The Seriousness of Syria

[And today's posting duties I am yielding to Mr. Steve Meehan, and in keeping with Rapture Ready's policy (please see its home page), I'm considering myself free to share this. Especially since I don't understand too much about the civil war in Syria and why – other than Old Testament prophecy saying they will – nations with seemingly no national interest at stake are willing to go to blows here if it gets much worse. Prophecy students and a … pardon my language, disquieting number of monotheists and others are cheering this on without knowing why; but for me, it's hard to get excited about mass murder, no matter how "meaningful" it is. – David]

In the always volatile region of the globe that is comprised of the nations that make-up the Middle East, the current hotspot of Syria’s civil war is boiling away at a fever pitch and spilling into neighboring countries, with the soon possible entrance into that quagmire of even larger outside forces. The ongoing conflict between those rebel groups seeking to overthrow the regime of Bashar al Assad and his loyal forces has raged on for over two years, claiming the lives of upwards of 70,000 people with no end in sight. Couple that fact with the now suspected usage of chemical weapons into the theater of operations by either the insurgents or more than likely, the Assad regime itself, has the international community─including some concerned Arab league nations as well─chomping at the bit to do something to end the violence and oust Assad from his reign of power.

To further add fuel to the out of control conflagration that is consuming Syria, the Israeli IDF over the past weekend felt compelled to launch two strikes within the country to prevent a shipment of Iranian missiles from being transferred to the nefarious terrorist group Hezbollah, which has long been an Iranian proxy organization seeking to destroy Israel. The nation of Israel has its own "red lines" in place. And the transfer of such weapons─sophisticated missile systems and/or any chemical or biological weapons is such a red line, or game changing event that it would necessitate such an incursion into Syria as to stop those movements. The coming days may reveal more required strikes by Israel, or could portend a backlash of retaliation from Syria prodded on by their Iranian counterparts.

The situation in Syria is a difficult one. The international community is fed up with the carnage and loss of life, and is not exactly sure which actions to take. Compounding the problem have been the veto wielding countries of Russia and China to implement any worthwhile procedures that might spell a resolution to the conflict, via sanctions, intervention or other countermeasures. Most would like to see the downfall of the Assad regime but now no one is sure which group would rise to power in the absence of the present government. To make matters worse, the terror group Al Qaeda is said to be among the rebel groups fighting Assad’s forces, and no one wants to see them gain a foothold in the nation and then seize control of the country.

Even the USA has backed down from its threats of how the usage of chemical weapons in the war would be a game-changing event that would entail strong repercussions, after it has been suspected by British and French officials that indeed those weapons have been used; so far, in a limited role. Just how to go about securing such an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction is a vexing problem. A war weary America and for that matter, the rest of the world also, does not want to see American or NATO troops on the ground there. The cache of WMDs may be secreted in various locations throughout the country and finding them all might prove to be difficult. There is also the risk that bombing known sites might disperse extremely dangerous agents into the air in and around populated areas. Given all these factors, it is a problematic issue for the international community to ponder and a lot of hand wringing has ensued.

There are prophetic verses all throughout the Bible that deal mainly with the nation of Israel, but also portend judgment against countries that decide to come up against the Jewish homeland. One such foretold event recognized by students of Bible prophecy has to deal with the country of Syria, and more precisely its capital city, Damascus. The prophecy is found in the book of Isaiah, the 17th chapter. It starts off talking about the burden of Damascus:

"Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap ""(Isaiah 17:1).

The prophecy concludes with this chilling prediction:

"And behold in the evening, trouble; and before the morning, he is not. This is the consequence of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us" (Isaiah 17:14).

The language of the prophecy seems to indicate that the destruction of the city will be almost immediate and not requiring days, weeks or even months to level the capital of Syria. There is only one device that is capable of utterly devastating a city in such a fashion: a thermonuclear weapon. The city of Damascus is said to be the longest, continually inhabited metropolis in the world and has never witnessed such a horrific demise. It is obviously still a future event. But what would compel another power in wielding such force against a city and people to fulfill such a prophecy?

… continued at http://www.raptureready.com/soap/meehan7.html