Posted on 02/25/2011 1:24:39 PM PST by GiovannaNicoletta
According to Israel National News, Western intelligence agencies have detected another nuclear plant in Syria – in a Damascus suburb. (Keyword: Damascus)
In bible prophecy, Isaiah 17:1, we read of a terrible fate that is to befall the city of Damascus - one so terrible that Damascus will no longer remain a city in its wake. Rather, it will be left a "ruinous heap."
Isaiah 17:1: The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
While some believe this prophecy to have been fulfilled in the distant past, Damascus is considered by many experts to be the longest continuously inhabited city in the world. Thus, I have long suspected this prophecy holds significance for the future as well.
That Syria has constructed another nuclear plant, after Israel leveled its last known one in September of 2007, comes as no surprise to me. What is striking to me, however, is the Syrians have chosen to place their new facility in perfect position for Israel to bring to Damascus a severe destruction in keeping with Isaiah's prophecy, the fact that Iranian warships recently passed through the Suez Canal en route to Syria only serving to heighten tensions.
Do the Math
Let's do the math on all of this, shall we?
According to United Press International, a U.S. intelligence report indicates Iran has resumed work on obtaining a nuclear weapon, refuting a 2007 report that the Iranians had ceased in their efforts.
Add the new Syrian nuclear facility with Iran's ongoing quest to obtain nuclear weapons as well as the arrival of military vessels from Iran in the Mediterranean en route to Syria and an ominous picture emerges.
Prior to the 2007 Israeli attack on the last Syrian nuclear facility, a ship from North Korea arrived carrying what Israel believed to be nuclear equipment. At a moment like this, one can't help but wonder what may have been onboard the Iranian warships bound for Syria.
Could it be another military showdown is about to occur between Israel and Syria, Iran having played a role in creating the confrontation? No one knows for sure, but a miscalculation on either side of such a conflict could result in a nightmarishly deadly exchange - one that could swiftly add up to the fulfillment of Isaiah 17:1.
>>It’s been destroyed several times, many of which can be considered “ruins” since they are underneath and not inhabited anymore.<<
That would really be a stretch. Not a plausible interpretation if you ask me. When God destroyed Sodom and Gamorrah they were never rebuilt. Damascus, the capital of Syria, is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.
While it isn’t one of the prophesies I would hold without reservation I believe it is still future.
As far as we know, there are no "flocks" living in Damascus with "no one to make them afraid" at this moment in time.
The prophecy about Damascus being destroyed is still future.
that is so incredibly comforting!!
Got to happen sooner or later.
Damascus is still there.
What would be the sin of Damascus in a modern context that would be so great as to provoke the wrath of God unto complete destruction? I’ve read any number of authors who have speculated. One particularly striking one used a translation of the Bible with which I was unfamiliar, citing a passage from Isaiah, 29:4. Here it is from the KJV:
“And thou shalt be brought down, [and] shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.”
I wish I could recall the book, but he went on to speculate that this murmuring from the dust, as a spirit out of the ground, pertained to Syria and retaliation for a nuclear strike. He was implying underground shelters and command centers, with voices transmitted electronically, I suppose.
Following through with the context of Isaiah, the great sin would be consulting with spirits and mediums.
Here is a decent set of the various translations of the passage above, as well as several in depth commentaries upon it:
http://bible.cc/isaiah/29-4.htm
And it will be, until it's not.
I have no problem thinking that just because a city is destroyed doesn't mean people can't build on top of it. The original city (Damascus) is still destroyed.
First, I also have read experts words to the effect that Damascus’ prophesy had been fulfilled.
As far back as 2005, a guy wrote about this (I posted the sit) actually likely happening then (in 2005)... and for us to have lasted for 6 years and it not coming to past, boggles the mind! I have never known the escalation of time events as I have known them in the past 18 months...
http://www.trumpetsounds.com/isaiah17.html
A very insightful and thorough exposition of Isaiah 17. I think this interpretation is very plausible. Particularly considering the news of the day...
