Protests Attempting to Derail ‘King of the South’ Powers in Egypt

Mohamed Morsi, Official Photograph

Multiple thousands in Egypt are not pleased that its President Mohamed Morsi made decrees that many consider to be dictatorial:

November 24, 2012

Egypt’s most senior judges have condemned President Mohamed Morsi for granting himself sweeping new powers which they say amount to an “unprecedented assault” on the independence of the judiciary.

The supreme judicial council said work would be suspended in all courts and prosecution offices until the decree passed by the president earlier this week was reversed.

The announcement by the top judges, most of whom were appointed by former President Hosni Mubarak, came after tens of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets on Friday to protest against Morsi’s decree. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/24/egypt-judges-condemn-mohamed-morsi-powers

November 23, 2102

“It’s unprecedented, it’s unimaginable, it’s more (power) than Mr. Mubarak ever had,” Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and head of Egypt’s Constitution Party, told CNN. “This is the language of a dictator.”

ElBaradei, a one-time head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, estimated there were “millions in the street … revolting” Friday. Urging “civil disobedience,” he and others who unsuccessfully ran for president signaled that they were unified in their opposition to Morsy. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/23/world/meast/egypt-protests/?hpt=hp_t1

Mr. Morsi says his diktat will merely last as long as it takes the country to adopt a new constitution, which is what authoritarians always say. They claim to be a necessary step on the way to democracy, but democracy never arrives. Mr. Morsi’s rationalization is that he must have this power to “protect the revolution,” as if the demonstrators who deposed Hosni Mubarak in 2011 merely wanted another Mubarak with a beard and prayer rug. Mr. Morsi is claiming more power than Mr. Mubarak ever had.

Egyptians took to the street on Friday in protest, sometimes violently, and nearly every other major political leader denounced the putsch. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324851704578137253727025648.html

On the other hand, a protest against the protests has been called for by the Muslim Brotherhood:

Nov 24 (Reuters) – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood called for a mass demonstration in Cairo on Tuesday to show support for President Mohamed Mursi, who is facing a storm of protest for issuing a decree that expanded his powers. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/24/egypt-decree-brotherhood-idUSL5E8MO0YG20121124

More on Dr. Morsi’s decrees can be found in the news post Egypt Emerging as Leader in Middle East: What Are the Prophetic Ramifications?.

At its English language website, the Muslim Brotherhood has post articles in support of its Dr. Morsi’s announcements. Here are excerpts from two:

Mahmoud Hussein, Muslim Brotherhood Secretary-General, denounced violent clashes in Mohamed Mahmoud Street (near the Egyptian Ministry of Interior), and the demonstrators’ departure from the peaceful tradition that must govern civilized protests. http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=30408

Justice Walid Sharabi, spokesman for the ‘Coalition of Judges for Egypt’, praised President Morsi’s resolutions Thursday evening, particularly the dismissal of the Public Prosecutor, who put to waste the pure blood of honorable martyrs and declared innocent killers of unarmed revolutionaries. http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=30411

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. For those unfamiliar with it, the Muslim Brotherhood is a group that wants to re-establish a pan-national confederation known as a Caliphate, ruled by a strong man called a Caliph that will enforce Sharia (a type of Islamic) law):

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…(Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood. February 14, 2011. © The Muslim Brotherhood. http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=28019 viewed 11/21/2011)

Bible prophecy suggests that something like what the Muslim Brotherhood wants will form and Egypt will end up not doing well (Ezekiel 30:2-8). The Bible refers to the leader of this confederation as the final King of the South (Daniel 11:40), but shows that, ultimately, he and his real supporters will not do well (Daniel 11:40-43).

The powers that Dr. Morsi declared are consistent with the type of decrees that one would expect from a Caliph or the final King of the South. If any survive, they will probably be cited as a precedent by the final King of the South once he is in power.

While there will be protests for and against such a leader in Egypt and other Arab lands, the reality is that such a leader will rise up. It may be that the protests in Egypt will slow down the process. But they also have the potential to speed it up.

Jesus said:

37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:37)

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.