"Will Prophetic Events Unfold Soon?"

Prophecy buffs: Start your engines!

Every major player mentioned in end-time Bible prophecy has been front page news in recent weeks:

• Syria
• Egypt
• Iran 
• Israel
• and......Russia!

The only nation in the news that is NOT mentioned in the prophetic profile is the late, great U.S.A. 

President Barack Obama's decision to climb-down and back away from military action against Syria, and hand the reins over to Russian President Vladimir Putin, marks the beginning of the end of U.S. leadership in the Middle East.

Russia is only too happy to fill the vacuum--a situation predicted in the book of Ezekiel.

Russia, it seems, recognized the opportunity and pounced. They also recognized (even if U.S. leaders did not) the humongous potential for an early Armageddon.

"If a warhead, by design or by chance, were to hit the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor near Damascus, the consequences could be catastrophic," Moscow warned last Wednesday. Such a strike could set off a chain-reaction of unintended and horrific consequences.

The possibility of this happening is high. According to DEBKAfile, "important chemical weapons research facilities are located in the same compound  as the small Syrian reactor.  Moscow fears if the area were targeted the entire region could be at risk of contamination by highly-enriched uranium that could 'fall into the wrong hands.' 

In other words, Putin is afraid Obama will miscalculate and trigger a domino effect that sets the tinderbox known as the Middle East ablaze. 

Given these circumstances, it takes little imagination to see how the prophecy regarding Damascus, found in Isaiah 17, might be fulfilled: "This message came to me concerning Damascus: 'Look, Damascus will disappear! It will become a heap of ruins" (Isaiah 17:1).

Both Syria and Iran have threatened to retaliate against Israel should the U.S. attack Syria. If Syria makes the mistake of lobbing chemical weapons into Israel, you can bet on a swift and devastating response.

The seriousness of today's geopolitical landscape cannot be overstated. The Bible predicts:

• The city of Damascus will be destroyed (Isaiah 17:1)
• Egypt will dissolve into civil war (Isaiah 19)
• Israel will be attacked by her surrounding Muslim neighbors (Psalm 83)
• Russia will form a strategic military alliance with Iran (Persia), Ethiopia and Libya (Ezekiel 38:5), attack Israel in what sounds like either a chemical or nuclear exchange (Ezekiel 39:14)
• All the nations of the world eventually come against Israel  (Zechariah 12)

The Bible gives us detailed descriptions of what will happen in the Middle East. What it doesn't give us is the precise timing or order of these events, saying only that they will happen in 'the latter days' or 'the time of the end.'

Remember, 27% of the Bible is prophetic. There are literally hundreds of prophecies scattered throughout its pages. Many appear to be coming to fruition in our life time, indicating that we are the last generation.

Hard to believe?

Coincidence is one thing--but when every player mentioned begins to line up exactly as predicted--it's harder not to believe.

Before rolling your eyes, open them to the possibility that maybe---just maybe---God really does know the future, and He wants you to know it, too.

Why? So you can believe in Him, repent, and be saved (Ezekiel 38:16)

U.S. vs. Syria may be averted thanks to Putin, of all people. If so--great. But make no mistake: 

Damascus, one of the world's oldest cities, will one day face destruction.

And so will the rest of us if we refuse God's offer of salvation

"Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12).

"Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plans to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).

A wise man once said: "Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late." Felix Frankfurter--Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice from 1939-1962.

News:

• Washington Post: Opinion writer (and former Bush speechwriter) Marc A. Thiessen, accuses President Obama of "lifting his Syria speech from Bush. Obama essentially copied Bush's speech making a case for military action back in 2002, while attacking him at the same time."
• DEBKAfile: Western strike force for Syria disperses. Syria launches offensive near Israeli border