The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of ANP.
The world teeters on the brink of nuclear war. Politicians and diplomats scurry about and fly from one capitol to the next, making and signing their deals but it will all be for naught. An old saw says rules are made to be broken. The same thing goes for pacts and treaties. It would take several large books to write about the pledges, armistices, cease-fires and surrenders that have been signed, sealed and then spat upon, that we know of. Throw private breaking of deals into the mix and there’s not enough paper in the northwest to even begin to spell it out.
The prophet Isaiah wrote about 10 separate and distinct “burdens” that will be coming to the Middle-East though not necessarily in order. The stand-alone prophecies specific to regions begin in Chapter 13 where he speaks of the “burden of Babylon” whose destruction would be by “a multitude in the mountains.” However, when there is trouble in the Middle East there is trouble in the United States because our future seems inextricably wound together with Israel’s destiny and with America’s desire to dominate the world. We have pledged to be her friend and it appears we mean to honor that one. One way to do it and to have America as boss of the world is to build a huge military presence all over the world, capable of stamping out brush fires as they ignite.
The second prophetic burden (Ch 15) in the Mid-East is Moab, which is essentially modern Jordan, though portions of Syria are included. God then speaks in a chilling pronouncement when He says (through Isaiah) two chapters later, the modern city of Damascus Syria’s capitol will be totally destroyed.
Isa 17:1 ¶ The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
The details are given in following verses where it is revealed, the presumed destroyer (Israel) will also be brought low in the ensuing war, “the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. (17:4)” Informing us of heavy destruction on both sides. That means that more firepower than just Syria and Israel will be engaged. But God says it’s all designed to bring men to the realization that all mortal efforts will be unable to achieve either “peace or safety.” At the end men will be forced to “look to their maker and will have respect for the Holy One of Israel (17:7).”
Men are created (we didn’t evolve, sorry evolutionists, scientifically it won’t wash), in the image of God. Yes the fall from grace caused a wide chasm between Him and us but we still have great creative ability because of that first gift. As a result ingenious devices and clever inventions abound. I read somewhere the honcho down at the Patent Office around 1900 wanted to close up shop because “everything has already been invented.” Gifted creativity carries over to diplomacy where the sheer magnitude of “solutions” to world problems seems endless.
As deals are inked and wars are threatened and then called off, its not easy to discern the invisible, yet all powerful Hand ordering events, arranging it all, bringing good out of evil. Yes, in times of great trouble more men turn to God for mercy than at any other time. So it will be in days to come, culminating probably in the greatest harvest of souls ever seen. As we study Isaiah we are struck with the awfulness of what is going to happen. Isaiah describes it as “the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. (17:11)”
Isa 17:13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
As the prophecy completes we see why so many commentators draw an opinion that the coming war involving Israel and Syria will be nuclear. A scene is painted in the last verse that would have been impossible in recorded ancient times, but now is easily accomplished by anyone foolhardy enough to pull the atomic trigger.
Isa 17:14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
A city the size of Damascus (1.5 million) could never be destroyed “before the morning he is not” by conventional warfare, it is nuclear, an equivalent or supernatural.
The Bigger Picture
There are a series of wars yet to come described in the Bible. Psalm 83 tells about a general war between the Jews and the Arabs. Bill Salus calls it “duh!” the “Psalm 83 war.” The Gog-Magog war is fought in the “mountains of Israel (Ezek 38-39), while the final war we call “Armageddon (Rev 16)” seems to involve the entire Middle East near the Euphrates river. But it’s likely the most immediate candidate for a war is the cauldron now steaming in Syria (Gog-Magog?), as pretend firemen carrying diplomatic water hoses are throwing gasoline on the fire.
With war hawk John Bolton now on staff in the White House the odds for a soon shoot out just went up exponentially. Bolton has never seen a war he didn’t like but when his turn to fight came he enlisted in the Maryland National Guard rather than be called in the draft. Armchair Generals are a dime a dozen and the President can get all he wants, just as long as they can give the orders (or advice) rather than following them.
As America prepares for war in Syria, the diversions multiply. Our attention is diverted with sex scandals on network fake “news” and the papers print story after story while TV pundits exhaust their thesaurus searching for something to use in describing the same story in new words. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the men who really run the world call up their lackeys in the fake news media and tell them “Run it again!”
The North Korean situation seems to be cued to settle down but is still a strong diversion, and may evolve into the war waged by the “kings of the east. (Rev 16:12)”
Now for the anti-Semites
But to the frustration of the world (the Jew haters), God is in process of regathering His chosen people, and the completion of His prophecies. It is inexorable. Every last word will be fulfilled.
Sadly the only place where total truth can be found is mostly boycotted and ignored. The Bible is specific as to what will happen and what has to happen first, and after. For example we have the dispersion from, and then the regathering of the Jewish people back to their ancestral homeland. Here is a small snippet from Jewish Virtual Library,
“The Jewish state comes to an end in 70 AD, when the Romans begin to actively drive Jews from the home they had lived in for over a millennium. But the Jewish Diaspora ("diaspora" ="dispersion, scattering") had begun long before the Romans had even dreamed of Judaea. When the Assyrians conquered Israel in 722, the Hebrew inhabitants were scattered all over the Middle East; these early victims of the dispersion disappeared utterly from the pages of history.”
God Himself scattered the Jews because of their sin and rebellion against Him. Will He do any less to us? But because of His love He is also regathering them. The destruction of Damascus is but one more step in the working out of the Master Plan.
First the New Testament
Lu 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
Now the Old Testament
Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
In the VERY near future (5-14-18) we see a date for Israel’s enemies that will be hard to resist and whether or not we have war at that time will depend on the readiness of those who fire the first shot. If Russia installs their S 300 anti-aircraft missile system in Syria then the Jews may be forced to start the shooting, because if the system becomes operational Israel’s chances of winning the next war go way down. Command of the skies is a major reason there is a Jewish state today.
The regathered Jews of the world will be celebrating Israel’s 70th birthday on May 14th 2018. The same date is set for the opening of the American Embassy in Jerusalem. In addition Trump will decide by Saturday the 12th whether or not to junk the so-called Iranian treaty. Islam is enraged, and odds are we will see more that just firecrackers that day. Here is a short quote from John Little at Omega Shock who has written extensively on the subject of Israel vs. Islam.
“That’s right, the Iranians. And, they have gone on to claim that the Mahdi will not return unless Israel is destroyed, first. So, this has become a sacred duty, as well as a way of staying in power.”
Awaiting May 14, we puzzle if the “…the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (Lu 21:24) will we depart the “beginning of sorrows” (Mt 24:8) and enter into the next to last phase of history? Just in case we should prepare for great tribulation (3 ½ years, wrath of man), then the revealing of anti-Christ, then the rapture, then the earth will gasp in horror as God drives the squatters off His land and secures His people in their home.
When the smoke rises and vast destruction comes to earth, when the winepress is trodden down by God, suffice it to say, any of humanity who refuses to recognize and submit to Jesus the God of the Bible, will suffer everlasting torment in the Lake of Fire.
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