We felt the need to send out an urgent prayer update following the first published results of the Egyptian elections.
There are still two more rounds of voting and the results won't be final until January. These first results show the Islamic Brotherhood winning 40% of the vote with an additional 25% going to the ultra conservative "Salafis" party. These numbers ensure that 65% of the newly elected legislators will be representing the Islamic forces within the country. This is all the more foreboding as the one third of Egypt’s population that is currently voting live in what is considered to be the least conservative areas of Egypt.
As I mentioned in the last update, it has been obvious to us that since the overthrow of the Mubarek government that this has not been an “Arab Spring” but rather a demonic move of Islamic forces to gain control and radicalize the entire Middle East. In just six months, Islamic governments have been established in Tunisia and Morocco with Libya soon to follow. Syria’s government is on the verge of collapse and now Egypt with its 80 million people is in danger of falling under the cloud of radical Islam.
The significance of these Islamic takeovers cannot be underestimated. If history is any measure of the future, then Islamic democracy which can be defined as “one person, one vote, one time”, will probably guarantee that this current round of elections in the Middle East will be the last democratic elections. The very essence of Islamic rule does not embrace the existence of a secular government separate from the Islamic faith. Rather, in a nation ruled by Islamic law, the clergy is the highest authority. Islamic religious doctrine or Sharia law as it is called, would rule education, the courts, employment, marital relations, dress, entertainment and every other aspect of life.
The more conservative "Salafis" party which captured 25% of the vote is already calling for rescinding a woman's right to vote and establishing separate sex based curriculum in all areas of education with the establishment of Sharia law.
The ramifications of these events for Israel and the Western world are immense. The Christian population in Egypt and throughout the Middle East which has already been experiencing persecution from Islamic forces is facing even darker times.
This morning as I was praying about these developments, the Lord quickened to me the verse ; “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work”. (John 9:4)
At our Revive Israel prayer meeting, we had already started praying when we were joined by five Koreans who had come from Cairo and wanted to spend some time in Jerusalem before returning there. We began to pray with them and for the situation in Egypt and the Middle East. I felt strongly the significance of the scripture the Lord had given me earlier. Asher also had a vision of a window closing combined with an intense urgency to pray. We had a mighty time of intercession with them and sent them forth renewed and empowered in the Holy Spirit.
In response to all of this, we are calling on you to join with us as we continue to pray and intercede for all of these developments in the Middle East.
Pray that the Islamic takeover of these nations would be stopped.
Pray for the role of the military government that is now ruling Egypt. Their place in the future government can have a significant controlling effect on the impact of these radical Islamic forces.
Pray for an unprecedented revival of faith in these countries.
Pray for the believers in these nations who may very soon find themselves enduring increased persecution from Islamic mobs and hostile Islamic governments. Pray that their faith will be strengthened and their local indigenous expressions would grow and increase during the difficult season that lies before them.
Pray for Israel and its leaders who must chart a clear course through the storm that is sweeping through this part of the world. If an Islamic regime takes over Egypt, the peace treaty with Israel will be terminated. In addition, it is safe to assume that every government that moves in an Islamic direction will embrace policies that are aimed at the isolation and ultimate destruction of this nation.
This is a time for God's people to arise in the mighty power and authority that we have. Let us not remain silent as the church has done in the many dark times of the past, but let each of us go to battle in prayer and raise our voices so that we may see the goodness of the Lord blaze forth in truth and righteousness.
Light has overcome the darkness!
We send you our love from Zion,
Eddie & Jackie Santoro
Zion's Glory and Ahavat Yeshua Congregation
Jerusalem
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