Another day, another twist in the situation in Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad has made two demands in order to proceed with the plan for Syria to turn their weapons over to the international community.
The first is for the U.S. to take military action off of the table as a option in Syria. It's the second, however, that will be of great interest to those interested in Biblical end-time prophecy.
Read the following clip below from the linked article to see what his second demand is.
Assad made one other request that might be difficult to satisfy. He said that all countries in the area must honor anti-chemical weapons agreements, "and the first country to do so is Israel because it possesses nuclear, chemical and biological weapons -- all types of weapons of mass destruction."
Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention 20 years ago, but did not end up ratifying it.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/13/playing-with-us-assad-piles-on-demands-amid-chemical-weapons-talks/#ixzz2eoRsx45H
And so it begins. The move to use the Syrian crisis to come after Israel is under way. Let's pray that our leaders will not give into this attempted manipulation of the situation by Assad and Putin. Let's pray that our leaders stand by Israel.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Russia: The new leader of the world
In the last couple of days the Syrian crisis has taken a turn that no one saw coming. On the heels of an off the cuff comment by Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia and her president Vladimir Putin have staked their claim to the title of leader of the free world.
I won't rehearse here the details here that have been covered ad nauseam on the nightly news of how Putin and Russia have out-maneuvered President Obama and Secretary Kerry to take the lead on the Syria issue. What I will discuss here though is the potential prophetic ramifications of the leading role Russia is taking in the Syrian crisis.
I believe Russia leading the charge to get Syria to surrender its nuclear weapons is just the beginning of their plans for the region. I believe that eventually the next target in their sites for disarmament will be Israel and her nuclear weapons. This leads to two different and interesting scenarios becoming possibilities.
One is that Israel would capitulate and become a virtual sitting duck in the region for all of her enemies. At this point the nations of Psalm 83 could see their opportunity to strike and "cut them off from being a nation."
A second scenario is that Israel could refuse Russian pressure to disarm. With the success of Syria's disarmament behind them and with the support of the world, Russia could decide to lead a coalition of willing nations against Israel to disarm her. This could be the "hook in the jaw" from Ezekiel 38:4.
A third scenario would be a combination of the first two where Israel is victorious in the war prophesied in Psalm 83 and as a result Russia would lead the Gog-Magog coalition to disarm Israel. In my opinion this would be the most likely of the three.
We are definitely living in interesting times.
I won't rehearse here the details here that have been covered ad nauseam on the nightly news of how Putin and Russia have out-maneuvered President Obama and Secretary Kerry to take the lead on the Syria issue. What I will discuss here though is the potential prophetic ramifications of the leading role Russia is taking in the Syrian crisis.
I believe Russia leading the charge to get Syria to surrender its nuclear weapons is just the beginning of their plans for the region. I believe that eventually the next target in their sites for disarmament will be Israel and her nuclear weapons. This leads to two different and interesting scenarios becoming possibilities.
One is that Israel would capitulate and become a virtual sitting duck in the region for all of her enemies. At this point the nations of Psalm 83 could see their opportunity to strike and "cut them off from being a nation."
A second scenario is that Israel could refuse Russian pressure to disarm. With the success of Syria's disarmament behind them and with the support of the world, Russia could decide to lead a coalition of willing nations against Israel to disarm her. This could be the "hook in the jaw" from Ezekiel 38:4.
A third scenario would be a combination of the first two where Israel is victorious in the war prophesied in Psalm 83 and as a result Russia would lead the Gog-Magog coalition to disarm Israel. In my opinion this would be the most likely of the three.
We are definitely living in interesting times.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Some thoughts on the Syria crisis
As I write this I am sitting here watching the talking heads on the evening news debate whether or not President Obama is going to get congressional approval for a strike on Syria, or if he will strike even without it. Looking at this from a Biblical, prophetic point of view it's not hard to see how events could be quickly coming to a point of rapid prophetic fulfillment in the Middle East.
