Recently, reports have emerged that the mighty Euphrates River is drying up. Even at a time when extreme and never-before-seen events seem to happen around the world almost every day, the rapid disappearance of the Euphrates has been particularly shocking.
Running more than 1,700 miles from Turkey through Syria and Iraq before emptying into the Persian Gulf, the Euphrates has long been one of humanity’s most important rivers, a part of the Fertile Crescent which birthed modern civilization as we know it. To see it dry up is to watch the disappearance of a life-giving source from which humanity grew.
There are many who believe that its disappearance is not just shocking, but apocalyptic, not merely yet another natural disaster in an era full of them, but the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy that says the drying of the Euphrates is a sign of the end of times.
Could this be possible?
One thing is for sure. As the Euphrates recedes, many strange and unusual things are being uncovered, lost cities and unnatural caverns and tunnels which were long submerged beneath the murky waters. More than that, inexplicable sounds have been recorded emanating from deep within earth along the dried riverbed, sounds which, some say, further prove that we are living in the end of times.
What does the drying of the Euphrates really mean for the future of humanity, and furthermore, what can it tell us about our past?
Perhaps more than any of us are being told …
Historical Importance of the Euphrates
Whether you are religious or not, the Euphrates River holds a crucial place in human history.
In the Hebrew and Christian bibles, it is called “the great river,” and with good reason. Its waters were said to flow directly from the Garden of Eden, and along its banks, many key biblical events took place. Moreover, in biblical times, the Euphrates was an important dividing line between east and west, a natural barrier to the northeast of the Holy Land, protecting it along with the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and endless miles of desert to the southeast. As such, the Euphrates is imbued with both spiritual and physical significance, shaping the events of the bible which have in turn shaped human history.
From a secular perspective, the Euphrates River, along with its regional partner, the Tigris, facilitated the birth and subsequent growth of human civilization, feeding the fertile lands of ancient Mesopotamia, which literally means “between rivers” in Greek. This was the home of the ancient Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, the place where agriculture first emerged, where the wheel and writing were invented, where the world’s first system of laws was created.
Simply, without the Euphrates River, we would probably not be where we are today.
And yet, today, this historic river is rapidly drying up. Already, its once mighty flows have nearly been cut in half, and the problem is getting worse every day. In some places along its path, the river can no longer be seen at all, its disappearing waters leaving behind only a cracked and dry riverbed.
The Drying of the Euphrates - Biblical Prophecy
For those who live along its banks, things are already getting apocalyptic. Farms have been destroyed as the water that irrigates them dries up, and the fishing industry has likewise collapsed, leading to the loss of livelihoods and food shortages. Further, millions in the region now lack access to drinking water.
Indeed, recent photographs from the region look like something from a dystopian movie, or a nightmare – the Fertile Crescent, fertile no more.
But there are some who say that this is just the beginning, that the disappearance of the Euphrates will not only impact those who live along its banks, but every single human being on earth. The reason they say this is that the drying of the Euphrates appears in the Christian Bible as a sign of the end of times, a precursor to the final battle of Armageddon.
The relevant passage appears in the Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament, which contains a series of prophetic visions describing the signs which will indicate that the end of times is upon us. One of the last of these signs, set to appear just before Armageddon, is detailed in Revelation chapter 16:
“The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.”
These ‘kings from the east’ will come to participate in the “battle on the great day of God the Almighty,” the final battle of Armageddon.
Could the drying of the Euphrates really mean that this final battle is upon us? Furthermore, who are these ‘kings from the east’ and what would their arrival mean for humanity?
To begin to answer these questions, one must look elsewhere in the Book of Revelation, to another prophetic sign which indicates the end of times is upon us. In Revelation chapter 9, we read,
“The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.”
It is a terrifying image, an army of 200 million – for comparison, the total number of soldiers who fought in World War II was about 70 million – and one-third of humanity dead, which today would mean more than 2.5 billion people.
And yet, leaving aside the gruesome ending of the passage, what jumps out is its beginning – “the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
As the waters of the Euphrates began to hastily recede, numerous strange caverns and tunnels emerged, seemingly carved out of the rock along the riverbed and extending into the earth. Immediately, some made the connection between these caverns and tunnels and Revelation chapter 9, suggesting that they must be where the four angels are bound.
The End of Times
Many theologians and Christian scholars say no, these are not the sounds of the four angels mentioned in Revelation, and in fact, the drying of the Euphrates which is currently taking place is not a sign of the end of times.
This, they argue, is because the drying of the Euphrates mentioned in Revelation does not happen independently, but rather in a specific context, as the sixth of seven “bowls.” These bowls are events which represent god’s wrath, each happening one after the other as part of a period of tribulation which culminates in the final battle of Armageddon.
As one scholar put it,
“So is what’s currently occurring to the Euphrates river a fulfilment of the sixth bowl judgment in Revelation 16? No. To say that would not only mean we’re currently in the tribulation, but that […] the majority of bowl judgements had been poured out on mankind.
