‘Damascus Volcano’ and CP: ‘Damascus a Ruinous Heap?’

Damascus, Capital of Syria

The conflict in Syria continues:

By Dominic Evans and Khaled Yacoub Oweis

BEIRUT/AMMAN July 21 (Reuters) – Syrian soldiers and armoured troops pushed into a rebel-held district of Aleppo on Saturday after striking back in Damascus against fighters emboldened by a bomb attack against President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle.

Activists in Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city and a northern commercial hub, said hundreds of families were fleeing residential districts after the military swept into the Saladin district, which had been in rebel hands for two days.

Fighting was also reported in the densely-populated, poor neighbourhood of al-Sakhour.

“The sound of bombardment has been non-stop since last night. For the first time we feel Aleppo has turned into a battle zone,” a housewife said by phone from the city.

An escalation in the fighting in Aleppo would prove another challenge to Assad, still reeling from the assassination of four of his top security officials and a six-day attack on the capital which rebels have named “Damascus Volcano”. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/21/aleppo-clashes-syria_n_1691669.html

Damascus will face elimination.

Not only some of us in the Church of God, but certain Protestants have concerns about will happen to Damascus:

‘Damascus a Ruinous Heap?’ Christians Point to Isaiah 17:1 as Syria Conflict Rages

Christian Post – July 20, 2012…

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins,” reads the first verse of the 17th chapter of the prophetic book of Isaiah, believed by scholars to have been written between the late 8th and 7th centuries B.C. Although some critiques argue that the Damascus prophecy was fulfilled in 732 B.C. when the Assyrians leveled the city, others, also pointing to Jeremiah 49:23-27, insist this is an End Times event yet to come to pass…

Olive Tree Ministry…Jack Kinsella…”The prophet Isaiah predicts a quick war between Israel and Damascus, culminating with the total destruction of the city in a single night. In the event of a WMD attack against Israel, the destruction of Damascus would be Israel’s only defense against potential annihilation,” Kinsella writes.

Conjecturing that if President al-Assad takes such a gamble, Kinsella says he will fail.

“It will be primarily between Syria and Israel, and it will be settled in a single, overnight strike,” he concludes, pointing to Isaiah 17:12-14.

Joel C. Rosenberg, a communications strategist and best-selling author of The Last Jihad, The Last Days and similar-themed novels, questioned last month: “Does Bible prophecy foretell the destruction of Damascus?”

“These prophecies have not yet been fulfilled,” Rosenberg wrote in June. “Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth. It has been attacked, besieged, and conquered. But Damascus has never been completely destroyed and left uninhabited. Yet that is exactly what the Bible says will happen. The context of Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49 are a series of End Times prophecies dealing with God’s judgments on Israel’s neighbors and enemies leading up to — and through — the Tribulation.”…

A former Syrian army colonel who defected from al-Assad’s forces to join the Freedom Syrian Army in Istanbul, told CNN this week that all signs indicate that a major fight was indeed on the horizon.

“The battle for Damascus is coming,” he said. http://www.christianpost.com/news/damascus-a-ruinous-heap-christians-point-to-isaiah-171-as-syria-conflict-rages-78574/

Syria will change, now or later. The King of the South will rise up (Daniel 11:40), it will not be Iran, and thus Syria (directly or indirectly) is likely to play a role in that occurrence. Syria will end up being a supporter of that king–thus the situation in Syria must change.

Various former COG writers have tied Syria in with an end time confederation and/or the King of the South.

Daniel 11 also mentions some of the Mideast peoples who will be involved in that struggle among the nations at the close of this age. The belligerents will include the “King of the North,” the leader of the European Union (or its final outgrowth, called the “Beast”). The “King of the South” (an Islamic leader—apparently from Egypt {or} some other Muslim state) is also referred to. The following lands/peoples are specifically mentioned: Egypt, the Holy Land (Israel/Palestine), the Ethiopians (modern Cushites, south of Egypt), Libya, Edom, Moab and Ammon. Many descendants of the ancient peoples known as Edomites or Idumeans now live in the West Bank, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Arabia, Yemen, the Persian Gulf states, etc. (McNair R. Solving the Arab-Israeli Impasse! Copyright Raymond F. McNair 2005, Church of God—21st Century).

King David of ancient Israel in a prophetic psalm (Psalm 83) provides additional insight into the Mideast picture. Germany (Assyria in Bible prophecy) and perhaps the rest of Europe will be in league in the future with a union of Arab nations–a vast confederacy bound together in an effort to crush out the name “Israel” from the face of the earth! This Arab-Moslem confederacy may very well be the previously mentioned “king of the south”–a sphere of power encompassing vast portions of the Islamic world.

“They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom [Esau or modern-day Turkey, a non-Arab but Islamic nation], and the Ishmaelites [Saudi Arabia]; of Moab [part of Jordan], and the Hagarenes [anciently these peoples dwelt in the area known as Syria today]; Gebal [Lebanon], and Ammon [modern Jordan], and Amalek [part of the Turks]; the Philistines [the modern Palestinians] with the inhabitants of Tyre [Lebanon]; Assur [whose descendants, the Assyrians, migrated to Germany] also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot [Jordan and Western Iraq]” (Psalm 83:4-8)…(Stump K. The Arab World in Prophecy. The Plain Truth, December 1979)

Long ago, the prophet Isaiah predicted, “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap” (Isaiah 17:1). Jeremiah also prophesied, “Damascus has grown feeble…her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day” (Jeremiah 49:23-27). Syria was punished anciently for siding against the nation of Judah, and modern Syria has done the same.

The civil war has now reached the suburbs of Damascus, and rebels may soon enter the heart of the Syrian capital. As events unfold in Syria, it will be interesting to see how these prophecies will be fulfilled. (Syria’s growing instability. TW News & Prophecy, July 6, 2012)

The Bible shows that Syria’s capital city Damascus will be destroyed:

7 thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Syria is Damascus (Isaiah 7:7-8)

3 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron. (Amos 1:3)

1 The burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17:1)

23 Against Damascus. “Hamath and Arpad are shamed, For they have heard bad news. They are fainthearted; There is trouble on the sea; It cannot be quiet. 24 Damascus has grown feeble; She turns to flee, And fear has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor. 25 Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy? 26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord of hosts. 27 “I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.” (Jeremiah 49:23-27)

As Jesus said in Mark 13:37, we all should watch. There will be changes in Syria and Damascus will be destroyed. The continuing violence there is likely to play a role in that.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

The Islamic and Arab World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What will happen with Turkey and Iran? What does Islam teach about the Imam Mahdi?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Is he the Imam Mahdi? What does the Bible say?