The Unifying Power of ISIS

In the last few days ISIS has burned 45 people to death in a western Iraqi town (Daily Mail, February 18, 2015), beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya (Mail Online, February 17, 2015), and is threatening to use Libya to strike against Europe (Telegraph, February 17, 2015)! Aggressive actions by ISIS continue to push Arab nations together. This week “The leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah urged the Middle East to unite and join the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL) in Iraq and Syria” (Breitbart, February 17, 2015). “‘ISIL’s real goal is in Mecca and Medina. Let Saudi Arabia think very hard about this. Why? Because the Caliphate can’t be established without the two holy sites,’ he warned in addressing Gulf Arab nations” (ibid.). Egypt has already bombed Libya in response to the beheading of the 21 men—showing that it will act independently (Reuters, February 16, 2015).  

More Arab nations appear ready to act against ISIS and potentially work together, as the Islamic State uses more extreme tactics. It is ironic that it is an Islamic group that may push many Arab nations to unite and form what may become the “king of the South” that was prophesied long ago in the Bible (Daniel 11:40-43). If ISIS makes advances toward Rome and Europe, the group may also push the development of the “king of the North” (ibid.).

For more on future events in Europe and the Middle East, be sure to read “War in the Middle East and the Coming King of the South.”