It has been well said, "Man proposes, but God disposes." Men vainly think that they are masters of the destinies of nations and of men, but in the end it becomes evident that they are as powerless as a feather in a windstorm. God has said:
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring and from ancient times the end from the beginning. the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." Isa. 46:9, 109Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9‑10).
One of the miracles of this generation has been the sudden emergence of Egypt as a world power of note after thousands of years' lying in poverty and lethargy. The greatness of the Egypt of the Pharaohs was only a memory to taunt her recent leaders.
Then came that eventful time in 1948 when to the astonishment of the world the tiny nation of Israel was born. Her past history had been dismal ever since the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar conquered her people and ravaged the land about 606 B.C. Later she had a partial resuscitation under the Persian kings' gratuities, and was permitted some autonomy under the Greeks and the Romans, until that fateful day in A.D. 70 when Titus crushed the resistance of Jerusalem. From then on they were scattered among the nations, although retaining their ethnic and religious distinctness, which was a miracle, although plainly foretold in the Scriptures. Many Christians thought that Israel as a nation would never rise again, although the Word of God is explicit regarding their still future greatness and grandeur.
The Arab nations surrounding Israel were violently opposed to any revival of Israel, and they immediately launched attacks against her. Egypt then assumed an important part in the attacks on. Israel. They had been supposedly arming against this very contingency, and Arab solidarity had been heralded as the thing which was sure to lead to Israel's destruction. On the contrary, however, Egypt's armed might and Arab solidarity proved to be a mere myth or, at best, wishful thinking. Israel emerged victorious, thus changing the United Nations' plans for dividing the old "promised land."
Out of Egypt's humiliating defeat at the hands of the fledgling nation of Israel came a disgruntled, poverty-stricken army major who was to change Egypt's history. Gamal Abdel Nasser felt (rightly or wrongly) that corruption and graft in King Farouk's government had cost Egypt the victory. Much of the armaments which Farouk's Egypt had purchased abroad turned out to be defective, and this contributed to their rout. This army major set about to organize a military clique which would overthrow the king and seize the power. This was not long in coming to pass.
Under Nasser's strong hand, Egypt forced Great Britain out of Egypt where they had been guiding, helping, and directing the impoverished land and people. Christians who understood the prophetic scriptures long knew that England would in the end lose any place in Egypt's affairs, so this was a preparation for the events of the time of the end. Nasser's successes spurred him on, and after a while he nationalized the Suez Canal, and seized it from its owners. This gave him great stature in the eyes of the Arab world; and he talked of a united Arab world of some 60 million persons, and probably visualized himself as a latter-day Pharaoh controlling all the Arab world, in fact, all of the Middle East, including that portion held by Israel.
Nasser's rise to world eminence has not been without some setbacks, for Egypt's second defeat, in 1956, by the Israeli armed forces, offered a roadblock to his string of successes. But, being an astute politician, he parlayed with the East and the West alternately, and successfully gained material support from both sides in the cold war.
One of his master strokes, however, was cajoling the Syrians into throwing in their lot with him and thus, in 1958, forming the United Arab Republic. In this way he spread his power from the south to the north of hated Israel, and was in a better position to threaten her. It also enabled him to in some measure enrich his poverty-stricken land by drawing on the comparative wealth of Syria. Syria has only about 4,500,000 people, compared to Egypt's roughly 26, 000,000.
But what does the Word of God indicate in all this? Is there to be one Arab power controlling the lands both north and south of Palestine? Is there to be a confederation at the time of the end which will encompass all of Israel's enemies? Is there to be any confederation against Israel at all? We will attempt to answer these questions, and to set the present situation in the light of known coming events.
