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Written by Joel Meeker
Bible prophecy predicts the existence of a powerful military bloc to the south of Jerusalem just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Last week there were new calls for the creation of an Arab military alliance to include Egypt. What might this portend?
Last week (Dec. 19) Saudi King Abdullah called for a new phase in the development of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at the opening of the organization’s summit meeting, reported Arab News Agency Al Arabiya.
The GCC, currently composed of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, formed in 1981 to defend its members against militaristic Iran. It should be noted that the GCC members are also technically at war with Israel.
King Abdullah stated: “I ask today that we move from a phase of cooperation to a phase of union within a single entity.” GCC members are especially concerned about the nuclear potential of Iran, which is progressing rapidly in the development of atomic weapons. Their attention is also directed against Syria, a key Iranian proxy, which is guilty of an increasingly bloody repression of pro-democracy protestors.
Drive toward a nuclear-armed caliphate?
Israeli news network Arutz Sheva reports that talks aiming to add Jordan, Morocco and, especially, Egypt to the alliance are underway. How this possible augmentation might change Jordan’s and Egypt’s current tense but peaceful relationship with Israel is a troubling question. Some in Israel see these efforts at increasing the scope and integration of the GCC as a drive toward a caliphate, about which we have written before (see “What’s Next for Egypt?”).
In an important warning about arms escalation, specifically about weapons of mass destruction, earlier this year the Saudi crown prince stated that should Iran acquire nuclear weapons, which is almost certain now, Saudi Arabia would also seek nuclear weapons.
These developments again raise the specter of the development of a nuclear-armed, Islamist-Arab union, hostile to Israel and bent on advancing ultra-conservative Islam toward an ultimate union under one powerful political, religious and military leader: a caliph.
The prophesied end-time king of the South
Daniel 11:40-41 states: “At the time of the end [immediately before the return of Jesus Christ] the king of the South [a powerful leader from the Muslim areas south of Israel] shall attack him; and the king of the North [from Europe] shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown.”
It is vital to remain aware of developments both in Europe, where a stronger European union appears to be developing from the current economic chaos, and in the Arab world, where an Islamic union may also be coalescing. It is likely from these blocs that we will see the emergence of the strong men mentioned in Daniel, who will engage in a war that will ultimately spread around the world and threaten to extinguish all human life.
Jesus said of that time of chaos and destruction: “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22, New International Version).
“The end” marks the beginning of a better world
It appears increasingly clear that pieces of the prophetic puzzle are falling into place, setting the stage for the end-time conflicts that will be signs of the end of man’s rule on the earth and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth.
To read more about what the Bible calls “the end” and why that will ultimately be good news, read “Why the ‘End of the World’ Is Good News!”
Joel Meeker is regional director of francophone areas for the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.
For more about the Middle East and the king of the South in Bible prophecy, see:
