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Are we seeing a structure being put together for the coming King of the South?
Last week, a defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan was announced (see Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan sign military alliance–another ‘King of the South’ step?). Officials from the Turkish and Pakistani governments said that others in the region were invited to join it (see Has an Islamic NATO just been formed?).
NewsMax posted the following:
Mecca Defense Alliance Could Expand to Egypt
August 10, 2026
Several other Middle East countries, such as Egypt, could be added to the trilateral security agreement signed in Mecca on Friday, Bloomberg reported.Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said several nations have expressed interest in joining the new mutual-defense pact between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, with Egypt potentially next in line.”I believe that in the next stage, Egypt will also be among us,” Fidan told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, according to Bloomberg. “There are a few technical matters there. Once those are implemented, there is no reason for Egypt not to be included as well.”Egypt’s entry would bring another major Sunni Muslim-majority nation — and one of the Middle East’s largest militaries — into a security arrangement formed amid growing instability from the war in Iran.
The pact, provisionally described by Fidan as the “Mecca Alliance” or “Mecca Defense Alliance,” was signed Friday by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The agreement stipulates that an armed attack against one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all three. It also calls for expanded defense cooperation. https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/egypt-turkey-saudi-arabia/2026/08/10/id/1265588/
The agreement is like an Islamic NATO.
But what about Egypt?
Could Middle East war bring region closer to an ‘Arab NATO’?
March 20, 2026
Egypt is again calling for a joint Arab military alliance – sometimes described as an “Arab NATO” – to defend the region. But Arab states are deeply divided over the idea, Middle East analyst Hasni Abidi tells RFI.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi this week renewed calls for a common Arab force – a proposal that has been discussed for years but has never taken shape.
The idea has resurfaced as conflict spreads across the Gulf, with Iranian missile and drone strikes hitting several Arab states in retaliation for attacks by Israel and the United States. The escalation is also raising new questions about how Arab countries should organise their own defence. …
RFI: What does the idea of an “Arab NATO” involve?
Hasni Abidi: It is an old idea. During the war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia wanted to form an Arab coalition, similar to NATO, against the Houthis. It managed to involve some states, but their participation was largely symbolic and it never succeeded in creating a real military coalition.
As early as 2015, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi suggested forming an Arab military coalition, backed by the United States, to fight terrorism in the region.
More recently, when Qatar was hit by Iran, the Egyptian president spoke about the need for a common Arab defence to face this challenge.
Today, he has sent his foreign minister to support the Gulf countries, but also to tell them that the current circumstances require a new Arab architecture – in other words, a shared defence system run by Arab states themselves.
RFI: The idea is not new and has never succeeded. Could the situation today change that?
HA: It is very difficult to imagine all Arab states accepting this Egyptian proposal. Several states say they have no interest in joining a military alliance. …
RFI: Do the attacks on Gulf countries because of their alliance with the United States call into question their relationship with Washington?
HA: There is now a debate in Gulf countries about their relationship with the United States. Is this partnership still relevant? The war with Iran has exposed not only the vulnerability of the Gulf states but also what many see as American inaction when it came to protecting their partners, even though they are linked by mutual defence agreements.
There is a growing feeling of abandonment in the Gulf. https://www.rfi.fr/en/international/20260320-could-war-in-middle-east-bring-region-closer-to-an-arab-nato
An unintended consequence of the USA/Israel-Iran war is that the Arab nations are looking for increased military cooperation. Daniel 11:40-43 will come to pass.
Furthermore, as reported here, 14 nations (including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan) joined a naval alliance in the region (see Saudi Arabian general appointed head of a multinational military confederation: Another step towards the ‘King of the South’?).
These are concrete steps.
But more will follow.
Now what about Egypt?
It was the position of the old Radio Church of God that Egypt could very well become the final leader of the King of the South, but it would take time for that to be the case. Notice a quote from the July 1963 Plain Truth article by Garner Ted Armstrong titled “And when you see the Abomination…” which clearly proves that:
Daniel was given specific visions of events to occur in OUR TIME!…Notice! And at the TIME OF THE END (this prophecy, then, is absolutely DATED as pertaining to OUR DAY, NOW) shall the king of the south push at him (the “king of the north”) and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over” (verse 40). Bible scholars have recognized the FIRST, TYPICAL fulfillment of this surprising prophecy, but have failed to see its LITERAL application to OUR TIMES!…
But what of the MODERN powers meant by these designations? Remember-the Bible is written, SPIRITUALLY and GEOGRAPHICALLY, from the point of view of PALESTINE! If you were to look on a map, and try to find two powers fitting this description, you would have a fairly easy task…Who else could this be, then, except the coming UNITED STATES OF EUROPE, a resurrection of the ancient ROMAN EMPIRE, Just as we have been fearlessly proclaiming…A rearmed GERMANY, heading up a final union…IN EUROPE -THIS is the Biblical KING OF THE NORTH!
