Back when it was relatively quiet in both nations, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned that Libya and Ethiopia would be important nations to watch in the events unfolding in the Middle East.

In his February 6Key of David broadcast (recorded on January 27), Mr. Flurry said, “There are two other countries that are specifically mentioned in Daniel 11, verse 40 through verse 44—and those two countries are Libya and Ethiopia. … Now, why would God have those two nations mentioned in there?”

Both countries are along the critical Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea trade routes, he went on to explain.

“Can you just imagine if the radical Islamic movement gets control of those vital sea lanes?” he asked.

Fast-forward one month. On March 2, Islamist attacks on Christians broke out across Ethiopia after a Christian in Asendabo was accused of desecrating the Koran. The attacks have continued to this day and have displaced about 10,000 Christians.

“Thousands of Christians have been forced to flee their homes in western Ethiopia after Muslim extremists set fire to roughly 50 churches and dozens of Christian homes,” FoxNews wrote on Thursday. “Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the Islamist group Kawarja is believed to have incited the violence.”

Besides setting buildings on fire, attackers have issued assassination threats and assaulted college students attempting to distribute Bibles.

Earlier this month, a leading Somali al-Shabaab official called on Muslims in Kenya and Ethiopia to rebel against their governments. Sheikh Mahad Omar Abdikarim described Muslims in the two nations as “oppressed” and said they needed to “liberate” themselves from Christian domination.

The FoxNews article wrote,

“The violence against Christians in Ethiopia is alarming because Ethiopian Muslims and Christians used to live together peacefully. Besides, it’s extremely disconcerting that in Ethiopia, where Christians are the majority, they are also the victims of persecution,” Jonathan Racho, [International Christian Concern’s] regional manager of Africa and South Asia, told FoxNews.com. …Racho, originally from Ethiopia, said the fact that the government waited a full week before sending troops to Asendabo shows that it’s not doing enough.

Following the Key of David program taped on January 27, the Trumpet alerted readers to Ethiopia’s prophesied realignment into the radical Islamist camp, ultimately coming under Iranian influence. Now would be a good time to brush up on that material.