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Written by Ralph Levy
The turmoil in the Middle East continues. Events in Egypt, Syria and Yemen bear watching in light of end-time Bible prophecy.
This past Monday, Jan. 23, marked the first day of the new Egyptian parliament. It looked quite different from the chamber that governed Egypt until the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak a year ago.
To the applause of Islamists, and the fears of Egypt’s minority Coptic Christians and more secular liberals, the newly elected People’s Assembly (the lower house) began the task of preparing to govern this, the most populous Arab nation.
The representation was lopsided, to say the least: 235 seats were won by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (banned under the previous regime), and 121 seats are held by the more conservative Salafist al-Nour Party, which advocates a stricter vision of Islam than the Brotherhood.
Of the remaining 142 elected seats, some were secured by liberal and nationalist blocs and a few were won by a youth-driven political alliance that was at the forefront of the anti-Mubarak demonstrations. Egypt’s minority Copts (perhaps 10 percent of the population) are only minimally represented, holding five seats gained by appointment, not by election.
Attempts to allay fears
The assembly’s new speaker will be Mohamed Saad al-Katatni, who sat in the prerevolution parliament as an independent but was elected this time on the FJP list. He tried to allay fears of recriminations, assuring Reuters news agency that the new assembly would be conciliatory and that “the priorities are meeting the demands of the revolution, including the rights of the injured and those killed in the uprising.”
Yet fears persist. Egypt’s economy continues to hemorrhage amidst a huge drop in the lucrative tourism industry and a drop in the value of the Egyptian pound. Writing a new constitution in the midst of ongoing economic instability will be no easy task for those chosen by the new parliament.
What will be the role of Islam?
And what of the future of Islamism in Egypt? Article 2 of the Egyptian constitution, in place since 1971, states that “Islam is the religion of the state and Arabic is its official language. Principles of Islamic law (shari’a) are the principal source of legislation.”
The Salafist party expressed its desire to replace the word “principles” with “rulings,” and “some Islamist lawmakers as they took the oath of office inserted a line making their pledge to respect Egypt’s law and constitution conditional on where it does not contravene ‘the law of Allah’” (cnsnews.com).
Civil war in Syria
Elsewhere in the Arab world, bloodshed and instability persist. The Arab League’s muddled mission to Syria may have done little good, and some see it as having done more harm. As the Alawite-ruled nation veers toward a bloody stalemate in its incipient civil war between the Assad regime and the opposition, some members of the mission resigned in protest against their inability to do their job in the face of heavy control by the Syrian regime.
On Tuesday, Jan. 24, 55 Gulf state members of the mission resigned after the Arab League plan for President Bashar al-Assad to step down and make room for a government of national unity was summarily rejected by the regime.
“Definitely the solution in Syria is not the solution suggested by the Arab League, which we have rejected. They have abandoned their role as the Arab League and we no longer want Arab solutions to the crisis,” declared Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem. He accused the Arab League of plotting to bring about foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs.
Thousands have died in the bloody conflict that erupted in the wake of the Arab Spring and hopes for new political freedoms in this tightly controlled state. Yet there still seems no end in sight. The Gulf Cooperation Council issued a statement saying they were “certain the bloodshed and killing of innocents would continue, and that the Syrian regime would not abide by the Arab League’s resolutions.”
Yemen and al-Qaeda
Elsewhere in all this upheaval, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s departure on Sunday from his conflicted country seemed to solve little. The United States had reportedly backed a deal in which his deputy, Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, is to take power prior to the country’s new presidential elections on Feb. 21. Mr. Saleh’s plans remained unclear, as he headed first to Oman, and then reportedly will come to the United States for medical treatment. His final destination remains a matter of speculation.
Yet the removal of the unpopular and heavy-handed Mr. Saleh is unlikely to bring stability to Yemen, a haven for al-Qaeda–linked groups that now operate with increased freedom, especially in the south of the country, where their influence is growing.
End-time prophecies
Where is all this turmoil leading? Short-term outcomes in each of these nations may be hard to predict, but in the longer term, Bible prophecy tells us about the future of the Middle East that will most likely include many of the Arab nations. The prophet Daniel, inspired of God to prophesy of a great end-time conflict, tells us of a “king of the South” to appear on the world scene prior to the return of Jesus Christ (Daniel 11:40).
The most likely scenario is that, with religion as the unifying force, this leader will be Muslim and will come into conflict with another leader, that of a European alliance referred to in the same prophecy as the “king of the North.” In both cases, resurgent religious fundamentalism will provide the “glue” that will bind these powerful political and military alliances.
The “king of the South” will be vanquished and overcome by the technologically and militarily more advanced “king of the North” (verses 40-45), an event to occur shortly before the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:21-22, 30; Revelation 19:11; 20:4).
Let’s be sure to keep our eyes on the Arab world as Bible prophecy unfolds!
Ralph Levy is a minister of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, who grew up in England and now lives in the United States. Dr. Levy enjoys reading, travel and foreign languages. He has a Ph.D. in biblical studies and has worked in foreign language and religious education for much of his life.
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