Category: damascus

Posted in damascus, gog magog, middle east, prophecy, psalm 83

Events in the Middle East and Israel are moving fast

Posted on by elizabethprata

Folks, things are moving fast. It is hard to keep up. Joel C. Rosenberg used the word suddenly when he wrote about the current intensification of speculation about a possible preemptive strike by Israel against Iran. His very good and educational article outlining the current situation is called “Is Netanyahu Signaling a Preemptive Strike Against Iran?”

A week ago:
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: I Will Never Recognize a Jewish State

4 days ago:
Rocket fire rocks south
“South under fire again in wake of IAF attack in Gaza: Alarm sounds in various southern communities. Man hit by shrapnel in Gan Yavne; rocket hits school courtyard in Ashdod. Second barrage targets residential building, one injured. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.”

3 days ago:
Ashdod mayor: “This Can’t Go On Much Longer“
“Ashdod Mayor Dr. Yehiel Lasri, whose city has been under a constant threat of rocket attacks, said on Sunday that the situation cannot continue and urged the government to take immediate action.”

Israel gets ready to unveil David’s Sling
“The Israeli air force is preparing to deploy a new air-defense system with the biblical name of David’s Sling, designed to intercept medium-range missiles, while the Iron Dome system deployed earlier battles Palestinian rockets.”

2 days ago:
UN: Syria complex bolsters suspicion of nuke ambitions
“U.N. investigators have identified a previously unknown complex in Syria that bolsters suspicions that the Syrian government worked with A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, to acquire technology that could be used to make nuclear arms.”

1 day ago:
Will Israel Really Strike Iran?
“Benjamin Netanyahu is edging closer to launching a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. A firestorm of violence across the Mediterranean would follow. And Tehran is already threatening to retaliate against the United States, writes Bruce Riedel.”

Today:
Benjamin Netanyahu seeks cabinet support for Israeli strike on Iran
“Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is seeking cabinet support for a military strike on Iran, Haaretz newspaper has reported after days of speculation on plans for such an attack.”

Today:
Salehi: Iran Ready to Push Back Enemy Attacks
“Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Thursday responded to reports claiming Israel is planning a military attack against his country, stating Tehran is “ready for war” with Israel.”

Today:
Israeli PM orders investigation into Iran attack leak
“Kuwaiti paper says Binyamin Netanyahu believes the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet, respectively Israel’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies, may have leaked plans for attack.”

Tomorrow: (or sometime in probably the near future):

The bible prophecies that wars will occur in the Tribulation. It prophesies these wars in Revelation 6:3-4 as one of the Four Horsemen. Wars and rumors of wars are prophesied in Matthew 24:6. However, war as a general state is not the only prophecy. There are specific wars prophesied to come. The question is not what those wars are. The questions is when. These wars are :

1. Damascus will be destroyed according to Isaiah 17:1.
2. Israel’s abutting neighbors will attack Israel as prophesied in Psalm 83.
3. Israel’s far neighbors will attack Israel. known as the Gog-Magog War of Ezekiel 38-39.

The only thing we know about timing of when these wars may occur is that by the very end of the Gog Magog war, the church will be gone. This is because the LORD God literally pokes His face through the veil and reveals Himself supernaturally, so that all nations know He is the LORD-

“In days to come, Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.” (Ez 38:16)

“And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’ (Ez 38:23)

But more importantly, not only the nations will know it is the Lord that rescues Israel in this attack (that they are about to lose) but Israel knows.

“‘I will make known my holy name among my people Israel.” (Ezekiel 39:7a).

From that day forward the people of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.” (Ezekiel 39:22.)

It is this battle, prophecy students say, that calls Israel back to covenant with God, and the call for a Temple goes up and sacrifices resume after a 2000 year cessation. We know sacrifices begin because the antichrist stops them according to Daniel 9:26-27. So the wars will happen. We don’t know when- before the rapture, or after?

The wars are not long-drawn out affairs. In Isaiah 17, it explicitly says that in the evening Damascus will be there and by morning it will be gone. (Is 17:14).

The Psalm 83 war with near neighbors is thought to be one that occurs quickly and decisively. It seems that Israel regains the lands promised to her by God to Abraham. It is thought that Israel’s victory of all the near neighbors is so decisive that it causes the literal and mental relief and relaxation and thus will be living in a land of unwalled villages as Ezekiel 38:11- when the Iranians and the Russians come calling.

The entire scenario could be played out within months. The three battles, or wars, won’t take as long as the Afghanistan and Iranian wars the Americans have been engaged in. It would be more like Israel’s Six Day War.

Therefore we may indeed be around to see them. Or not. As the Lord wills.

The heat is incredibly turned up. Middle East is definitely at a boiling point when Israel is openly talking of an attack, and the US and UK are too. Iran will not take this lightly nor will Hezbollah or the Palestinian Authority.  As birth pangs will do, the cataclysms and paroxysms are coming one upon another now, the news s unfolding that fast. Pray you will be found ready to stand before the Lord. He is merciful and loving, but above all He is HOLY.
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Posted in damascus, end time, israel, jesus coast, prophecy, syria

Syria and the burden of Damascus

Posted on by elizabethprata

I worked on the prophecy newsletter yesterday all day yesterday and sent it out at around 8:00 pm. Then I turned to good old Hal Lindsey to see this week’s prophecy newscast, and what do you know, he spent time on exactly the same thing I did, Syria and the first few verses of the burden of Damascus. I love when that happens because it tells me that we are both correctly tuned in to the same source: the Holy Spirit, and correctly listening to what He wants to tell us. To me, it is a confirmation of where we should be placing our attention and prayers.

Syria is a present day problem we haven’t discussed in a while. Prophetically, it figures prominently in the oracle of Isaiah in Chapter 17 verse 1-3. Lindsey went on to discuss through to verse 5.

“A prophecy against Damascus”– “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus;”

The plain meaning of the verse, especially verse 1, is clear. And even if a person left it at that with a surface reading, the verse’s integrity would remain. Damascus will be destroyed. Since this city never has been destroyed it’s obvious that this is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. But a deeper question remained in my mind: what is the size and location of the geography the LORD is describing here? A cursory reading would seem to indicate a surgical strike against Damascus will destroy it, with surrounding land intact. Is this so? Is it all the verse is saying to us? Thus, I looked into the geographical locations of Ephraim, Aroer and Damascus in biblical history to seek a wider context.

Damascus is the longest continuously inhabited city in the world. It has been inhabited as a city for 5000 years. It is one of the first cities mentioned in the bible. Before Abram was Abraham, when Jerusalem was still Salem, Damascus is mentioned (Genesis 14:15). As we know, Damascus is the capital of the Arab country of Syria and about 130 miles northeast of Jerusalem.

Aroer mentioned in verse 2 is a city (in ruins now) on the north side of the Arnon River, in the southern border of the tribe of Reuben, De 2:36 4:48 Joshua 13:9. It was in the territory of the Amorites, Joshua 12:2, but seems to have fallen at a later day into the hands of Moab, Jeremiah 48:19. (source- Bible Atlas). Initially I thought that the city was close to Damascus but I could be wrong because there is an Aroer halfway down Jordan’s eastern border still showing on the maps. Present-day Jordan is a long, tall nation with a huge square jut-out at the northeastern end. The length of the nation goes from its northern boundary near Irbid to the south portion bordering the Gulf of Aqaba at the Red Sea. A great north-south geological rift, forming the depression of Sea of Galilee, the Jordan Valley, and the Dead Sea, is the dominant topographical feature.

To the east of this long mountain range that forms the border of Israel-Jordan is the King’s Highway, a trade route of vital importance to the ancient Middle East and a major highway now. It began in Egypt, and stretched across the Sinai Peninsula to Aqaba. From there it turned northward across Jordan, leading to Damascus and the Euphrates River. The Highway is referred to in Numbers 20:17-21. Given the topography and geography of the region, I believe this highway will figure prominently in the Tribulation. More on that in a moment.

Where is Aroer, exactly? Ha ha, good question. We all know where Damascus is. It is where it has always been. Here the interpretation of “cities of Aroer” in verse 2 gets complicated. Some scholars believe that it represents the city of Aroer midway down Jordan. If you were at Jerusalem and headed due east about 30 miles across the top of the Dead Sea and into Jordan, and picked up the King’s Highway and headed south for about 30 miles you’d hit Aroer. If you continued south along the King’s Highway for another 120 miles to the very southern portion of Jordan you’d hit the ancient city of Petra. That Aroer is on the river Arnon, the one mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:36.

However that Aroer is a good distance from Damascus, giving the impression that the devastation the prophecy speaks of is widespread. So other scholars believe that the ‘cities of Aroer’ is closer in proximity to Damascus. Clarke’s Commentary asks, “What has Aroer on the river Arnon to do with Damascus? and if there be another Aroer on the northern border of the tribe of Gad, as Reland seems to think there might be, this is not much more to [say]”. I have an opinion on this which I’ll share below.

So why is part of ancient Israel included in this overthrow Isaiah prophesies, remember, Ephraim is mentioned as also being destroyed. “Barnes Notes explains, “Ephraim was the name given to the northern kingdom of Israel, or to the ten tribes, because Ephraim was the largest of the ten, and was a leading tribe in their councils. Ephraim, or the kingdom of Samaria, is mentioned here in connection with Damascus or Syria, because they were confederated together, and would be involved in the same overthrow.” Samaria is shown on the map below in blue. This part of the prophecy, I believe, has already been fulfilled. Samaria was defeated and destroyed in 722BC.

