You may have missed it but, pro-Iran Shia Yemen has critical importance in the even ts we see today in the Middle East. Yemen is located at the mouth of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden which is THE major route of all Arab oil tankers.
In this way, it brings the Red Sea back into sharp focus, perhaps not unlike the days of the Exodus from Egypt.
"After more than three decades of autocratic rule, President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed an agreement on Wednesday that immediately transferred power to his vice president, bowing to unrelenting street protests and raising hopes for an end to a political crisis that brought this impoverished nation to the brink of collapse.
If the agreement holds up, it will make Mr. Saleh the fourth Arab leader to be forced from power this year by popular uprisings that have shaken the Middle East and North Africa. But the deal offers no guarantee that it will restore calm to a nation fractured by 10 months of political instability and suffering from a power vacuum that groups linked to Al Qaeda have exploited with increasing boldness."
While it may not seem so, Yemen's story is earth shaking news. Consider the many verses that speak of the seven nations that opposed ancient Israel. We should remember them because they are mentioned as a group almost a dozen times throughout Scripture. They are the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than Israel.
Isaiah 46:10 tells us our God declares the End from the Beginning. See Deuteronomy 7 for the beginning of their story and consider do today's headlines speak of their end?
Joshua 11:1-5 tells us that five (5) of these seven (7) were utterly beaten by Joshua: the Canaanites on the east and west, the Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, Jebusite and the Hivites. Six of the seven nations are listed there but Joshua 11:19 tells us he did not destroy them all, the Hivites of Gibeon were spared and the Girgashites are not even mentioned. So five of the seven fell including the leader of them all, King Jabin of Hazor. Interestingly, Jabin means "whom God observes" as in, "know your enemy"!
The Arab League or more formally, the League of Arab States was  founded in Egypt in 1945 by 1) Egypt, 2) Iraq, 3) Lebanon, 4) Saudi Arabia, 5) Syria, 6) Yemen and 7) Transjordan (Jordan, as of 1950). Of these seven founding Arab League members established by the Protocols of Alexandria, four "kings" have now fallen from power in the Islamic Awakening as it is known in the Mideast. The western media calls it the Arab Spring but we should know, soon the 5th will fall. These events may be prophetic.
For Bible prophecy students, this situation might awaken you to the words of Revelation 17:9-11 if we are to be wise, it is well worth considering as four of the seven founding "kings" of the Arab League States have now fallen in the years since December 13, 2003:
"Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. "The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction."
Yes, we know Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi has also fallen as has Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. But these nations were not part of the original League.
Now, it seems Syria's Bashar al-Assad may be the 5th and astonishingly, Revelation 17 tells us that five of seven leaders will fall - yet there are ten. So there is more to learn as the Arab Spring moves into winter.
The Arab League has seen its leaders fall by the wayside: First, Iraq (Saddam Hussein), then Lebanon (Fouad Siniora), Egypt (Hosni Mubarak) and now Yemen (Ali Abdullah Saleh). They have all lost their power as their governments have collapsed right before our eyes and Syria's Bashar al-Assad is on the threshold of losing his power and government at any time. Even Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he must step down now.
If we are to consider that these fallen governments may indeed be the seven kings of Revelation, then we must also consider they are reflections from the book of Joshua. Finally we must consider that all the events recorded in the book of Joshua occurred only after the end of the wilderness journey. So too, the wilderness journey is ending for Judah and Ephraim.
We might consider that one of the seven League States is the government which was (in power)... will come back into power... and go on to destruction. This looks like a prophetic repeat of the story recorded in Joshua of the fall of king Jabin of Hazor. Today's Jabin whoever he may be, may very well rise from the chaos of the Islamic Awakening and these seven nations.
Scripture admonishes us to keep our eyes wide open as Watchmen, so we must also remember there are ten - and there is more to learn - more to prepare our hearts and the hearts of others for as we look at these powerful, earth shaking events.
1) The Palestine Liberation Organization was admitted in 1976. Egypt's founding membership was suspended in 1979 after it signed a peace treaty with Israel; the league's headquarters was moved from Cairo, Egypt, to Tunis, Tunisia and...
2) In 1987 Arab leaders decided to renew diplomatic ties with Egypt. Egypt was readmitted to the league in 1989 and the league's headquarters were moved back to Cairo.
The fact is, Egypt is a beast (government) which was and was not a part of the Arab League. Is Egypt's story found in the message of Revelation? Today, chaos builds there, so we might ask: could Egypt's future leader also an eighth? We need to study the "Burden of Egypt" (Isaiah 19) and pray for the Peace of Jerusalem (Psalms 122:6). Egypt appears to be a key, after all, The Arab League tells us: "The Egyptian government first proposed the Arab League in 1943." Assyria (Iran) is prophetic as well, but Egypt receives special attention from Zechariah at Messiah's return:
"And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that [have] no [rain]; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles." Zechariah 14:18-19
Is it just me, or should we ask if the earth's global shaking was just a coincidence the day Yemen's power fell on November 23, 2011 as...