The king of the South? EGYPT, of course. But not Egypt of today. Egypt of a few more years from now–Egypt as she continues to expand the U.A.R., bringing more and more of the North Africa Mohammedan nations into the same Afro-Arabian power block! (p. 22).
The late Radio/Worldwide Church of God evangelist Raymond McNair (who was also once part of the old Global Church of God) wrote:
Daniel 11 also mentions some of the Mideast peoples who will be involved in that struggle among the nations at the close of this age. The belligerents will include the “King of the North,” the leader of the European Union (or its final outgrowth, called the “Beast”). The “King of the South” (an Islamic leader—apparently from Egypt {or} some other Muslim state) is also referred to. The following lands/peoples are specifically mentioned: Egypt, the Holy Land (Israel/Palestine), the Ethiopians (modern Cushites, south of Egypt), Libya, Edom, Moab and Ammon. Many descendants of the ancient peoples known as Edomites or Idumeans now live in the West Bank, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Arabia, Yemen, the Persian Gulf states, etc. (McNair R. Solving the Arab-Israeli Impasse! Copyright Raymond F. McNair 2005, Church of God—21st Century).
Notice that Raymond McNair realizes that Egypt or some other Muslim country is where the king of the South will come from and that the term translated as Ethiopians really means the Cushite peoples who live in southern Egypt as well as elsewhere.
Others have said that the Cushites basically mean dark-skinned people, hence this could include peoples from Sudan, Somalia, and even places like Pakistan. The old Worldwide Church of God published the following which supports that view:
The brown people of southern India and Ceylon are also descendants of Cush. Historians call them Dravidians; the ancients called them Sibae (Smith’s Classical Dictionary). Their Bible name was Seba (Gen. 10:7). Josephus recognized an eastern and a western Cush–one in Asia, the other in Africa (Antiquities, Book 1, VI, 2). Herodotus calls them “Asiatic Ethiopians” (Thalia, Section 94). “Ethiopia” in Ezekiel 38:5 should be translated “Cush.” It refers primarily to the Asiatic Cush, which is India today. (Personal Correspondence Department. Letter L270, L270-688. Worldwide Church of God)
Cush and Phut (or Put). These peoples of Ezekiel 38:5 are generally found today in the region of India and Pakistan.
Cush was a son of Ham (Gen. 10:6). Cush is often translated “Ethiopia” in the Bible. But not all Cushites live in Ethiopia!
The descendants of Cush split into two major groups, the Eastern and Western Cushites. The Western Cushites are found in major areas of Black Africa today, including modern Ethiopia, …
The Eastern Cushites, on the other hand, are the brown peoples of central and southern India and part of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). They are represented by such groups as the Dravidians, Tamils and Telugus. Herodotus calls these Eastern Cushites “Asiatic Ethiopians.” During their migrations, incidentally, these Asiatic Cushites gave their name to the Hindu Kush mountain range of Central Asia. … The Muslim nation of Pakistan consists of four provinces, two on each side of the Indus River. (Russia & China in Prophecy. WCG 1948, 1980, 1987)
Related to Egypt, the United Church of God indicated (Sieglie M. Egypt in History and Prophecy. Good News, May-June 2011, p.11) that the following may be related to the King of the South:
4 And the Egyptians I will give
Into the hand of a cruel master,
And a fierce king will rule over them,
Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. (Isaiah 19:4)
Additionally, Isaiah 31 lists the destruction of “the Egyptians” (verses 1-3) ahead of “Assyria” (verses 8-9), just like the Book of Daniel places the destruction of the king of the South (Daniel 11:40-43) ahead of the king of the North (11:45).
Notice more quotes of the scriptures in Isaiah as they point to a time of chaos and then destruction in Egypt:
3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out His hand,
Both he who helps will fall,
And he who is helped will fall down;
They all will perish together. (Isaiah 31:3)1 The burden against Egypt.
Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.
2 “I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom. 3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers. 4 And the Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them,”
Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. (Isaiah 19:1-4)
Interestingly, the Roman Catholic saint Jerome apparently felt that the King of the South was from Egypt as he wrote about Daniel 11:
As for the Antichrist, there is no question but what he is going to fight against the holy covenant, and that when he first makes war against the king of Egypt, he shall straightway be frightened off by the assistance of the Romans… the Antichrist…shall first fight against the king of the South, or Egypt, and shall afterwards conquer Libya and Ethiopia (Jerome. Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 11. Translated by Gleason L. Archer. (1958). This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, Ipswich, UK, 2004. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm viewed 06/05/11)
While Jerome is confused on some points (the Antichrist is not the King of the North, but a supporter of that king; and it is more likely that Americans and not Romans frighten him off in Daniel 11:30), he is correct in indicating that the Beast power will over-power the King of the South and conquer Egypt and Libya.