>>The original city (Damascus) is still destroyed.<<
Show me from scripture where. Remember that it had to remain a place where sheep grazed.
The cities of Aroer where the flocks would roam are found in present-day Jordan and are deserted and in ruins.
Just go read the site that was posted in 33. You’re going to lose that argument with most people.
Some believe the phrase “cities of Aroer” refers to Aramean territory east of the Jordan River around the Arnon River, which flows into the Dead Sea in southern Jordan. However, the Jewish Encyclopedia claims that this phrase in Isaiah 17:2 is probably translated incorrectly because the geographical distance from Damascus is too great. While they say it’s possible that there may have been another Aroer near Damascus, it is more likely that the passage should be rendered “the cities thereof shall be forsaken.” If that’s the correct translation, it would include the Hezbollah stronghold in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, which was part of Aramean territory in Isaiah’s time, and is in a direct line between Beirut and Damascus.
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 a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with his arm - as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. (Isaiah 17:3-5)
This segment speaks of the defeat of Damascus in 732BC and the destruction of Samaria 10 years later (722 BC). Damascus continued to exist as part of the Assyrian Empire and is still here today, but the ruins of Samaria are just now being excavated out of the sandy soil of Israel. The systematic relocation of the ruling classes to the far reaches of the Assyrian Empire is also in view here, symbolized by the fat of Jacob’s body wasting away. This was standard Assyrian policy to reduce the likelihood of subsequent rebellion among their conquered peoples. Jacob and Ephraim are alternate names for the Northern Kingdom, and Samaria was its capital.
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. (Isaiah 17:6)
Not all the people were dispersed. Farmers were left behind to tend the crops and protect the harvest for their new rulers. They were joined by refugees from other parts of Assyria and their combined descendants were known as the Samaritans in the time of Jesus. (A quick reading of 2 Chronicles 11:16 shows that all the faithful from the 10 northern tribes moved south at the time of the civil war that divided the nation after King Solomon’s death 150 years earlier. From then on, all 12 tribes were represented in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, so the 10 tribes from the North weren’t totally lost. The Lord has always preserved a believing remnant from all the Tribes of Israel.)
In that day men 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. (Isaiah 17:7-9)
This is another passage that’s problematic for those who try to consign the whole passage to history. There is simply no reason to believe that the Assyrians turned to God following their conquest of Aram and Israel. And far from abandoning their cities because of the Israelites, it was the Israelites who were defeated and dispersed. The yet future Jewish attack on Damascus causing the destruction and abandonment of Syrian cities, and the eventual return of the survivors to their God is a much more likely fulfillment. And it could happen soon.
The destruction of Damascus, into a ruinous heap which is not inhabited by humans and into a place where animals roam and no one is there to bother them, has never happened at any time in history.
It is a future event.
You have a lot of words there but none that I can see that address my comment.
It completely addresses your comment.
It confirms that the destruction of Damascus has never happened in history and is a future event.
I'm saying that God never said anything about soil underneath Damascus, but He did say that the day would come when Damascus itself, not the dirt under it, would be a "ruinous heap" and a place where no human beings lived.
The total destruction of Damascus, as described in the Bible, has never happened in the history of the world.
Maybe scanning has been your problem? Don’t be angry with me if I don’t put a lot of stock in the opinion of someone who only scans.
Interesting news today that Syria is sitting hard on their demonstrators there. Also that the Nuclear site that was so questionable before is pretty much as was assessed...they had it and it was indeed bombed. Barely made the news awhile back. But just some tid-bits to add to the discussion.
Also I have learned that many people have difficulty taking Gods word for what it says....generaly speaking because if they agree it would have impact on “other” beliefs they have and the house of cards would fall. Sometimes it’s a very good way of re-inforcing their “system” of beliefs by trying to read around or under what’s being stated clearly.
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