Syria

Syria has been an enemy of Israel for quite some time. It is one of the world’s leading sponsors of terrorism, and would love to wipe Israel off the map. Up until now it has had a fairly secular government, but that is on the verge of changing.
At the moment there is a civil war raging in Syria, and rebels are trying to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad. So far the rebels have not succeeded, but they are growing in strength and Assad’s problems are mounting. The Muslim Brotherhood wants to take over the country. Their goal is to have Syria be part of an Islamic Caliphate, which would be dedicated toward the destruction of Israel and the murder of all the Jews.

The Bible tells us that the Caliphate is going to become a reality and Syria will be a part of it. This means that, in all likelihood, Assad’s days are numbered. Assad may be able to fend them off for a while and buy himself some more time, but ultimately Syria will fall to Islam and join a list of other nations. These nations will band together and try to wipe out Israel – and the consequences will be horrific.

We find this prophesied in Psalm 83:

Psalm 83:1-8: “Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.”

This passage is a bit difficult to understand because it refers to nations by the names they had in Bible times. However, these groups can be traced throughout history and they do correspond to modern nations. The Ishmaelites now comprise Saudi Arabia. The Hagarenes are now called Egyptians. Gebal and Tyre, together, make up the nation of Lebanon, and Moab and Ammon make up the nation of Jordan. Philistia, the land of the Philistines, is the Gaza Strip. Finally, last but not least, Assur is Assyria, which we today call simply Syria.

What this means is that, at some point in the future, a band of nations is going to come together and form an Islamic Caliphate. The nations that are going to be a part of it are Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and Syria. Lebanon and the Gaza Strip have been controlled by Hezbollah for years now. Egypt (which we will talk about in a minute) has elected the Muslim Brotherhood to power, but the military is attempting to overthrow the election and seize control for themselves. Syria is in a state of civil war; no one knows how much longer Assad will be able to keep control. As far as Jordan goes, the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, has been making reforms in an attempt to keep the Muslim Brotherhood at bay but unrest is growing.

Up until this point in history Israel has never been confronted with the coalition described in Psalm 83. This is an unfulfilled prophecy, but in the past ten years there have been dramatic changes. One by one the nations listed in this psalm are falling to the Caliphate, which has a stated goal of destroying Israel – just as the psalm prophesied.

So how are things going to turn out? Ultimately, it looks like the government of Syria is going to fall to the Muslim Brotherhood and join with the Caliphate in an attempt to destroy Israel. This may happen in the near future or it may be delayed a period of years, but it will happen. Syria will join the Caliphate.

This will turn out to be a fatal mistake for Syria. God makes it quite clear what His response will be. We find it in Isaiah 17 – another unfulfilled prophecy:

Isaiah 17:1-4: “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.”

Isaiah 17:7-10: “At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation…”

Isaiah 17:14: “And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.”

In other words, Syria is going to be destroyed and the city of Damascus will be wiped out. After this war is over there will no longer be a nation of Syria. It will be gone – destroyed by God as judgment for its animosity toward Israel. Moreover, the destruction of Syria will take place in a single night. One day the nation will be there, and the next day it will be gone. Israel will be severely harmed (the passage speaks of the glory of Jacob fading, so Israel was not untouched), but she will survive – whereas Syria will not.

This war is going to be a devastating blow against Islam; in fact, it might be the beginning of the end for that false religion. As Isaiah 17:7 says, when this war happens people will realize that the God of Israel was responsible. Their own false gods will be shown to be false and powerless, and people will have respect for the God of Israel. Islam will be shown to everyone to be a false religion and even its adherents will understand this.

So, to recap: there is a civil war going on in Syria right now, and the Muslim Brotherhood is fighting to overthrow the government. Ultimately Syria will fall and join the Islamic Caliphate, and will join a group of other nations in an attempt to destroy Israel. When this happens Syria will be obliterated, and Damascus (which has been a city for thousands of years) will no longer be a city and Syria will no longer be a country. All of that will happen in a single night, according to Isaiah 17:14.