So as we can see, if we believe the area being destroyed in the future is Damascus and nearby city of forgotten Aroer, the area is quite small. If we believe the Aroer mentioned is the ancient city midway down Jordan, then the area destroyed will be quite large. Included would be most of Jordan and the southern part of Syria. Think on the part of the verse that says the ‘flocks will lie down, there will be no one to make them afraid’. Sheep scare easily. If they can lay down and rest or slumber is a feeling of safety, the area must be truly desolate, with no people, no activity and no predators.

I believe the prophecy is saying that the area from Damascus to Aroer mid-way down Jordan will be destroyed. I think this for several reasons. First, the Principle of Occam’s Razor applies. This is also known as the ‘law of succinctness, a principle that generally recommends, when faced with competing hypotheses that are equal in other respects, selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions.’ Just because Aroer on the Arnon river is far from Damascus (but not really that far in terms of today’s miles and ease of travel) doesn’t mean we must dispense with it. It is only approximately 150 miles. God can and might decide easily to destroy that length of land.

Secondly, I believe this because of military strategy. The terrain is inhospitable, being steep and mountainous. The King’s Highway has been since ancient times a vital route. If there is a battle, and we know from Revelation 6 and Matthew 24 that the Tribulation will be characterized by total war, then it makes sense that an opposing party would want to destroy a vital trade and military route.

Third, the Tribulation will be a time when ancient hatreds come to their full fruition. Jordan, the ancient lands of Ammon, Moab and Edom have always hated Israel. Obadiah prophesied against them, in a series of prophesies I discussed here. With ancient hatreds and total war, why is it hard to believe a swathe of land 150 miles long would become desolate, especially in the face of all the weapons of mass destruction currently available, and mostly pointed at Israel?

Fourth, Syria and Jordan seem to fade away as an end time player. They are not mentioned in the Gog Magog confederacy. We know from prophesies in Daniel that Jordan is not delivered into the Antichrist’s hands. “He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.” We also know that in Matt. 24:16 the Lord told those in Judea to flee to the mountains when the Abomination of Desolation occurs. The mountains are directly to the east in southern Jordan where Petra is. Rev. 12:14 tells of Satan chasing them across the desert as they flee to a place prepared for them. This desert is between Israel and the mountains of southern Jordan around the northern and eastern shores of the Dead Sea. And in Isaiah 63: 1-6 there’s a verse telling of the Lord coming from Bozrah in Edom after single handedly defeating His enemies there. Bozrah is the region of Edom (Jordan) where Petra is. If the fleeing Jews head across the mountains at the top of the Dead Sea and down the King’s Highway to Petra and if the area is already desolate AND undelivered to the antichrist’s control, it clears a bit of a path for them to run without those obstacles in the way at least.

Anyone can disagree with my assessment. I’m not saying I’m a scholar nor am I given special insights. But these are the conclusions I came to after study of the verses, examining the biblical atlases, and much prayer and thought.

So that is the long introduction to what is happening in Syria and Jordan today, so we can keep a watchful eye on coming prophecy and how these nations figure into the news of the future.

Syria has been engaged in conflict, some say civil war already, since March 2011. The NY Times article of the timeline reports: “The wave of Arab unrest that started with the Tunisian revolution of January 2011 reached Syria in mid-March, when residents of a small southern city took to the streets to protest the torture of students who had put up anti-government graffiti. President Bashar al-Assad, who inherited Syria’s harsh dictatorship from his father, Hafez al-Assad, at first wavered between force and hints of reform. But in April, just days after lifting the country’s decades-old state of emergency, he launched the first of what became a series of withering crackdowns, sending tanks into restive cities as security forces opened fire on demonstrators.” It has only gotten worse since then.

“But by the fall, Syria’s economy was crumbling under the pressure of sanctions and the unrest, with its currency weakening, its recession expanding and its tourism industry wrecked — a serious blow to a regime whose legitimacy has relied on economic success.” And by today, a semblance of civil war erupted in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, where armed protesters were calling themselves revolutionaries.

Syria’s Assad threatened to strike Tel Aviv if NATO comes in. He said, “If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv.”

In response, Israel said, that if Tel Aviv is attacked they will bomb the Gaza and also the whole of Lebanon. In addition, “NFC reported Israeli military circles as saying that the Jewish state’s message to Assad “is clear in that Damascus’ fate, should it be targeted, will not be different than Lebanon’s.”

In yet another escalation, Assad replied, “Syrian dictator Bashar Assad is now threatening to ignite the Middle East and destroy Israel if NATO attacks his country, while his mufti is threatening to dispatch suicide bombers to Europe and the United States.” The Hudson NY paper asked, “If They Are Like This Now, What Will They Be Like With Nukes?“

That is why the oracle Isaiah delivered was a burden. One comment Lindsey made is that the news was a heavy burden on Isaiah. It was really bad news to have to deliver, even to an enemy. Damascus is a thriving city and the level of devastation prophesied indicated that there would result in mass deaths. Damascus is currently home to 2.3 million people. Isaiah 17 nears the end of the prophecy at verse 14, saying that “Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more.” A nighttime strike so catastrophic and complete that the city is wiped out by morning? What can do that? A nuclear bomb.