 Meanwhile, Syria's President Assad has predicted an earthquake disaster if the West meddles in Syria:
"AMMAN (Reuters) - Western powers would cause an "earthquake" in the Middle East if they intervened in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Sunday, after protesters demanded outside protection from a crackdown that has killed 3,000 people.
Syrian officials were to hold more talks in Qatar with delegates of the Arab League, which wants to convene a dialogue in Cairo between the Syrian authorities and their opponents.
The League's two-week deadline for the planned dialogue to start expires Sunday, with Assad showing no signs of easing the crackdown, which is drawing increasing international outrage and criticism even from previously cautious Arab countries.
Syria, as Assad noted in his interview with Britain's Sunday Telegraph, sits at the heart of the volatile Middle East, where it borders Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan.
"It is the faultline, and if you play with the ground, you will cause an earthquake," he said. "Do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?""
And let's not forget the spirits of darkness that want to divide Israel. In a Haaretz report from November 2007, then Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert, spoke of the "one-state" solution that has grappled the world's attention. It is the conflict that the Bible warns us about:
"If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (also for the Palestinians in the territories), then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished."
The division of the land and the events of the Arab Awakening are related.
What we see today is the Muslim Brotherhood already integrating with Al Qaeda and other radical groups within the new governments of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Sudan has been engulfed too but regrettably no one in the press seems to deeply care deeply about reporting on the conflict within the African nations south of Cairo.
Soon it seems, the Muslim Brotherhood and related radical factions will be taking charge of five key Arab League nations, prophetically replacing those leaders that have been friendly with "the West". Lebanon has already gone there as Hezbollah, Iran's war focused Shiite Muslim proxy is now in control. In Israel, Hamas and its the rocket firing terror groups control Gaza. They now seek the West Bank, the former home of Ephraim.
Make no mistake about it, Shiite Iraq will fall away from the west's peaceful goals just as Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan will as a nuclear bound Iran pushes into the focus of prophecy. Their influence will accelerate as the U.S. and coalition troops soon withdraw from the region.
What is actually happening is that by the people's own election, individual freedoms are being taken away under Sharia Law. For example, recently an Egyptian man was sentenced to three years in prison for offending Islam on Facebook. For more back ground consider reading this important commentary from CNN's Bryony Jones, he writes: "
We are witnessing "Nation against Nation".
Christians are in imminent danger. Persecution and attacks on the Coptic Christians in Egypt has now begun in earnest. We have seen this public persecution for over 30 years in Iran following the revolution there led by the Muslim Clerics and it too is accelerating today!! We have also seen this in Afghanistan where the last church in that country has just closed its doors. According to this report from CNSNews.com - Not a Single Christian Church is Left in Afghanistan, Says State Department.
And WND reports today that: "The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority is banning the name of "Jesus Christ" from any text message sent in the country. The government's telecommunications agency has given mobile phone companies a list of 1,695 words and informed mobile companies that they have seven days to implement filters in their systems that would block the transmission of the listed words."
Keep your eyes and prayers toward Iraq as well - because once our last military troops exit that nation, the few remaining Christian minorities that have not yet fallen to the great persecution there will see the fulfillment of the words of Yeshua while the U.S. provides no immigration for them. Is this because many sit idly by in a pew waiting for the tribulation to start so they can take a rapture ride out? Scripture is becoming clearer but fantasy is fuzzy and it is from the deceiver. Make no mistake, silver is refined in fire.
Childbirth is an inherently dangerous and risky activity, with much pain and many complications as are the current prophetic events in the Mid East. They should remind us of the latent phase of labor which can come days before labor's painful contractions. Contraction is now occurring in the Arab Awakening as persecution will intensify while the world and "The Quartet" work to divide Israel and Jerusalem.
Let's not forget to pray for the 8,000,000 Coptic Christians of Egypt. Many are leaving now, but the masses will most certainly want to flee due to greater persecution and coming famine in Egypt's desperate economy, but where will the millions go?
Certainly not to Iran, Syria or Iraq, certainly not to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia or Yemen. Sure, many will head to Europe, but Israel is the only safe haven in the Mideast and its name means "God Prevails"! Perhaps the Knesset will soon open the doors; after all it was Egypt that first saved Jacob's family and Messiah!
Jihad Watch states: "US policy regarding the refugee resettlement program would shock most Americans if they only knew. The UN picks who becomes US refugees. Christians are being refused refugee status and face persecution and many times certain death for their religious beliefs under the sharia, while whole Muslim communities are entering the US by the tens of thousands per month despite the fact that they face no religious persecution.
It is horrifying that Afghan Christians are being refused refugee status by the UN and many Western nations, including Britain. The UN claims that Afghan Christians do not meet the criteria for refugees under Statute 6B of the UN High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR), which requires refugees to have "a well founded fear of persecution by reason of his race, religion, nationality or political opinion."
"We need to demand that our government provide protection and asylum for Christians."