How far away is this from happening? No one really knows. Syria is in deep trouble; it might last the year or it might not. The Caliphate itself still has some missing members; Jordan, for example, has not yet fallen, and it may take some time (perhaps years) for the rest of the nations to fall into place. But the fate of these nations has already been sealed. God has spoken, and it will come to pass.
 

Egypt

Until quite recently Egypt was actually at peace with Israel. The country was led by a secular government that maintained a decades-long peace treaty between the two nations. Then, as we all saw on the news, there was massive civil unrest and the old government was overthrown.

Right now Egypt is in a state of chaos. The Muslim Brotherhood won the election, but the secular military is unhappy about this and is trying to nullify the election and seize power for themselves. The military has gotten the Supreme Court to say that the election was unconstitutional, but the Brotherhood is fighting the decision by appealing to the people who elected them. Right now no one knows how things are going to turn out – except for God, who prophesied the outcome long ago.

Even if the military wins for now, the fate of Egypt is already sealed. Psalm 83 tells us that the nation will fall to Islam and will become a member of the Islamic Caliphate, which was mentioned earlier. Egypt’s membership in this Caliphate is going to end in disaster. God has spelled out judgment for Egypt, which we find in Ezekiel 29:

Ezekiel 29:2-3: “Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself…”

Ezekiel 29:8: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it. Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.”

Ezekiel 29:13-15: “Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.”

As you can see, this attack on Israel is the end of Egypt’s power. Egypt is devastated so severely that the nation is actually abandoned for 40 years; neither man nor animal will set foot in it during that time. (In other words, after this attack there will no longer be a nation of Egypt; like Syria, it will be gone.) The Egyptians will be scattered throughout the world and the country will be abandoned.

However, that is not the end of the story. After the 40 years have passed the Lord will gather the Egyptians back into their land, but they will be “the basest of the kingdoms”. They will no longer have any power and they will no longer rule over other nations or be a threat to anyone. That is the fate of Egypt.
 

Iran

Iran is another nation that is constantly threatening Israel. They have an active nuclear weapons program and they have leaders that have promised to completely destroy Israel at all costs. The leaders of that country believe that if they can trigger worldwide chaos, the Islamic Messiah will return and conquer the entire world for Islam. They are willing to do anything – including dying or seeing their nation destroyed – to make this happen.

So how will this end? Is Iran going to succeed in destroying Israel? The answer is no. Instead, God is going to destroy Iran. This is prophesied in Jeremiah 49 (which refers to Iran by its old name, Elam):

Jeremiah 49:35-39: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the Lord. But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord.”

Elam here refers to a part of the world that is now controlled by Iran. Interestingly, it is the very part of Iran where the Iranians have built a nuclear reactor – one of the cornerstones of their nuclear weapons program. Another interesting point is that Elam is an active earthquake region. Why someone would build a nuclear reactor in a part of the world that is prone to earthquakes I do not know, but that is what they did. This prophesy tells us that Iran is going to be devastated, its power broken and its people scattered all over the world.

It is interesting to note that Iran is not a part of the nations that come against Israel in Psalm 83. It is possible (although no one knows for sure) that Iran is judged before the Psalm 83 conflict occurs. Iran may not be a part of it simply because it isn’t there anymore! Time will tell how this plays out. What we do know is that Iran’s plan to eradicate Israel will not succeed. Instead of destroying Israel, they will be destroyed instead.

However, that is not the end of the story. As the passage says, the Lord will eventually bring the Iranians back and they will once again become a nation. When that happens, Iran will join Russia, Turkey, and Libya and try to invade Israel and seize its riches. Ezekiel 38 refers to this as the Gog-Magog war. When this war takes place the Lord will fight for Israel and obliterate her enemies, giving Israel a decisive victory.
 

Palestinians

The Palestinians have been on the news for decades. They spend a lot of time committing unspeakable atrocities against Israel – strapping bombs to themselves and blowing up busses full of children; sneaking into houses and murdering Jewish infants; and so forth. The Palestinians hate the Jews; they want to see every last one of them dead, and they want to wipe out the state of Israel. Their hatred for Israel is intense, deep, and passionate.

You may not realize this, but the word “Palestinian” is just the modern name for a very old group of people. They are actually the Edomites – the descendants of Esau. Their hatred for Israel is not new; it goes back for millennia, and the Bible talks about it. God actually has a lot to say about the Edomites. He is very angry with them for their treatment of Israel and has prophesied doom for them.

