Military’s deadline passed for Egypt’s President Morsi to step down and it has stepped in: What is ahead for Egypt?

Mohamed Morsi, Official Photograph

Egypt’s military demanded that the nation’s President Morsi resolve issues with protesters or step down by around 1500 UTC (5:00 pm Cairo time; 11:00 am EDT; 8:00 am PDT; some believe the deadline was 1/2 hour to one hour earlier or 1/2 hour later, but either way it has passed).

As I write this, President Morsi has not done seemed to have stepped down nor resolved the issues with the protesters:

July 3, 2013

CAIRO — President Mohammed Morsi refused to step down Wednesday and called on the military not to “take sides” even as the army chief of staff met with opposition figures and religious leaders to discuss its “road map” for dramatic political reform.

In a last minute statement before an afternoon deadline imposed by the military, Morsi again rejected army intervention, saying abiding by his electoral legitimacy was the only way to prevent violence…

The meeting between opposition groups and army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was announced by opposition spokesman Khaled Dwoud in a live telephone interview with state television.

It included Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt’s leading democracy advocate, who represents the opposition National Salvation Front coalition and the youth groups leading anti-Morsi protesters. Also in attendance to discuss the proposed political “road map” were Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar mosque, and Pope Tawadros II, patriarch of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.

Mohamed Abou El Ghar, president of the Egyptian Social Democratic party, tells USA TODAY that the opposition is demanding that Morsi must go, and that there should be a “civilian, temporary, honorary president, preferably from the higher constitutional court and a civilian prime minister with a small cabinet to run the country in the coming period.” http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/03/egypt-morsi-protests-army-deadline/2485355/

July 3, 2013

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi’s national security adviser said a military coup was under way on Wednesday after an army deadline for the Islamist leader to yield to street protests passed without any agreement.

In a show of force, several hundred soldiers with armored vehicles staged a parade on a main road near the presidential palace, and security sources said Mursi and the entire senior leadership of his Muslim Brotherhood were banned from leaving the country. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/us-egypt-protests-idUSBRE95Q0NO20130703

July 3, 2013

Just hours before a Wednesday deadline for a resolution to the unrest, opposition and government sources said pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei, the top Muslim cleric of al-Azhar and the Coptic pope are meeting the army chief to discuss the way forward for Egypt.

The talks are taking place ahead of the military’s afternoon deadline for Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to yield to the demands of millions of protesters or face intervention by the army.

Earlier Wednesday, Egypt’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the military is ready to sacrifice its blood to defend the country against what he said were terrorists and fools.

Morsi vows to remain in office

In a speech Tuesday night, President Morsi defended his legitimacy and vowed to remain in office, even if it resulted in his death. He also demanded the military withdraw its threat to intervene in the country’s political crisis.

The army has warned it will impose a “roadmap” for Egypt’s future if differences between Mr. Morsi and his opponents are not resolved by 5:00 p.m. local time (1500 UTC) Wednesday.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood has angrily dismissed the ultimatum as an attempt to stage a military coup. Its spokesman, Gehad El-Haddad, tells VOA the group will not take up arms and go after the military. But he says it will directly interfere in any attempt to force Morsi to leave.

“If the tanks roll up to the president, we’re going to stand in their way,” he warned. “And then the tanks have one of two choices: they roll over us and our dead bodies, or they stand still and respect the legitimacy of our president. There is no third option here.”

Protests continue

Meanwhile, large numbers of Egyptians demonstrated in Cairo for a fourth straight day Wednesday. While many are backing their Islamist president, the large majority of the protesters are demanding he resign.

At one pro-Morsi rally near Cairo University, health ministry officials said 16 people were killed and over 200 wounded during clashes late Tuesday. It was unclear what led to the violence, which was the deadliest of its kind in weeks.

Parts of the military’s plan leaked to Egypt’s state-run news agency and other media indicate that military officials are prepared to suspend the constitution, dissolve the legislature and set up an interim administration.

The army has said it is not interested in long-term political power. But that assurance was rejected by Haddad and other Muslim Brotherhood members, many of whom are suspicious of the military’s backing of decades of harsh, authoritarian rule. http://www.voanews.com/content/egypts-military-vows-to-protect-against-terrorist-fools/1694096.html

President Morsi has supporters as well as protesters:

July 3, 2013

Even before the military deadline expired, there were signs of a new crackdown on Mr. Morsi’s allies in the Muslim Brotherhood. Police officials said Wednesday that they had arrested six bodyguards protecting the Brotherhood’s spiritual leader.

The police initially reported that more than 40 Islamists were wounded by birdshot, and Islamist witnesses later said that the police had begun shooting at them as well. But after the initial attack, the Islamists began lashing out and beating people suspected of being assailants. Opponents of the Islamists said they too were shooting as the fighting continued through the night…

A sign hung by Mr. Morsi’s supporters declared: “To the coup supporters, our blood will haunt you, and you will pay an expensive price for every spilled drop of our blood.”