First, we will state that Israel is in the unenviable position of being surrounded by nations of hostile intentions of varying degrees. Her position today is somewhat analogous to what it was in the years following the death of Alexander the Great, when his four generals divided up his world empire (as had been foretold in Dan. 7:66After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. (Daniel 7:6)-"four heads"- 8:21, 22; 11:3, 4). Two of these generals proved to be enemies of Israel and of each other. This is described in such detail in Dan. 11:5-355And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion. 6And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times. 7But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail: 8And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. 9So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. 10But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress. 11And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand. 12And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it. 13For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches. 14And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. 15So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. 16But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. 17He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. 18After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. 19Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. 20Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle. 21And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. 23And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. 24He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time. 25And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. 26Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. 27And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. 28Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. 29At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. 30For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. 31And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 32And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 33And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 34Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 35And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. (Daniel 11:5‑35) that infidels have tried to place a later date on Daniel and his writing, for the express purpose of saying that such accuracy could not have been prophecy; so Daniel must have lived at a later time and written history rather than prophecy. This, however, is disproved by the fact that the Septuagint Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament was made before these things were fulfilled, and it contained the whole as we have it in our Bibles.
In those days the Seleucidae dynasty of Syria frequently fought the Ptolemy dynasty of Egypt, both using Israel as the battle ground. Now the Word of God says expressly that in the end of this age-just before Christ comes to reign-Israel is going to be in a similar situation; that is, between enemies on her north and on her south. Between the 35th and 36th verses of Daniel 11 is a long parenthesis-from the days of the Maccabees of old down until the days of the antichrist -of the future. "And the king" of the 36th verse is that very antichrist-"the false prophet" -the idol shepherd of Zechariah 11. This is the false Messiah in Jerusalem who will make a covenant with the head of the soon-to-be-revived Roman Empire for Israel's protection for a period of seven years (Dan. 9:2727And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:27)).
"At the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him"-the false Messiah in Jerusalem-"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... and the land of Egypt shall not escape." Dan. 11:40-4240And 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, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 41He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 42He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. (Daniel 11:40‑42). This, Christian reader, is coming.
And here is the word of the Lord to those rulers of Israel in that coming day: "Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement [a sad way of describing the Western world, now generally known as the Christian world]; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.... And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge [the northern enemy] shall pass through, then shall ye be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report." Isa. 28:14-1914Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 17Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. (Isaiah 28:14‑19).
From these scriptures we perceive that Israel will again be the object of attack, both from the south and the north, as in the days of the Seleucidae and the Ptolemies, but that Egypt of the future will be the lesser of the antagonists, and will be on the receiving end of a military incursion. There will not be one pan-Arab state as visualized by Egypt's Nasser, and certainly he will not be the leader of the Arab world. We speak now of what Scripture says concerning the time of the end, remembering at the same time that other events may take place in the interim. We can speak positively of the end, for God has spoken; but there may be intervening events between now and then, although we are firmly persuaded that we are approaching the very end. We are seeing things develop today that assure us that the coming of the Lord is at hand, and very shortly after the Lord's coming for His own, there will be "the great and dreadful day of the Lord."
Another question we raised previously is, "Is there to be... a confederation of Israel's enemies?" We answer this with an unequivocal "yes." But these will be the old Asiatic and not African enemies. Let us read part of the 83rd Psalm:
"Keep not Thou silence, 0 God: hold not Thy peace, and be not still, 0 God. For, lo, Thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against Thy people, and consulted against Thy hidden ones. 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 [the name by which the nation is known again]. 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 Tire; Assur also is joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot." vv. 1-8.
Here we find most of the names of the old enemies of Israel: Edom, the descendants of Esau; the Ishmaelites, the descendants of Ishmael the son of Hagar; the Moabites were early oppressors of Israel; the Hagarenes, perhaps a larger family than merely the Ishmaelites; Ammon and Moab were descendants of Lot, and a similar name is still in use in the Middle East, for Amman is the capital city of Israel's neighbor, the kingdom of Jordan; Amalek was the first enemy of Israel after they left Egypt, for he fought them in the wilderness; the wars with the Philistines are recorded for us by God; and Assur is the old Assyrian power which took the ten tribes captive. Thus we know that the old enemies are there and will reappear in the great Arab confederacy in Asia against Israel.