Syria is a proxy for Iran, and home to the Middle East’s most sophisticated chemical and biological weapons development labs, as Consultant to the NATO Defense Establishment in bio-warfare and counter terrorism expert Dr. Jill Dekker describes here. Damascus’s strategic alignment with Iran, means also that they along with Iran funds the terrorist group Hezbollah. So Damascus is a mere 150 miles from Jerusalem, is well-funded by Iran, has a nest of Israeli-hating terrorists waiting to obliterate the nation, and is home to the most advanced bio-and chemical weapons facility in the Middle East. And now it is on the brink of civil war and figures prominently in unfulfilled prophecy. Oh, Lord, these surely are perilous times for those who do not know you and do not know what is coming!

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Posted in damascus, end of days. prophecy

Damascus will be destroyed

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is a prophecy in the bible that I have always found fascinating. It is in Isaiah 17:1:
“The burden against Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.”

Since Damascus, Syria is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, this prophecy has never been fulfilled. In the past, the city has been devastated, partly abandoned, sure, but never has it been a ruinous heap and has never been completely wiped away from being a city. So this is a prophecy that is in front of us. The way things are progressing in the Middle East and with Israel/Jerusalem, it looks to be in front of us in a short period of time, in my opinion. And here is more information to back up my opinion…

First, notice the language in the prophecy. It is the passive tense. The prophecy doesn’t say “Israel will destroy Damascus.” It doesn’t say “God will destroy Damascus.” The only thing we know is that Damascus in Syria is destroyed, and that’s it. We don’t know who, or how, and certainly not when. It could be destroyed by disease, though that is not likely because though the population would be killed but the city would still be standing. It could be destroyed by Israel but that may not be likely either because Israel’s strikes tend to be surgical rather than of the obliterating kind. Perhaps someone throws a nuke, that is one kind of war matériel that would obliterate a city and reduce it to a ruinous heap, for sure.

I’ve been watching the events in Syria. Since last spring when the Middle Eastern countries erupted in violence (now known as the Arab Spring) finally Syria erupted too. Though many of the nations that had revolted, for example, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Algeria, etc, have calmed down, Syria never stopped revolting. And its dictatorship is strong and has had no compunction in oppressing its people in order to quell the violence. I’ve seen references to Youtube video of rivers of blood and bodies being dumped. I didn’t look at the videos to check them myself, but I believe that Syria is doing those things. I believe it because Syria’s only friend in the neighborhood, Turkey, is now extremely impatient and making diplomatic moves to press Syria to stop it and stop it now. A fifteen day deadline was actually delivered by Turkey to Syria.

Russia joined Turkey in the pile-on, pressing Assad of Syria to stop the violence and introduce reforms. ‘Or else prepare for a sad fate.’ “In his toughest comments on Syria to date, Mr Medvedev said that time was running out for Mr Assad to halt a crackdown against his people, hinting that the Kremlin, a traditional ally, may support tough action against Damascus in the United Nations if bloodshed continues.”

With what is happening within Syria, we must also keep in mind several other prophecies that add into the mix. Turkey will abandon all vestiges of wanting to align with the West and eventually ally with Russia, Iran, Armenia, and the northern tier of the African nations in the Gog-Magog war. This alliance will surprise attack Israel in the last days. (Ezekiel 38-39).

With that background explained, here’s some interesting news out of the Middle East today that involves Syria, Turkey, and Russia.

Iran’s state media, ‘PressTV’ reports today “‘NATO planning military attack on Iran.'” Now, this may be true and it may not be true. But at this point time, far along as we are, a reaction can be fomented just as easily from the perception of truth as it can from the fact. The article states:

“Russia’s envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin says the NATO is planning a military strike against the Islamic Republic to overthrow the Iranian government. Rogozin said in an interview with Russia’s Izvestia daily newspaper published on Friday that the NATO was pursuing a long-reaching goal of preparing an attack on Iran, adding that the alliance intends to change governments whose views do not coincide with those of the West. “The noose around Iran is tightening. Military planning against Iran is underway. And we are certainly concerned about an escalation of a large-scale war in this huge region,” Rogozin added.”

I think we can agree that the noose is tightening and that a large-scale war in that region does loom. You notice, I hope, that it is the Russian envoy taking up for Iran… The UK’s Sovereign Independent picked up on the story,

“Twelve hours after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Assad he faced a “sad fate” if he failed to introduce reforms, Moscow’s envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin accused the Western alliance of planning a military campaign against Syria to help overthrow the Assad regime “with the long-reaching goal of preparing a beachhead for an attack on Iran.””

