Edition 160 May 5th 2013

Dates, Times, Seasons, Syria and surroundings:

News events and commentary:

My comment begins with ***

●This morning as I conclude writing this edition, numerous large explosions are heard and seen in Damascus. Initial reports suggest that Israel is taking out weapons supplies bound for Lebanon.

●Syria: Numerous rebels receiving aid from the US are Al-Qaeda operatives! Russia tells US and gives names. New reports claim Obama is now ready to send lethal weapons to the Syrian rebels. (The aid so far, has been non military.)

● “Iran has already crossed Israel’s “red line” and neither Israel nor the US are doing anything about it. Syria has already crossed the chemical weapons red line and again no one is doing anything about it! What does this mean? It simply confirms that many politicians are born liars.

● (Press TV April 18^th 2013) According to US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, the US is preparing for a massive invasion of Syria via Jordan with 20,000 soldiers! This is the first deployment of US forces in the region. This is a pre-cursor to direct military action. The action will be launched from Jordan. ***Why is this so important? It is of major importance from two points of view. Firstly it will escalate the doom of Damascus (a well-known Bible prophecy  of Isaiah17 and others). Secondly, it will bring in the superpowers.

●North Korea is not off the radar screen by any means. It is very likely to do the stupid thing and attack its neighbour. This will bring in the US and other superpowers and cause a whole lot of trouble for the world economy.

Dates, Times, Seasons, Syria and surroundings:

Introduction:

Beware of false witnesses! These are people who cry wolf all the time. They have a world full of ready listeners because people are generally gullible. Conspiracy theories are rife and travel the world in a second thanks to the internet and the anonymity it gives. Lies are the domain of Satan, even coming from the mouths of Christians.

Today we see far too many people with little or no knowledge of the scriptures seeing end-time prophetic fulfilment in every minor news event. They buy into the imbalance and bias of the media, but ignore the real prophetic situation. If your primary source of information is the news media, without the background knowledge of the whole Bible, you are in danger. You’re in greater danger if your source is the conspiracy theories and distortions as well.

Many gullible Christians fall hook line and sinker for manipulative distortion from preachers with pure monetary goals!

I know that many people want to see the unfolding of prophecy (me included) but we must not make current events fit the prophecies when they simply don’t.  Where and when they do fit- that’s fine.

There are many issues pointing to the soon coming of our Messiah, some of which we will look at now, but in all of this we must still allow for interpretive error and not be “wolf” criers!

That said, there are many things that do fit exactly.

Dates and times relating to the Second Coming:

God does things decently and in order! (1 Corinthians 14:40) The context of this verse is order in the Church, but the principle applies to God’s work as well.

There are hundreds of examples of God doing things within defined dates and times. Nothing is haphazard.

Perhaps the most well known and often quoted Bible verse by the unsaved and blind believers is “No one knows the time of the Lord's coming.” In fact that is a miss-quote! The Bible says nothing of the sort. It says, “No one knows the day and hour.” But even that has a number of wonderful twists to it, which we won’t go into now again.

There are dozens of indicators pointing to the soon coming of our Lord. Some things we can be sure of and others not so sure of. There are many things we can put together like a jigsaw puzzle with an emerging picture.

If you are one of those who says, “no one knows the time”, you are also saying, everything will continue as normal and the result of ignoring a major aspect of God’s word will be your worldliness.

In numerous places we are commanded to "know the times and seasons". We are commanded to "watch and pray" and to be ready. The subject of this edition is just one of the many factors relating to this dramatic season.

The Arab spring that wasn’t, summer missed and the Islamic winter of discontent.

All main end time events centre on Israel, Jerusalem and the Jews, as well as the other nations of the Middle East. That is the primary time clock.

There’s a bad Islamic moon rising of bloodshed, violence and hatred. It’s becoming more severe internally between the factions. Islam’s hatred for everyone and everything not Islamic is spilling over to the West more and more.

Many in the western world celebrated the arrival of the Arab spring, and expected the Arab world to fall in love with western style democracy in an instant. Few believe that the intended summer is an Islamic world of Sharia law, domination and control. Forever violent internal factions saw to it that a terrible winter would emerge as a result of the spring that never was. Now we’re on the verge of world war.

By the way, every single human being on this earth who says Islam is a religion of peace has not read the Koran. Islam believes peace is an Islamic world and everything out of its control is for war.

By the way, beware of the world’s media. They want to mould you. They want to kill you spiritually. They lie and can’t tell the truth. CNN, Sky, BBC, Fox, New York Times...you name it, they all speak only what their bosses dictate! Their reporters dare not venture outside of editorial policy as set by their bosses and their big boss Satan.

