[Steve Myers] Big things are happening in the Mid-East once again. In Egypt, Mr. Morsi, the president, there has granted himself extra powers, basically making himself dictator over all of Egypt. Even though he's denying that, in essence, that's what these things have done. What he's granted himself is power to the level that the judicial system can't even question his decisions.

[Darris McNeely] And this has also brought people back out into the streets about a year and a half, nearly two years now since the first Arab Spring riots in Egypt that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak and now led to what people thought would be a breath of democracy within Egypt. They had elections. They elected Mohammed Morsi, who is associated with the Islamic Brotherhood, a fundamentalist group within Egypt. And now he has taken this bold step in the wake of the recent Gaza bombings between Israel and Gaza and the brokered ceasefire that he was a part of. He's now taken these powers to himself and has brought people back out into the streets.

[Steve Myers] It raises a lot of questions. What's going to happen in Egypt? Will it become an Islamic state? Could it become another Iran? You see, these issues come right to the heart of the matter because these are the things that the Egyptians were protesting against before Mr. Morsi came to power. So how exactly is it going to turn out and why should we keep our eye on what's happening in Egypt?

[Darris McNeely] The reason we should be keeping our eye on Egypt is because of course it is part of a volatile region. Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria - all of the Middle East and other countries played significant roles in future Bible prophecy. In Daniel 11:42-43, Egypt is mentioned as this powerful King of the North, comes into the region and Egypt specifically is mentioned. And so what takes place in Egypt, the largest, most populous, Arab state with the largest standing military within the Middle East, what happens there is critical. And in regard to this current crisis, again one of the key players is the military and what they will do - whether they will support Mr. Morsi, whether they will follow the side of the man in the street, the population, the public of Egypt which they are sworn by duty to protect. Exactly what they will do is really the critical step here because since the early 1950's the military really has been the major power within Egypt. So you need to watch what's taking place with the military in this most important and critical nation of Egypt in the Middle East.

[Steve Myers] Especially when you think of it in terms of Bible prophecy. Remember the Bible talks about Arab coalitions. How will that come about? Let's keep our eye on what's happening in Egypt and how it may begin to fulfill some of those prophecies that you find in your Bible.

[Darris McNeely] That's BT Daily. Join us next time.