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 17:1-4

This has not yet happened in all of history. I have asked myself for years now, “why will this happen and who will make Damascus a ‘ruinous heap’”?

2 weeks ago, Israeli jets performed a lightening fast surgical strike inside Syria – and nobody on the government level (US, Israeli, Syrian, etc) wants to talk about it. That tells me that it’s a really volatile situation.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2461421.ece

Maybe it will be the Israelis who do it, maybe it will not be them, but rest assured, Damascus will become a “ruinous heap”. The mention of the “fortress of Ephraim ceasing” and the “glory of Jacob being made thin” should give America (and Europe) great pause. But more on that another time…

Jeremiah weighs in as well (chapter 49):

Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet. Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy! Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.

But will this destruction of Damascus be the beginning of a “countdown”, AKA a “birth pang” to be followed quickly by other prophetic events?

Book of Amos (chapters 1 and 2), punishment of, in order:

1. Damascus

2. Gaza

3. Tyre (Lebanon)

4. Edom (Russia)

5. Ammon (Jordan/West Bank)

6. Moab (Jordan/Saudi Arabia/Iraq?)

7. Judah (the country called Israel in the Middle East)

8. Israel (10 scattered tribes of Jacob – their nations of the West, led by Ephraim and Manasseh)

Do you recall prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq how much time was wasted in the UN and how much advanced warning was given to Saddam Hussein to move his WMDs? There is more than a little evidence that much of it went to Syria with the help of Russian convoys. And anything that Syria has, Iran has.

“Proof of cooperation between Iran and Syria in the proliferation and development of weapons of mass destruction was brought to light Monday in a Jane's Magazine report that dozens of Iranian engineers and 15 Syrian officers were killed in a July 23 accident in Syria. According to the report, the joint Syrian-Iranian team was attempting to mount a chemical warhead on a scud missile when the explosion occurred, spreading lethal chemical agents, including sarin nerve gas and VX gas. The factory was created specifically for the purposes of altering ballistic missiles to carry chemical payloads, the magazine report claimed.”

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411428847&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

So where is Iran in all of this, Biblically speaking? Known for thousands of years as Persia, look no further than the book of Daniel.

Prophecy of the Ram and the Goat (chapter 8):

Where? “I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.”

This is in southwest Iran, near the present day Iraqi border and Kuwait.

When? “Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision… I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.”

In other words, this prophecy is for the “time of the end”. As with many prophecies, things have historical “types”, but this is not the fulfillment. This chapter is said to foretell the Greco-Persian wars a few years later, but that is just not the case. There are “types” to yet future events; events that Jesus would tell us are still future 500 years after Daniel was written. Bottom line, look to the Iran/Iraq/Kuwait border area. There was lots of action there before, called Desert Storm, but that storm was stopped…it was not yet time.

“Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.”

Iran will push and push and push…we may be in this period right now. Studying the 2 horns of the Ram is also interesting. Sunni and Shia Islam, perhaps? Horns are representative of power.

“And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.”

So who is the “he-goat”? He comes from the west, on the face of the whole earth, and “touched not the ground”. Some say it is the entire United Nations “fed up” with the Ram. The Goat “comes close” at first, then the attack comes – from the Iraqi border. But it is led by something more, something supernatural…

“Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.”

These “4 notable ones” are described in greater detail in chapter 7.

“And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.”

Uh oh…this is trouble. The “Little Horn”, known to most as the Antichrist or False Messiah. His reach is worldwide. See Revelation 12 to see the stars cast to the ground. He claims to be Christ/God Himself.

In chapter 10, Daniel is given more insight into this Persia/Greece, Ram/Goat battle. So much so, his body can hardly handle it.

Where? “I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel”

Today known as the Tigris River, near the Iran/Iraq border.

When? “Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.”

Again limiting the time frame – still unfulfilled prophecy.

“In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks...Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.”

Sounds a lot like the description of the Glorified Jesus that John wrote in Revelation 1…Daniel saw and recognized the angel Gabriel in chapters 8 and 9, he doesn’t seem to recognize this One…but that’s really here nor there, point is, this is one powerful supernatural dude…

“Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.”

Hold the phone! This is a powerful supernatural dude, maybe even the Son of God Himself, and he: A. fights alongside the archangel Michael and B. this “prince of Persia” withstood him for 3 weeks…food for thought…

“Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.”

Doesn’t this shed more light on the Ram/Goat prophecy? The “prince of Grecia”; the “first king/horn on the Goat” is a supernatural dude also. In fact, I believe the prince of Persia and the prince of Grecia are the same guy. They are 2 of the many titles he has.

And again with Michael – he is mentioned also in chapter 12:

“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time”

Now look in the book of Revelation, chapter 12:

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him…Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

My personal opinion is that the Ram (Persia/Iran) is really ticking him off and he will actually assist in their defeat. That hubris will spill over into heaven and he gets himself evicted. The Ram/Goat prophecy ends with that same guy, now called the “Little Horn”, Satan himself, arriving to earth de facto…

There is soooo much more, but that’s more than enough for now. J

I’m half expecting Townhall to close my blog down now! LOL!