The final Arab dream-goal is a world empire of Islam. Many short-sighted “clever” politicians yelled loud and long about the role-model of Islamic democracy in Turkey.  Just before becoming Prime Minister, here is what Erdogan said. “The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers.”

The so-called democracy of Egypt has already unravelled and oddly the US still sends it millions of dollars in aid and military hardware! Be sure of one thing...The Islamic moderates will soon turn on the hand that feeds it...it’s in their blood!

The present tragedy is that the many nations and people that don’t support Israel, by default support Islam’s aggression. There is no vacuum of opinion.

If you haven’t realised it by now, the ‘Arab Spring’ is nothing but the arising of the Muslim Brotherhood, which itself is in its pre world-power and war-mongering form. There will be no room for pro-western moderates when their colours are fully revealed.

Syria unravelling:

Very few Christians are aware of these powerful prophecies. Most people that are aware only know of the soon coming destruction of Damascus, Syria’s capital. Few have been taught these things and most couldn’t care or bother. Anyway, these particular prophecies centering on Syria and the surrounding nations are extremely profound and contain much detail and depth.

The principle verses dealing with Syria in prophecy are:  Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 49, Amos 1, Zechariah 9. This Syrian conflict also ties in perfectly with the Arab confederacy of Psalm 83 involving a number of Arab nations. The destruction of most of Jordan is a parallel.

No, it’s not just Damascus that gets wiped out in this fateful war! Many cities in Jordan and Israel will be destroyed as well. The wording of Isaiah indicates that Damascus will not just be destroyed, but it will never be inhabited again! It will cease from being a city forever.

Isaiah 17:1 “Behold Damascus will cease from being a city and it will be a ruinous heap.”

The complete destruction of Damascus, turning it and many surrounding cities into a “ruined heap” occurs in less than one day!

Isaiah 17:14 “Then behold at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us.”

Isaiah 17:3-4 “The fortress will cease from Ephraim, the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria; they will be as the departed glory of the children of Israel. (Amp.) In that it shall come to pass that the former glory of Jacob (Israel) will wane and become enfeebled, and the fatness of his flesh shall grow lean.” (Amp.)

What an incredible verse! “Ephraim” in the Bible is a reference to the Northern 10-tribe Kingdom which was scattered into all the world, but the land area includes Samaria, which today is the Palestinian West Bank! “Ephraim” could apply to the Palestinians as well as the nations of the world in which the tribes were lost. This verse could also refer to the fact that the friends of the Palestinians are many nations of the world! Their “fortress will cease.” their days are numbered!

It’s not clear from this prophecy if Israel will be in a state of decline (waning) before this war begins, or as a result of it. Either way, Israel will be impacted, especially the towns along and near the borders of Syria and Jordan.

Isaiah 17:9 “Strong cities will be forsaken, because of the children of Israel and there will be desolation.” This refers to the fact that it is Israel who inflicts the damage on Syria and surrounding nations.

Isaiah 17:12-13 speaks of a “multitude of peoples who make a roar like the seas. Many nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; but God will rebuke them and they flee far away, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.”

This dramatic verse above speaks of international involvement. The descriptions and sounds used refer to great troubles and conflict. Note that God Himself “rebukes them” This would be through His “battle axe” – Israel.

Perhaps the most significant part of this prophecy is in Isaiah 17:7 “In that day a man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. He will no longer look to the altars, the work of his hands...” So severe and dramatic will be the war that Jews and many others will turn to our Lord for salvation.  They will be shaken from their obsession with materialism.

Cities for destruction:

The map below shows most of the cities and areas of concern. The orange half-circle indicates the approximate radius of destruction, although secondary destruction runs down from Moab into Edom and beyond.

Allepo:

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria. It has an incredible history. Abraham and Isaac spent much time there 3000 years ago.  King David also spent time there. In fact much of the city was built by David. Aleppo was a largely Jewish city. Rome and then the Muslims put paid to that. This was a thriving prosperous city. Like Damascus, it lies largely in ruins today as a result of the ongoing conflict, which has seen over 70,000 killed. It will most certainly be one of the many cities to become totally ruined in this prophetic war because it is the closest to Damascus.

Rabbah: (Modern  Ammon, capital of Jordan, spelt Amman today):

It is 180Kms from Damascus.

Jeremiah 49:1-2 “The days are coming says the Lord, that I will cause to be heard an alarm of war in Rabbah of the Ammorites; It shall be a mound, and her villages will be burnt with fire. Then Israel will take possession of his inheritance.”

