Putin's Egypt Visit: Geopolitical Maneuvering in the Middle East

1. Egypt 2015

2. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. • Vladimir Putin's Egypt visit sends message to U.S. Guardian, February 9, 2015 Russian president Vladimir Putin has flown to Cairo for a two-day visit, in a move nominally aimed at bolstering bilateral ties with Egypt that also allows both countries to send pointed messages to the US. As Russian and western diplomats struggle to reach a peace deal over the conflict in Ukraine, Putin will spend Monday evening at Cairo’s opera house. In meetings on Tuesday, the day before the resumption of Ukraine peace talks, Putin is expected to hold discussions about ending the use of the US dollar in bilateral trade between Egypt and Russia. Collaboration between a Russian and Egyptian newspaper is also reported to be scheduled for discussion. Egypt’s flagship state newspaper printed a long feature about Putin that called him “a hero of our era”. But the fact that the posters were mostly written in English, rather than Russian or Arabic, suggested their target audience lies overseas. EVENT Russian president Vladimir Putin arrived in Egypt to a hero’s welcome. The Financial Times reported the following in relation to this visit…”The visit is the latest sign of Russia attempting to reassert its commercial and strategic interests in the Middle East, an agenda that has included bolstering support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.” This is indeed a sign of Russia asserting itself in the Middle East. Putin is very interested in this area. Egypt over the last 40 years has been an ally of America but Putin wants to weaken US influence in the world and therefore wants to strengthen ties with countries like Egypt. Daniel 11 it says that Russia will sweep down through Israel into Egypt. But we also read of this in Isaiah 19. We are told a fierce king will one day rule over Egypt. The word fierce is used another time- in Daniel 8 the fierce king… COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 19:4) (Daniel 8:23)

3. He shall enter also into the glorious land [Israel], and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: Egypt Gas Find Sparks Panic in Israel About Israeli Reserves Associated Press, September 1, 2015 Egypt's new natural gas bonanza is causing an uproar in Israel, with energy stocks plummeting and recriminations over indecisiveness and infighting that have delayed production from the country's own gas fields. The government is currently struggling to get parliament to approve its natural gas business plan, but observers fear Israel may need to reassess everything now that Egypt, which had been cast as both an export destination and a partner, may have found its own independent solution. Israel's offshore gas reserves had long been regarded as a future cash cow for the resource-poor country, and gas exporters in Egypt were expected to be the key customers of Israel's yet untapped Leviathan field. But plans to develop Leviathan are suddenly up in the air after Italian energy company Eni SpA said Sunday it had found the "largest-ever" gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off Egypt's shores. The field is located in shallower seas than Leviathan, likely making it easier for companies to extract, in a country with none of the regulatory chaos of Israel. EVENT COMMENT Just a few days ago the Italian energy group Eni said it had found one of the world's largest natural gas fields off Egypt's coast. The company said the area was 1,450m (4,757 feet) beneath the surface and covered 100 sq km (39 sq miles). It could hold as much as 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, or 5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, Eni said. This historic discovery will be able to transform the energy scenario of Egypt they said. Israel has also made huge gas discoveries in recent years is panicking it will effect their own position on price and who will buy from them with this even larger gas field next door. The Bible says Russia comes to take a spoil and invades Israel AND Egypt! BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 11:41-43)

4. He [latter day Antiochus Epiphanes – king of the north – Gog – Russian leader - Putin] will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people. He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. Metrojet disaster could drag Russia further into Syria Daily Telegraph, November 5,2015 Russia may have suffered its worst terrorist attack since the 2004 Beslan school siege. If so, Vladimir Putin faces difficult choices about how to respond. Whatever brought down the Metrojet Airbus, the worst aviation disaster in Russian history has massive implications for the Russian government and the public. By suspending all flights between Britain and Sharm el-Sheikh pending a security review, David Cameron has now given the clearest indication yet that governments believe terrorism may be at the root of the disaster. If so, Vladimir Putin and his advisors will have to think hard about how to respond. Either way he and his government will come under massive pressure to respond, forcefully and visibly, against the perpetrators. EVENT COMMENT Last Saturday just after last week’s WWW was issued a Russian passenger jet crashed on the Sinai peninsula. It has become increasingly clear this was a terrorist attack by ISIS. More than likely a bomb smuggled on board the plane. Putin has been loath to acknowledge this. The reason being he promised his people that his Syrian adventure would bring them more security from ISIS. If the plane was blown out of the sky killing mainly Russians his words would sound hollow. Putin is someone who has to act when something like this happens. When he finally does acknowledge (which he may have to) his response will be to respond with even more involvement in Syria not less. Any backing down will be seen as weakness in his eyes. More Russian involvement in Syria not less is on the cards. This would lead to even greater tensions between the US and Russia. Events are moving fast – the Syrian storm might be about to get worse. BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 8:24-25 NLT)