When you look at the orange Shiite Core on the map, you can see the king of the North, Iran and Iraq, as well as the king of the South, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other African Muslim states. This picture aligns well with the political situation today. Also note that today, Iraq has fallen under Iranian domination.

Not only is the picture obvious, it is frightening. We have Islamic fundamentalists, possessing nuclear weapons, threatening genocide against Israel and destruction against the West. And these people not only believe that we are in the End Times, they think they can speed things up by their own destructive efforts.

Recently, Iran has been providing weapons to Yemenite rebels. Is Iran facilitating a flanking movement against Saudi Arabia? It is not surprising that today Saudi Arabia has cooperating with Israel in intelligence gathering.

It is not unimaginable that the megalomania of Iran would include controlling or manipulating the world supply of oil. This would be a great temptation to someone seeking great power. If you take the perspective that oil is the driving force for the assembly of all these various nations to the Middle East, then the gathering called for in the Revelation 16:16 makes sense.

Also, remember the Islamic hatred of Israel. During the Gulf War of 1991, the United States, Great Britain, (Sunni) Saudi Arabia and (Sunni) Egypt were the countries fighting against (Shiite) Iraq. And yet Iraq was firing missiles at Israel, an uninvolved third party! You will notice that Saudi Arabia and Egypt are part of the Southern nations, the Sunni nations, while Iraq is part of the Northern, Shiite Core.

I have often wondered why these various nations will gather in Israel. There has been a great oil and natural gas discovery made in Israel that will possibly lure these countries.

It may be about the oil of the Middle East, but the hatred of Israel will cause the armies to gather in Israel and cause unprecedented devastation in that land. (Jeremiah 30:6-7) The prophet Zechariah says that all the nations of the world will be gathered at Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:3)

North and East of the Shiite Core are Russia and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This seems to be the same group that is identified as Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39. The portion of Russia in the Caucasus region (which is Muslim) could easily be included with this group. Turkey could be a major player in “Gog and Magog.” Turkey currently is changing from a secular Muslim country to a religious Muslim country, and is a major Middle East power. This group of countries will alarm the king of the North who, according to Daniel, will be camped in Israel.

Many believe that the “War” of Gog and Magog will occur at the beginning of the Tribulation. The sole reason for this is the gathering of weapons by Israel for fuel for seven years. (Ezekiel 39:9) There is no logic to a country at war burning weapons of war. In the 1948 War of Independence, Israel used captured Arab weapons against the Arabs. I believe that Gog and Magog is part of the Battle of Armageddon.

The conclusion and summary of the Shiite Core and current events will be next week.