Egypt Emerging as Leader in Middle East: What Are the Prophetic Ramifications?

Mohamed Morsi, Official Photograph

Now that there has been a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Gaza, Egypt is emerging as the major leader in the Middle East. Here are some news reports:

November 22, 2012

Palestinians and Israelis went about their day blanketed in relative calm Thursday, after a cease-fire brokered hours before gave citizens in the volatile area their first quiet night in more than a week.

If Israel and the Hamas militants who run the Gaza Strip can maintain peace until 9:00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT), border areas from Gaza will be opened, allowing people and goods to move in and out of the territory…

The truce brokered by Egypt took effect at 9:00 p.m. local time Wednesday. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr made the truce announcement in Cairo…

Al Sharq Center’s el Labbad believes Israel also has an interest in cultivating Morsi, or rather, the group from which he rose, as the wave of the future. “The strategic atmosphere and environment around Israel is shifting. You have Hamas on its border, you have Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood, you have an active Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan and one of the alternatives for Bashar al-Assad in Syria also would be the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said. http://www.voanews.com/content/gaza-israel-calm-as-cease-fire-holds/1550875.html

CAIRO The Gaza cease-fire deal reached Thursday marks a startling trajectory for Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi: an Islamist leader who refuses to talk to Israelis or even say the country’s name mediated for it and finally turned himself into Israel’s de facto protector.

The accord inserts Egypt to an unprecedented degree into the conflict between Israel and Hamas, establishing it as the arbiter ensuring that militant rocket fire into Israel stops and that Israel allows the opening of the long-blockaded Gaza Strip and stops its own attacks against Hamas…In return, Morsi emerged as a major regional player…

Morsi hails from the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s most powerful political group and Hamas’ own parent organization. Brotherhood leaders, including Morsi, refuse to speak to Israeli officials. Morsi hasn’t even said the name of the country publicly since he was inaugurated in late June, though he has referred to its people as “Israelis.”

In ideology, the Brotherhood supports the use of force against Israel to liberate “Muslim lands.” Only two months ago, Brotherhood supreme leader Mohammed Badie proclaimed that regaining Jerusalem can “only come through holy jihad.” The group opposes Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57553446/egypt-emerges-as-major-middle-east-mediator-with-israel-gaza-cease-fire/

CAIRO — With his mediation in the Israeli Gaza aerial conflict, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has faced a high profile test of his presidency.

Egypt’s first Islamist president has been carrying out a delicate balancing act, showing solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood’s religious and political offspring, the Hamas leaders of Gaza, while portraying himself as a reliable broker for Israel and the West.

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In the five months since his election, Morsi has tried to present a reinvigorated Egypt to the world, traveling around the region and as far afield as China and the United States.

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Now, the world has come to Cairo, with officials from the United Nations, United States and other nations supporting Egyptian mediation efforts in the Israel-Gaza crisis…Al Sharq Center’s el Labbad believes Israel also has an interest in cultivating Morsi, or rather, the group from which he rose, as the wave of the future.”

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The strategic atmosphere and environment around Israel is shifting. You have Hamas on its border, you have Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood, you have an active Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan and one of the alternatives for Bashar al-Assad in Syria also would be the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said. http://www.voanews.com/content/egypt-president-morsi-faces-test-with-gaza-israel-conflict/1550496.html

Dr. Morsi’s party, which is part of the confederacy known as the Muslim Brotherhood, is gaining influence in the Middle East and North Africa.

When Dr. Morsi was responsible for the website of the Muslim Brotherhood, it had an article posted that said:

What is the Muslim Brotherhood?…
“The Islamic nation,” its charter states, “must be fully prepared to fight the tyrants and the enemies of Allah as a prelude to establishing an Islamic state”—ideally a re-established caliphate, stretching from Spain across the Middle East and Central Asia to Indonesia, to be governed according to Islamic sharia law…

What is its stance toward Israel and the U.S.?
Unremittingly negative. (Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood. February 14, 2011. © The Muslim Brotherhood. http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=28019 viewed 11/21/2011)

Anyway, the final Islamic Caliphate will not end up with Spain if I understand certain aspects of Bible prophecy correctly, but the confederation of the final King of the South may go from around Western Sahara and/or Mauritania to the tip of the Arab Peninsula and perhaps extending to Afghanistan, with possible coordination with Pakistan and/or Indonesia. (plus or minus)–and it wants the land that Israel currently holds (though the Europeans will likely control at least parts of it eventually).

The Muslim Brotherhood was originally established in Egypt (though some claim the UK is where it originally came from) and seems to have the most adherents currently there (though it has branches in most of the Arab nations, if not all of them) and has made major political inroads in Egypt (as well as Gaza, Syria, Libya, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, and elsewhere).

Bible prophecy suggests that something like what the Muslim Brotherhood wants will form and Egypt will end up not doing well:

2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Wail, ‘Woe to the day!’ 3 For the day is near, Even the day of the Lord is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. 4 The sword shall come upon Egypt, And great anguish shall be in Ethiopia, When the slain fall in Egypt, And they take away her wealth, And her foundations are broken down. 5 “Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.” 6 ‘Thus says the Lord: “Those who uphold Egypt shall fall, And the pride of her power shall come down. From Migdol to Syene Those within her shall fall by the sword,” Says the Lord God. 7 “They shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries, And her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste. 8 Then they will know that I am the Lord, When I have set a fire in Egypt And all her helpers are destroyed. (Ezekiel 30:2-8)

4 And the Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them, Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. (Isaiah 19:4)

40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North 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. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. (Daniel 11:40-44)

And notice that Egypt is mentioned in all the above passages. A confederacy of primarily Islamic nations of North Africa, the Middle East, and Arab peninsula will form and is in the process of emerging.

Interestingly, the President of Egypt gave himself more powers today:

22 November 2012

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s president on Thursday issued constitutional amendments that placed him above judicial oversight…

Mohammed Morsi also decreed immunity for the Islamist-dominated panel drafting a new constitution from any possible court decisions to dissolve it, a threat that had been hanging over the controversial assembly.

Liberal and Christian members withdrew from the assembly during the past week to protest what they say is the hijacking of the process by Morsi’s allies, who they saw are trying to push through a document that will have an Islamist slant…

The Egyptian leader also decreed that all decisions he has made since taking office in June and until a new constitution is adopted and a new parliament is elected – which is not expected before next spring – are not subject to appeal in court or by any other authority. He also barred any court from dissolving the Islamist-led upper house of parliament, a largely toothless body that has also faced court cases.

The moves effectively remove any oversight on Morsi, the longtime Muslim Brotherhood figure who became Egypt’s first freely elected president last summer after the Feb. 11, 2011 fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak…

“Morsi today usurped all state powers & appointed himself Egypt’s new pharaoh,” pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account. “A major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences.” http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-22-11-27-48

The stage is being set up for the rise of the King of the South of Bible prophecy and the Caliph that the Muslim Brotherhood wants.

While part of the world recognizes that Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood are increasing their influence, relatively few seem to be able to see where this will lead.

And it will lead to something that ultimately will not be good for Egypt and its allies or the nation called Israel.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

The Arab World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?
Arabic Nazarenes May Have Kept Original Christian Practices Were their faithful Arabs who held to original Christianity?
Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes? Should Christians be Nazarenes today? What were the practices of the Nazarenes.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?