Church of God News

Damascus, the capital of Syria

COGwriter

Voice of America reported the following:

September 10, 2016

WASHINGTON —Syria’s government has accepted the cease-fire deal brokered by its Russian ally and the United States, state news agency SANA reported Saturday.

“A cessation of hostilities will begin in Aleppo for humanitarian reasons,” the agency said.

It has been reported, however, that Syrian government warplanes bombarded rebel-held areas around the country, while insurgents shelled government-held neighborhoods Saturday, leaving dozens killed or wounded only hours after a new U.S.-Russia agreement aimed at reducing violence in the war-torn country was announced.

Earlier, Turkey and a key Syrian opposition group pledged on Saturday to support the complicated and partly-secret U.S.-Russia cease-fire deal.

Under its terms, a nationwide truce in Syria is set to begin at sundown on Monday to allow wider humanitarian aid access.

The foreign ministry of Turkey, which sent its military into Syria late last month, announced support for the truce and the agreement announced in Geneva early Saturday as a prelude to a long-term political solution to end five years of war.

Syrian opposition forces are welcoming the deal while expressing skepticism a cease-fire can hold, noting Russia and the Syrian military did not adhere to a previous agreement.

Moscow’s influence on Damascus “is the only way to get the regime to comply,” said a statement issued by Bassma Kodmani of the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian Opposition. …

The United States has also long held that the Syrian leader cannot lead any future government, due to the brutal repression of his opponents.

If the just-announced plans hold, Kerry said, it could lead to political transition and reverse the current trend of “simply creating more terrorists, more extremists and destroying the country in the process.” http://www.voanews.com/a/syria-cease-fire-deal-react/3501465.html

Notice also the following:

10 September 2016

GENEVA (AP) — The United States and Russia working in lockstep against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria. A rejuvenated truce that will compel President Bashar Assad’s air and ground forces to pull back. New flows of badly needed humanitarian aid.

Those details emerged Saturday as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov capped another marathon meeting in Geneva to present their latest ambitious push to end Syria’s devastating and complex war. …

The deal, at least publicly and for now, appears to overcome months of distrust between Russia and the United States that President Barack Obama had cited less than a week ago.

Now, the two powers are lining up in an unexpected new military partnership targeting IS and al-Qaida-linked militants, while trying to prod Assad and opposition groups to end a civil war that has killed up to 500,000 people and displaced millions.

“This is just the beginning of our new relations,” Lavrov said of the U.S. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SYRIA_DIPLOMACY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-09-10-06-52-22

What lasting affect this deal will have on US-Russian relations can be debated.

But biblically, there is no way that ultimately Damascus, the capital of Syria will do well.

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, thousands of years ago, to record that would one day happen.

The biblically prophesied 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 further. Also if the Assad regime broadly uses chemical weapons and/or becomes engaged in a conflict with Israel and/or the West, that could lead to the fulfillment of Isaiah 17:1.

Essentially, the deal that the US and Russia have made is to eliminate the so-called Islamic State and some others considered to be Islamic radicals.

The situation with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad will change. He is a Shi’ite Muslim and most Arabs are Sunni Muslims, as is the Islamic State.

Ultimately, Syria looks like it will support a coalition of peoples that the Bible says will be led by a leader called the King of the South (Daniel 11:40-43)–and most of those lands he is to control are dominated by Sunni Muslims.

But, as I have also written for years, despite being Sunni Muslim, the current Islamic State has offended too many to become the King of the South, but I do believe it will be defeated, but that it is also (mainly unintentionally) helping ‘set the stage’ for that leader to arise.

That being said, the deal that Syria agreed to today will NOT stop the coming destruction of Damascus.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 10th, 2016 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Prophecy.

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