The purpose of the initial Syrian uprising was to oust the president, Bashar al-Assad, considered too "secular" for the primarily Muslim population. However, the uprising has grown into an international conflict, drawing in major powers including Russia, the U.S., Iran and Turkey, either directly or through proxy militia groups such as ISIS, and Hezbollah. Israel too, has been drawn into the conflict in some limited ways in the form of carefully targeted air-strikes, determined to prevent the fighting from spilling over the border into Israel, or preventing Iran from gaining too strong a military foothold in Syria.
These events which are swirling around Damascus, have caught the attention of Bible students who have taken note of an interesting prophecy from Isaiah. The prophecy speaks of Damascus and a time referred to as "that day," understood as the End of Days. Many prophecy watchers have been keeping a close eye on this tragic human catastrophe that has seen the ruination of Syrian cities, one after another.
Damascus, though, is a city that has proudly touted itself as the "oldest living city in the world," and so far, has avoided the monumental devastation suffered by so much of the rest of the country. In fact, they can still say that there has never been a time when Damascus ceased to be a city.
The question of whether or not the total destruction of Damascus figures as a signpost to end-times prophecy remains in play. Given that the current confusion of fighting could very well lead to the complete obliteration of Damascus, the answer to this question could be just over the horizon. In the words of Isaiah:
The prophecy then turns to Damascus and Ephraim. Ephraim, being one of the ten tribes of the northern kingdom is understood to be representative of the entire northern kingdom which was closely allied with Damascus economically and religiously. The condemnation of God seems to be regional, though the city of Damascus is definitely singled out, in that it will be reduced to a heap of rubble and cease to be a city.
The passage, however, is more focused on Israel (the northern 10 tribe kingdom as apart from Judah) than Damascus, recognizing how closely allied the two were, united against the southern kingdom, together they would fall. The prophecy, however, was actually meant for the southern kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. It was a warning to them that they should learn from the way God deals with the Syrians and the Northern Kingdom for forgetting their true Savior, the Rock that was their fortress. It's possible that the prophecy watchers have misinterpreted the account from Isaiah 17 and got it wrong. Or maybe we just have to be patient while the will of God is worked out. Certainly, Damascus looks rather like an old man, sitting on a powder keg, watching the fires burn all around, believing he has immunity. Indeed, Syria has become a nation of refugees.
Putting the accounts of Damascus and the Northern Kingdom of Israel into historical context, Isaiah first began his ministry during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah, probably a year or so before Uzziah's death, around 740 BCE. In 727
BCE Shalmaneser V gained control of the Assyrian empire, and in a bold act of defiance, King Hoshea of Israel dared to discontinue paying tribute to the Assyrians. At the same time a revolt against the Assyrians developed out of Damascus. Shalmaneser responded by initiating a broad-scale campaign of putting down revolts throughout Syria, and Damascus became totally subjugated under his rule. Shalmaneser then laid siege to Samaria, the capitol city of Israel, the northern kingdom, a siege that would last for three years. However, Shalmaneser died suddenly while the siege was still ongoing, and Sargon III was quick to seize the Assyrian throne. In 722 BCE under the command of Sargon, Samaria was taken in rather short order. This brought about, for all intents and purposes, the dissolution of the northern kingdom, as the Assyrians led some 27,000 people away in captivity. The kingdom of Judah meanwhile, remained undisturbed by the Assyrians while under the reign of King Ahaz.
The captives taken from Samaria were scattered and dispersed around Assyria in Halah, Habor at the river Gozan and in the cities of the Medes. (2 Kings 17) Then the Assyrians imported foreigners to dwell in the vacated cities of Samaria. Peoples from the nations around the Assyrian empire, from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim. These went about establishing their cultural traditions and the pagan gods of their homelands in the territory of the Northern Kingdom. This created a blended population that would intermarry with the Jewish remnant over time, establishing a legacy of people known as Samaritans, despised by the Jews in Jesus' time.
Nowhere in the historical accounts, is the city of Damascus reduced to rubble. Although, at one point the Assyrians had laid siege to the fortified city of Damascus, but they withdrew, attacking the smaller cities of Aram around the Syrian territories. The prophecy concerning Damascus is yet to be fulfilled. However, today, the violence has displaced over ten million Syrian people, nearly half the total population of the country. Most of the displaced are still in country, but millions more have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. Many more have sought refuge in the European Union and the United States. Aleppo, Syria's second largest city has been reduced to rubble along with many other cities and towns around the country.
There are many prophecy-watchers that believe we will witness the total destruction of Damascus, that it's only a matter of time, and that this will constitute yet another sign that we are living in the end-times. Isaiah's credentials as a prophet of God have already been well established.
In spite of reassurances from world leaders that the enemies of Assad are being driven back, and beaten down, the fighting continues. Bashar al-Assad remains in power, though sections of Damascus itself have been bombed out. Yet the various factions and militia groups appear to be fighting each other as much as they're fighting the Syrian troops. Still, there is no doubt that the power of Damascus over the rest of Syria has been seriously shaken. Only time will tell if the prophecy will be fulfilled in our day. What does seem certain is that the Arab peoples, the sons of Ishmael, seem to be living up to the prophecy in Genesis:
Israel, Judah and their regional neighbors. Map is an estimate from around 830 BCE
territories of the twelve tribes
An ancient prophecy is trying to raise it's ugly head today
And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the LORD also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. - Genesis 16
Isaiah's prophecy concerning Damascus and Israel in the End of Days
"A prophecy against Damascus: “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites,” declares the LORD Almighty. “In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away. It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain, gathering the grain in their arms— as when someone gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation. You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain. Woe to the many nations that rage— they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar— they roar like the roaring of great waters! Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us." - Isaiah 17
The world has been watching the brutal carnage that has been ongoing in Syria since 2011. The so-called "Arab Spring" broke out fast, beginning in Tunisia in 2010, and then spread quickly through 2011-2012 engulfing Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and then made its way to Syria.