This simply isn’t the case scripturally nor is it an accurate reflection of what’s currently going on in the world.”
In other words, since the first five bowls have not happened, the drying of the Euphrates cannot be the sixth bowl; it does not mean the apocalypse, regardless of what strange noises are coming out of the earth.
But is this true? Can we really say that it “simply isn’t the case” that “what’s currently going on in the world” reflects the bowls of Revelation? The assertion begins to fall apart when one looks more closely at the five bowls which are said to precede the drying of the Euphrates.
“The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people.”
In a world which is still feeling the effects of a years-long global pandemic which left millions dead and caused pain and suffering for many millions more, it might be fair to ask whether this prophesized plague has taken place.
“The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.”
It was already no great secret that the world’s ocean ecosystems were struggling thanks to pollution, climate change, and overfishing. But then, a few months ago, scientists stunningly announced a “looming mass ocean extinction.” Simply, the oceans are dying, threatening, as Revelation might put it, ‘every living thing in the sea.’
“The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.”
All around the world, rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers are drying up or becoming too polluted to use. Humans have dumped waste and leaked nitrates from fertilizers into freshwater supplies, ruining them for drinking or agriculture, while human expansion has meant that half of the world’s wetlands, those natural water filters, have disappeared.
Add to this the climate change related droughts which are further depleting available water supplies, and the result is that today, well over one in four people around the world do not have access to water. For them, water is like the blood ‘of a dead person.’
“The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God.”
The last decade has been the hottest in recorded history “by a clear margin.” It should surprise no one who has been outside during recent summers that in 2021 and 2022, nearly every country on earth set all-time heat records.
When the Washington Post runs headlines calling earth the “Red Hot Planet,” they may as well be referencing the ‘intense heat’ which feels like it is ‘allowed to scorch people with fire.’
“The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.”
The earth has been becoming increasingly dark for decades, with less of the sun’s light reaching the surface as a result of pollution in the atmosphere in a process scientists call ‘global dimming.’
One need only glance at recent headlines to see how this dimming is impacting the world – in China, reports of solar technology failures because not enough sunlight can reach the panels; in India, people attempting to offer “prayers to a sun struggling to shine through smog;” all around the world, millions dead every year from air pollution.
While the presence of our devices means light is always present, every day, the earth plunges further ‘into darkness.’
Upon closer examination, it appears scholars may have been hasty in suggesting that ‘what’s currently going on in the world’ does not reflect the bowls of Revelation. Certainly, it is possible to interpret the devastating impacts on the earth’s ecosystems now being felt all around the world as a fulfillment of the prophecies of Revelation, the bowls of god’s wrath appearing in a time of tribulation.
Maybe we really are in the end of times …
Islamic Prophecies on the Euphrates
It is interesting to note that Islam has its own prophecy related to the drying of the Euphrates. In the words of the Prophet Muhammad,
“The Hour will not come to pass before the river Euphrates dries up to unveil the mountain of gold, for which people will fight. Ninety-nine of every hundred will die, and every man among them will say, ‘Maybe I’m the only one to remain alive’.”
Like in Revelation, the drying of the Euphrates in Islam also portends a calamitous slaughter, brought about not by the release of four angels bound beneath the river, but by the discovery of gold.
Here, some might be tempted to point out that enormous deposits of gold have been found in Turkey in recent times, not far from the Euphrates River. So enormous are these deposits, in fact, that while Turkey did not produce even one gram of gold in the early-2000s, it is now considered one of the top five nations on earth in terms of gold potential.
But perhaps the prophecy goes further than that.
As the waters of the Euphrates have receded, many archaeological sites which were previously unknown and undiscovered have been dramatically revealed – cities and castles and cemeteries which have been lost for thousands of years, things that archaeologists who have worked in the area for their entire careers admit they have “never seen” before, sites stretching back to the Romans, the Sumerians, and even further than that. It seems that the more the Euphrates dries, the more archaeologists learn more about a forgotten past.
Perhaps as the waters continue to recede, a large cache of gold will be discovered, as Muhammad suggested, or some other precious material which humans will want to go to war over. But perhaps Muhammad’s words can be seen as more of an allegory – gold as a euphemism for something hidden, some truth about our ancient past long forgotten and long lost under the waters of the Euphrates. Perhaps the apocalypse will come not for human beings, but for ideas and beliefs.
On this blog, we have spoken a lot about the secrets hidden beneath earth’s waters, or buried deep underground. To better understand the drying of the Euphrates, what might be found as waters recede, and what this might have to do with the end of times, one must better understand these secrets.
A good place to start? With two of our previous videos.
The first, Mysterious Underwater Cities Discovered All Around the World.
And the second, The Book of Enoch Banned from The Bible Tells the True Story of Humans.