This last week, Syria blew up. It has always been a powder keg with so many antagonistic groups living in the nation. So, while it wasn’t a surprise, it was important. I’m sure many are confused about who is who in Syria, and, even more so, how it all relates to Bible prophecy. I’ll explore a few of the details of the fighting below, but let me take a moment to back out to the big picture here.
Damascus is a city that the Bible predicts will be decimated (Isaiah 17:1). Widening out from the city itself, we can also see that Syria, which has been a bitter enemy of Israel since 1948, isn’t mentioned among the nations in the future war of Gog from the land of Magog described in Ezekiel 38. Ultimately, what we learn relating to the nation to Israel’s north is that Damascus must fall. This will contribute to Israel being strong, safe, and prosperous. It is then that the enemy will attack from the north.
For Israel to finally be safe and to prosper, we not only need a victory in our present wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, but we need a friendly US administration to expand the peace circle and stand strong against the axis of evil. This certainly seems to be the direction we are heading.
My friends, we are truly living in biblical times!
The Rapidly Shifting Syrian Civil War
Opposition forces (those against President Assad’s government) have launched a swift and unexpected offensive. Significant territories have been already captured, including the very important city of Aleppo. As their influence spreads, the strategic city of Hama is next on their list. In fact, some sources report that just this morning rebel forces have entered the city even as Assad’s leaders escape by helicopter..
Assad’s forces haven’t just been sitting by idly. They, with the help of Russia and Iran, have hit back hard, causing many casualties among the rebels. But it’s not just the government forces who are fighting the rebels. They are fighting each other. Rebel militias are fighting against Al Qaeda soldiers, while Al Qaeda soldiers are fighting with Kurdish rebels. It’s a mishmash of people who hate each other and who can’t seem to put their differences aside and unite in order to attack a common enemy. In Israel, we have our eyes on the Kurds, who at times have been our allies in the past. Ultimately, we aren’t rooting for any of the sides, because everyone except the Kurds wants to kill us. The last thing we want is to see Al Qaeda troops massing on our northern border.
Israel Forces Iranian Transport to Turn Back
While much attention in Syria has been focused on the ground, the skies above held some interesting action. An Iranian cargo plane lifted off Saturday night toward Syria. According to the manifest, it was loaded with humanitarian aid. This would have been true if it was headed to a region where the people primarily ate lead and gun powder. But, as that seemed unlikely, the Israel Defense Forces got involved. Fighter jets intercepted the cargo plane as it traversed Syria and informed them in no uncertain terms that there were two directions they could go. One was back and the other was straight down. Wisely, the Iranian pilots chose back. This is a huge demonstration of the power that Israel is gaining in the region.
Fighting Under the Ceasefire
Just because the ceasefire against Hezbollah has gone into effect, that doesn’t mean that the fighting has stopped. When Israel signed on to the agreement, they also reserved the right to destroy anything they found that could be used by the terrorist organization against them. That has led the IDF to continue to hit danger zones, including munitions storage and launch areas. Just yesterday, a drone was used to take out a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Majdal Zoun. Meanwhile, Lebanese forces are just now finally deploying into areas from which the IDF withdrew, with the purpose of keeping Hezbollah out.
No comments:
Post a Comment