Let's do something for them too. Contact your congressman, congressional leadership, the foreign affairs committee now regarding refugee status. Don't stand by, like Torah teaches - take action. The list is here:
http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm
For those in "The West" that are looking around for a rapture ride, look again, it is not just about you! Reach out for Egypt's Christian's now. For many, perhaps it is the same outlook as it was when Americans watched what Hitler and Japan were doing across the globe until war hit home at Pearl Harbor. The general false reality was that there was no war; after all it was not at our shores, not in our backyard so there was no evil besetting us. But we were wrong. Why do we think like that?
The same is true today as the words of Yeshua come into focus before our very eyes as people mistakenly look for an E.U. Antichrist. While we are keeping a keen eye as Europe's economy falls into oblivion, hoping it will not infect us - the Mullahs, the Imams, the false prophets arise and afflict many:
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." Matthew 24:9-11
Peace Talks?
 Following the recent Palestinian delivery of the formal request by Mahmoud Abbas for U.N. membership to be recognized by the U.N. Security Council, clashes began in the West Bank while the Quartet (US, EU, Russia and the UN), engaged again on the world stage issuing a call to restart peace talks to divide the land. As reported by CBS News: "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the statement was a "concrete and detailed proposal to begin negotiations without delay or preconditions."
"The Quartet proposal represents the firm conviction of the international community that a just and lasting peace can only come through negotiations between the parties," she said. "Therefore we urge both parties to take advantage of this opportunity to get back to talks.""
His concluding remarks directly engage with Biblical prophecy:
"Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to inform you that, before delivering this statement, I, in my capacity as President of the State of Palestine and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, submitted to H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, an application for the admission of Palestine on the basis of the 4 June 1967 borders, with AI-Quds AI-Sharif as its capital, as a full member of the United Nations. I call upon Mr. Secretary-General to expedite transmittal of our request to the Security Council, and I call upon the distinguished members of the Security Council to vote in favor of our full membership. I also appeal to the States that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to do so."
For those of us who do not speak Palestinian, hum... I mean Arabic, you NEED TO KNOW that Al-Quds as-Sarif is Jerusalem, the city of YHVH's name not Allah's. It is the the city that is becoming a very heavy stone that will injure those that try to move it from the capital of Israel to the capital of Palestine. So, notice what Abbas said: "admission of Palestine on the basis" of the '67 borders AND Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. Take note, Abbas did not limit his words to say "east" Al-Quds.
This means that we will see Abbas in the headline news over the coming weeks and months saying that he and the Palestinians will reject all Quartet Peace plans and proposals. Why? Today, they do not meet these demands he has clearly set forth before the U.N.
By the way, if you are wondering why I am calling him Abbas instead of "President" Abbas it is simply because there is no nation called Palestine and the Palestinian National Authority is no country. It's that simple.
To top it off, as debated by by members of rival Hamas back in January of 2009, Abbas' term as the Palestinian National Authority president expired following his four year term. Abbas, an Egyptian and Russian educated lawyer extended his own term that began in 2005 stating he "had the right to do so". There has been no election since then.
And now the four leaders of Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon and Yemen have lost their power right before our very eyes... and as we stare at the eyes of the beast, Syria's leader Assad is on the brink as protesters plan radical, shadow governments in the nations of the Arab League.
Is the "yet to come" kingdom a part of the re-born Muslim beast? It certainly seems so and there is a much darker side of this principality. For example, the Islamic Resistance Movement known as Hamas rejects Abbas' UN bid simply because it falls in the context of the so-called peace process which they deem a "Zionist Plot".
After all, their religion/government (horned beast) follows the false prophet Muhammad from a kingdom that seemingly died with the Ottoman Empire, but whose fatal wound has now healed as it has been revived. Revelation 13 tells us the beast will look like a lamb (a religion of peace), but it acts like a dragon spewing fire from rockets aimed at the beautiful land. "Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men."
We are not to just be observers of these things.
We need to be great prayer warriors and a faithful witness to Muslims when given the chance. Isaalmasih.net gives us some solid advice as witnesses, believers and followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob should:
* Be courteous and loving. Reflect interest in their beliefs.
* Allow them time to articulate their views.
* Be acquainted with their basic beliefs and their terms (Isa al Mashi = Jesus)
* Be willing to examine passages of the Qur'an concerning their beliefs.
* Take time to respond to all sincere questions.
* Point out the centrality of the person and work of Yeshua (Isa) for salvation.
* Share that salvation is a gift and not to be earned by works.
* Pray for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Trust Him to provide wisdom and words.
* Be willing to become a friend and a personal witness to Muslims.
* Stress that because of Yeshua, one may have the full assurance of salvation, both now and for eternity. But above all... the Ruach HaKodesh will teach you in that same hour what you must say. (Luke 12:12)
This commentary was compiled from various news reports regarding "Zechariah's Vision and The Quartet" at MyScriptureStudies.com.
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UN does not recognize, just yet... is Palestine. That is the story line of The 