As informed as the news personalities on television are, I think a big point is being missed when I hear very little discussion of the impact the Syrian crisis could have on Israel. I keep hearing the "experts" discuss what the unintentional consequences of a strike would be, but in that discussion I never hear anyone mention the potential consequences for Israel.
You can't expect secular news media to fully grasp what is happening in the Middle East when they ignore or just don't grasp the Biblical/prophetic element. However, I don't think you have to be a theologian to see how this could all go bad for Israel.
Should we strike Syria, I find it very likely that they would launch some sort of strike against Israel for one or both of the following reasons.
Number one, this would be an attack against our closest ally in the region. Since Syria/Assad does not have the capability to hit us they could activate Hezbollah and similar terrorist groups inside Israel and just across the border in Lebanon to hit our ally since they can't get to us. I am sure this would be done in conjunction with attacks on U.S. embassies throughout the region.
Number two, Syria could launch an attack on Israel in order to generate sympathy from the rest of the Arab world. Assad is not exactly the favored son of the region right now, but he is a lot more popular than Israel. A combination of being attacked by the U.S. and engaging Israel could draw more support from the Arab community than Assad would get otherwise.
This leads me to my great concern. I have absolutely zero confidence in President Obama or anyone else in leadership right now to stand beside Israel in an attack on them brought about by our actions. In order to continue to experience God's blessing, we need to continue to bless Israel. Turning our back on them in the hour of their need does not fit the bill of blessing Israel.
We know Damascus will be destroyed (Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 49). We know a war is coming involving Israel and Syria and Lebanon (Psalm 83). What we don't know and remains to be seen is what part this ongoing crisis in Syria will have in the fulfillment of these prophecies. It sure feels like conditions could be ripening for their fulfillment though.
As Christians, we need to continue to pray for the following things:
1. The peace of Jerusalem
2. Wisdom for President Obama and our leaders (approval of them or agreement with them is not a prerequisite for prayer for them)
3. Wisdom for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
As informed as the news personalities on television are, I think a big point is being missed when I hear very little discussion of the impact the Syrian crisis could have on Israel. I keep hearing the "experts" discuss what the unintentional consequences of a strike would be, but in that discussion I never hear anyone mention the potential consequences for Israel.
You can't expect secular news media to fully grasp what is happening in the Middle East when they ignore or just don't grasp the Biblical/prophetic element. However, I don't think you have to be a theologian to see how this could all go bad for Israel.
Should we strike Syria, I find it very likely that they would launch some sort of strike against Israel for one or both of the following reasons.
Number one, this would be an attack against our closest ally in the region. Since Syria/Assad does not have the capability to hit us they could activate Hezbollah and similar terrorist groups inside Israel and just across the border in Lebanon to hit our ally since they can't get to us. I am sure this would be done in conjunction with attacks on U.S. embassies throughout the region.
Number two, Syria could launch an attack on Israel in order to generate sympathy from the rest of the Arab world. Assad is not exactly the favored son of the region right now, but he is a lot more popular than Israel. A combination of being attacked by the U.S. and engaging Israel could draw more support from the Arab community than Assad would get otherwise.
This leads me to my great concern. I have absolutely zero confidence in President Obama or anyone else in leadership right now to stand beside Israel in an attack on them brought about by our actions. In order to continue to experience God's blessing, we need to continue to bless Israel. Turning our back on them in the hour of their need does not fit the bill of blessing Israel.
We know Damascus will be destroyed (Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 49). We know a war is coming involving Israel and Syria and Lebanon (Psalm 83). What we don't know and remains to be seen is what part this ongoing crisis in Syria will have in the fulfillment of these prophecies. It sure feels like conditions could be ripening for their fulfillment though.
As Christians, we need to continue to pray for the following things:
1. The peace of Jerusalem
2. Wisdom for President Obama and our leaders (approval of them or agreement with them is not a prerequisite for prayer for them)
3. Wisdom for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)