Church of God News

Damascus, the capital of Syria

COGwriter

Voice of America reported the following:

January 31, 2016

A triple bombing in a southern Damascus suburb killed at least 60 people Sunday.

Two suicide bombers detonated explosives as rescue efforts were underway after a car bombing in the Sayeda Zeinab district of Damascus, where Syria’s holiest Shi’ite shrine is located.

The violence occurred before Syria’s main opposition group met with U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura in Geneva. Mistura is attempting to get warring Syrian factions to the negotiating table for a political solution to the country’s nearly five-year civil war.

Before participating in peace talks with the Syrian government, the High Negotiations Committee is demanding an end to government sieges and Russian airstrikes in rebel-held areas.  …

Kurds leave Geneva

Representatives of Syrian Kurds fighting against the Syrian government said they were not invited to join the Geneva meetings, and will not be part of the peace talks. Turkey opposed the Syrian Kurds’ participation, contending they are linked to the Kurdish fighters who have fought with Turkey for 30 years over control of Kurdish-majority areas of southeastern Turkey.

The civil war in Syria has dragged on for nearly five years, killed a quarter of a million people and displaced millions more.The conflict has also seen the birth of the Islamic State militant group and triggered a massive wave of refugees to western Europe.

The battles in Syria have intensified since September when Russia began airstrikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad, countering the efforts of opposition groups supported by the United States, some members of the European Union, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

The complicated backdrop makes the peace process especially difficult.

Significant gains for Assad’s forces

With Russian support, Assad’s forces have made significant gains.Analysts say the government has little incentive to negotiate with an opposition that is weak and fractured.

Despite the opposition coalition’s move toward joining the Geneva talks, analysts are pessimistic.Nadim Shehadi of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston sees little chance of success.

“We are pressuring the opposition to prove that they are united, coherent, that they have a strong leadership and that they have a vision, and a policy and a certain consensus on what the future will be,” Shehadi said.” And I do not think they do, I do not think they will in the near future, and I do not think they can.” http://www.voanews.com/content/un-envoy-meeting-with-syrian-opposition-in-peace-effort/3170337.html

The Obama Administration has repeatedly called for the overthrow of the Assad regime. The USA has funded opposition to Assad. And directly and indirectly, the Obama Administration has taken steps which led to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), now calling itself the Islamic State. This was an ‘unintended consequence’ as far as the US government is concerned, but the reality is that is what happened.

Russia has not been optimistic about this UN peace plan–whereas others see Russia starting a major war (watch Russia, Iran, Syria, & the Bible (Code)).

The violence and deaths in Damascus today bring to mind Bible prophecy.  There are biblical prophecies that tell of the coming destruction to Syria’s capital Damascus:

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)

Damascus has been claimed to be the “oldest continuously inhabited city” in the world. And while some have questioned that claim, the reality is that Damascus has not been destroyed to the point of becoming the “ruinous heap” since God inspired Isaiah to record that would one day happen.

Today’s deaths are a mere fraction of the devastation that will come to Damascus.

This devastation could come as the result of the current war with the Islamic State. It is possible that attacks against the Islamic State will encourage it to attack Damascus. Also if the Assad regime broadly uses chemical weapons and/or becomes engaged in a conflict with Israel and/or the West, that could also fulfill the above.

As I have been writing for years, the situation with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad will change. Ultimately, Syria looks like it will support a coalition of peoples that the Bible says will be led by the King of the South (Daniel 11:40-43).  Currently, Syria is fairly isolated from the Arab world.

The situation for the Arab and Islamic world will have ups and downs. The Bible tells of a time of a significant peace deal that will affect the region, but that deal will not last (Daniel 8:25, 9:27, 11:23-24; see also The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27). The Bible teaches that more war will later come and will include a coalition of peoples such as the Sunni nations in the Arab world (Daniel 11:40-43; Ezekiel 30:2-8).

While few wish to believe it, it will take the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God to truly solve the conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. Those in Syria are in my prayers.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2016 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Prophecy.

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