MIDDLE EAST UPDATE

Has the Middle East crisis finally reached critical mass and forced Israel to prepare for the long threatened Shiite attack? Despite the best efforts of the following coalition (otherwise known as the “rebel forces” and their supporters) the Sunnis are losing the war in Syria. This side includes: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Islamic Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, Turkey and Jordan (in some respects the USA).

Therefore, Bashar al Assad, who has dodged many bullets – both literally and figuratively – is still ensconced in power and will not be deposed any time soon.

The Shiite forces now include: the Syrian army, Hezbollah (who has sent thousands of troops to Syria) Iranian troops, including some from the Revolutionary Guard, and Russia.

While the Obama Administration remained in muddled indecision, the Russians acted decisively. They have now sent four batteries of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems along with Russian crews to man them, to Syria.

This effectively ties Prime Minister Netanyahu’s hands because he wouldn’t dare fire upon a Syrian position where Russian soldiers are stationed. That could literally precipitate World War III. Senior Syrian official Halef al-Muftah understands this unfortunate turn of events. He said on a Hizballah-owned TV station: “We have strategic weapons. The Syrian Army is ready to answer any threat. The rules have changed.”

The question is, will Syria and her allies attack Israel? We have published a possible scenario in the book “From the Hidden-You Will Understand It Perfectly” on page 30.

Possible Scenario
1. Syria will attack Israel
2. Israel will counterattack by sea to save Jerusalem, firing against Damascus. (Jeremiah 49:23-27)
3. Indignation in Russia and the Moslem community will precipitate the Ezekiel War. (Ezekiel 38,39)
This war will be very short and decisive (Isaiah 17:12-14). Israel will win.
4. This will precipitate the great harvest at the end of the age.(Ezekiel 39:7,21)
5. Then an Assyrian diplomat will come to Jerusalem to broker a seven year peace treaty with Israel. This diplomat is the antichrist. (Micah 5:5-6)
Anne T Garcia, From the Hidden; You Will Understand It Perfectly, p.30

Item: Israeli planes attacked Damascus on May 5. Palestinian terrorists responded on May 15, shelling an Israeli military post.

Item: President Barack Obama ignored the “red line” crossed by the Assad government which used chemical weapons against their own people.

Item: Syrian government forces captured the northwestern town of al Qusayr in Syria. Iranian weapons are now flowing into Syria freely from Lebanon.

With the continual increase in bellicosity came a tersely worded warning from an unnamed Israeli official in the New York Times on May 15:

“Israel is determined to continue to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hizballah… Their transfer to Hizbollah will destabilize and endanger the entire region. If Syrian President Assad reacts by attacking Israel…he will risk forfeiting his regime, for Israel will retaliate.”(emphasis added)

And so we ask the question: Is this a reference to the destruction of Damascus referenced repeatedly in the Word of God?

•This is a permanent judgment. It ceases to be a city.

1 The burden against Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.
Isaiah 17:1

•It is destroyed in a naval attack

23 Against Damascus. Hamath and Arpad are shamed, For they have heard bad news. They are fainthearted; There is trouble on the sea; It cannot be quiet. 24 Damascus has grown feeble; She turns to flee, And fear has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor.
Jeremiah 49:23-24

•It will be destroyed with fire

3 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron. 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad.

Amos 1:3-4
Hold in your thinking that Damascus is the oldest city in the world that has been continually inhabited. It was already a thriving metropolis in the days of Abraham (Genesis 14:15). Still, its days are numbered and its destruction is inevitable. Four prophets attest to its demise.

From a political point of view Amos Chapter 1 and Zechariah Chapter 9 are the most interesting. Both of those prophets link Damascus' fate with the judgment of Lebanon and the Palestinians.

Zechariah 9 is especially riveting, as it begins Zechariah's commentary on the "End of Days." In Zechariah chapters 12 and 14 the prophet goes on to give the most graphic description of the Armageddon scenario in the entire Bible. The point is, it all begins with the destruction of Damascus.

Amos' narrative offers other interesting information: "'And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish' says the Lord." (Amos 1:8)
Recall the word Philistines transliterates into the modern word "Palestinian." One might expect this to be God's judgment on Hamas and the PLO.

Continuing on, in Jeremiah's account of the fall of the ancient city of Damascus, we see the Israeli attack on the Syrian capital as a naval attack: "There is trouble on the sea; it cannot be quiet. Damascus has grown feeble; she turns to flee, and fear has seized her." (Jeremiah 49:23,24)

No surprise, the citizens of Damascus who get out in time will evacuate to Iran, called "Kir" in Amos 1:5.

Michael Drosnin in his New York Times bestseller "The Bible Code" quotes Hebrew scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: "In the Bible time is reversed . . . when Isaiah says 'Tell me things that will be hereafter' [Isaiah 41:23] you can translate the same words to read, 'They told the future backwards.'" (page 175)

Thus the Jews have a saying: To see the future, you must look backwards. Therefore, looking backwards, we see the future of Syria. It is outlined for us in 2 Kings 13:14-19.

Listen to the events that immediately preceded the death of the great prophet Elisha in relation to the future destruction of Damascus. Already ill, Elisha counseled King Jehoash, the king of Israel. He instructed the king to open a window and shoot an arrow in the direction of the Syrian army. This symbolized the defeat of Syria.

Then Elisha directed the king to take arrows from his quiver and strike the ground with them. King Jehoash half-heartedly obeyed, striking the ground three times. Elisha exploded in anger, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it!" (2Kings 13:19)

Thus the template for modern Israel was determined. King Jehoash had set a type that will play out now, in the end times. Damascus will be destroyed, but not the entire Syrian nation. By only striking the ground three times, King Jehoash had diminished the scope of Elisha's intended sign, which was to totally destroy the Syrian Empire. Yes, Damascus will be destroyed. However, Syria will rally and rise again. I believe Syria will produce “another horn, a little one, coming up among them (the 10 kings)…And there in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words” (Daniel 7:8).

In other words, when Damascus ceases to be a city, it is only the first step in the end time drama. The kingdom will rise again to produce the dreaded “Assyrian”. This is clear from Isaiah 10:24; Micah 5:5, 6 and other places. Daniel called him the little horn. John called him the beast. We call him the Antichrist.

To see the future, you must look backwards.

"FAIR USE FOR DISCUSSION & EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES"

Thanks Mark W, for posting this article, I found it interesting to read.

I may not agree with everything she has to say, however, I find it interesting at least to hear another person's view on the subject.


Yes Damascus will be destroyed, that is a certain, as it is written in God's word. The other I rather not discuss, as we have put the A.C. to rest here at RFTH, because of circumstances beyond our control, and in order to keep this site up and running. In the past much has been discussed by most here, and I believe, many have their own opinions on whom they believe to be the Dark Man of the Hour.

We'll have to wait on God for all complete details involved, to see, how things will finally really work out in the end. However, we do have the scripture, and we have a basic knowledge of whom will be involved and the final outcome, Praise the Lord.

Only upon the future prophesied events taking place, all the finer details will be unveiled for a much clearer picture and all the pieces will fall into place.

Hope you got all your cotton planted in record time!

God Bless!

Valerie