During the Tribulation to come, the book of Ezekiel records a prophecy of an attack by a coalition of forces coming against Israel:

"Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee." ( Ezekiel 38:2-6 KJV )

First, according to Son Light Bible Publishers, Inc., the locations of the city's and countries in the above verses are as follows:

"Meshech" - Moscow

"Tubal" - Turkey

"Persia" - Iran

"Gomer" - Ukraine

"Togarmah" - Turkestan and Armenia, along with "Ethiopia" and "Libya" which retain their modern day biblical names.

Second, we do know this attack comes after the start of the Tribulation which is begun by the signing of a peace covenant by Israel and the Antichrist, for Ezekiel 38:11 tells us that the forces will come against Israel's 'unwalled villages that are at rest and dwell safely, having neither bars nor gates', definitely not their current condition.

Now, here's what strikes me immediately when looking at the names which comprise the above coalition of forces...Syria is noticeably absent, and here's why I believe it's not mentioned:

"The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap." ( Isaiah 17:1 KJV )

Damascus, Syria is the oldest occupied city in the world, but on that day mentioned above, it will cease to exist...something that has never been. So could it be, that Syrian President Assad and Russian President Putin have sealed Damascus' fate with the signing of their military agreement? Absolutely, because the Bible says so. Syria is only one of every nation surrounding Israel which is Muslim, hates God's chosen people, and wants them destroyed.

Here's the likely scenario: Damascus will launch an attack against Israel with their new Russian supplied weapons, and Israel will be forced to retaliate with nuclear arms, thereby fulfilling the Isaiah 17:1 prophecy. The only question is, when will it occur? Since we know it's before the Ezekiel 38 coalition attack mentioned above during the Tribulation, there is the possibility it could even occur before the Rapture of the Church, especially since we're seeing the Lord manipulate events for Damascus' attack now.

Israel wiping Damascus off the face of the globe would have a two-fold effect: It would bring Syria to its' knees, prompting the lack of mention in Ezekiel's prophecy, and it would undoubtably enrage the Muslim community to retaliate. And who would the Muslim nations run to for support? Russia, naturally, since it has proven its' support by supplying arms to Syria to begin with. President Putin, or whoever is in power at the time will supply the weapons for retaliation and/or lead them in their assault...just as Ezekiel prophesied.

And speaking of prophecy, there's one more I want you to be aware of so you don't get too alarmed about the events coming upon the world:

"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." ( Luke 21:28 KJV )

Keith

01-28-2005