In my last post I spoke of noise; the fact that in the struggle of Islamist vs. Secularist it really doesn’t matter who is in power.  But that answer of course is incomplete.  The day after that post was made, an article on the Al-Monitor site summarized the situation in Egypt well.

The author said,

“The identity issue or the reshaping of the identity of society took precedence over the much-needed — yet absent — socioeconomic program for developing societies.”

That is a common theme in much of the Middle East today (Israel and Turkey are the exceptions).  For whoever is ruling – whichever party or strongman – it is the shaping and defining of an Islamic society and how it should run people’s lives that always takes much greater precedence than improving the lives and economies of peoples.

The author went on to say about the Muslim Brotherhood in power in Egypt under Morsi,

“The Islamists in power remained deaf to the increasing calls for addressing these very basic issues. Instead, they were engaged in the re-Islamization of Muslim societies.”

The author of course was talking about Egypt.  But doesn’t this apply to the entire Islamic Realm?  Aside from Turkey in the last ten years, what other Islamic nation has improved the lot of its people?  None.

If you think about it, isn’t that what is going to go on with the Four Signposts and throughout the entire end-times?  These are a series of major events occurring in the Middle East.  But they aren’t for the betterment of people.  They are for deciding who is in power and what kind of Islamic society there will be.

In the First Signpost, Saddam was deciding for the countries around him that they needed him to rule.  Then Iraq went through a transformation in government that resulted in a change in their Muslim country.

In the Second Signpost, Iran is going to express its opinion that fundamental Shia Islam should be expressed on the Middle East.  During this time people’s lives won’t be improved – there will be war.

In the Third Signpost, Turkey and Egypt will express a need for a fundamental Sunni society by invading Iran and removing that country’s regime.

In the Fourth Signpost, four different leaders will try to exert their will on the Middle East but only one – the Antichrist – will be successful.

We know conditions will go from bad to worse while all these Signposts happen because the horses go from red for war, to black for hunger, to green for death.  So war to hunger to death, all the while leaders and parties are trying to exert their idea of an Islamic society on the Middle East.

So really what we see in Turkey with Erdogan and Gezi Square, and Egypt with Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood and now al-Sisi, are just the beginnings of the modus operandi between now and the Tribulation.

And of course what is the Tribulation itself, but the Antichrist impressing his version of Islam on the entire world.  People’s living conditions won’t be improved during this time.  They will be having a version of Islam impressed on their society.

So in conclusion, the party or person in charge of a nation won’t matter (unless he is one of the horns of the ram or the goat in Daniel 8).  But what can be counted on and will be a constant, is this theme of Islam’s definition in society taking precedence over people’s living conditions.

Categories: The Four Signposts