In recent years we have witnessed a massive and dramatic economic collapse of the large majority of Arab countries.
One of the most affected countries, which has continued to slide into economic collapse throughout the past years, is Lebanon. The international rating agency Fitch, a member of the so-called “Big Three,” dropped Lebanon’s rating to CCC about a year ago, which is viewed as “littery”. Obviously, these rankings severely weaken Lebanon’s economic relations with international financial institutions. Other rating agencies also give Lebanon very low ratings.
Lebanon’s economic decline derives mainly from the fact that over the past twenty years the terrorist group Hezbollah, a proxy of the Iranian regime, has become deeply integrated into many of the country’s government institutions and practically has brought them under its control. As a result, the Gulf states, which are in active confrontation with Iran, virtually on the brink of war, have drastically cut their economic relations with Lebanon, which previously absorbed their multi-billion dollar investments and trade deals, as well as donations.
The economic decline of Lebanon, Turkey (a Muslim country, not an Arab one), and many other Arab countries, along with their deteriorating international status (alongside with the outburst of Muslim terror worldwide by ISIS, al-Qaeda and other Islamic groups) and the military collapse of many of them (some, like Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, literally falling apart, no longer functioning as fully fledged states), might in fact be seen as part of the fulfillment of prophecies about the coming Redemption. Many of our spiritual sources state that the fall of Ishmael (the Muslim world) is a clear sign of the coming Redemption. Indeed, this is stated in many places in the holy book of the Zohar, as well as in the commentaries to it.
Among the most important of these sources is the holy “Baal ha-Turim” — Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher (son of no less famous Rabbi Asher ben Yehiel), who lived in Europe in the late XII and XIII centuries, the author of a monumental work on Jewish law “Arba Turim”, that became the basis of many Jewish lawbooks, and above all the book “Shulhan Arukh”.
According to his commentary on the text at the end of the weekly Torah chapter “Chayei Sarah” (“Life of Sarah”): “And he fell before the eyes of all his brothers,” Baal ha-Turim writes the following: “When Ishmael falls at the end of time, then there will rise the lineage of David, from the heritage of Isaac.”
In other words, In other words, the proximity of the chapter “Toldot” (“toldot” is translated as “an inheritance”) immediately following the chapter “Chayei Sarah”, leads us to conclude that the fall of Ishmael, will be the prelude to the birth of Moshiach from the family of David, from the heritage of Isaac, about which it is written at the beginning of the chapter “Toldot”.
Another illustration of the fall of Ishmael, of course, is the degradation of Iran, which also continues to decline, most notably economically. Reports from Iran show that as a consequence of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. Trump administration, government budgets there have been cut by dozens of percent, and prices are rising by hundreds of percent. With the Almighty’s help, all of this could lead to the collapse of the regime. Indeed, the protests are continuing and are intensifying: caused both by economic problems and by the Iranian authorities’ denial of basic human rights and murders of protesters.
In addition, the European Union announced that it would impose additional sanctions on Iran for supplying strike drones to Russia, which uses them against Ukraine. Iran’s involvement in the war against Ukraine is becoming increasingly apparent. Some U.S. sources report that the Iranian regime has sent Iranian instructors to train the Russian military to use the drones more effectively. Moreover, there are reports that Iranians are directly involved in carrying out drone attacks against Ukrainian targets. In other words, the Iranians are personally involved in the war against the Ukrainians! Additionally, there are more and more reports that Iran intends to supply Russia with its ballistic missiles.
Of course, Iran will pay a high economic price for this engagement in war against Ukraine, and its international reputation will be severely ruined. This would also be devastating for the perspective of signing a nuclear agreement, which was supposed to give the Iranian regime access to hundreds of billions of dollars from the removal of sanctions. With Iran’s involvement in the fighting in Ukraine and the extremely violent suppression of demonstrations in Iran, it is possible that Western countries will reject the removal of sanctions and even reinforce them, which will further deteriorate the economic situation in Iran.
It will all, as we have already noted, become part of the fulfillment of the Ishmael`s fall prophecies, a prelude to the full and true Redemption as revealed by the holy Baal ha-Turim.