Some of the Islamists gathered belong to more conservative factions than the Muslim Brotherhood and said the efforts to oust Mr. Morsi demonstrated that democracy itself could not be trusted. “Isn’t this the democracy they wanted?” asked Mahmoud Taha, 40, a trader. “Didn’t we do what they asked?”

“We don’t believe in democracy to begin with; it’s not part of our ideology. But we accepted it and we followed them and then this is what they do,” he said. “They’re protesting against an elected democracy.”

His friend who gave his name as Abu Hamza, 41, said: “This is a conspiracy against religion. They just don’t want an Islamist group to rule.”

All said they were bracing for a return to the repression Islamists endured under the former government of President Hosni Mubarak. “Of course. What else are they going to do?” said Ahmed Sami, 22, a salesman.

Their opponents were vitriolic. “God willing, there will be no Muslim Brother left in the country today,” said Mohamed Saleh, 52, a laborer armed with long shaft of timber labeled “martyr in the making.”

“Let them get exiled or find rocks to hide underneath like they used to do, or go to prisons, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “No such a thing as ‘an Islamist party’ shall exist after today.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/world/middleeast/egypt.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

While various ones have concerns, the reality is that some type of Islamic party will ultimately rule Egypt and support the future King of the South (a coming confederation of peoples in the Arab and Turkish Islamic nations listed in Daniel 11:40-43 and Ezekiel 30:1-8), and this will result in devastation/destruction in Egypt.

Dr. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood wants as its top priority a pan-national Islamic caliphate ruled by an Imam/Caliph. Biblically, an apparently Islamic Empire will form in some type of confederation to include at least most of North Africa and the Middle East. Egypt will be a major part of this, but ultimately will not fare well:

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. (Daniel 11:40-42).

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

“‘Wail and say, “Alas for that day!” 3 For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near- a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. 4 A sword will come against Egypt, and anguish will come upon Cush. When the slain fall in Egypt, her wealth will be carried away and her foundations torn down.

5 Cush and Put, Lydia and all Arabia, Libya and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt.

6 “‘This is what the LORD says:

“‘The allies of Egypt will fall and her proud strength will fail. From Migdol to Aswan they will fall by the sword within her, declares the Sovereign LORD. 7 “‘They will be desolate among desolate lands, and their cities will lie among ruined cities. 8 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I set fire to Egypt and all her helpers are crushed.

9 “‘On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush out of her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is sure to come (Ezekiel 30:1-9, NIV).

Could the final King of the South be an Egyptian?

This has been the position of various COG leaders and even some outside the COG for some time.

Notice a quote from the July 1963 Plain Truth article by Garner Ted Armstrong titled “And when you see the Abomination…” which helps demonstrate that:

Daniel was given specific visions of events to occur in OUR TIME!…Notice! And at the TIME OF THE END (this prophecy, then, is absolutely DATED as pertaining to OUR DAY, NOW) shall the king of the south push at him (the “king of the north”) and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over” (verse 40). Bible scholars have recognized the FIRST, TYPICAL fulfillment of this surprising prophecy, but have failed to see its LITERAL application to OUR TIMES!…

But what of the MODERN powers meant by these designations? Remember-the Bible is written, SPIRITUALLY and GEOGRAPHICALLY, from the point of view of PALESTINE! If you were to look on a map, and try to find two powers fitting this description, you would have a fairly easy task…Who else could this be, then, except the coming UNITED STATES OF EUROPE, a resurrection of the ancient ROMAN EMPIRE, Just as we have been fearlessly proclaiming…A rearmed GERMANY, heading up a final union…IN EUROPE -THIS is the Biblical KING OF THE NORTH!

The king of the South? EGYPT, of course. But not Egypt of today. Egypt of a few more years from now–Egypt as she continues to expand the U.A.R., bringing more and more of the North Africa Mohammedan nations into the same Afro-Arabian power block! (p. 22).

The late CG21’s Raymond McNair (who was also once part of WCG) wrote:

Daniel 11 also mentions some of the Mideast peoples who will be involved in that struggle among the nations at the close of this age. The belligerents will include the “King of the North,” the leader of the European Union (or its final outgrowth, called the “Beast”). The “King of the South” (an Islamic leader—apparently from Egypt {or} some other Muslim state) is also referred to. The following lands/peoples are specifically mentioned: Egypt, the Holy Land (Israel/Palestine), the Ethiopians (modern Cushites, south of Egypt), Libya, Edom, Moab and Ammon. Many descendants of the ancient peoples known as Edomites or Idumeans now live in the West Bank, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Arabia, Yemen, the Persian Gulf states, etc. (McNair R. Solving the Arab-Israeli Impasse! Copyright Raymond F. McNair 2005, Church of God—21st Century).

Notice that Raymond McNair realizes that Egypt or some other Muslim country is where the king of the South will come from and that the term translated as Ethiopians really means the Cushite peoples who live in southern Egypt as well as elsewhere.

It may be of interest to note that the following from the Bible:

6 The burden against the beasts of the South. Through a land of trouble and anguish, From which came the lioness and lion, The viper and fiery flying serpent, They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, And their treasures on the humps of camels, To a people who shall not profit; (Isaiah 30:6, NKJV)

7 Egypt is all show, no substance. My name for her is Toothless Dragon. (Isaiah 30:7, THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language)

Isaiah 30:6-7 seems to tie the “beasts of the South” with “the Egyptians,” which is further support that the Egyptians will most likely have significant involvement with the king of the South.

