There are four series of prophecies against Egypt in Scripture, four different times Egypt would be destroyed. The first time was when Nebuchadnezzar, and the armies of Babylon destroyed Egypt. The other three prophetic destructions of Egypt are still yet future.

Egypt will be destroyed when they attack Israel during the Psalm 83 war, several years before the beginning of the Tribulation, and I believe the fulfilment of that prophecy can be found in Isaiah 19. They will recover and then…

Egypt will then fall to the Antichrist during the time immediately prior to the Tribulation. (Daniel 11:42) Once again, Egypt will recover during the reign of the Antichrist, to the point that they will join his armies during Armageddon. And then…

The final destruction of Egypt will occur during Armageddon when all the nations of the earth attack Israel. (Jeremiah 25:19, Revelation 19)

There will be believers in Egypt who will not support the Beast, and these people will survive and go into the Millennial kingdom, to partner with Israel and Assyria in service to the Lord! (Isaiah 19:25)

There are parts of Scripture where all of these prophecies are mixed together. Jeremiah chapters 29 to 32 are four chapters in which each begin a fresh prophecy about the destruction of Egypt. These prophecies are not about the same event, but each is about a separate destruction, and they are not necessarily consecutive in their place in Scripture.

The last prophecy has an interesting description that has implications for several of the End Times prophecies;

There are three prophecies about the moon being darkened, or looking like blood, in the book of Joel.

“The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” Joel 2:10

“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.” Joel 2:31

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” Joel 3:14-15

Joel 2:10 is first in the book, but actually last in order, it concerns the Day of the Lord, the Great Tribulation period.

Joel 2:31 concerns a time BEFORE the day of the Lord. This could actually occur several years before the Tribulation begins, and I think it is likely a description of the results of the Psalm 83 war, a late-Church-age-war.

Joel 3:14-15 is also a pre-Tribulaltion war, but much nearer to the beginning of Tribulation than 2:31. This is likely a reference to the Gog/Magog war of Ezekiel 38-39, also a late-Church-age-war.

God frequently does this in Scripture; He speaks of one event, and then sometimes in the same sentence, and sometimes in a later verse, He speaks of a nearer event, and sometimes the events are separated by thousands of years.

Jesus illustrated this when He was quoting Isaiah 61 in Luke 4

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.” Luke 4:18-20

Here’s the original passage;

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3

Notice that Jesus stopped reading in the middle of a sentence. This is because the prophecy of that day ended before the end of the sentence. The rest of the prophecy is reserved for His return! It is the same in many prophecies in Scripture, as it is here in Joel.

These three prophecies in Joel are not about the same event, but three separate instances of the same phenomenon occurring. Many prophecy scholars, such as John Hagee, believe that the reference to the moon looking like blood, are references to lunar eclipses. This is nonsense and serious theological error.

The bible actually describes what it means, in every case, and all we have to do is to keep on reading, and praying. The truth is that we cannot understand without being guided by the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel 32:6-8 describes what is happening in these three prophecies from Joel.

“I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 32:6-8

The cloud here is not a cloud of water, but smoke from burning cities. It could also be ash from volcanoes, since the End Times prophecies do speak of an increase in earthquakes, and earthquakes are associated with volcanic eruptions. This passage, however, specifically speaks of the destruction of Egyptian cities being associated with this cloud, so I think volcanoes are unlikely.

Therefore we can know that the “Blood Moons” are references to the moon looking red because of dust in the atmosphere, which has been kicked-up there from the End Times wars which are about to occur.

Egypt is listed in the nations that attack Israel during the Psalm 83 war. Amalek in verse 7, was a tribe founded by Esau, who live in the Sinai desert. When Israel gave the Sinai back to Egypt on March 26 1979, they insured that the people of the Sinai, the Amalekites, would drag Egypt into this war. These are the people who are digging tunnels into Gaza from the Sinai and smuggling weapons and contraband to Hamas, even today.

Because Egypt has allowed the desert Arabs of the Sinai to drag them into war with Israel they will lose 5 of their cities to Israel. These cities will be annexed by Israel, and their language will be Hebrew.

“In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.” Isaiah 19:18

The reason I believe this war will occur during the closing days of the Church-Age is because Zephania 2:1-2 tells us that Israel will return before the Day of the Lord, and Isaiah 27 tells us that the Lord will “beat off” Israel’s enemies from the Euphrates river to the “stream”of Egypt, the Nile, and then He will gather Israel.

He is telling us that He will use this major military victory as a means to inspire confidence in the people of Israel, to cause them to return;

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” Isaiah 26:12-13

Some commentators think the “stream of Egypt” is the wadi el Arish, but they are wrong. This is not a small incremental victory over uninhabited land, but a huge victory over a powerful enemy. In other places the “stream” is referred to as the “river of Egypt” (Nahar Mitzraim). This is a river, not a wadi which dries up in the summer.  I believe Israel will inherit the land of Goshen, on the east side of the Nile, which they built when they were slaves in Egypt some 3,500 years ago.

Moses’ promise to Israel was retroactive to the time they began their wandering;

“And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.” Joshua 14:9

The proof is in Isaiah 19

“In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.” Isaiah 19:18

While the bible does not say that “the city of destruction” will be Cairo, I believe it will be, because they will participate in a treacherous plan to destroy Israel. That war will be one which causes the moon to look blood-red in the night sky, and it will occur while the Church of Jesus Christ is still on the earth, before the rapture, and before the Tribulation.

Yes. Israel wandered through eastern Egypt, the Sinai, and throughout the Arabian peninsula, before entering into the promised land. The inheritance of Israel includes all of this land.  One day soon they will have control over all of it!

While the promise pertains to the Millennial kingdom, God will allow them to control it before the Tribulation, in order to trap them into returning!

Dan Knezacek