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Here We Go...

• Mike Donald

  

  Member
   

  May 20, 2011

  So, by now I am sure everyone is familiar with Ubamahad's turning against Israel yesterday. While this is shameful and unfortunate, for more than just political reasons, none of us should be surprised by it. Bible prophecy tells us that at the end, Israel stands alone, and the whole world is against her. In order for that to happen, Israel's only ally must turn against her. But that turning is only the beginning. We as Christians need to get ready for what is coming.
  
  Isaiah 17 factors very large in pre-tribulation end times prophecy. Let's review that chapter. Verse 1: "An oracle concerning Damascus: 'See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.'" -- Damascus is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world. It has never ceased to be a city. This prophecy has yet to take place.
  
  Verse 2: "The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid." -- Aroer is modern day Jordan, downwind from Damascus. So in two verses, Damascus is destroyed and downwind from Damascus is uninhabitable.
  
  Verses 3-6 refer to cities being abandoned and the people wasting away as if something is destroying their health.
  
  Verses 7-8 are describing people turning away from idols and returning to God.
  
  Verse 9: "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." -- Israel caused them to have to evacuate their cities.
  
  Verses 10-11 are why God is allowing this to happen: the people have turned away from Him.
  
  Verses 12-13 talks about other nations being in a rage because of what Israel has done.
  
  Verse 14: "In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they ['they' = Damascusites] are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us ['us' = Israel],the lot of those who plunder us." -- The destruction of Damascus, which is caused by the Israelites, occurs literally overnight. Israel is doing this as a retaliation for being looted and plundered by Syria.
  
  Now most of this could be explained away by a biological or chemical weapon, but not all of it. These weapons don't turn a city into a "heap of ruins" This sounds to me like Israel is going to be at war with Syria, and the war culminates in Israel nuking Damascus. Interesting that in the past couple weeks, Syria has threatened war against Israel, and has actually invaded one of Israel's towns for a few hours on Nakba Day, right about the same time that Israel's last ally turns away from her.
  
  There is more to this that I will post later, but right now I need to take care of some things, and don't have time to continue this.

  So, by now I am sure everyone is familiar with Ubamahad's turning against Israel yesterday. While this is shameful and unfortunate, for more than just political reasons, none of us should be surprised by it. Bible prophecy tells us that at the end, Israel stands alone, and the whole world is against her. In order for that to happen, Israel's only ally must turn against her. But that turning is only the beginning. We as Christians need to get ready for what is coming. Isaiah 17 factors very large in pre-tribulation end times prophecy. Let's review that chapter. Verse 1: "An oracle concerning Damascus: 'See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.'" -- Damascus is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world. It has never ceased to be a city. This prophecy has yet to take place. Verse 2: "The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid." -- Aroer is modern day Jordan, downwind from Damascus. So in two verses, Damascus is destroyed and downwind from Damascus is uninhabitable. Verses 3-6 refer to cities being abandoned and the people wasting away as if something is destroying their health. Verses 7-8 are describing people turning away from idols and returning to God. Verse 9: "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." -- Israel caused them to have to evacuate their cities. Verses 10-11 are why God is allowing this to happen: the people have turned away from Him. Verses 12-13 talks about other nations being in a rage because of what Israel has done. Verse 14: "In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they ['they' = Damascusites] are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us ['us' = Israel],the lot of those who plunder us." -- The destruction of Damascus, which is caused by the Israelites, occurs literally overnight. Israel is doing this as a retaliation for being looted and plundered by Syria. Now most of this could be explained away by a biological or chemical weapon, but not all of it. These weapons don't turn a city into a "heap of ruins" This sounds to me like Israel is going to be at war with Syria, and the war culminates in Israel nuking Damascus. Interesting that in the past couple weeks, Syria has threatened war against Israel, and has actually invaded one of Israel's towns for a few hours on Nakba Day, right about the same time that Israel's last ally turns away from her. There is more to this that I will post later, but right now I need to take care of some things, and don't have time to continue this.
• Jonathan Cousar

  
   

  May 23, 2011

  Thanks for posting these verses Mike! I'm really glad you did. I was wondering what if any prophetical implications what's going on today might have.
  
