Stealing the Nile River

The world’s longest river is the Nile. Egypt fears it could soon become among the shortest. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (gerd) became operational September 9, threatening to send Africa into disarray.

The gerd, Africa’s largest dam, sits near the Blue Nile’s source, Lake Tana. Its engineering firm estimates it can produce as much power as three medium-size nuclear power plants, tripling Ethiopia’s output of electricity. Ahmed expects the gerd to generate $1 billion annually through electricity exports.

Building the gerd cost Ethiopia $5 billion. Almost half of its 120 million people don’t have reliable access to electricity. Ethiopia will do everything it can to get the most it can from the gerd.

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But there is a big problem: Ethiopia is not the only country dependent on the Nile River.

Enter Egypt

The Blue Nile merges with the White Nile in Sudan before flowing through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. The Egyptian government estimates 80 to 85 percent of the Nile’s water comes from the Blue Nile. Almost all of Egypt’s 111 million people live near the Nile River and rely on it for drinking water, growing food and economic activity.

Because of this, Egypt views any attempt by Ethiopia to control the Blue Nile’s water supply as an existential threat. “Anyone who imagines that Egypt will turn a blind eye to an existential threat to its water security is mistaken,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in August. He warned: “We will continue to monitor the situation and take all measures provided for under international law to safeguard our people’s existential resources.”

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The gerd nearly provoked a war between Egypt and Ethiopia last year. Egypt is reeling from several economic crises hitting at once. Yemen’s Houthi terrorist group has been attacking ships in the Red Sea, the other geographic feature vital to Egypt’s economy. The government has cut back on decades-long welfare programs that millions of its civilians depend on. If something were to happen to Egypt’s access to water, its society could collapse.

Ahmed regularly tells his neighbors they have nothing to worry about. But he has thus far refused to enter a water-sharing agreement with Egypt or any of the other countries dependent on the Nile. Sudan has a water-sharing agreement with Egypt, but neither has any guarantee from Ethiopia. Some predict, depending on how fast Ahmed fills the gerd’s reservoir, parts of the Nile Delta could become desert within a few years. As far as the Egyptians are concerned, Ahmed is stealing their river—their national lifeblood.

Enter Prophecy

The Bible prophesies of massive changes coming to Egypt. Daniel 11:40 foretells a clash between two end-time powers: a European bloc led by Germany, called the “king of the north,” and a radical Islamist bloc led by Iran, called the “king of the south.” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry explains this prophecy in detail in his free booklet The King of the South.

Verses 42-43 list other countries the king of the north will conquer. This implies they are in Iran’s camp: “He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.”

In light of these verses, the Trumpet expects Egypt and Ethiopia to join Iran’s bloc. The most likely outcome of this is some sort of Islamic revolution. Egypt had one in 2011. Although Ethiopia is a majority Christian country, it has a sizable Muslim population.

“This prophecy indicates we are about to see a far-reaching change in Egyptian politics!” Mr. Flurry writes in The King of the South. “We have been saying since 1994 that this would occur. Look at Egypt today, and you see the nation’s foreign policy and political orientation changing in a way that threatens to transform the entire region!”

He continues:

The emphasis in Daniel 11:42-43 is on Egypt—then we have Libya and Ethiopia. This shows that Egypt is the big conquest! It is the real power behind Libya and Ethiopia, which suggests that it is going to have a heavy hand in swinging those two nations into the Iranian camp. …

This is very alarming because of the power Egypt has. For years, America has given Egypt billions and billions of dollars’ worth of military aid. The Egyptians are certain to use their formidable military power to swing much of the Middle East toward Iran.

Even though neither Egypt nor Ethiopia is currently allied with Iran, the other side of this prophecy is beginning to take shape. Egypt and Ethiopia don’t even share a border. But Egypt is increasingly viewing Ethiopia as an imminent national security threat. Ethiopia, meanwhile, cannot afford to back down from the gerd project. The start of the dam’s operations shows Ethiopia is committed to getting the project done, regardless of what Egypt’s leadership thinks.

This is giving Egypt more and more incentive to put Ethiopia in its place. Even if Egypt has a change in leadership, the crisis Ethiopia poses to Egypt won’t go away. Could the tension surrounding the Nile be one reason Egypt gets involved in Ethiopia?

Egypt and Ethiopia’s combined population is over 200 million people. Both sit on or near the Red Sea. The world has seen what happens when a ragtag group of Yemeni rebels disrupts Red Sea shipping. What will happen when the region’s two heavyweights exchange blows?

These events won’t stay local. The Bible prophesies that the tensions in the Horn of Africa will engulf the whole world. Keep your eyes on Egypt and Ethiopia.

To learn more, request a free copy of The King of the South.