Isaiah 27

So it shall be in that day:
The great trumpet will be blown;
They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria,
And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt,
And shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

(Isaiah 27:13)

     A couple of days ago a friend mentioned to me Isa. 27:13 as one more piece of evidence that we are living in the End Times.  It caught me by surprise. “ Isaiah 27?  You mean Isaiah 17, don’t you?” “ No”, my friend answered, “go read Isaiah 27:13.”  I did, and it amazed me.  Who are those who are about to perish in Assyria, who are outcasts in Egypt.  Obviously they must be believers, since they are coming to worship the Lord.

     On May 30, a report from the Gatestone Institute showed then-presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi declaring that he will achieve the Islamic conquest of Egypt and make all Christians convert to Islam or pay the jizya.  When questioned about the Christian Copts, he reportedly answered that "they need to know that conquest is coming, and Egypt will be Islamic, and that they must pay jizya or emigrate."  So those are the choices, convert or leave the country.  Last Tuesday, Egypt Daily News reported that "lawyers who specialize in working with Coptic Egyptians... say that in the past few weekd they have received hundreds of calls from Copts wanting to leave Egypt."

     In early June, some mosques inthe Syrian city of Qusayr announced from the minarets that "Christians must leave Qusayr within six days."  A week later the Christian population of Qusayr, about 9,000 men women and children, had fled.  In the city of Homs, the third largest in Syria, almost the entire Christian population of 50,000 to 60,000 has also fled for safety.  And bombs have exploded in the Christian quarters of Damascus and Aleppo.

     Now, persecution of Christians is not a new trend.  The early church was persecuted and, like the Voice of the Martyrs likes to say, persecution did not end at the Roman Colosseum.  Persecution today is particularly strong in Muslim countries, especially for those Muslims who convert to Christianity.  But Christians in Egypt and Syria had enjoyed a modicum of peace.  Now suddenly the tables are turning and Christians are running for their lives.  Just like Isaiah foretold.  And he said it would happen at the time of the restoration of Israel.