Before going further, let’s look at something from the official English-language website of the Muslim Brotherhood about its history and goals:
Al-Banna was chiefly responsible for formulating the policies of this association…his effort and works deserved great consideration of Islamic society in the revolution to the revival of Islamic state (Caliphate)…The Muslim Brethren…believe that the caliphate is a symbol of Islamic Union and an indication of the bonds between the nations of Islam. They see the caliphate and its re-establishment as a top priority, subsequently; an association of Muslims people should be set up, which would elect the imam”. (zhyntativ. HASAN AL-BANNA AND HIS POLITICAL THOUGHT OF ISLAMIC BROTHERHOOD. IkhwanWeb, May 13, 2008. http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=17065 viewed 09/22/11)
What is the Muslim Brotherhood?
The world’s largest and most influential Islamist movement. Founded in Egypt in 1928, the group was originally focused on ridding the country of corrupting secular influences brought by British colonial rule. Over the years, it established branches and affiliates in many countries to promote traditional Sunni Islamic morals, social justice, and the eradication of poverty and corruption. “The Islamic nation,” its charter states, “must be fully prepared to fight the tyrants and the enemies of Allah as a prelude to establishing an Islamic state”—ideally a re-established caliphate, stretching from Spain across the Middle East and Central Asia to Indonesia, to be governed according to Islamic sharia law. (Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood. February 14, 2011. © The Muslim Brotherhood. http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=28019 viewed 11/21/2011)
The Muslim Brotherhood wants as its top priority a pan-national Islamic caliphate ruled by an Imam. Many Muslims long for the rising up of a leader called the 12th Imam, often referred to as the Imam Mahdi (see also the YouTube video The Muslim Brotherhood and the Rise of the King of the South). This caliphate will not end up with Spain if I understand certain aspects of Bible prophecy correctly, but the confederation of the final King of the South may go from around Western Sahara and/or Mauritania to Oman (with possible involvement and/or coordination with Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and/or Indonesia). See also The Prophesied ‘Islamic’ Confederation. and/or watch the video titled Will an Arabic Calphiphate Destroy the West?
Not only was the Muslim Brotherhood originally established in Egypt, Egypt has repeatedly tried to put together something that possibly could be ruled by the coming King of the South (though it has been pushed aside for a time).
Now, also notice that the Bible shows that a time is coming when the confederation with Egypt will be destroyed and it is in the FUTURE as it is near the day of the LORD:
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
“‘Wail and say, “Alas for that day!” 3 For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near- a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. 4 A sword will come against Egypt, and anguish will come upon Cush. When the slain fall in Egypt, her wealth will be carried away and her foundations torn down.
5 Cush and Put, Lydia and all Arabia, Libya and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt.
6 “‘This is what the LORD says:
“‘The allies of Egypt will fall and her proud strength will fail. From Migdol to Aswan they will fall by the sword within her, declares the Sovereign LORD. 7 “‘They will be desolate among desolate lands, and their cities will lie among ruined cities. 8 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I set fire to Egypt and all her helpers are crushed.
9 “‘On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush out of her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is sure to come (Ezekiel 30:1-9, NIV).
And this seems to be the destruction of the King of the South by the King of the North in Daniel 11:40-43 as Ezekiel 30:4-5 sound very much like Daniel 11:42-43. Notice a different translation of verse 3:
3 For the day is near,
Even the day of the Lord is near;
It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. (Ezekiel 30:3, NKJV)
The above is an end time prophecy as it ties in with the final time of the Gentiles, which also ties in with the Great Tribulation (see also When Will the Great Tribulation Begin?) and the Day of the Lord.
Note that the destruction of Egypt by the King of Babylon mentioned in Ezekiel 30:25-26 may also be an ante-type. (Perhaps it should be pointed out that Libya is mentioned specifically above in Ezekiel 30:5 as well as Daniel 11:43–though the Hebrew word in Ezekiel 30:5 for Libya seems to be the word the NIV translators translated as Lydia (see also Libya, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia in Prophecy). The word translated above as Libya, Puwt, may be referring to some of the peoples of Iran as Puwt was a Persian tribe or possibly the branch that made it to Pakistan.)
