How to Make Sense of the Stormy Middle East
The seasons have changed in Tunis, Cairo and Tripoli. The turbulent gusts of the “Arab Spring” have blown through northern Africa and continue to roar through the halls of power in Syria, Jordan, Yemen and far beyond.
For just a moment, the revolution inspired a warm glow of anticipation as the Western world looked for the rays of liberal democracy to shine through the clouds onto a region dominated by strongmen.
But we see no blossoming Western-style democracies—only the harsh winter of radicalism. The overthrow of the military dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya is leading not to the birth of new democracies, but rather to a rebirth of Islamic states. As these nations embrace the tenets of radical Islam, one regional power stands to gain the most: Iran.
Governments in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are struggling to prevent contagion on their own soil. On top of these great political upheavals, Iran is shaking the whole region militarily by making steady progress toward acquiring nuclear weapons. Whispers of Israeli airstrikes are loudly broadcast. Even the United Nations reported in November that some of Iran’s nuclear experiments could only be for the purpose of weapons development.
Governments, policymakers, intelligence analysts and pundits are all trying to gauge where these troubling events are heading. Will winter set in, putting the Middle East into the cold clutches of radical Islam and Iranian dominance? Will it reject cooperation with the Christian Western democracies?
With so many nations involved, so many interests to be protected, so much history, and so many cultures and brands of religion converging, the Middle East is the most complicated region in the world.
Yet there is a source that can accurately answer all these questions! That source is biblical prophecy.
Two prophecies in particular make sense of the volatile international relations occurring in this region: Daniel 11 and Psalm 83.
These prophecies show what is in store for those nations involved in the “Arab Spring,” those whose governments have successfully resisted overthrows, and those facing rebellion right now.
Taken together, these two prophecies show us that the region will be conquered and controlled by one major power. Ultimately, it will not be Iran or an Islamic power!
To understand these prophecies, you must know which nations they are talking about.
The Whirlwind Attack
In the prophecy of Daniel 11:40-43, we learn that there is a “king of the south” ruling parts of the Middle East. But Daniel also says a different power will conquer the region: “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind … and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. … [A]nd 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.”
There are two primary powers here: the king of the north and the king of the south. The king of the south can only be Iran. (For an explanation, request our free booklet The King of the South.) It is not this “king,” though, that is prophesied to conquer North Africa and the Middle East. It is the king of the north!
The king of the north is a German-led European combine. To prove why the ancient “king of the north” is modern Europe, request our free booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.
Daniel 11 lists the enemies of the king of the north, Iran’s key allies: Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia, which are still called by their ancient names today. Egypt and Libya are already falling to the control of radical Islamic elements supported by Iran!
This prophecy is why the Trumpet accurately predicted—as far back as July 1993—that these nations would be overtaken by radical Islam! Current events are unfolding exactly according to this prophecy.
However, just as important as who is allied with the king of the south is who isn’t.
Daniel writes that when the king of the north hits the king of the south and its allies with a blitzkrieg, three peoples will escape: “Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon” (verse 41). These three peoples will not be allied with Iran.
This means that ultimately Iran will not succeed—not only in confronting Christian Europe, but also in its efforts control the entire Middle East.
But what will happen to these other nations, such as Edom and Moab? This is explained in a different prophecy of events shortly after the king of the north conquers the king of the south.
An Anti-Israel Alliance
“They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.” This prophecy is found in Psalm 83:4. It describes a group of nations forming a confederacy to destroy the modern nations of Israel.
“For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them” (verses 5-8).
Assur is biblical Assyria, the prophetic name for modern-day Germany! (See the October/November 2010 issue for proof of Assyria’s modern identity.)
The Middle Eastern nations listed in this passage will form an alliance with Germany. Their purpose will be to “cut off” the modern descendants of Israel—primarily America, Britain and Judah, the modern Jewish State of Israel.
So, which are these nations that will ally not with Iran, but with Germany?
