February 25, 2018 – Please pray for Egypt
Egypt is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and Saudi Arabia do not share a land border with Egypt.
It is the world’s 30th-largest country. Due to the extreme aridity of Egypt’s climate, population centers are concentrated along the narrow Nile Valley and Delta, meaning that about 99% of the population uses about 5.5% of the total land area. 98% of the Egyptians live on 3% of the territory.
Egypt is the most populated country in the Middle East, and the third most populous on the African continent, with about 95 million inhabitants as of 2017. Its population grew rapidly from 1970 to 2010 due to medical advances and increases in agricultural productivity enabled by the Green Revolution.
Egypt was an early and important center of Christianity, but was largely Islamized in the seventh century and remains a predominantly Muslim country, albeit with a significant Christian minority.
Egypt is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country with Islam as its state religion. The percentage of adherents of various religions is a controversial topic in Egypt. An estimated 90% are identified as Muslim, 9% as Coptic Christians, and 1% as other Christian denominations, although without a census the numbers cannot be known. Estimates put the Christian population as high as 15 – 20%.
Although Egypt was a Christian country before the 7th Century, after Islam arrived, the country was gradually Islamized into a majority-Muslim country. It is not known when Muslims reached a majority variously estimated from ca. 1000 A.D. to as late as the 14th century. Egypt emerged as a center of politics and culture in the Muslim world. Under Anwar Sadat, Islam became the official state religion and Sharia the main source of law. It is estimated that 15 million Egyptians follow Native Sufi orders.
Cairo is famous for its numerous mosque minarets and has been dubbed “The City of 1,000 Minarets”.
Of the Christian population in Egypt over 90% belong to the native Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Christian Church. Other native Egyptian Christians are adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church of Egypt and various other Protestant denominations. Non-native Christian communities are largely found in the urban regions of Cairo and Alexandria, such as the Syro-Lebanese, who belong to Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Maronite Catholic denominations.
Ethnic Greeks also made up a large Greek Orthodox population in the past. Likewise, Armenians made up the then larger Armenian Orthodox and Catholic communities. Egypt also used to have a large Roman Catholic community, largely made up of Italians and Maltese. These non-native communities were much larger in Egypt before the Nasser regime and the nationalization that took place.
Egypt hosts the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It was founded back in the first century, considered to be the largest Church in the Middle East and North Africa.
Egypt recognizes only three religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Other faiths and minority Muslim sects practiced by Egyptians, such as the small Bahá’í and Ahmadi community, are not recognized by the state and face persecution by the government, which labels these groups a threat to Egypt’s national security.
The above are from en.wikipedia.org. These statements have not been fact-checked and are only used here to help us gain a better understanding of this nation.
Within the Christian community, Egypt represents spiritual bondage or slavery because of the Biblical account of the Israelites forced servitude following the death of Joseph. Throughout the Old Testament we read of Israel’s desire to return to Egypt, making the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob angry because He had miraculously delivered them through the crossing of the Red Sea.
God cautions those who follow Jesus to flee from the things in life that can bring us into spiritual bondage.
Let join together and pray for this nation that is often mentioned in the Bible and has relevance to us today.
1. Pray for the love of Gospel to penetrate deep into the hearts of the people of Egypt and to our heart as well.
2. Pray for the Christian spiritual leaders of Egypt to have boldness to share the Gospel without the fear of man.
3. Pray for peace to prevail in Egypt and the surrounding nations. We know this region of the world has a long history of unsettled rest. Rest is only found in Jesus Christ.
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