Africa
[Map from the Perry Castenada Library,
Courtesy
The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin]
[Map from the Perry Castenada Library,
Courtesy
The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin]
I think Africa is the most obviously shaped continent on Earth. It's shaped like a gigantic skull that is mortally wounded, and sporting a horn on its forehead:
Notice the area where the brain would be. It's occupied by the world's largest desert, the Sahara:
Why did our heavenly Father make it look like this? I think it would help if we went to our Father's word, and looked firstly at the skull in the book of Matthew, chapter 27:
31 And after that they had mocked Him, they took the robe off from Him, and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear His cross. 33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34 They gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink.
Jesus Christ defeated death, and destroyed Satan by giving him the ultimate deadly wound (Hebrews 2:14). It's as though His cross was like a sword sunk deep into Satan's skull. And there's something very interesting about Simon being from Cyrene. Cyrene is now called Tripoli, and it's in Libya, right where Africa's deadly wound is located!
This wound (or gash) reminds me of the deadly wound that David gave to
Goliath the giant in the first book of Samuel, chapter 17:
45 Then said David to the Philistine, "Thou comest
to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in
the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, Whom thou hast
defied. 46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite
thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of
the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of
the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all
this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the
battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands."
48 And it
came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David,
that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 And David
put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the
Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell
upon his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a
sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no
sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the
Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew
him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion
was dead, they fled.
The next question we need to ask is, "Why does this skull have a horn on his
forehead?" I believe Africa has a horn because horns are symbolic of power. There's
a good example of this in Zechariah 1:
18 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. 19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me, "What be these?" And he answered me, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." 20 And the LORD showed me four carpenters. 21 Then said I, "What come these to do?" And he spake, saying, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it."
Now let's focus on the eye and ear of the African skull. The eye is Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake, and its ear is Lake Chad. Africa's ear is in serious trouble. It's drying up. Below are 2 satellite images of Lake Chad produced by the United States Geological Service. The one on the left was taken in 1973, the other in 1997.
Lake Chad is almost completely dried up, and it's filling in with sand
(the ridges are sand dunes). Therefore we might say that the African skull has no ears to hear; that is,
spiritually deaf.
Africa's eye (Lake Victoria) also illustrates this message, but to find it we need to look at the Nile River as well. Lake Victoria is the largest reservoir for the Nile River which is the longest river in the world at 4160 miles. The Nile River is formed by the confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile at Khartoum in Sudan. From here to the Aswan Dam in Egypt it descends 951 feet in a series of 6 cataracts or waterfalls (represented by the 6 dashes across the Nile north of Khartoum):
I realize that the cataracts are a considerable distance from the eye,
but they are associated with Lake Victoria via the Nile, so I couldn't resist
pointing this out. And if you have 6 cataracts over your eye, then you are blind indeed! "A
cataract is a clouding of the lens that causes the world to appear distorted, as
if seen through frosted glass or through a waterfall" (Marieb, E.N. and J.
Mallatt. 1992. Human Anatomy. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc.,
Redwood City, California). And if you're spiritually blind, you don't have eyes
to see. A good example of being spiritually blind and deaf is found in Isaiah 6:
9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people, 'Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.' 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes' lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."
The two lakes south of Lake Victoria are not part of the Nile. They are Lakes Tanganyika and Malawi. They help create a very large scar beside and below the eye.
Speaking of scars, let's take a look at the island of Madaga-scar:
Madagascar is actually Africa's nose!
Here is what the African skull looks like after rotating Madagascar 22 degrees to the left, and then reattaching it:
It's an exaggerated nose to be sure, but a nose nonetheless. Why has his nose fallen,
or could we say 'cut off'? I think it's an illustration
similar to what our Lord said in Mark 9:
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
I believe we are to think of the many-membered body, and the parts thereof that will be destroyed. The nose draws our attention to breathing, and life itself. If we lose it, then we die. I think it adds to the overall theme of Africa, that of death and destruction: a nose cut off, cataracts for the eye, an ear drying up, and a deadly wound. They make me think of those who shall be destroyed such as Satan, the giants, evil spirits, and fallen angels. They are all dead men, they have no future, and have therefore been cut off.
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©
2005 God's Geography
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