Ezekiel 32:2-16, and especially verses 11 & 12, also tells of the destruction of Egypt when it is apparently allied with multitudes, by the King of Babylon:
2 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:
‘You are like a young lion among the nations, And you are like a monster in the seas, Bursting forth in your rivers, Troubling the waters with your feet, And fouling their rivers.’
3 “Thus says the Lord God:
‘I will therefore spread My net over you with a company of many people, And they will draw you up in My net. 4 Then I will leave you on the land;I will cast you out on the open fields, And cause to settle on you all the birds of the heavens. And with you I will fill the beasts of the whole earth. 5 I will lay your flesh on the mountains, And fill the valleys with your carcass.
6 ‘I will also water the land with the flow of your blood, Even to the mountains; And the riverbeds will be full of you. 7 When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud,And the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you,And bring darkness upon your land,’ Says the Lord God.
9 ‘I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 Yes, I will make many peoples astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they shall tremble every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.’
11 “For thus says the Lord God: ‘The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. 12 By the swords of the mighty warriors, all of them the most terrible of the nations, I will cause your multitude to fall.
‘They shall plunder the pomp of Egypt, And all its multitude shall be destroyed. 13 Also I will destroy all its animals From beside its great waters;The foot of man shall muddy them no more, Nor shall the hooves of animals muddy them. 14 Then I will make their waters clear,And make their rivers run like oil,’ Says the Lord God.
15 ‘When I make the land of Egypt desolate, And the country is destitute of all that once filled it, When I strike all who dwell in it, Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
16 ‘This is the lamentation With which they shall lament her; The daughters of the nations shall lament her; They shall lament for her, for Egypt, And for all her multitude, ‘Says the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 32:2-16)
The above seems to have two fulfillments, and presuming a second one, it would seem to relate to the final King of the South.
If Jeremiah 46:14-24 has future application, this is another set of verses showing problems will hit that King of the South coalition:
14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol;
Proclaim in Noph and in Tahpanhes;
Say, ‘Stand fast and prepare yourselves,
For the sword devours all around you.’
15 Why are your valiant men swept away?
They did not stand
Because the Lord drove them away.
16 He made many fall;
Yes, one fell upon another.
And they said, ‘Arise!
Let us go back to our own people
And to the land of our nativity
From the oppressing sword.’
17 They cried there,
‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise.
He has passed by the appointed time!’18 “As I live,” says the King,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts,
“Surely as Tabor is among the mountains
And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.
19 O you daughter dwelling in Egypt,
Prepare yourself to go into captivity!
For Noph shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant.20 “Egypt is a very pretty heifer,
But destruction comes, it comes from the north.
21 Also her mercenaries are in her midst like fat bulls,
For they also are turned back,
They have fled away together.
They did not stand,
For the day of their calamity had come upon them,
The time of their punishment.
22 Her noise shall go like a serpent,
For they shall march with an army
And come against her with axes,
Like those who chop wood.23 “They shall cut down her forest,” says the Lord,
“Though it cannot be searched,
Because they are innumerable,
And more numerous than grasshoppers.
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed;
She shall be delivered into the hand
Of the people of the north.” (Jeremiah 46:14-24)
Notice that verse 17 refers to the appointed time and verse 20 and 24 talk about the takeover from a power from the north–this is similar to Daniel 11:40-43.
But even if Ezekiel 32 and Jeremiah 46 have no future fulfillment, the Bible shows that the nations, like the Arab ones, should NOT support the coming confederation. It is doomed to be destroyed per Daniel 11:40-43 and Ezekiel 30:1-9.
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
Is the Future King of the South Rising Up? Some no longer believe there needs to be a future King of the South. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi or Caliph? What does the Bible say? Two videos of related interest are: The Future King of the South is Rising and he Rise and Fall of the King of the South. Here is a version the Spanish language: ¿Esta Surgiendo el Rey Del Sur?
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims? An item of possibly related interest in the Spanish language would be: Líderes iraníes condenan la hipocresía de Occidente y declaran que ahora es tiempo para prepararse para el Armagedón, la guerra, y el Imán Mahdi.
Islamic and Biblical Prophecies for the 21st Century This is a free online book which helps show where biblical and Islamic prophecies converge and diverge. Here are links to related sermons: Seeing Christianity Through Islamic Eyes, Imam Mahdi, women, and prophecy, and Terrorism, Iran, and Fatima, Dajjal, Antichrist, Gold, & Mark of the Beast?, and Jesus and God’s Plan for Muslims. Here is a link to a sermon in the Spanish language: El Imám Mahdi las mujeres y la profecía bíblica. Here is a link to the book in Spanish: Profecías islámicas y bíblicas para el Siglo 21°.