The Palestinians are going to be a part of the coming Islamic Caliphate that is forming the Middle East, which we discussed earlier. However, their membership in the Caliphate is going to be their doom. According to Obadiah none of them are going to survive:

Obadiah 1:1: “The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom…”

Obadiah 1:10-15: “For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.”

Obadiah 1:18-21: “And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.”

The Palestinians want to wipe out Israel, but in the end they are the ones that are going to be wiped out. Because of their ancient hatred, the Lord has decreed that there will not be any remaining of the house of Esau. It will be brought to an end.
 

Conclusion

At the moment there is a lot of chaos in the Middle East. Thanks to the Bible, though, we know exactly how things are going to end. Right now the nations around Israel are in the process of forming an Islamic Caliphate, which will be made up of Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestinians. This Caliphate will attempt to destroy Israel, but it will fail and the Caliphate will be destroyed. Syria will be destroyed as nation; its capitol, Damascus, will never again be an inhabited city. Egypt will be abandoned for 40 years, and neither man nor animal will set foot in it. It will eventually become a nation again but it will be the basest of nations.

Iran has its own plans to destroy Israel, but those plans will fail. God has promised to judge Iran and will scatter its people among the nations. The Iranians will eventually be gathered back into their country, though, and they will join with Russia in one last attempt to destroy Israel. This, too, will fail.

How far away is all this from happening? Well, parts of it have already come to pass. One by one the nations around Israel are falling to the Muslim Brotherhood and joining the Caliphate. There are some nations that have not fallen yet, like Syria and Jordan, but it is only a matter of time. This upcoming war may well happen in our lifetime; in fact, it may happen in the next ten years. The same can be said for the coming judgment on Iran. It is amazing to think that events prophesied thousands of years ago are coming to pass in our lifetime!

What does this mean for the Rapture? Nothing at all. The Rapture has no preconditions; it can happen at any time. It is not waiting for other things to happen first. The Rapture could have happened in the days of the disciples. It could have happened a thousand years ago, or right now, or in twenty years. It’s impossible to tell. If someone tells you that they know when it’s going to happen, run from them – they are dangerous. People who have claimed to know when the Rapture was going to happen have caused untold harm. They should be avoided.

We do know that the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation. However, we don’t know how long before the Tribulation. The Lord could return for us decades or even centuries before the Tribulation occurs. God hasn’t told us how much of a gap there will be between the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation; all He has done is commanded us to watch.

I think that the Rapture could happen a great many years before the Tribulation begins. This is because there is a parallel in the Old Testament that hints at this. Whenever Jesus spoke of his Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation, He likened it to the days of Noah and the Great Flood:

Matthew 24:37: “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

That brings up a very interesting point. Do you remember Enoch? Enoch never died. Genesis 5:24 tells us “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him.” In other words, Enoch walked with God and pleased Him, so God simply took him. Enoch did not have to die – and he also did not have to experience the Flood. The Lord took Enoch out of the world before He judged it.

Enoch is a “type” or foreshadowing of the Rapture. Like Enoch, the Church walks with God. Like Enoch, one day God will come and take the Church and then we will be gone. Like Enoch, the Church that is alive when Jesus returns will not face death. Enoch was not around when the Flood happened; the Church will not be around when the Tribulation happens. There is a parallel here.

So how long before the Flood was Enoch “raptured”? Did God remove him at the last possible minute? Nope. God removed Enoch from the scene three generations before the Flood happened. It is possible, then, that God might remove the Church from the Earth many years before the Tribulation begins. It’s something to think about.

Are there a lot of Old Testament prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled? Yes, there are. But that does not mean the Rapture is a long way off; it may be very near indeed. After all, Noah hadn’t even been born yet when Enoch (his great-grandfather) was taken. Enoch was not taken at the last minute, but far in advance.

It’s a dangerous thing to think “Well, Jesus probably won’t come back for a long time, so I’m going to slack off and take it easy.” You do not want to get caught off-guard, unprepared, when He returns. There will be no do-overs. You will not have a second chance at getting it right.