Meanwhile, Yahoo news reports, “Turkey’s friendship with Syria nears breaking point“
“Turkey’s friendship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stood near breaking point as Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu prepared to visit Damascus on Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to persuade Assad to stop his security forces attacking civilians. On Sunday, one of Assad’s advisers warned Davutoglu would be given short shrift after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said his minister would deliver a “decisive message,” having seen past entreaties to halt the violence ignored. A Turkish official said Davutoglu would repeat the earlier calls. But the official did not want to venture into what Turkey will do if its words continue to fall on deaf ears in neighboring Syria.”

It can be stated that the incestuous, dysfunctional family of the Arab-Gog/Magog allied nations are getting even more shrill, dysfunctional, and violent. It is pretty extraordinary that Turkey said “We can’t be held responsible for what we do if you ignore our warnings, Assad!”

Turkey is someone to be reckoned with. In 2008, the Turkish Army had around 402,000 active personnel and is the second largest army of NATO (after the United States). (source). When they tell Syria’s Assad, ‘stop or we can’t say what we’re gonna do!’ it must be taken seriously. Would Turkey get mad enough to raze Damascus? Who knows these days, what any person or nation will do.

I’m back to the first part of this essay now. Damascus will be destroyed. By whom, we do not know. But it is wise to watch Syria closely these days, and pray.
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Behold, Damascus will be destroyed, it will be a heap of ruins!

Posted on by elizabethprata

In one sense, I hesitate to repeat what is clearly speculation. Israel has not, in fact, attacked anyone, and Israel is often accused of being about to attack someone. On the other hand, Jesus said the end time birth-pang signs would be characterized by “Wars and rumors of wars.” (Matthew 24:6)

Report: Israel planning to attack Hezbollah arms depots in Syria
“Israel is planning to attack Hezbollah arms depots and weapons manufacturing plants in Syria, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported on Saturday. The report is based on Western sources who asserted that Israel has increased its military force level along the northern border in the Golan Heights and Mount Dov areas. The report cited European sources who claimed that recent Israeli unmanned aerial drone flights over Lebanon and Syria signal Israel’s intentions to carry out operations in the area. According to the report, Israel plans to attack Hezbollah weapons depots, including ones deep inside Syria that store long-range rockets. The Al Rai report said that the situation on the Israel-Syria border is tense and that Syria could respond immediately to any Israeli attack and not demonstrate the restraint that it did after the Israeli Air Force bombed a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria in the fall of 2007. According to the report, Syria’s military is on high alert and is strengthening its anti-aircraft defenses along the border with Israel and at strategic sites within Syria.”

I take indicators of any attack against Syria, whether in Damascus, Golan Heights, or any other place, very seriously. In my opinion, one of the most clear and definitive last days sign before the rapture would be the prophesied destruction of Damascus. (two others being the Psalm 83 battle and the beginning of the Gog-Magog Ezekiel 38-39 battle). You can see that either an attack on Damascus would spin the Middle East out of control, or that a strike on any Syrian territory would spin things out of control and Damascus could wind up in a heap of ruins. Either way, heightened alerts are not good at this stage of the last days.

Damascus is the capital of Syria, Israel’s neighbor to the north. Damascus is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city, it has never been destroyed or abandoned. Isaiah’s prophecy in 17:1 states “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” The prophecy does not specifically say that Israel will raze the city, but it will be ruined. It is a likely thought that Israel will be behind this action. That the end result will occur is not in question.

Why Damascus?

Damascus is strategically aligned with Iran, who funds the terrorist group Hezbollah. In addition, Damascus’s interest in both biological and chemical weapons is long-standing. They are building weapons of mass destruction in the biological weapons facility they have constructed. Consultant to the NATO Defense Establishment in bio-warfare and counter terrorism expert Dr. Jill Dekker said that “Contrary to how the US State Department and other agencies tend to downplay the sophistication of the Syrian biological and nuclear programs, they are very advanced. Syria has always had the most advanced chemical weapons program in the Middle East.” So Damascus is a mere 150 miles from Jerusalem, is well-funded by Iran, has a nest of Israeli-hating terrorists waiting to obliterate the nation, and is home to the most advanced bio-and chemical weapons facility in the Middle East. What’s not to love?

“Operation Orchard” was an Israeli airstrike on a target in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria carried out just after midnight (local time) on September 6, 2007. American intelligence indicated the site was a nuclear facility with a military purpose, though Syria denies this. In any case, Israel decided not to stand for it and with precision, struck.

Now, that was one facility, Damascus is an entire city, admittedly harder to strike with completeness and precision (unless it is nuclear). Indeed, Damascus may not be destroyed in a military strike, it may be destroyed by an earthquake, or another unknown and unanticipated disaster. But when I hear credible reports of an impending strike, and see that Syria is on heightened watch, I watch too. And pray!

Posted in damascus, end time, end time. prophecy, syria plague army

There will be pestilences: plague hitting Syrian army?

Posted on by elizabethprata

According to the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, a mysterious outbreak of plague is occurring in the Syrian army. According to Syrian opposition figures in exile, Syrian President Bashar Assad has ordered the shutdown of all Syrian military exercises due to a plague that is currently affecting a large number of the army, especially conscripts in basic training.