The United Church of God indicated (Sieglie M. Egypt in History and Prophecy. Good News, May-June 2011, p.11) that the following may be related to the King of the South:

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)

Additionally, Isaiah 31 lists the destruction of “the Egyptians” (1-3) ahead of “Assyria” (vss. 8-9), just like the Book of Daniel places the destruction of the king of the South (Daniel 11:40-43) ahead of the king of the North (11:45).

Notice more quotes of the scriptures in Isaiah as they point to a time of chaos and then destruction in Egypt:

3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out His hand,
Both he who helps will fall,
And he who is helped will fall down;
They all will perish together. (Isaiah 31:3)

1 The burden against Egypt.

Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.

2 “I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom. 3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers. 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 19:1-4)

Interestingly, the Catholic saint Jerome apparently felt that the King of the South was from Egypt as he wrote about Daniel 11:

As for the Antichrist, there is no question but what he is going to fight against the holy covenant, and that when he first makes war against the king of Egypt, he shall straightway be frightened off by the assistance of the Romans… the Antichrist…shall first fight against the king of the South, or Egypt, and shall afterwards conquer Libya and Ethiopia (Jerome. Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 11. Translated by Gleason L. Archer. (1958). This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, Ipswich, UK, 2004. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm viewed 06/05/11)

While Jerome is confused on some points (the Antichrist is not the King of the North, but a supporter of that king; and it is more likely that Americans and not Romans frighten him off in Daniel 11:30), he is correct in indicating that the Beast power will over-power the King of the South and conquer Egypt and Libya.

The King of the South ruling over at least parts of North Africa and the Middle East will happen.

Though Dr. Morsi will have issues, the reality is that something like what the Muslim Brotherhood is working on will happen as it is consistent with biblical prophecy. Egyptian involvement with the final King of the South is specifically prophesied and seems to be in at least partial progress. Yes, we are likely to see more unrest and protests before the final King of the South rises up. But, according to biblical prophecy, that power will rise up and Egypt will be part of it.

LATER UPDATE (1915 UTC, 12:15 pm PDT:

Egypt’s army deployed tanks and troops close to the presidential palace in Cairo on Wednesday after a military deadline for Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to yield to street protests passed without any agreement.

Mursi’s national security adviser said a military coup was under way as armed forces commander General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met political, religious and youth leaders.

The state news agency MENA said they would make a joint announcement of a roadmap for a new transitional period and new elections two years after the overthrow of autocratic ex-president Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/us-egypt-protests-idUSBRE95Q0NO20130703

One live feed that I saw (after 12:00 pm PDT) suggests that many Egyptians are happy about the military’s intervention and intended removal of President Morsi–but all will not go, nor end, well for Egypt.

LATER UPDATE (1938 UTC, 12:38 pm PDT:

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Egypt’s top military commander says the army is now in full control of the country and President Mohammed Morsi has been replaced by the chief justice of the constitutional court as the interim head of state. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/03/egypt-teeters-on-brink-overthrow-as-army-deadline-is-set-to-expire/

The situation in Egypt will change again. The Sunni dream of an Islamic confederation will materialize per Daniel 11:40-43 and Ezekiel 30:1-9.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

The Future King of the South is Rising Does the Bible teach that there will be a future King of the South in Daniel 11? Is this kingdom rising up now? Did the old Worldwide Church of God (WCG) teach that there would be another one? And who is the King of the South? How will this involve Egypt? Is the final King of the South some type of Arab-Muslim confederation? Can Iran be involved? Is there a group that seems to be supporting the goals of the King of the South? Has the Obama Administration supported the rise of this power? This sermon video answers those questions.
The Muslim Brotherhood and the Rise of the King of the South The Bible tells of the formation of a power of nations that are in the Middle East and North Africa that are part of the final “King of the South” (Daniel 11:40-43) The Muslim Brotherhood wishes to have an Islamic empire with basically the same nations. This YouTube video explains what to expect from such a confederation.
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? Might this King be called the Mahdi? What does the Bible say?
The Arab and Islamic 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? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims?
Damascus and Syria in Prophecy Will Bashar Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria. This is a YouTube video.
What Should You Know About Turkey in Prophecy Do you know the Turkish people descended from? Did the Ottoman Empire possibly fulfill a promise in Genesis? Will Turkey support the European King of the North or Arabic King of the South? Will it betray one of them? Will Turkey be involved in the encouraging the destruction of Israel? Is Turkey going to become Catholic? Is Turkey mentioned in Psalm 83, Daniel 11, and elsewhere in the Bible? This video provides answers.
Is There an Islamic Antichrist? Is Joel Richardson correct that the final Antichrist will be Islamic and not European? Find out.
Barack Obama in Islamic Prophecy? There is actually a 17th century Shiite prophecy that some believe that Barack Obama will fulfill that will lead to a rising up of Islam.
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.