Shortly after man was created, the first wars in the Middle East started. They’ve been going on in one form or another ever since. The current situation is an extension of the religious conflicts that started thousands of years ago. Recently, they’ve been exacerbated, even manipulated by seven primary players over the last seven decades.
For the last few weeks, we’ve been doing a deep dive to gain an understanding of the underlying causes for the current situation and exploring the possibilities to get an insight into what’s to come. What follows is a breakdown of the facts that does two things differently from most analyses of the Middle East. First, political correctness is not in play. Second, this is written based on what is agreed upon by just about everyone very familiar with the situations, but it’s done so through a lens that believes the Bible to be true. There are clear prophetic implications with what’s happening in the Middle East and to make this a purely secular perspective simply wouldn’t do it justice. We’re not going to preach. We’re just going to examine with all of the pieces in their proper place.
If there must be a third preface, it’s that some of the things we’ll be discussing may sound similar to what some conspiracy theorists have said. Thanks to the internet, public demands for transparency, activist politicians, and aggressive journalists, many of those crazy conspiracy theories that nobody believed just a few years ago are turning out to be correct. Thanks to the internet, government necessities for secrecy, standard politicians, and bought or threatened journalists, there are so many more conspiracy theories out there today that are meant to confuse the theorists and discombobulate the masses. The theories that we’re going to be discussing here fall under the former category and are all very likely true. Elvis may not be alive but the Islamic State really did rise through the assistance of the United States whether as a result of intent or as a consequence of a strategy with which the US government no longer has control. Then, there’s the conspiracy theory that the United States still has control over them, but we’ll go ahead and dismiss that one for now.
With all of that said, let’s quickly run through the foundation that started it all down this path and take a brief look at the last six thousand years.
The First Few Thousand Years
To gain a complete understanding of the current Middle East situation, we’d have to wind the clocks back and see what started with Isaac versus Ishmael and Jacob versus Esau. From there, we’d need to explore Babylon, Egypt, the Medo-Persian empire, Alexander the Great and his four successors, and finally the early Roman empire just to bring us within 2000 years of today. All of it is still pertinent and has great influence over today’s sitaution as well as future events.
From there, we’d need to see how a disjointed people united under the charismatic Muhammad. It wasn’t so much his life but his death that prompted much of the conflict in the Middle East that has plagued the region ever since. It was through the division in leadership following his death that the Sunnis and Shias split into conflicting parties that are still fighting each other today.
Throw in the Crusades, the British Empire, WWI, and a handful of other important factors contributing to chaos in the Middle East and you will finally come to the modern era starting in the 1940s. Going through all of that would take volumes of documentaries just to acquire a fundamental understanding. Students of Middle Eastern history can spend their whole lives learning and still leave plenty of knowledge on the table.
For this particular story, we’re going to cut through the last six thousand years in this summary:
The major religions of the world all came to existence through the Middle East. This includes Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions that are normally associated with other regions. Science is discovering that their roots were from interpretations and stories that started in the Middle East. Noah’s flood story, for example, is seen in all major religions and hundreds of various cultures from native Americans to ancient China.
This religious strife is the result of false gods (with a little-g) leading people to be in conflict with those following the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as failed attempts by God’s followers to wipe out the other gods and their followers. As a result, we have a world in general and a Middle East in particular that is in a near-perpetual state of war.
The Holy nature of the land has made it coveted by multiple religions and empires over the last six thousand years. As the world grows increasingly secular, the economic state of affairs mixed with the abundance of oil in the region has made the Middle East the target of more than religious tension. Today, it is the economic centerpiece of the world coveted to some extent by everyone but in particular seven major players who influence everyone in the region.
With that understood, let’s introduce the seven players.
Today’s Seven Primary Players
Before we discuss who the players are, it’s important to understand who isn’t a player and why they aren’t. The two most prominent exclusions are Europe and China. With Europe, their interest in the Middle East is present but their ability to influence it has been minimized due in large part to the rise of the United States after World War II. If anything, the Middle East is an influential player in Europe; a look at the current migrant crisis is a clear example of this.
China is simply late to the game. Until their recent economic woes, it was conceivable to see the world oil currency shift at some point in the near future from the dollar to the yuan. It didn’t quite fit with Biblical prophecy to see China as this sort of player in the region. They’re continued reliance on oil from Saudi Arabia and Iran make them players, but to force a conversion worldwide would require either a complete collapse of the dollar that somehow didn’t affect the yuan or the continued steady increase of the prominence of China and the yuan over time. Both seem unlikely; the US economic collapse that may come at some point in the near future will not be beneficial to China other than in prominence, but it will still hurt China tremendously. In short, China’s place in the region is only being currently established through purchases and import agreements rather than through a true financial or military force. They don’t have friends nor enemies in the Middle East.
Now, let’s look at the players.
- United States: While some would point to the fact that the current administration has allowed a diminished role in the geopolitical sphere, our inaction is just as important as our actions. The sway we had on the two most powerful Middle East nations, Israel and Saudi Arabia, is waning, but even in the drop in relations we can see that it’s still affecting the region dramatically.
- Russia: When we started our research, Russia was not in Syria. We considered them to be an emerging player well before they put jets and troops in the region. President Vladimir Putin is first and foremost a champion of the status quo when it comes to government. He’s adamantly against regime change and will do whatever he can to keep the current rulers in power.
