Grover Cleveland experienced a meteoric rise to power when he went from being a moderately successful Buffalo lawyer in 1881 to being elected president of the United States in just three years! One of Cleveland’s biographers, Horace Samuel Merrill, explained his political rise in this way: “He was lucky-almost unbelievably lucky!”
It may have seemed that he was “unbelievably lucky,” but the Bible declares that luck has nothing to do with anything-including a rise from seeming obscurity to great power. Instead, the only real explanation for anything of that sort is that God provided for it to happen. In fact, in comparing Daniel 2:21; John 3:27; 19:11; and 1 Corinthians 4:7, we can see that any authority possessed by anyone is due to God granting it.
However, Grover Cleveland’s amazing rise from obscurity to power will seem as nothing compared to the rise of a man from the seeming obscurity of a Middle Eastern country to become ruler over the world. Certainly, luck will have nothing to do with that rise, as the Bible tells us that Satan will be behind it. Yet, the same prophet of God who declared that God “removes kings and raises up kings” (Daniel 2:21), and who prophesies of this future king, indicates that his rise will be part of God’s plan for the world.
The Bible declares that this future leader is Assyrian by background (see Isaiah 14:25 and Micah 5:6). In addition, Scripture also shows that he will arise from the area that is common to three empires-the Assyrian Empire; the Seleucid Empire; and the Roman Empire. The region common to all three empires falls within northern Iraq. Interestingly, the largest group of Assyrians in the world exists in northwest Iraq (in Kurdistan), around the place where the ancient Assyrian capital, Nineveh, existed.
The book of Daniel (11:36-45) describes this future ruler as the king of the North and reveals he will conquer the Middle East and northern Africa before entering into Jerusalem. It will be from this city of God that he will begin his three-and-a-half-year rule over the world.
If his rise to power is in the near future, we might expect God to be preparing the way for his ascension even now. There may be some clues that God has already begun that preparation.
There is a sense in which God began that preparation by providing for the U.S. to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Under Hussein, the Assyrians, though Christians, were protected by this neo-Nebuchadnezzar; for he respected the fact that they were the educated of Iraq-the doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc. When Hussein was removed, America not only readied the king of the North’s ascent by destabilizing the country, but the U.S. removed protection of the Assyrians from persecution.
As a result, the Assyrians have become the most persecuted people group in the world without their own nation, dropping from an estimated Iraqi population under Saddam Hussein of 1.2 million to under 400,000 today. At this rate, there will be no Assyrians left in Iraq in about four years, which is why the rise of the king of the North will likely occur within the next few years. It seems that this future king will begin his ascent in power when he steps in to protect his people. He will, of course, be attacked when he does, which is indicated in Daniel 11:40; but his response to being attack will result in his conquest of the region.
This land from which he will arise has become even more unstable due to the vacuum created by the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq. As a result, the concern is evident that Iraq is moving into the orbit of Iran. One recent example of this seems to be Iraq’s moral and financial support of the Syrian regime.
However, it appears Iran will not be able to fill this vacuum. Instead, because Iraqis see Iran as the enemy, a whole host of countries, such as Turkey, China, Lebanon, and Kuwait, are making the biggest inroads into Iraq. The dividing of the power there creates a perfect environment for the powerful rise of the future king.
One such division in power has served to create its own region within Iraq. That region is Kurdistan. As noted above, it is that area in which the greatest number of Assyrians dwell. And, interestingly, there are similarities between the Kurds, who are a stateless, persecuted people, and the Assyrians, who are also a stateless, persecuted people-similarities which appear to go beyond coincidence. Might God be using one people group for the other to align with end-times prophecy?
Consider that both the Kurds and the Assyrians are persecuted in the same areas of the Middle East-particularly in Turkey and in Iraq. However, because the Kurds are Muslims, Iraq has permitted them to have their own region-in the northwest area of Iraq that is now called Kurdistan. Interestingly, the Assyrians, which are even more persecuted than are the Kurds in Iraq because they are Christians, reside mostly in Kurdistan. It appears God has provided for them to gather there because the Kurds can identify with their suffering; thus, they have a bit more help there, as a result.
This help includes the presence of an Assyrian in the government in Kurdistan-Sarkis Aghajan Mamendo, the finance minister. That position has enabled Mamendo to provide help to his fellow Assyrians who have been beset by attacks of persecution. Mamendo has been able to use his position to help Assyrians rebuild homes and churches destroyed by Muslims who have set fire to them.
This, like the gathering of the Assyrians in the area located near the ancient Assyrian capital, Nineveh, appears to be providential. Mamendo’s financial help enables the Assyrians to hang in there until God’s providential timing of the rise of the king of the North. When it comes, it will be far more meteoric than that of Grover Cleveland. In the meantime, we can see the hand of God preparing for it.