The time- lines in other verses of Jeremiah 49 imply that this great destruction will be part of the Damascus war. The description used here is also very similar to that of Damascus in Isaiah 17.

Note that it is Israel who brings the war to a climax and takes ownership of the ruined city. This does tie up with the greater land mass promised the Jews in the Bible.

Note also that the destruction of the city will be caused by “fire” which we will speak about just now.

Amman is also part of the prophecy in Psalm 83 in which a confederacy of Arab nations tries to destroy Israel.

Zephaniah 2:8-9 “I have heard of the reproach of Moab (Jordan) and the reviling of the people of Ammon (Capital of Jordan), with which they have reproached My people (Jews), and made arrogant threats against their borders. Therefore surely as I live says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah – overrun with weeds and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation; the residue of My people shall plunder them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.”

Do you see what this is saying? What an amazing portion of scripture! No, it’s not just Damascus that lies a ruined heap. It is Ammon of Jordan too! This city will soon meet its total demise never to rise again! Note how similar the wording is to the prophecy of the destruction of Damascus. Note also one interesting key phrase: “The residue of My People.” What is this? It could be referring to the residue or radioactive fallout from a nuclear bomb sent from Israel!

The wording and descriptions used by Jeremiah and Zephaniah indicate that this is the same event or very close in time with that of Isaiah 17 and Damascus.

I would think that investing in property in Damascus or Ammon would not be such a good idea!

The image below is a composite of Ammon in Jordan:

Aroer:

It is about 200 kms from Damascus. (There is another Aroer on the map closer to Damascus)

Isaiah 17:1-2 speaks of destruction upon the cities of Aroer (plural.) The ancient city of Aroer no longer exists, but its ruins are found in Jordan near the Dead Sea. It could also mean that the destruction runs from Damascus down through this area in Jordan.

Be aware that neither Syria nor Jordan are seen in WW111 (Gog and Magog) implying that they have been destroyed before. This is most certainly in line with the wording used by Isaiah, in which he says the city will “cease from existing.”

Edom: (Part of modern Jordan)

Jeremiah 49:20-21 “Hear the counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Edom...The earth shakes at the noise of their fall; the cry its noise is heard at the Red Sea".

This is remarkable indeed.

Edom is the area nearest the Red Sea in Jordan.  It is sparsely populated, but with many smaller villages. Whatever the cause is of this destruction, it is major to say the least. Have a look at the map again and note how far the Red Sea is from the Edom area.  Would this be a result of another A-bomb?

The valley of Rephaim:

This valley is located in Israel, running from Jerusalem southwest down to the Valley of Elah in the Judean hills. It is now called El Bukeia. It was the site of a number of wars fought by King David against the Philistines.  This included the war involving the Nephilim race of Philistine giants from the area of Moab.

Isaiah 17:5 "It shall be as when the harvester gathers grain...and he who gathers grain in the Valley of Rephaim, yet gleaning grapes will be left in it...” This verse implies that the workers in the fields will not complete their job, due to the sudden destruction that comes.

The harvest:

Isaiah 17:10-13 “You will plant pleasant plants and set out foreign seedlings; in that day you will make your plants to grow...but the harvest will be a heap of ruins in the day of grief and desperate sorrow.” The term “foreign seedlings” here may refer to foreign nations as well. But obviously in the face of the sort of destruction spoken of here, all agricultural activity will be ruined as well.

Hezbollah:

Zachariah 9:1-6 “The burden of the Lord against the land of Hadrach, and Damascus...”For Tyre (Lebanon) built herself a tower ...behold the Lord will cast her out, He will destroy her power in the sea, and she will be devoured by fire...Gaza will be very sorrowful...and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines". (Palestinians today).

The incredible verses above group the Damascus destruction with that of part of Lebanon. Hezbollah has its home in Lebanon. It is committed to Israel’s destruction and is an ally of Syria. Its days are numbered! This verse also includes Gaza, the home of the Palestinians and Hamas in the coming destruction.

Other Arab nations allied with Syria:

Isaiah 17:13 “Woe to the multitude of many peoples who make a noise like the roaring of the seas and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like many waters! God will rebuke them and they will flee far away and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.”

We don’t know who these nations are, but we can make certain presumptions. The only nations that would be allied with Syria are numerous Arab nations and possibly some nations of the East.

Note the descriptions of ‘rushing, roaring’ sounds. These are characteristic of many of the noises of war.

We could quite accurately fit the Psalm 83 Arab confederacy that tries to wipe Israel off the map in right here.

An atomic strike!

In all the verses above, a picture becomes frighteningly clear...not a pretty picture at all!