The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world, and North Africa. It resulted in regime changes in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. It was driven as a response to oppressive regimes and low standards of living. The entire regional explosion of riot and revolt was sparked by a 26-year- old street vendor in Tunisia who burned himself to death as a way of protesting the way the government was treating him.
To put this scripture in context, it is one of a number of "burdens" or denunciations and pronouncements recorded in this section of Isaiah concerning peoples and nations around Israel. In turn, Damascus is the third listed among the burdens, preceded by Philistia and Moab. Sometime during the Persian empire, Moab (the Moabites being the children of Lot), condemned by God for their pride, disappear from the historical record.
FOR A MORE CURRENT UPDATE ON A CONFUSING SITUATION, THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE PROVIDES A GOOD ANALYSIS
Syria became like Germany was to Europe during the Thirty Years’ War – a place where countries intervene and where the locals pay the price.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN Published: JUNE 20, 2022
Jerusalem Post
Syria is in the crosshairs of renewed focus. This takes place in the context of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine and Russia-US tensions, as well as Israel-Iran tensions. Part of the new focus is known, but recent reports seem to point to shifting tectonics on Syria and raise questions about what might come next.
At the center of the Syria issue is that the country has been “in play” for the last decade. Before the Syrian civil war, there were efforts in the US and the West to normalize the Assad regime and bring it in “from the cold” so that it would be part of the West, rather than part of the Iran-Russia alliance system. The regime was even considering a deal regarding the Golan Heights.
However, the Syrian civil war led the regime to rely more on Hezbollah, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps entered Syria to help the regime. Russia intervened in 2015 at the invitation of Damascus to help defeat the rebels. With the rebels mostly defeated by 2018, it was Turkey’s turn to intervene. Syria became like Germany was to Europe during the Thirty Years’ War – a place where countries intervene and where the locals pay the price.
The Turkish intervention has now destroyed part of northern Syria, ethnically cleansed Kurds, Yazidis and Christians and given extremists a huge foothold in Idlib and Afrin. The US intervention backing the SDF led to the defeat of ISIS in eastern Syria. Iran has taken over areas of influence from Albukamal to south of Damascus, Deir Ezzor areas, as well as tentacles stretching to Aleppo and T-4 base. Russia has forces in Latakia and Damascus.
Israel is conducting its campaign between the wars in Syria against Iranian entrenchment. Iran is moving proxies to Syria, as well as drones and other threats. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has vowed to confront the “head” of the Iranian octopus in the region.
Reports have spread rumors that Russia may reduce its forces in Syria. Iran could backfill the areas where Russia may reduce forces. That would destabilize parts of Syria. Foreign reports say Israel bombed Damascus International Airport recently and that the regime is now repairing the airport. This was one of many recent Israeli strikes reported in foreign media.
New reports show that all the focus is turning to Syria now. Not only has NBC said Iran has carried out dozens of attacks against US forces since last October, including attacks in Syria and Iraq, it has hinted that the US didn’t respond.
Russia is now escalating in Syria. “Escalating,” as The Wall Street Journal headline calls Moscow’s actions, is in contrast to the articles that said Russia might leave. Russia has threatened US-backed Syrian rebels based at Tanf garrison near the Jordan border. Another Journal report said the US secretly reviews Israel’s plans for strikes against Iranian targets in Syria.
The report discussed matters that were already partly known.
The US approves of Israeli strikes, and there is coordination with the US, the report said. The US is concerned that strikes could impact its role in the anti-ISIS mission. Concerns about this have been openly and publicly stated in US government reports going back several years.
James Jeffrey, who served as the Trump administration’s Syria special representative and envoy for the anti-ISIS mission, told Al-Monitor in December 2020: “We also had the Israeli air campaign. The US only began supporting that when I came on board. I went out there and we saw Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and others, and they thought that they were not being supported enough by the US military, and not by intelligence. And there was a big battle within the US government, and we won the battle.”
“We also had the Israeli air campaign. The US only began supporting that when I came on board. I went out there and we saw Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and others, and they thought that they were not being supported enough by the US military, and not by intelligence. And there was a big battle within the US government, and we won the battle.”
He previously said in an article at the Washington Institute: “While Syria used to be an independent state allied with the Islamic Republic, it is now entirely reliant on Tehran and can no longer act independently. Israel faces a fundamental threat from this northern coalition, and the American security system has been unable to act effectively against it.”
He also told an interviewer in late 2018: “We understand why Israel feels itself existentially threatened by Iranian long-range systems in Syria. And we support fully Israel’s efforts to protect its national security.”
His comments show that the previous administration sought to increase coordination with Israel, and once Israel was under the US Central Command area of operations, this became more logical and easier to accomplish.
All eyes have now turned to Syria again, with the crisis in Ukraine and other issues in the region. It remains to be seen if the new focus on Syria will lead to a shift in Iran’s tactics and how the coordination with the US continues to potentially grow in relation to Iran’s threats.
US, Israel, Iran and Russia focus on Syria - analysis
We shall see how this unfolds - Amen, Halellujah
