“In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord near its border.

And it will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them.

Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it.

And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and will heal them.” Isaiah 19:19-22

The above verses speak of a time when the region from Iraq to Egypt will form a coalition together with Israel and yield to the Lord. The events that are occurring in the Middle East which have been the cause of political, economic, financial and spiritual troubles on earth for many decades are causing rapid changes both for the major powers who hold on to some form of relationships with the dictators and kings in the Middle East. Countries are redrawing their foreign policies and watchful of what will become of the new leaders that are arising in these beleaguered nations.

All of these brewing troubles which have first occurred in Tunisia and then to Egypt with massive protests from their people have forced the resignations of their longtime leaders Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak. Today, Algeria and Libya's rulers are currently roiling from the massive demonstrations of their people. Although the motive of these changes are questionable as most of these could have been designed by the Muslim Brotherhood that also planned the assassination of Anwar Sadat, the end result of the removal of these oppressive regimes will be better for the people.  The Lord has heard the cry of Ishmael under the oppressive bondage of these long time dictators.  He is moving again in their midst through these uproar of the peoples.

As Christians looking at how all of these will end, our hearts and minds must not question the Lord why or be filled with anxiety. But rather, we should pray that God will move and restore true and righteous governance in these places where there is real freedom for the people. Although the enemy may try to gain the upperhand in this region by seeking to govern and yoke the people in a more oppressive religious form of governance like Iran did, our hope is for these people to eventually yield themselves to righteous and free government. Although democracy is an ideal form of governance where there is separation between religion and state, the cultural fabric of these muslim countries will not yield to them a democratic government that is imagined by the West.

The fact is, strong religious muslim organizations influence the outcome of any election by voting for one oppressive party. Although majority of the people may not care of the election, who comes out, the few who wants to govern are strongly given to controlling all the outcome of this process. The muslim cleric covets to install a religious form of governance and seek to put all the people under Sharia Law. This is the path towards a more evil form of governance among these muslim countries. This is the path they must avoid if they want to grow and be free from the yoke of tyrants. The offer of freedom from democratic governance does seem like ideal for many of these nations except for Israel which is the lone example of democracy in that region.

The whole Middle East region have to follow a regulated or controlled state such as Putin did to Russia until the people have learned to follow and obey a democratic style of governance that is elected by the people and for the people. This needs preparation if this is the path they want to take.
Although democracy can be abused by electing the same set of people who can be oppressive, it also offers choice among people to select who they want to vote for and therefore allows everyone to define and shape the destiny of their country. God does allow us to participate and determine the destiny of our nations by being obedient to the king or ruler in authority and following them so long as this does not violate righteousness, truth and justice which are values mainly espoused by the Bible. Consider the remarkable statement of the Apostle Peter,

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.

For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.

Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.

For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.

For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.” 1 Peter 2:13-20

Being salt and light would mean that we conform our thought-life to the actual thought-life of Christ. We must obey and follow as He did, submitting Himself before those in authority whether they were good or bad. Indeed, the Holy Spirit comes, not just to give us goose bumps and chills during religious ceremonies but to restructure our attitudes and perceptions until we think the thoughts of Jesus even on governance. It is for the Lord’s sake that we have to do this. 

Consider what is happening in the Middle East, this area has been the battlefield of intense conversion schemes by many Christians from the Byzantine era to the Crusades until our time, it remains a controversial and heavy burden among the nations on how to ultimately deal with it. The truth is, no government on earth can bear the whole burden of this problem. The Prophet’s insight should be followed, when he wrote,

“For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:4-7

Until the government is firmly rooted according to righteousness and justice, governance means nothing. The Lord desires to establish and uphold justice and righteousness on to all nations, and it is the zeal of the Lord of Hosts that will accomplish this. We need to have the mind of Christ over what is happening now in the Middle East and we should continue to pray for His Kingdom to come upon that region mightily among the people. Currently, God is shaking the governments of all the nations in the Middle East until what is left could be useful for the building of His Kingdom on earth.

Until then, we need to continue to be vigilant and prayerful that the Lord of Hosts will visit and move unto the Land of Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and other nations in the Middle East so that  He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them.

Lord, deliver these nations from oppression, let there be freedom and peace amidst the chaos. Send us your Champion and Deliverer to set us free from the tyrants. Grant us, Lord, your Kingdom even in the Middle East. Redeem these nations Oh Lord!