Firstly we see not only Damascus but many cities being destroyed. The terminology is similar in that they become a “mound,” “destroyed by fire”, “ruined heap”.  The terminology also uses sounds and images of fire. The sounds are said to be like a sudden rushing flood, heard even as far as the Red Sea. The earth is said to “shake” as a result.

The total annihilation of Damascus happens after sunset and before morning – in less than a day.

Most of the areas and cities mentioned in the verses are within a radius of about 200 kilometres of Damascus. Ammon and other cities of Jordan are close by and are annihilated.

Damascus will cease from being a city instantly and forever. It’s as if some sort of contamination prevents any rebuilding.

Only one weapon can fulfil all of this!

Does Israel have the A-bomb?

They have refused to comment on it. They are also not members of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA). So, they are not subject to examination or control by them. Israel’s reason for staying out of the IAEA is that there may come a time when their existence is threatened and they want / need to be free to act and decide their own future.

Israel has never threatened anyone with nuclear weapons. How could it if they won’t even acknowledge that they have them. Israel would only ever use these weapons as a last resort in the face of severe attack.

If this blast will be heard as far away as the Red Sea, could this imply that more than one nuclear bomb will be used?

Will Israel use the A-bomb?

Obviously Israel will not use any large nuclear bomb simply because it is so close to Syria and Jordan itself. The fallout would hurt Israel as well. But a small device could be used. The above verses do not imply precision guided weapons. These are the sort than can take out an individual building or car or similar target. Something causing enormous destruction on a massive scale is used.

The character of these verses also rules out a long protracted war. So it really does come down to a nuclear bomb.

A nuclear bomb (or two) would have dramatic consequences for the world. It would start of wave of panic in the markets. It would start a collapse in food prices as agriculture takes a hit. It would hinder travel, commerce and industry. Do you recall how quickly the previous bird flu epidemic caused chaos around the world? A similar thing would occur only worse.

The Arab spring will produce a nuclear winter!

For more on this, see the section headed “I have found WMD” in Edition 147.

The Negev (see map above)

This is nothing but desert with a few small outpost villages in the area. Yet it may be important in prophecy.

Israel will be the world’s biggest oil producer by 2020! The quantities of oil found under the Negev desert will make it the biggest in the world once production is ramped up to full steam. The oil is in shale-rock which can only be extracted by the fracking method. This involves fracturing the rock deep down with hydraulics and then pumping the oil out.

The huge quantities of gas and some oil, recently found off the Israeli coast are now in full production and will lift Israel’s GDP substantially this year.

All of this is a game changer and makes Israel more important to her enemies. This will all play a role in the coming conflicts.

How might this all play out today?

This frightening scenario looks more and more like occurring very soon. If Syria uses chemical weapons on Israel, Israel will respond in a flash. It just may be a nuclear flash! That fits the dramatic prophetic bill exactly!

Syria is unravelling fast. Damascus is well on the way to being a “ruined heap”, but at this stage it could still be rebuilt. Jerusalem, for example has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Jericho was destroyed and rebuilt. But Damascus will cease from being a city forever! What would or could cause that? Nuclear contamination most certainly could.

Bear in mind that complete destruction can also be brought about by non-nuclear weapons, but not easily.

The nature of the destruction of Damascus and other cities in Syria, place these prophecies in the end times.

The Tehran -Damascus -Hezbollah axis, as it is now being called, is Israel’s nightmare.

Something is likely to occur soon that will enrage Israel to the point of launching destruction on these cities.

For your benefit I’ve listed some points from all of the prophecies relating to Syria. I’ve also compared them to the situation now. As you can see we are not yet at the complete fulfilment of the prophecies. We can’t make the present situation fit into these prophecies (yet)!

BUT these things are likely to escalate fast and can easily reach the stage of fulfilment very quickly. It does appear that we may well be seeing the forerunners of the situation now.

Damascus:

Biblical: Israel is a key participant. Now: Israel is watching from the sidelines.

Biblical: It occurs when Israel is “waning”. Now: Israel is strong and not waning.

Biblical: They will look to the Holy One of Israel (salvation of the Jews). Now: It’s just starting.

Biblical: Damascus will cease from being a city. Now: It’s still standing.

Biblical: Other cities / regions to be destroyed. Now: This has not occurred yet.

Biblical: Israel will be shaken loose from an obsession with materialism. Now: This still lies ahead.

The economic effects of these conflicts are likely to cripple the world economy through a soaring oil price. The price of gold will go through the roof. A destabilised world economy and crippling recession is the fertile ground needed by the antichrist to bring in his system of financial control.