Edom and Amalek
Edom, also called Esau in the Bible, is listed first in Psalm 83. As we covered in our November/December 2011 issue (“East, West or Neither?”), this is modern-day Turkey.
Also included is a son of Esau, Amalek. Amalek and his children became a prominent people at the time of the Exodus. Moses records in Numbers 24:20 that Amalek “was the first of the nations.” That phrase refers not to chronology, but power: The Amalekites were the first people to attack the Israelites after they escaped from Egypt. They were even powerful enough to enslave Egyptians, according to an account in 1 Samuel 30:11-13. At the height of their power, the Amalekites colonized various areas of the Mediterranean, including the Aegean and western Turkey. In biblical prophecy, Amalek also refers to modern Turkey.
Turkey, like Iran, is a formidable regional power, but it has strong ties to Europe. It is not difficult to foresee how Turkey can and will resist falling into radical Iran’s orbit. In fact, the Psalm 83 prophecy shows that, despite present appearances to the contrary, Turkey will at some point renew its efforts to ally with Europe! Watch for it.
What about the other nations listed in this prophecy?
Moab and Ammon
Remember that the prophecy of Daniel 11 says the king of the north, after conquering the king of the south, will then “enter also into the glorious land”—the nation of Israel, specifically Jerusalem. Then, it says, “Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon” will escape. All three of these names also appear in Psalm 83.
Keeping the Daniel 11 invasion in mind, we can thus conclude that the nations listed in Psalm 83 are geographically near Israel.
Moab and Ammon were the sons of Lot by his daughters. During the time of King David and Solomon, Moab and Ammon created kingdoms in the territory of modern-day Jordan. Even today the name of the capital of Jordan, Amman, can be traced back to Ammon.
The descendants of Moab and Ammon evidently remained in the same area as their ancient kingdoms. They avoided captivity and the population dispersion policies of the Assyrians by paying tribute (Jeremiah 48:11). Considering that Moab and Ammon are in the vicinity of Israel, it becomes clear that Moab and Ammon constitute the modern nation of Jordan.
Gebal and Tyre
The same logic can be applied to the other names on the Psalm 83 list. Gebal is a city in Lebanon, also called Byblos. It is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
This was the most prominent city of the Phoenicians until being replaced by Tyre, also located in modern-day Lebanon and once a powerful trade center of the Mediterranean.
The Phoenicians were an ancient race of people, well known as traders, merchants and colonizers, who established cities all over the Mediterranean. While some of these cities grew very powerful, the Phoenicians never developed into a single empire or nation.
The prophecy focuses only on those major Phoenician cities that are now located in Lebanon. This means that the two cities reference a geographic location, not the people who founded them. It is clear, then, that Gebal and Tyre refer to Lebanon.
Hagarenes
The Hagarenes are also located in the same area. These are the descendants of Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, known as Hagarites in the other scriptures. Moses recorded in Genesis 25:18 that Ishmael’s sons dwelt in the land ranging from Egypt to Assyria.
By the seventh century b.c., during the reign of the Assyrian King Sennacherib, the Hagarenes were recorded as living among Aramean tribes off the middle section of the Euphrates. They are among the Aramean tribes invaded and ravaged by Sennacherib, according to George Raw-linson’s The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World. The Arameans settled in what is today known as Syria. Therefore, the Hagarenes, who dwelt among the Arameans, are those who inhabit modern-day Syria.
Ishmaelites
The rest of Hagar’s descendants are known more prominently as the Ishmaelites. The identity of the descendants of Ishmael was once widely known, but today this history is being forgotten. Under the article “Arab” in the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, printed in 1911, we read that Arab “people, according to their own traditions, are derived from two stocks: the pure Arabs, descended from Kahtan or Joktan … and the Mustarab or naturalized Arabs, from Ishmael.”
