Is What Happens in the Middle East Truly Important?

The Middle East is in the news regularly. Throughout many parts of the region we witness acts of violence, expressions of hatred, death, threats of war and incidences of destruction. The Middle East is sometimes viewed as the home of the major religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with the capital of Jerusalem usually being a focal point of controversy. 

But some might wonder, “Why care? What do the occurrences in the Middle East have to do with me?” 

Economically, the region does not have a tremendous impact on the rest of the world in terms of global trade, other than in supplying the precious commodity of crude oil. Despite the global initiative underway to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, oil is still critical to the global economy. About 1/3 of the world’s oil output comes from the Middle East. 

Conflict in the region has been high. For decades the Arab world has borne a severe aversion towards Israel and the Jews. More recently, this Arab animosity has shifted significantly towards Iran. Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, Iran’s government has been absorbed with a religious fervour, with a grand vision to dominate the region and then to master the world. Meanwhile, the Arab nations in the same region, led by Saudi Arabia, are on the opposite end of these aims and harbour concerns over the survival of their monarchies and way of life.  

Interestingly, despite both sides being Muslim, Saudi Arabia is primarily Sunni Muslim while Iran embraces the Shia sect, so they have a different view of the world (and in addition, Iran is not Arab). Friction between these two major nations has been escalating for years, with conflicts mainly occurring through proxy groups and nations. The regional goals or ambitions of either Iran or Saudi Arabia cannot be achieved unless the other is somehow neutralized and diminished in influence and control. 

Currently the Middle East is an armed camp. Decades of hostilities have resulted in a buildup of military armaments on all sides. Iran has been in the news in recent years due to its perceived pursuit of nuclear weapons capability, which would be a major tipping point in regional and global influence and balance of power. If necessary, Saudi Arabia would probably obtain access to nuclear weapons through its ally Pakistan. Israel likely already has nuclear weapons capability (even though this has never been conclusively verified). The description of the Middle East being a powder keg, ready to explode, is current reality. 

A major war in the Middle East can shut down much of the world and would be catastrophic. European life and industrial activity would be significantly inhibited without fuel from the region. Even though many developed nations have established Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPRs), these can only last several months and a Middle East crisis could persist much longer than that. 

Bible prophecy indicates that sometime in the future, a major figure or nation will in fact dominate the region (interestingly, Iran is conspicuously absent from any biblical reference, which suggests it is somehow not a player). The undisputed regional leader will likely become either Saudi Arabia or Egypt, as the Bible identifies such a world power to be present south of Jerusalem. This force will eventually engage in conflict with a northern European giant, bringing the world to a major climax. 

For more information, please send for or download our free booklets: The Middle East in Prophecy.