At the same time Israel is facing a growing enemy within many churches and governments in the form of Anti-Semitism (Jews) and Anti-Zionism (State).

When will this occur?

We can’t look at individual prophecies in isolation. We must put the picture together like that giant jigsaw puzzle.

There are so many other prophetic events all dovetailing together right now. Yes they can stretch out a bit, but there is no doubt we are on the doorstep of the world’s greatest and terrifying dramas.

We know that the end-time clock started ticking with Israeli independence in 1948 and Jerusalem being restored to the Jews in 1967.

The final generation began to tick away from 1948. Some believe that it stated in 1967 with the restoration of Jerusalem. A Biblical generation as revealed in Psalm 90 is between 70 and 80 years. This means that we are right at the tail end of the final generation. But there are many more indicators as well.

There are a great many scriptures, analysts, mathematicians, prophecy teachers and other interested parties all coming up with the 2014 – 2015 year for the start of the tribulation period. If we are to have a pre-tribulation....Hmmm!

Perhaps the most important time-related aspects of these prophecies lie in the fact that Damascus has never before “ceased from being a city” and spiritual awakening of the Jews to their Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, is all just starting now.

Another very important factor in the timing of the Syria and Jordan prophecies is found in the prophecies of the great war of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39. This monumental war is called WW111 by many analysts and students of prophecy. 

Firstly, the breakdown of the nations involved seems to exclude Syria, meaning that it has already been destroyed. But of greater importance is the fact that Ezekiel 38 follows Ezekiel 37, which is the well known prophecy of the dry bones coming to life. All but the deceived believe that this relates to the Jews coming to salvation. Here we see this occuring before WW111. Obviously the salvation of the Jews reaches a climax in the tribulation period, but Ezekiel 37 sees it all starting up. 

Now, if Isaiah 17 sees the Jews starting to come to salvation after, or as part of the destruction of Damascus, then we could say that the end of Damascus precedes WW111. This alll means that we are very close to the time of these things occuring!

The blood moons:  

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) defines the occurrence of 4 consecutive total lunar eclipses as a Tetrad. In the years 2014 - 2015 a rare Tetrad sequence will occur on the Jewish Holidays of Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. In addition to the Tetrad occurrence, 2 total solar eclipses will complement the 4 lunar eclipses on the Jewish New Year and the Feast of Trumpets.

Many say that these will be part of the Biblical “signs” we are to look for.

This may well be so, but there were signs at the first advent of our Lord. We all know the story of the wise men following a star. Some believe this was a comet or something like that. Rubbish, it was a supernatural event. At the crucifixion the sky went dark for three hours. Some say this was an eclipse. Rubbish, it was a supernatural event.

 The coming blood moons are natural events and may end up being of no consequence at all. We will see when we get there.

 Be very careful of looking for supernatural fulfilments in natural events.

Of course God can and does use normal natural events many times as well in which to speak.

We must be well aware and on guard that in these days, powerful lying signs and wonders will come about created and caused by Satan himself. The object will be to fool the foolish and deceive believers.

It’s so strange that many people say they will worry about these things later on. Now is the time. You don’t want to leave it until you will die. It will be too late then.

Finally:

The verses I’ve used in this edition and others show clearly that nuclear war is unavoidable. It, with its far reaching dramatic consequences, will occur, and it’s not far off.

The conflict spoken of here is severe, but is small compared to what is coming in WW111 (Gog and Magog)

The overall point in all of these things in this edition is to demonstrate that time is short! We are on the verge of great, exciting and tragic events of monumental proportions. The world is blind to it all. Most Christians are blind to it all. Many couldn’t care. But some will awaken to the urgency and respond to our God, preparing themselves for Messiah’s coming. Many will use these things as “tools” to bring others to salvation.

We must not cry wolf until the wolf is on the stage, or is at least visible, but we must be ready and aware of what’s coming.

You, like most can reject Bible prophecy, but it will change nothing or stop nothing, and be to your detriment. How much better to be prepared and help others to get ready.

The wise will turn their hearts in surrender to our Lord now and be ready. They will turn in worship to our great God, Lord and Saviour – Yeshua, King of the Jews!

Please be aware that you were created magnificently for a particular purpose. God has a wonderful plan for you. Don’t sell it out to the god of this world.

Psalm 58:10 “The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.”

Jeremiah 51:20 “You (Israel) are My battle-axe and weapons of war; for with you I will break the nations in pieces; with you I will destroy kingdoms.”

Obadiah 10 “For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.” (The original word used here for ‘violence’ is ‘Chamac’ translated ‘Hamas’)

Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”

 I took this picture in the enormous Namib Desert. It represents desolation!

Shalom and grow in grace!