The head of this confederacy is mentioned in Dan. 8 "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences [or a dealer in the occult of Oriental mysticism], shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many [this indicates great treachery]: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand." vv. 23-25. He will also attempt to fight against Christ when He comes forth to put down His enemies. The beast of the Roman Empire and the apostate king in Jerusalem will do this first, and be cast into the lake of fire without trial (see Rev. 19:2020And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20)). Another verse that lets us know that this head of the Arab world will meet his doom at the hands of the Lord is Isa. 30:3333For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. (Isaiah 30:33): "For Tophet [a name evidently referring to the lake of fire] is ordained of old [that is, it was prepared for this wicked man who in treachery destroys many]; yea, for the king [the apostate head of the apostate Jews at that time] also ["also" belongs there according to better translations] it is prepared; He hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, Both kindle it." ("The king" of this last verse is the same man called "the king" in Dan. 11:36-3836And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 37Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. 38But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. (Daniel 11:36‑38), where he honors "the God of forces," or the Roman beast.)
Other scriptures could be added to the ones already mentioned, but the Word of God is plain:
An apostate Israel with their king will be in their land when Christ comes to reign. The godly remnant will have fled when the idol, or image, of the Roman beast is set up in the temple; this will be according to the Lord's word for them in Matt. 24:15-2115When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:15‑21).
The Western, or Roman, world will be in league with an apostate Israel, and will itself he apostate Christendom.
Israel's enemies on her north and east will form an Arab league (perhaps with Russian backing) and will attack her.
Egypt will be an independent country and will attack Israel from the south, only to reap the whirlwind when the confederated peoples on their north attack Israel and then Egypt herself.
Christ as King of kings will come in power and great glory with the armies of heaven following Him, and will be attacked by the Western world to their own utter destruction. The head of the northern Arab confederacy will also attempt to fight against the Lord, to his destruction.
The three leaders-the Roman beast (the first beast of Rev. 13), and the apostate king of Israel (the second beast of the same chapter), and the head of Israel's northern neighboring confederacy, will be summarily cast into the lake of fire. No trial is needed for those taken in open-handed rebellion. All this brings to mind part of the second Psalm:
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion." vv. 1-6.
Surely we may say again, "Man proposes, but God disposes." His counsel will stand, and He will do all His pleasure. He will have the wise and great of this world in derision, and His Son will "dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." The world is rushing madly on to certain doom. May we warn men to "flee from the wrath to come."
Early in October, 1961, the boasted United Arab Republic ceased to exist. In just a few hours the Egyptians were ousted. and President Nasser was notified that Syria was all through with any merger with his Egypt. At first Nasser attempted to fight back, but, seeing that his cause was lost beyond repair, he rescinded his orders. Thus a union of Syria and Egypt, which was not in line with future events according to God's Word, came to nothing. In fact, it was worse than that; for Nasser lost stature in the world arena, and his virulent attacks on neighboring powers by means of his Radio Cairo will be taken less seriously. In an attempt to regain prestige lost in the Syrian debacle, Nasser invited Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia and India's Nehru to a conference of so-called neutralist leaders. This conference took place in Cairo on November 27, 1951. The actual results were nil.
We would refer our readers to the Christian Truth issue of April, 1958, where we looked at the Egyptian-Syrian merger, and went over some of Syria's history, and of the future concerning the nation, especially in her relation to Israel. At that time we pointed out the alignment for the time of the end, and commented about the United Arab Republic that the merger could easily be broken. We scarcely expected it to happen so easily as it did, nor perhaps this soon, but it had to come. The bound volume of Christian Truth, No. 11, for 1958, is still available from the publishers at $2.00 each, plus postage. We might also add that these bound volumes contain much valuable ministry that is not likely to ever be printed again.
While Israel may be somewhat relieved to have the United Arab Republic dissolved, yet her potential danger from hostile enemies remains, and may burst into flame again at any time. Arab world politicians know that one of the best ways to rally support for themselves is to rain invectives on Israel, and thus seek to divert the peoples' minds from Arab deficiencies and center them on the perennial object of hatred -Israel. Sometimes we may not see just what part some event may have in bringing God's purposes about, but the end will show that He has ordered behind the scenes according to His own will.