Among all the things to watch in the Middle East, one of the things that has faded in importance is the continuing new democratic government in Iraq.  As I wrote about in my book, Daniel Revisited, the democratization of Iraq’s government is the fulfillment of the lion being forced to stand and its mind replaced as in Daniel 7:3 –  “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.”

I ran across this story in the Wall Street Journal just yesterday.  Iraq with its new democracy held a nation-wide parliamentary election this past Wednesday on April 30th.  This election is the first since the force, i.e. the U.S. military, that made the lion stand and literally changed its mind, was removed in December 2011.  But this is also the third of such elections.  The first was in December 2005 and the second was in January 2010.

Of course the main action of the First Signpost was the lion being forced to stand and its mind being changed.  This might beg the question of how long might the lion remain standing and its heart be changed?  Well, here we are more than two years after the force that made the lion stand was removed, and the lion continues to stand.  It may not be long with Al-Qaeda strongholds only 100 miles to the west of Baghdad and the Second Signpost looming, but so far, the lion does indeed continue to stand.

Categories: In The News, Signpost #1: Iraq