The descendants of Joktan “are represented at the present day by the inhabitants of Yemen, Hadramut and Oman, in general a settled agricultural population” on the southern Arabian Peninsula, while those Arabs from Ishmael are located in Saudi Arabia in “Hejaz, Nejd, El Hasa, the Syrian desert and Mesopotamia, consisting of the Bedouin or pastoral tribes.”
Though there is much regional variation in the Arabian Peninsula, the distinction between the desert nomads and the town dwellers and agriculturalists remains.
Thus, history, and even the Arabs’ own evidence, reveals that the modern Ishmaelites now dwell in Saudi Arabia.
Philistines
Last are the Philistines. Anciently the Philistines occupied the southern coast of Canaan, dominating five major cities, including Gaza, Askelon and Ashdod. It is from the Philistines that the term Palestine is derived. Geographically this would essentially describe the Palestinian territory known as the Gaza Strip.
When looking at this list of nations, excluding Turkey and Germany, all the nations listed are populated by people now called Arabs. If they are all the same people, why wouldn’t Bible prophecy label them as one people?
The Arabs in Prophecy
Beginning early in the seventh century, the Arabs conquered the entire Middle East and more. Just as the Bible prophesied, Ishmael became a great nation. It was the religion of Islam that inflamed the Arabs with the drive to conquer. As the Encyclopedia Britannica says, Islam “was the religious force that united the desert subsistence nomads—the Bedouins—with the town dwellers of the oases” (online edition).
As the Arabs conquered, they spread Islam around the world. The Arab language was also adopted throughout much of the Middle East and North Africa as Islam dominated the religions of those areas.
Today, the name Arab describes many different people who speak the same language.
No doubt there was a considerable mixing of the Arab people into the local populations as they conquered. Many of the nations outlined in this prophecy have been mixed over thousands of years and multiple invasions. The biblical record shows much intermarrying among these people from the beginning, and many of these Arab people are distantly related.
Genesis 28:9, for example, records a marriage between Ishmael’s daughter and Esau. The Ishmaelites were also shown to intermarry with another Arabian people, the Midianites—so much so that their names are used interchangeably in Genesis 37. The numerous children of the Ishmaelites most likely would have sought wives from the neighboring descendants of Joktan as well.
The Hagarenes are also distantly related to the Ishmaelites through the matriarch Hagar.
The Bible even comments on the Philistines being a mixed race in Zechariah 9, most likely a result of mixing in the neighboring peoples listed in Psalm 83.
Even with populations mixing and moving, though, biblical prophecy still labels modern nations that factor in end-time events by their predecessors. It is a mistake to label them all the same people. While they may share the same language and religion and have had a history of intermarriage, God still calls them by their respective patriarch’s or matriarch’s name.
And while the mixing of so many people in this area may make it difficult to be exact, there is enough information to give us a good picture of which nations will join in this Psalm 83 alliance.
The Future of the ‘Arab Spring’
Given our understanding of these prophecies, then, we return to our original question: Will what is left of the “Arab Spring” produce any Western-style democracies? Not a chance! There will emerge two distinct groups—one radical, Iranian-led alliance, and the other a violently anti-Israel and anti-American coalition.
Will all these nations turn their backs on cooperating with Christian Europe? Believe it or not, the answer is no!
Shocked and awed over the mighty power of the king of the north’s victory over Iran and its allies, and driven by deep hatred of the Israelite nations, certain Muslim nations in the Middle East will actually ally with a Roman Catholic European power!
This is the general outline of future events the Bible gives for this region of the world!
If you believe these prophecies, you can see where the “Arab Spring” is heading. You can understand why Europe was so eager to intervene in Libya! You can know why the Israeli-Palestinian peace process will not succeed and how it will end!
You can know ahead of time what will happen! That is why the Trumpet was able to forecast the Islamic takeover occurring right now in Egypt 18 years ago, and why we foretold events in Libya and Tunisia. But it is only possible if you believe what the Bible says about these nations.
If this is still not enough to convince, just watch! The fulfillment of these prophecies is rapidly springing forth!