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Garncr Tcd Armsrrong
Sadat's Bold Gamble Prophesied?
A:
war Sadat is making history.
Could he also unknowingly be
fulfilling Bible prophecy?
In his dramatic visit to Israel in mld–
November, which included face-to–
lace meetings with Israelí Prime Minis–
ter Begin and an address before the
Knesset (Israelí Parl iament). the Presi–
den! of Egypt launched a bold new bid
for peace in the Middle East.
lt was a journey Sadat knew he ab–
solutely had to undertake, regardless
of the odds. lt is known that he was
convinced that another war was immi–
nent, with catastrophic results for his
country almos! a certa inty given
lsrael's clear military superiority.
lntelligence reports at his disposal
showed that a "Round Five" of the
Middle East war would be different this
time; that another stalemate was out of
the question; that unlike 1973, the gov–
ernment now in power in Israel would
likely pay no heed to American and
Russian calls for a cease-fire but would
order their generals to march straight
1nto Cairo itself.
Sadat also knew that a full-fledged
Geneva conference, getting Israel and
all the Arab states together to discuss
all of their differences, was doomed lo
failure-with war as a consequence–
unless a dramatic breakthrough oc–
curred first .
Egypt, plagued with grave human,
social and economic woes, simply can–
not afford another war. So it was
clearly time for Sadat to try an ent1rely
new approach and to do the seemingly
impossible: go to Israel on a personal
mission to break the ice in the 29-year–
old conflict. So far it has worked.
40
Sadat has not allowed the momen–
tum to subside. He has since convened
his own " pre-Geneva " meeting in
Cairo, which has been bitterly con–
demned by the radical Arab states. Un–
daunted, Sadat is pushing forward–
even if that means a separate peace
agreement between only his country
and Israel, although this is official ly de–
nied.
Without a doubt , more is yet to oc–
cur. The nation of Jordan is sitting on
the fence, probably wanting lo join the
Egypt-lsrael rapprochement, but afraid
to do so at the moment because of
reaction on the part of the radical Arab
states who are fuming al Sadat's pol–
icy. Another key question is which way
oil-rich Saudi Arabia-the treasury of
the Arab world-wi ll go. The Saudis
have taken a cautious public stance
toward Sadat's peace offensive, but
have privately affirmed their support.
But let's look back at recent history
for a moment and then do sorne specu–
lating.
Never in our wildest dreams-follow–
ing the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the
subsequent Arab oil embargo and the
skyrocketing price for Arab oil-could
we have imagined a potential al liance
between Israel and Egypt, and possibly
other Arab states. Would it not be star–
tl ing if the Saudi Arabians. sitting as–
tride abou t 50 percent of the oil
reserves of the world , threw their
weight and energy to such a
multilateral arrangement which would
combine the technical genius, creativ–
ity, expertise and technology of the
Israelí nation with the almos! limitless
manpower reserves of Egypt?
Where do these dramatic devel–
opments lit in the unfolding of Bible
prophecy? The eleventh chapter of
Daniel says the "king of the north" (a
United States of Europe fulfilling the
final end-time resurrection of the Ro–
man Empire) will go down into the
Middle East and "he shall enter also
into the glori ous land, and many coun–
tries shal l be overthrown" (verse 41)–
an obvious reference to the Holy Land.
meaning modern-day Israel, the region
of Palestina, and neighboring Arab
countries, including Egypt (which
" shall not escape" -verse 42).
But why would a central European
power, perhaps threatened with a cut–
off of vital oi l supplies, also overrun two
comparatively "oil-less" states who
were also-unti l recent events-i ntract–
able enemies? This could much more
logically be expected to happen if
Israel, Egypt. Saudi Arabia and other of
the " many countries" were somehow
allied together. In the context of Sa–
dat's move, bringing about if not an
immediate peace or treaty at leas! the
beginning of a rapprochement between
Israelí and Egyptian leadership, it is
easier to see how such a prophecy
could be fulfilled.
The Middle East is the focal point of
Bible prophecy. Jerusalem is the place
from which the Bible looks outward at
all the rest of the world-economically,
politically, militarily, and prophetically.
As never before, we are seeing elec–
trifying events leaping lo lile in the
headlines of world newspapers wh1ch
should help us understand sorne of the
most importan! prophecies in the
Bible!
o
The
PLAIN
TRUTH
January 1978