able to counter the Polish-Lithuanian state and expand the borders of his kingdom. From this period henceforth we have the history of Russia developing and the decline of the Baltic states in power and influence.
No doubt, the Great Russians occupying the thousands of square kilometers around Moscow descend from their ancient forefather, Meshech. The city of Moscow is spelt Moskva by the Russians themselves and it stood in the midst of a Russian state once known as Muscovy. The whole of Russia, in fact, was known as Muskovi for a long time even until the time of Ivan the Terrible.
The Peoples of Moschi were renowned as being a cruel race anciently: "woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech". The term quoted here is from the Bible, being used as we use the term "Vandal", "Hun" of "Philistine" today, as being typical of cruelty and mercilessness.
It has long been generally understood by many Russian academics that much of their population is descended from a branch of the Scythians. A famous Russian poet, Alexander Blok, for example, noted such in one of his poems, The Scythians[5]. Also, Russian historian Alekseyev, in his work, In Search Of Our Ancestors, writes that the Russians are a branch of the Scythians.[6]
There we have it — as plain as daylight. The peoples of Madai, Tubal and Meshech may be found in western Russia. They are a very tough, hardened people, best to be left alone and not interfered or tangled with.
However, scores of various groups fall within the borders of modern-day Russia, although dominated by Meshech. They include 16 autonomous republics, 5 autonomous regions, 10 national districts, 6 territories and 49 regions. They include ethnic entities such as the Komi, Karella, Chuvash, Bashkirias, Tuvas, Yakutians, Jews, Ossetias and so forth. The list is virtually endless. These people are destined to more-or-less stay together and attempt to forge an empire out of the rubble of the mess left behind by the Communists. It will be an enormously powerful empire, with huge manpower and natural resources and with technological assistance from Germany. It seems that Russia will hearken back to the days of the Tsars and appoint someone who can be seen to be a symbol of unity, and who would once again ignite the imaginations of these tribes and peoples. He would have ancient roots and therefore a 'right' to champion their cause for a better lifestyle and religious liberty. As a royal he would be the mystical union between the present and the past, the people and their God, embodying the soul of the nation and representing them on the international stage.
Finally, expect a far different looking Russia in the years ahead. Prophecy seems to indicate that the Baltic States will be joined with Europe and the Ukraine may gain some form of semi-independence. While the Great Russians will initially be partners of Europe, they will eventually have a terrible falling out with them which will lead to the most horrible conflict in human history.
Related References
- ↑ Douglas 1972:811
- ↑ Gesenius 1872:534, 626, 955, 1121
- ↑ Milner 1886 : ch 9
- ↑ Bloch 1913:615
- ↑ Blok 1970:161
- ↑ Alekseyev 1972:297
- In Search of ... the Origin of Nations by C.M. White. History Research Projects 2003.
 Browse |
