As America marches towards war with Syria, many wonder how our nation will be able to sustain another Middle Eastern conflict. Our economy is weak, Americans are war-weary and politically divided, and our military is stretched to its limits.
But there is another concern that I have been pondering lately. It is a spiritual one regarding Damascus, Syria. Or, as the prophet Isaiah put it, "The burden of Damascus."
According to Isaiah 17, there will be a future conflict between Damascus and Israel that will ultimately leave Damascus -- the longest-inhabited city in history -- utterly destroyed and uninhabitable.
"1.The burden of Damascus. See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. 2. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. 3. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites, declared the Lord Almighty.” ~ Isaiah 17: 1-3
13. Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. 14. In the evening, sudden terror! Before morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us. ~ Isaiah 17: 13,14
Already we’re seeing headlines of the threats coming out of both the Iranian and Assad regimes stating that if the United States strikes Syria, they will immediately retaliate against Israel. Damascus is only 40 miles from Israel.
Despite the fact that Syria has been riddled in chaos for nearly two years due to Muslim sectarian strife between Shias and Sunnis, I believe that the international community will somehow blame the Jewish nation for the human loss and destruction of this coming war.
Maybe Syria retaliates against Israel after a strike by the United States, which prompts an Israeli strike against Syria? I can’t know for sure, but I feel deep down in my soul that Israel will be blamed. I can’t explain or back these feelings up by scripture.
Although Israel would strike to merely protect herself from total elimination, the international community, I believe, will use this tragic war as leverage and demand that Israel hand East Jerusalem over to the international community (via the United Nations) as well as agree to a two-state deal with the Palestinian Authority.
These so-called “peace talks” are currently being mitigated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and this war just might put these negotiations back in the spotlight. Due to a war-weary world, there could be more international pressure than ever for Israel to give up East Jerusalem -- maybe enough pressure that Israel feels she doesn’t have much of a choice.
The book of Daniel speaks of a time when Jerusalem will be “trodden down by the Gentiles” and divided, and that a false prophet will bless the agreement (treaty). This “false prophet” will more than likely be a Christian Pope or a well-known protestant evangelist who has no respect for God’s irrevocable covenant with the Jewish people. God clearly states that “many will be deceived” by this beloved leader.
For proof that God gave this disputed land to the Jews, read no further than Deuteronomy 34:4:
Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it." ~ Deuteronomy 34:4
God said this to Moses just after He specified the perimeters of the “promised land.” Moses did not get to see the land due to a lack of faith he had displayed earlier. It was the bold and courageous Joshua who eventually led the Jews into the land, which God would name “Israel.”
Here’s what God has to say to those false religious leaders and world politicians who will eventually divide His land:
“I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.” ~ Joel 3:2
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be on the wrong side of that judgment, nor do I want to be associated with a religion, denomination or political party that advances the idea that Jerusalem should be divided among the Jews, Muslims and the rest of the world.
God’s message to His people attending an apostate church:
“Then I heard another voice from heaven say: Come out of her my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.” ~ Revelation 18:4
To better understand the divisions of the end-time Church as well as the deceit that surrounds the question of the validity of the Jewish state, please read the article I wrote around the time of the Papal Conclave back in February: The Papal resignation and the divisions among the Body of Christ.
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