- Saudi Arabia and Iran: No, we’re not suggesting an alliance is ever going to happen. They are considered to be a single player because their actions and counteractions are almost always opposed to each other which makes them tied together. Saudi Arabia controls the oil economy in conjunction with the United States. They promote stability against the forces of Iran while trying to keep the flow of cash coming to their leaders. Iran is the isolated country amidst enemies that happens to have enough clout to flex their muscles now that the United Nations Nuclear Deal is nearing fulfillment. They have always operated in the shadows as a sponsor of terrorism through Hezbollah and other proxies. With the deal, they’re already starting to demonstrate their potential for influence in military ways as well.
- The Catholic Church: There is no doubt that the influence of the Vatican can be felt in every country and region of the world, but their interest in the Middle East is particularly troublesome. That’s not to say that Catholics are troublesome – this isn’t intended to discuss individual Catholics any more than it’s intended to discuss individual Muslims. People are people, but the institution of the Catholic Church has always and will always play a major role in the Middle East. The scary part is that we aren’t even fully aware of their influence in the region because it’s usually shrouded in secrecy. All we know for sure is that they own a lot of lands and possess tremendous influence over the region.
- Israel: As the lone Jewish state, they are the centerpiece of most discussions pertaining to the Middle East. They also control the real prize, the religious center of the world in the form of Jerusalem. It is the Biblical city and not Mecca that will play the biggest role in the efforts by all parties to control the Middle East and therefore the rest of the world.
- Islamic State: One doesn’t have to be a Bible scholar or prophecy guru to realize that what the Islamic State represents is more than just a disruption. Their plans expand outside of the Middle East for the sake of solidifying their ability to establish the caliphate.
- The Mystery Presence: The New World Order. The Illuminati. The principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness as described in Ephesians 6:12. The name of this force isn’t important. Understanding what they’re doing and how they’re doing it is challenging. At this point, we have to accept that it exists and is imposing its will on events around the world and specifically in the Middle East.
Nobody can know what is going to happen. We only know who to watch. One of the notable omissions from the list is Turkey. We certainly do believe that Turkey is going to play a huge role. We just believe that this role will be controlled by one of the other players.
The reason it’s important to know the players is so that we can watch what they’re doing. This all comes back to a focus on Israel regardless of what people think. They say it’s about oil and perhaps the western leaders have been led to believe that oil is their primary focus, but the reality is that this is a question of the future of the Holy Land. Forces are aligning for and against them. This is why we have to look at the seven major players for what they are: the influencing forces that will direct the chess pieces of the region while being chess pieces themselves.
The Future
In the coming days (which could be years, months, or literally days) we are going to see an escalation of hatred towards Israel. This has been prophesied and the events that have been taking place for seven decades point to now being the end times. Before we dig too much deeper, we have to point out a very important reality.
Speculation about Bible prophecy is, for the most part, fruitless. Those who are looking to the Middle East from a Biblical perspective need to realize that predicting what will happen by lining up current events with Biblical prophecy is not the intent of those prophecies as far as we can tell. It’s for recognition when the events happen rather than any attempt to predict or stop the events from happening.
The world is already being steered in a particularly distressing direction. From a logical perspective, everything points to the idea that Israel must not reduce its borders and establish a Palestinian State but that they should expand their borders to protect the Holy Land and their people. This goes against all political correctness, of course, as everyone from the United States President to the Pope is calling for the formation of Palestine.
This is ludicrous, but there’s a powerful delusion sweeping across the planet that is ignoring the facts:
- Israel as a country is tiny and is the only Jewish State. To ask them to hand over lands to form Palestine when there is an overabundance of Muslim States in the world is like telling the New Jersey that Texas needs to take over some of their lands for their own purposes. The difference is that Israel is the same size as New Jersey while the Muslim States of the world are many times larger than Texas.
- Israel is surrounded by nations that have attacked them. More importantly, they’re surrounded by nations who want to attack them in the future. The current land area would be indefensible if it weren’t for the United States. That alliance is in the process of changing. If and when it does, it will take the protection of God to keep the lands from being overrun.
- The media and nearly all governments call the West Bank and Gaza areas that are “occupied” by Israel. That conveniently neglects the fact that Israel take those lands for their protection when they were attacked on all sides in 1967. Israel is treated like the invaders of those lands when the reality is that they have, for all intents and purposes, annexed the lands for the sake of their own survival. Rather than the establishment of a Palestinian State, the “occupied” territories should be officially annexed and a Palestinian State should be established elsewhere. There are plenty of logistically better options.
The Bible says that God’s people will return to the Holy Land. Against all odds, that happened. Now, the strife that has engulfed the region is in the process of escalating. This is, in essence, exporting the conflict of the Middle East to the rest of the world. We’re seeing this happen everywhere, even in the United States and Russia.
The future of the Middle East is being carved out before our eyes. Now is the time to stay diligent and watch for the signs. Things are happening that are intended to shake the faith of those in the lands and outside of the Middle East. As the world turns upside down, remember that you have been told about this and that there’s nothing to truly fear. God will see us through it. We simply need to maintain our faith no matter what craziness we see.
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