PROPHECY IN OUR HEADLINES: by Steve Overman

Isaiah 17 is an oracle concerning the destruction of Damascus. On January 22, the headline of a leading Israeli newspaper called The Times of Israel read: “ASSAD: I WILL WIN, EVEN IF DAMASCUS IS DESTROYED”. What Syrian President Assad was referring to was a response to a comment made saying that he could not remain in power. It was said that the opposition could defeat him but the cost to do so might be the complete destruction of Damascus.

The article points out that the Israeli elections have just taken place and many Arabs are worried about the direction Israel is headed. Conversely, the election of Obama has made them very happy. A quote from the article states: “President Obama’s message is very clear. In short, he said that he does not intend to militarily intervene in Syria, will not wage a war on Iran, succumbing to Israeli pressure and will focus on rescuing his country from its crippling economic crisis.”

In my book called The Watchman, I discuss this very issue.Here is an excerpt from that book:

“Isaiah 17 contains a prophecy which speaks about the destruction of the city of Damascus, the Capitol of Syria, and one of the oldest cities in the world. It has always been a city. It has been overthrown but never destroyed. See what God said to the prophet Isaiah: Isaiah 17 (NKJV):

Verse 1: “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. (Whoa)

Verse 2: The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be for flocks which lie down, and no one makes them afraid.

Verse 3: The fortress also will cease from Ephraim, (northwest of the Dead Sea) the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: “They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” Says the Lord of hosts. (This sounds like Israel does it. Look what happens next.)

Verse 4: “In that day it will come to pass that the glory of Jacob will wane, and the fatness of his flesh grow lean.

After this event Israel becomes weak. Could this be because the U.S. is no longer giving support? Think about it. If the Church were to be raptured at this point, then the Christians would no longer be giving support to Israel and she would be on her own. Of course we don’t know exactly when the Church will be raptured, but it seems like this could be a possible explanation. More speculation, I know, but interesting.) Again, Damascus has always been a city. But something (possibly a nuclear blast?) occurs in verse 1 above. “Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap!” “And to the glory of the children of Israel.” Could this be what puts the hooks in the Russian Bear and brings Gog & Russia and all their allies down to attack Israel?

Currently the focus of the world is on Iran / Persia and their quest for a nuclear bomb with which they could ‘wipe Israel off the face of the earth.” Russia has just sold Iran / Persia a 60 million dollar Sam 3 Missile Defense System which, when operational will be able to defeat any Israeli attack. They also have just launched a solid fuel rocket that is easily in range of Israel. Israel desperately wants to neutralize any Persian nuclear threat. This gives Israel a very small window of opportunity for a surgical strike against Iran. It should be easy to see now that there are things going on in this world which should make us want to study what God says about this future battle in the Middle East.

This excerpt from my book THE WATCHMAN. thewatchmanbook.com