Just one year and a week ago during the turmoil in Egypt we considered the words of Isaiah 19 concerning "The Burden of Egypt".
Today, with the nation of Syria under the same Arab Spring siege, we must go back and look at the words of Isaiah once again.
Isaiah gravely warned:
"The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.The prophet Jeremiah also has something very serious to say concerning Damascus:
The cities of Aroer [are] forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.
And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two [or] three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four [or] five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel.
At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect [that] which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.
In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:
In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: [but] the harvest [shall be] a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. Woe to the multitude of many people, [which] make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, [that] make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
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.
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."
Isaiah 17:1-14
"Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; [there is] sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.Perhaps a "key" to understanding Jeremiah's prophecy is the last word "Benhadad".
Damascus is waxed feeble, [and] turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on [her]: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad."
Jeremiah 49:23-27
If you read an English Bible translation, the single word Benhadah throws us off track a bit from the message that God has given Jeremiah to deliver because the word reads as if it is a man's name.
But is it?
Benhadad is actually two Hebrew words: "ben-Hadad". Strong's Hebrew Bible Concordance tells us this word means: "son of [the false god] Hadad".
This is important because ben-Hadad was the standing title of all the Syrian kings that passed their government authority from father to son, it's meaning "the son of Hadad" gives us the clue that we need to understand history if we are to understand the times and what lies ahead.
The ancient fact is that in Biblical times, just as today, Syrian kings stood in opposition against "Israel", the people that followed the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of "Israel". Take note, Syria has been in a state of emergency rule since 1963, which its government has justified by its "state of war" with Israel, and the government has used this declaration to suspend its citizens’ constitutional rights for the past 39 years.
So ask yourself, who rules Syria today?
None other than a modern day "ben-Hadad" named Bashar al-Assad who is the son of Hafez al-Assad, the man whose rule began November 21, 1970, ruled Syria with an iron fist for 29 years until his death. Twenty years ago, Hafez al-Assad carried out the Hama massacre in February 1982, when the Syrian army conducted military ops against the Sunni Muslim community of Hama. The estimates for the loss of life there range from 10,000 to 40,000 depending on the source. Other atrociousness includes the Tadmor Prison Massacre, the Siege of Aleppo, the Tel al-Zaatar Massacre and the execution of hundreds of Lebanese soldiers (men of war) that surrendered to al-Assad's troops in 1990, it is known as the October 13 Massacre.
Like father like son, on July 31, 2011 the Syrian army entered the city of Hama, firing on the public, and killing over 100 civilians in what has been now named the Ramadan Massacre.
As in the days of "ben-Hadad" father and son have now ruled Syria for just over 40 years. Forty is the number related to judgment periods throughout Scripture, the number cannot be taken lightly especially in what we see in the Arab Spring. Why? Forty years was the time period that President Muhammad Anwar El Sadat and President Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak also ruled in Egypt before the Arab uprisings last February in Cairo, just one year ago. Sadat assumed power in Egypt on October 15, 1970. Now, the Muslim Brotherhood with a 47% seat position in Egypt's new parliament and the Salafists with 25% are set to rule Egypt with "the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king" as the lens of the ancient prophecy of Isaiah 19 comes into sharper focus. In nearby Libya, Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Ghadafi's rule ended on October 20, 2011, just 41 years after it began on September 1, 1969.
Jeremiah's prophecy notes fire in a palace, that too is very important, after all there is no idle word, no wasted space in the Bible, every detail, every word is important. So, it is up to us to study to find out why and the cipher as always is held within the Hebrew language of the Bible.
So where is the "palace" of of today's Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad?
It is massive and sits right on top of a high hill overlooking the capital city of Damascus. You can easily see the massive "Republican Palace" using Google Earth or Google Maps. Just type in “Damascus, Syria” and zoom in on the massive building, sitting 400 feet above the ancient city. It is the home of the leader of Syria's Ba'athist government and simple enough, it is called a palace.