The officials are calling it bubonic plague that’s spread by drought, and poor food on the military bases, but that is not the usual method of transfer of this particular kind of plague. Plague is highly infectious and whatever kind it is, natural or biological, it would have the potential to render the Syrian Army decimated just at the time when tensions between Israel, Syria, and Iran are at their most tense. If the Syrian soldiers are experiencing plague they could carry the infections to their home towns when they disperse in Mid-August for Ramadan.

“If you take something like Bot – I gram of crystalline Botulinium is estimated to kill about a million people if it were evenly dispersed…” Dr. Jill Dekker

In 2007 Syria promised bio-weapon retaliation against Israel should Israel strike Iran. In the New English Review, consultant to the NATO Defense Establishment in bio-warfare and counter terrorism expert Dr. Jill Dekker said that “Contrary to how the US State Department and other agencies tend to downplay the sophistication of the Syrian biological and nuclear programs, they are very advanced. Syria has always had the most advanced chemical weapons program in the Middle East.” At that time, Dr. Dekker said that Syria had shifted in their philosophy of  using bio-weapons from special weapons to conventional arsenal, and they have the will to do it. Why? Realizing they have no practical opportunity to reach parity with Israel or the US on conventional weapons, they decided to pursue bio-weaponry and were at that time fixing conventional missiles with a highly virulent anthrax germ with the help of Russian scientists. Ominously for the world, the US nor the UN were particularly reactive to the Syrians’ re-definition of bio-weaponry as conventional and offensive. Ominously for prophecy, the Syrians run their biological programs out of the Syrian Scientific Research Council (SSRC) in Damascus.

Isaiah 17:1 states that Damascus will be destroyed. It will be a heap of ruins and will cease from being a city. That prophecy has not been fulfilled yet because Damascus, being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, has never been abandoned nor destroyed.

The title of this entry refers to a promise that Jesus made. He was speaking to the disciples about the end times signs, as recorded in Luke 21:11 and Jesus said “There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.” This promise could refer to the things that will happen in the 7-year Tribulation as much as it could be interpreted to occur in the time immediately prior to the start of the last 7 years. In any case, the stage is being set for plagues, and do not assume that the plagues to come will be generated only naturally. They could be man-made, the result of bio-weaponry used in one of the many wars that Jesus also promised would come.

The fact is that Isaiah 17:1 will be fulfilled at some point. The fact is that Syria is extremely sophisticated in their bio-weaponry program and highly advanced in their determination to use it. Events in the Middle East bear watching more than ever. And looking up to the skies for our Redemption bears more watching than ever.

Posted in asymmetric war, damascus, end time, end time. prophecy, gog magog, psalm 83, tipping point, vallely

War is coming: Maj. General Paul Vallely interview

Posted on by elizabethprata

War is coming. I am sure of this, because the bible tells explicitly that a series of wars and battles will occur just prior to the rapture. The details are in Isaiah, Psalm 83, and Ezekiel 38-39. So war WILL happen.. and it seems from developments in the Middle East the last month, that the prophesied wars and battles are closer than ever. [Photo: Iran missile test April 2010]

[Photo: Damascus] We know that the capital of Syria, Damascus, will be obliterated in the end days. “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” (Isaiah 17:1) Damascus is the oldest continuously occupied city in the world so we know that prophecy has not been fulfilled yet. It is a future event.

Definition:
Hezbollah literally “Party of God”) is a Shi’a Islamist political and paramilitary (terrorist) organisation based in Lebanon. [Photo: Hezbollah salute.]

Hamas (in Arabic, an acronym for “Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia” — Islamic Resistance Movement — and a word meaning zeal) is a radical Islamic fundamentalist organization which became active in the early stages of the intifada, operating primarily in the Gaza District but also in Judea and Samaria. Formed in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Various HAMAS elements have used both political and violent means, including terrorism, to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel.

Outline of some of the main war events around Israel prophesied for the last days:

  • Isaiah 17:1– Damascus (in Syria) destroyed.
  • Psalm 83: Israel’s near neighbors attack Israel. Israel is successful in warding off the attack, but not without damage. The Psalm 83 nations who attack Israel are Edomites (Jordanians) Ishmaelites (United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the Saudi Arabians), Moabites, Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon (So. Jordan), Philistia/Tyre (Lebanon), Assyria (Iran/Iraq tribes at northern border. However, Israel’s military victory success leads to a state of unpreparedness. She lets down her guard and it at this time that…
  • Ezekiel 38-39: Gog-Magog battle. (Ez 38:11 – “You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people–all of them living without walls and without gates and bars.”) Iran, Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Sudan, Libya, and others attack Israel. Israel almost loses this battle, but God supernaturally intervenes to save Israel. It is this moment that Israel recognizes her God once again and she returns to the Old Covenant. The church is raptured by the time this battle ends.

