Middle East Update

The Egyptian Revolution provided the model by which a people can unify and engineer a regime change. They, along with Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen, the Sudan, and now Algeria, experiencing the same sort of revolt as Egypt’s; they have made many of the other sultanates, emirates and kingdoms squirm, lest their own people come to resent the vast riches that their leaders have acquired from the labors of the poor and downtrodden. 

Every economy that man has devised needs its poor class, and the larger the number of the poor becomes, the richer are those at the top.  It is short-sighted to over-expand the number of poor, for there will be fewer people, in the long run, who have the means to purchase their products.  They choke themselves by oppressing the poor and middle class.  It has been thus from time immemorial.  When the working class prospers, those at the top have an eager market, and they could make far greater fortunes.  But they look to short term profits and avoid discussion of long term costs.

The Lord has a government and an economy that will be equitable and fair.  We know that the  world government during the Kingdom Age will not be a democracy or communist or socialist or capitalist.  It will be a Monarchy, with our Lord Himself seated on His throne.  As there are in some monarchies, there will be also a class of noblemen when Christ reigns in Jerusalem.  The nobility in various kingdoms differ, except insofar as they are all rich.  Church Age saints become the lords and the earls and the dukes and princes. 

Since Jesus is the Lord of lords, and the King of kings, we can deduce that His form of government will be a Monarchy, and that there will be ranks of nobility.  We know not what sort His nobility ranks will be, nor what form His economy will take.  But let us not drift too far ahead.

The world watched with unparalleled awe as the Egyptian people deposed their dictator with hardly a shot fired.  They flooded the streets and alleyways, living in tents, boycotting their jobs. 

Just as many nations danced in the streets when President Obama was elected in the U.S., so were there fireworks and street parties around the world when Hosni Mubarak was deposed.  The people of the world are sick and tired of the tyranny of the rich over the poor.  There is a coal that is beginning to shine more brightly, and with greater heat, in the hearts of the people of the entire Middle East.  And not the Middle East alone, but the world over there is an upwelling of desires to be free, to live with dignity, security and privacy, and comfort.

While the situation in the Middle East is potentially volatile, we are also seeing the potential to provide the very opening needed in order to bring forth a comprehensive peace agreement.  The governments are worrying about war, while the people want peace and prosperity.  The potential for danger only diminishes when some more equitable arrangement can be made so that those at the top do not rob those already suppressed and oppressed.  The essential unfairness of every sort of economic model is what lies at the heart of the movements that we are seeing in that region of the world today.  Almost everyone is willing to work, but they expect to earn enough to live comfortably, as the middle class lives in the U.S.  People want a say in their nations’ form of government.  Democracy is spreading like a wild fire, and many are they who fear what is to come.  They smell the smoke, and know that their straw houses can be overwhelmed by the working poor and middle class.

Egypt has now said that it will continue to honor and appreciate the treaty that they have with Israel.  In fact, Israel may well be the form of democracy after which Egypt will remodel itself.  Israel has been the most stable democracy in the Middle East, and the Arabs want to live in peace and prosper.

Yes, there are elements of aggression and intimidation – Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria and others – that are a deterrent to peace and tranquility.  Hezbollah gets its money and materiel from Syria and Iran, and Hezbollah is in the process of setting up another autocratic style of government in Lebanon.  Hassan Nasrallah may become Lebanon’s next strongman.  The people of Lebanon will not long tolerate it.  Democracies are sprouting all around them.  The truth is coming out about the assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri of Lebanon by Hezbollah.  That group is popular in Lebanon because of its hawkish nature. 

There is so much venom in the hearts of the militant groups against Israel that it is hard to fathom.  It is an ancient feud that stretches back thousands of years.  It goes all the way back to Isaac and Ishmael, sons of Abraham; back to Jacob and Esau, sons of Isaac, where the first-born sons did not receive their father’s inheritance.  That is the root of this ancient hatred.

One would think that, after all these millennia, people could just set aside their ancient hatreds and simply live peacefully together.  But their hearts are hardened and their necks are stiff.  It has been bred into them, so that they have an enemy upon which to look down their noses.

Before the Egyptian Revolution, the whole world was turning against Israel, in favor of the Palestinians.  They felt like Israel was being the provocateur by continuing to build settlements, that the U.N. says are illegal, even during the negotiation for peace. 