Also consider this. With the fall of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Syria is the world's leading oppressive Ba'athist government and Damascus is the hub of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The al-Assad family, which has ruled since 1970, is Alawi Shiite, which is considered heretical by Syria's majority Sunni population. The largest of the religious groups in Syria are the Sunni Muslims. The Twelver Shia that are concentrated between Homs and Aleppo. Homs and its Baba Amr neighborhood is center stage to today's revolutionary fighting. The press is prohibited from entering Syria, so this area is the origin of most of the raw amateur video documenting explosions, gunfire and shouts of "Allahu Akbar".
Updated Video February 19, 2012 from Reuters below.
Notably, the Twelver faith is in the majority in both Iran and Iraq. Their belief is that the Mahdi will be none other than the returned Twelfth Imam. Twelvers believe the Twelfth Imam is the 12th successor of Muhammad who is an infallible man that will rule over the world as a messianic figure and that he will return with Christ and reestablish the global governance of Islam.
If the conflict in Syria which is occurring at the same time as the global opposition against Iran's goal of nuclear power sounds apocalyptic to you, then knowledge is increasing just as Gabriel told Daniel it would. But bad tidings should not be our focus. The focus should be for us to follow Daniel's prayer of confession. Study all the prayer of Daniel 9. It begins:
And I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from thy commandments and ordinances. Daniel 9:4-5Daniel’s prayer is precisely what is required today in order to be forgiven and restored to walking in God's commandments and ordinances. That should be our focus because it is the teaching and instruction that God gives to us:
“‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies— or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land.’” Leviticus 26:40-42Unlike Isaiah's prophecy that promises a wonderful outcome for Egypt in which God says Egypt will be a blessing after an evil ruler governs for a time in the end of days, the prophecy for Damascus is horrific and as we might see, the fulfillment appears to be before us in the Syrian news reports as "her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts".
Today, Damascus is the world's oldest continuously inhabited city, yet God's word says it will be "a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow".
There are dark days ahead. It's time to get on our knees to pray and repent and to return to the path and ways of God.
The following is an excerpt from a January 29, 2012 report from the BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen:
Syria rebels gain foothold in Damascus
By Jeremy Bowen
BBC Middle East editor, Damascus
"Dark days ahead
The regime, and the people who want it overthrown, view what is happening here as a fight to the finish. For both sides, it is winner take all.
The fact that the country is splitting along confessional lines is dangerous. In Lebanon, next door, they had a sectarian civil war that pretty much destroyed the country.
In Syria it is not a war yet, but it is starting to look like one. Homs, the centre of the uprising in the north, is paralysed and battered. Deraa, where it started in the south, feels as if it is being patrolled by an occupying army.
There are questions I cannot answer. How much force does the regime hold in reserve? Will the president face a palace coup, perhaps from an Alawite general fearful that Mr Assad's stand will destroy their whole community? And will foreigners intervene decisively, as they did in Libya?
I cannot see how, in the long term, the regime can survive an uprising started by people who are so determined that they demonstrate even when they might get killed. But it will not go quietly.
Everyone I have spoken to here believes the worst days still lie ahead."
In the approaching dark days, don't forget The Lord is watching over His land and His people, Ephraim and Judah, indeed the whole House of Israel.
As the Song of Moses tells us, dark days are ahead. So return to God's teaching and instruction and find your identity in His word.
The Lord is watching over His land and His people, Ephraim and Judah, indeed the whole House of Israel. May our prayer be:
"Come Oh Lord unite the whole House of Israel! Regather your chosen from the ends of the earth. Let Ephraim and Judah cry out to your Spirit. Shekinah Ha Yeshua return to the earth. Come oh Lord revive the whole House of Israel, call from your chosen a remnant of faith. Make Ephraim and Judah as One in your Spirit. Shekinah Ha Yeshua be seen in the earth. In these dark days the light is coming, Yeshua is coming... Back to His land!"This prayer is excerpted from Music by "Wild Olive" - Peter and Julie Jackson. I encourage you to hear their powerful song.
"But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41: 8-10
