Egypt was a prominent nation in the Old Testament history of Israel, and is usually identified by prophecy scholars as the “King of the South” in End-Times prophecy (Daniel 11:21 ff). However, Egypt is conspicuously absent in the line-up of the enemies of Israel in the upcoming war of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38 and 39), which will most likely be the same as the great war of the Second Seal in Revelation 6.

In 1969, under the leadership of President Anwar Sadat, Egypt was the first Middle Eastern nation to make a peace treaty with Israel.

The unrest in the Middle-East focuses on the civil struggle between the government of Israel and its Palestinian people who want to establish a separate Palestinian state. Most of the Arab and/or Islamic nations in the area are also involved. The United States, the U.N., the European Union, and even Russia are all trying to broker peace in the region.

In 2011 Egypt experienced an unprecedented uprising of resistance to the government of President Hosni Mubarak, who had led the country for almost 30 years, following the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981. Protests and outbreaks of riotous activity took place in Cairo, Giza, Suez, and Alexandria. Mubarak was deposed.

The protests were caused by the lack of progress in the country and the degrading living conditions of the Egyptian people. Their complaints and plans appear to have been promoted widely on Facebook and Twitter. Consequently, the Egyptian government temporarily suspended Internet usage and cell phone service.

Egyptian police were overwhelmed by the crowd, and though they killed some protesters and arrested many more, they had to abandon their efforts. Egyptians then overwhelmed and burned the police stations.

Commentators notice the similarity between this uprising and the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. There is, however, a major difference. The Iranian Revolution was led by Shiite clerics, while the religious component of the Egyptian protest is the Muslim Brotherhood, which is aligned with the larger Sunni branch of Islam. The Muslim Brotherhood is the guiding force behind the Hamas Movement in the Palestinian areas.

It was thought that the effect of this revolution could be the termination of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt that has been in effect for more than three decades.

However, their new government, which was dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, was also rejected by the people, leading to a military take-over in 2013, and the acceptance of a new constitution in 2014. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the commander-in-chief of the army was elected President. Al-Sisi cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood, tried to facilitate peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and urged Muslim leaders to take a stand against Islamic terrorism.

Relations between the United States and Egypt have been be severely strained by these events.