It’s been a while since we made a comment on topical end time prophetic events – one of the reasons for this is that events are now so fast-moving, it’s almost impossible to keep up!
One area of Bible prophecy that continues to shape up directly in line with many end time scenarios is the Middle East. Many prophetic passages (such as Ezekiel 38-39, Zechariah 12-14 and Psalm 83) indicate Israel will one day be left abandoned and exposed by the world whilst fiercely hostile surrounding nations will seize the opportunity for an all-out frenzied attack with the intention of completely wiping them off the face of the earth. These passages describe a huge end time attack on the Jews which will cause them to turn in desperation to their Saviour Jesus Christ for divine protection and deliverance:
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it….And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zechariah 12:2-3 and 9-10)
The countdown to this fearsome showdown is ticking and the terrible upheaval in Syria is yet another piece of the jigsaw in all of this – we have blogged on this before, but the situation has grown in intensity in recent weeks. In many areas across the Middle East, Christians and Jews are being systematically removed, killed or faced other intense persecution. Meanwhile, most of the western media (and church) simply turn the other way and in some cases directly or indirectly provide political legitimacy and economic support for this.
Syrian President Bassar-al Asaad has been universally blamed by the western politicians and media for the recent senseless chemical attack that killed over 80 people and made worldwide headlines. We are less certain that Asaad was behind this attack – why would he invite universal condemnation and outrage with this provocative attack that would only attract more foreign intervention against Him? It seems much more likely his enemies were behind this with a view to continuing their drive toward the inevitable removal of Assad. This will leave a perfect vacuum for a greater intensity of Islamic fanaticism in Syria.
Mr Asaad is far from perfect, but once he is gone, the situation in Syria will be far far worse. How can our own leaders not understand this? We seem determined to create exactly the same dire situation as we did in Iraq. Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to get this although he seems to be the only one – we truly live in bizarre times when we feel we can trust the judgment of Putin more than our own western leaders on matters like this!
North Africa is a complete mess, Iraq and Syria are an even worse mess – all violently succumbing to the power of militant Islam. Lebanon, Iran and others are vehemently intent on the complete destruction of Israel. At some point, these nations will combine to co-ordinate an attack on Israel who will already be abandoned by the world at large. The UN is actively encouraging this by isolating the only democracy in the Middle East with contrived resolutions whilst ignoring far worse abuses of human rights in surrounding countries and other parts of the world – this is one the most scandalous aspect of all this…the whole world is culpable in some way.
Everything is aligning as foretold and whilst it is so painful to witness and read about such unimaginable suffering and injustice, we can console ourselves with the assurance that the Lord God is in control. The world will watch as the Middle East takes centre-stage and events play out just as predicted thousands of years ago. Almighty God is proving His Word is 100% sure and time continues to get shorter for those who refuse to acknowledge Him. The Lord Jesus entered this fallen world as a lamb to defeat death – He is returning soon as conquering Judge to defeat His enemies and restore His created world. Keep your Bible in one hand and your newspaper in the other – it doesn’t take much to connect the dots!
And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. (Zechariah 14:9)
Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 38:23)
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