Major General Paul E. Vallely, United States Army (Ret. ) is currently a senior military analyst for Fox News. Vallely has previously said that the war on terror is a war between Islam and Judeo-Christianity: “That’s what’s going on. If you don’t understand that, then you don’t get it.” He believes that Iran already HAS the nuclear bomb and they are just trying to figure out how to attach it to a delivery missile.

The Maj. General sat down exclusively yesterday with an interviewer on PJTV and for 11 sobering minutes outlined the serious, serious indicators of imminent war in the Middle East. (link to video below, cannot embed). He reveals many things that have been noticed over the last 10-30 days in Lebanon, Israel, and Iran, such as a Russian sub flying an Iranian flag docking in Beirut and offloaded by men in HazMat suits (chemical warfare). And that “Just in the last week, we have very definitive and confirmed information that Iran is planning a preemptive attack against Israel,” said Major General Vallely during the PJTV interview. Gen. Vallely tells PJTV’s Bill Whittle, that Iran has stockpiled “50 to 60 thousand rockets and missiles” in Lebanon.

All these preparations and others discussed in the interview according to Vallely and other experts, point to Iran preparing a preemptive strike against Israel that is designed to preempt Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran. In one piece of news divulged for the first time, the General said that Iran is planning to rain down SCUD’s on ALL Israeli airfields, civilian and military, to deny Israeli flight capability in response, a tactic Iran learned from the Israelis when the Israelis used it on the Egyptians. Remember there were SCUDS delivered to the Syrians three weeks ago. And it is announced that the U.S. is postponing appointment of ambassador to Damascus ‘until further notice.’ At one point, the interviewer asks the General what is different in Lebanon, Israel and Iran and Syria over the last month that hasn’t been seen before, and is given specific answers. Then Vallely is asked if Iran is “nutty enough” to use the bomb, the Maj General says “Absolutely, plus I believe they will load up container ships and attack the US rather than use the ICBM method.” I believe this as well.

Lots to digest here and pray over! The Maj. General said “the whole chessboard has changed THIS YEAR, and the Summer of 2010 is pivotal. It could change the whole world.”

Vallely believes that the summer of 2010 will be “the tipping point for the Middle East”—that “the summer of 2010 is pivotal—it can change the whole world.”We know from the bible that at long last, war erupts in the Middle East and there are protracted battles, damage, and death on a scale that finally prompts the world to cry out for a treaty once and for all. It will happen, and the words of Daniel the prophet say that “He will confirm a covenant with the many for one week [7 years]…

Scary, scary stuff, delivered in calm, measured interview with substantive facts. It is MUST SEE TV for all Israel lovers! All prophecy lovers! All Christians! Watch!

link to video interview

And supporting Vallely’s facts are more facts in the news today:

IDF preparing for mass evacuations in case of Hezbollah strike
The Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command is putting together a plan for the mass evacuation of civilians in the event of missile and rocket attacks. Hezbollah’s rockets can currently hit practically everywhere in the country.

Hezbollah on high alert ahead of IDF drill
Thousands of Hezbollah fighters have been ordered to maintain a heightened state of alert ahead of a large-scale Israel Defense Forces exercise which begins Sunday, the Shiite group’s representatives in southern Lebanon, Nabil Qaouk, told the AFP news agency on Friday.
Spain says Mediterranean Union summit postponed
A meeting to bring together European and Middle Eastern governments has been postponed to give Israeli-Palestinian talks time to achieve results, officials said. Israel on Friday called the reason for the delay ridiculous. … The newspaper El Pais says Syria and Egypt threatened to boycott it if Israel’s hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, attended.

The situation in the Middle East is so hot right now you could fry an egg on top of the map of it.

Posted in damascus, end time, hizbullah, prophecy, syria

Israel defines Hizbullah as a division of the Syrian army

Posted on by elizabethprata

I always watch for Damascus in the news. With Israel and the rest of the Middle East in tensions unseen since 1967, I take the threats from one to the other seriously. Remember, Isaiah 17:1 says “Damascus is about to be removed from being a city and will become a fallen ruin.” Since Damascus has never been destroyed and is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, this prophecy uttered 1500 years ago has not come to fruition. Yet.

In the Jerusalem Post today:
“Israel has warned Syrian President Bashar Assad that any missile attack against Israel by Hizbullah would result in retaliation against Syria, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday. According to the UK paper, Israel’s missive – sent earlier in April – defined Hizbullah as a “division of the Syrian army,” a military branch of Damascus in Lebanon.” [italics mine

The statement by Israel was prompted because “Last week, the Kuwait-based Al-Rai reported that Syria had transferred Scud missiles to Hizbullah.  According to the report, the missiles were recently transferred to Lebanon.”

Tense times indeed. With the prophesies of the Psalm 83 war, Isaiah 17, the current Syrian missile crisis, the end times judgments upon Edom/Jordan) and other wars to come, it doesn’t take much imagination to see that soon, missiles will fly.

