Euphrates

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Euphrates from the air.
This river is first mentioned in connection with the garden of Eden, but cannot be thereby traced (Gen. 2:1414And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. (Genesis 2:14)). It was the N.E. boundary of the land promised to Abraham, as the river of Egypt was the S.W. (Gen. 15:1818In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:18)). It is called the great river, the river Euphrates (Deut. 1:77Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. (Deuteronomy 1:7)), and at times is merely called “the river” (Gen. 31:2121So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead. (Genesis 31:21)). David was able to possess the land to the Euphrates (2 Sam. 8:33David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. (2 Samuel 8:3)), which also Solomon maintained (1 Kings 4:2424For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him. (1 Kings 4:24)).
In one of Jeremiah’s typical actions he hid his girdle by the Euphrates: then found it spoiled and useless; so should the pride of Judah and Jerusalem be marred (Jer. 13:4-114Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. 5So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. 7Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. 8Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. 11For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. (Jeremiah 13:4‑11))—a figure of the carrying away to Babylon of those who should have cleaved to the Lord for His praise, as a girdle to the loins of a man. The prophecy against Babylon was written by Jeremiah in a book, and given to Seraiah, who was to read the same when he arrived at Babylon, then tie a stone to the book and cast it into the Euphrates, and say “Thus shall Babylon sink” (Jer. 51:59-6459The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. 60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; 62Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 63And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: 64And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 51:59‑64)). The book was thus placed in the river in which the Babylonians trusted for safety, but which was the channel of their destruction (Isa. 45:11Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; (Isaiah 45:1)).
The Euphrates is mentioned in the Revelation as the place where four angels are or will be bound, who will be loosed at the sixth trumpet, letting loose the Eastern forms of Satanic wickedness, which has up to now been held in check (Rev. 9:1414Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. (Revelation 9:14)). Viewing Palestine as the center of God’s dealings with the earth, the Euphrates was the barrier between East and West. The sixth vial will be poured upon the great river Euphrates, that it may be dried up and a way be made for the kings from the East to come unto the great battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:1212And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. (Revelation 16:12)).
There are two sources of the river; one in the Armenian mountains, about 40° N, 41° 30' E, and the other in the mountain range of Ararat, about 39° 30' N, 43° E. When the streams join they run nearly south and then south east for 1000 miles. After being joined by the Tigris it falls into the Persian Gulf. It is generally supposed that the river has not always in all parts run in the same channel; that after overflowing its banks it has not always returned to its former course, though it ran into it again farther south. A glance at a map will show that the possessions of David could have embraced but a very small part of the Euphrates, about Lat. 35° to 36° N. The great Syrian desert of Arabia separated the southern part of the river from Palestine.
 
River scenes on the Euphrates – taken at Hilla.