At last count, fourteen nations have recognized the Palestinian people as a separate and sovereign nation.  That is not very many, given the number of nations that there are in the world.  But it is an indicator of world opinion, and that opinion is ballooning.  Many nations have decided that the end of the currently suspended peace negotiations, which is in early September of this year, will be the time when they will look seriously at declaring Palestinian statehood.

The unrest in the region is heightened by the contest between Israel and the Palestinians.  Israel seems to get along fairly well already with Abbas, leader of the Fatah party, and Hamas has said that it would abide by the will of the people in a national election.  Of course, they said this before any election was actually proposed.  Now that Abbas has called for elections this September, the pressure is on Hamas. 

But Hamas is now saying that it will boycott the election, and that it will not recognize any change demanded by the election of new leadership.  The people have already begun protesting in Gaza, seeing another autocratic leadership dictating to the people and not allowing them to vote.  It puts Hamas in a tough place politically.  They are surely looking at what happened in Egypt, wondering when their own people will revolt.  Ah, stop wondering!  They are beginning to revolt already! 

Hamas is right to be concerned, because the threat is as real in Gaza as it was in Egypt.  The Egyptian Revolution has heartened the peoples of the region, as they see that oppressive regimes can be toppled peacefully if the citizens unite and act. 

Many Middle Easterners feel like they are prisoners in their own land, working for slave wages while the sultans and emirs and royal families live lavishly and luxuriously.  The Saudis especially need to heed what has just happened.  The Bedouins would rather ride in Cadillacs than on camels.  They want a more equitable distribution of the nation’s oil revenues.  We shall see how the Saudis will react when it is their turn to face the demands of an oppressed constituency.

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Yes, these are dangerous times for many governments in the Middle East, as their peoples are demanding a greater say in what their governments do and what values they espouse.  And they also want relief from abject poverty, while their leaders are wallowing in riches.  There is a blossoming anger in the Middle East toward the dictators and their cronies.

Thus, this is the very time for a seemingly very wise man to step onto the stage with a comprehensive peace plan in his hand that is irrefutable in its logic, and that must lead to peaceful and friendly coexistence.  It may be the time when that one man makes his mark on world history; as the antichrist, who begins the tribulation period by confirming a treaty among many with Israel.  As things now stand, the signatories will be the Israelis, the Palestinians, the European Union, the United Nations, Russia, the Arab League, the Saudis and, of course, the United States, who is now, and has been, serving as the primary broker of the peace plan.

There are still those who say that the United States must suffer a cataclysmic fall from world dominance, and that another entity will arise to broker the final treaty.  However, that interpretation is being proved incorrect every day.  Egypt has reaffirmed its close ties to Washington, and declared a commitment to its treaty with Israel. 

Everyone has a view of how things will be in the very last days of this age.  The consensus view was formulated four hundred years ago, when there was no United States of America.  Most of our theological leaders today adhere to the notion that the U.S. will not be a factor during the Tribulation.  The facts on the ground, however, insist that the U.S. will not only be a factor, but that the antichrist is going to be an American leader. 

The antichrist is not going to come from some small nation, but from a nation with the will and the resources to dominate any foe.  It will enter the stage of the last days with a peace proposal, not as the vicious ogre portrayed in the second half of the last seven years of Gentile world dominion.  He will come from the greatest nation the world has ever seen, will be seemingly benign and benevolent, but he will turn into the monstrous dictator, indwelt by Satan himself, who almost brings about the extinction of the entire human species.  If the Lord did not come when He does, the human race would become extinct.  But He will shorten those days, so that there will be many who survive the Tribulation and enter the Millennial Kingdom.

The main point of this article is to reassure those who eagerly await the Lord’s calling out of His bride.  The worse things appear in the Middle East, the greater is the opportunity to devise an equitable peace.  We are apparently so close to the brink of this age that our toes are hanging over the edge.  It is a complex problem, and the solution will also be complex.  But then, Satan is far more complex than any group of men.  The terms of the treaty will be of his subtle devising.

For the saints of God on the earth today, this is our blessed hope.  Before that treaty is ratified, the true Church will be translated from mortal to immortal, and will be removed from the earth before the wrath and fury of God break forth upon the earth.  We have never had greater reason to be hopeful than we do today.  Take heart!  Persevere!  Endure to the end of this age.  Preach the Word, be diligent, study these things, fulfill your ministries; praise God to know that the King of kings is close, coming for His bride.