Posted in damascus, end time, israel, prophecy

Is war about to break out in the Middle East?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Psalm 90:10 says the average man’s life span is 70 years. I recall the verse in Matt. 24:34 that said the generation of people being born when the first End Times signs appeared would still be alive at the 2nd coming. It is my belief that the first major end times sign was Israel’s birth in 1948 and that is the generation of which Jesus spoke. The average man born on that day would live on average to 2018 according to Psalm 90. Subtract 7 years from that date for the seven-year tribulation to take place and we wind up with 2011. It is my personal belief that based on the above verses and also the rapidity with which the signs are birthing, that the rapture could and likely will take place between the next moment and 2011’s end.

FYI, the “no one knows the day nor the hour ” verse from Mt 24:36-37 is for the Second Coming, not the rapture. I take my stance from this reasoning here. However the rapture is a number driven event, based on a certain number the LORD has in mind to be saved (Romans 11:25). We don’t know that number, but we were given signs to watch for, talk about, witness thereof, and look up expectantly for.

If the by-2011 rapture expectancy is correct then that means in rapid succession the Isaiah 17:1 Damascus prophecy will be fulfilled, and the Psalm 83 War will take place, then Gog-Magog. It is my firm belief we will not be around after Gog-Magog because the LORD uses that event to bring Israel back into covenant with Him and the church is not in the picture when the old covenant starts ticking again.

WHO? Psalm 83:  “With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you- the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.” Edom, Moab and Ammon are Jordan today. Syria. Gebal, and Tyre are in modern Lebanon today. The Amalekites lived in the desert just south of Israel. Saudi Arabia. Philistia settled in Gaza on Israel’s southern border. The descendants of Lot is one way of saying Moab and Ammon, who were the sons of an incestuous union between Lot and his two daughters. The listed countries are all of Israel’s next-door neighbors. Since Syria does not participate in the Gog-Magog alliance, speculation is that the Psalm 83 war combined with Isaiah 17:1 “Damascus destroyed” means that Syria may be out of commission after that.

WHO? Gog-Magog: Russia, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan and ‘many others with you’.

You see the lists of nations participating in Psalm 83 and Gog-Magog do not overlap. I believe that one or all of the conflicts prophesied to come, will come in 2010-early 2011, which may be bearing this out as we speak.

In the last few days belligerent war rhetoric has increased its heat across Israel and Syria’s borders. More than that, materiel is being moved. MidEast rhetoric is always heated but not usually this blunt. In light of the times, and in light of the language of Isaiah 17:1 and Psalm 83‘s fulfillment, read the following and see if the Spirit doesn’t speak to the imminence of the prophecies’  fulfillment:

Iran will deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the “global arrogance” on this year’s anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Iran stokes nuclear fire
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday ordered Iran’s atomic chief to begin higher uranium enrichment, raising the stakes in a dispute with the West days after seeming to accept a U.N.-drafted nuclear deal.

An atomic warhead for Teheran
[Note: this was in German from the Suddeutsche newspaper, translated through babelfish] “Iran developed an atomic warhead for its medium-range missiles according to a newspaper report. According to specialists it could function.” Summarizing the German news article, “Quoting a new IAEA summary, the Suddeutsche said the scientist had previously worked in a Soviet nuclear weapons laboratory on advanced warheads. It said both western intelligence services and diplomats had confirmed the connection. The newspaper added that Iran was trying to make a nuclear weapon small enough to fit into one of its Shahab 3 medium-range missiles and was designing a so-called two-point implosion system, which requires only two simultaneously exploding detonators to trigger a nuclear blast.”

Israeli ships pass though Suez Canal – rumored to be heading to Persian Gulf.
Two Israeli missile boats pass through Egypt’s Suez Canal en route to Red Sea, according to Arab media reports; Cairo adopts strict security measures to ensure ships’ safety. Egyptian sources estimate vessels headed to Persian Gulf

Israel and Syria Trade War Threats
Longtime enemies Israel and Syria have indulged in some fiery exchanges of rhetoric in the last 24 hours, leading some in the Middle East to fear a new armed conflict may be looming.

Egypt opposes the escalating Israeli harsh tone against any Arab country and its allusions to war

Foreign Minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said that the exchange of severe statements recently regarding possible war in the region is a matter of concern and should be stopped. Aboul Gheit outlined, commenting on Israeli statements regarding war against Syria, that Egypt opposes the escalating Israeli harsh tone against any Arab country and its allusions to war, not only as a matter of principle, but also in light of the major negative repercussions aiming at increased tension in the region;

 Syria supplies advanced surface to air missiles to Hizbollah front 
Israeli threatens Syria if they’re used. In an interview, the senior U.S. official warned that if Syria supplies Hezbollah with this type of missile, Israel will bomb Damascus and a war will likely ensue.

Watch Israel, God’s number one end times sign!