  You mentioned verses 3-6 but I'd like to quote them here as they apply to Israel and are very interesting (from the NLT):
  
  The fortified cities of Israel will also be destroyed, and the power of Damascus will end. The few left in Aram will share the fate of Israel's departed glory,” says the LORD Almighty.
  
  “In that day the glory of Israel will be very dim, for poverty will stalk the land. Israel will be abandoned like the grainfields in the valley of Rephaim after the harvest. Only a few of its people will be left, like the stray olives left on the tree after the harvest. Only two or three remain in the highest branches, four or five out on the tips of the limbs. Yes, Israel will be stripped bare of people,” says the LORD, the God of Israel.
  
  So if we were to look for ways that the current situation MIGHT lead to that - I think it's pretty easy to imagine the scenarios. But I think we always have to be careful because of our natural desire to apply every Bible prophecy to today's events - when they obviously can't all be about "today"!
  
  But just for fun... imagine Obama continues to squeeze Israel. Let's say Israel is pressured into giving up the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Would that not make her glory very dim?
  
  The way I see it, Obama is orchestrating the revolutions in the Middle East to topple regimes that have been too lax towards Israel (in his view), and replace them with Muslim Brotherhood/Iranian inspired regimes that will be far more likely to take action against Israel. Would this not indeed make Israel abandoned like the grain fields after the harvest?
  
  Then imagine she is attacked by a powerful Arab force and feels the only way to respond is with nuclear weapons... and she bombs Damascus. That would of course destroy Damascus and as you pointed out - will make Jordan which is downwind pretty much uninhabitable.
  
  Then it says Israel will be stripped bare of people. Well, if Israel set off nuclear bombs that close to herself, most people would have to leave wouldn't they?
  
  Anyway, it's interesting to speculate on how these things might come about! With that said, I don't think we should assume that we are necessarily in that time now. But, if we were in that time - I think we would see Israel continue to get squeezed, we'd see her giving up substantial portions of land and we would see her surrounded completely by enemies - and even the U.S. would become an enemy (which thanks to Obama it already has).
  
  Hmmm... very interesting!

  Thanks for posting these verses Mike! I'm really glad you did. I was wondering what if any prophetical implications what's going on today might have. You mentioned verses 3-6 but I'd like to quote them here as they apply to Israel and are very interesting (from the NLT): The fortified cities of Israel will also be destroyed, and the power of Damascus will end. The few left in Aram will share the fate of Israel's departed glory,” says the LORD Almighty. “In that day the glory of Israel will be very dim, for poverty will stalk the land. Israel will be abandoned like the grainfields in the valley of Rephaim after the harvest. Only a few of its people will be left, like the stray olives left on the tree after the harvest. Only two or three remain in the highest branches, four or five out on the tips of the limbs. Yes, Israel will be stripped bare of people,” says the LORD, the God of Israel. So if we were to look for ways that the current situation MIGHT lead to that - I think it's pretty easy to imagine the scenarios. But I think we always have to be careful because of our natural desire to apply every Bible prophecy to today's events - when they obviously can't all be about "today"! But just for fun... imagine Obama continues to squeeze Israel. Let's say Israel is pressured into giving up the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Would that not make her glory very dim? The way I see it, Obama is orchestrating the revolutions in the Middle East to topple regimes that have been too lax towards Israel (in his view), and replace them with Muslim Brotherhood/Iranian inspired regimes that will be far more likely to take action against Israel. Would this not indeed make Israel abandoned like the grain fields after the harvest? Then imagine she is attacked by a powerful Arab force and feels the only way to respond is with nuclear weapons... and she bombs Damascus. That would of course destroy Damascus and as you pointed out - will make Jordan which is downwind pretty much uninhabitable. Then it says Israel will be stripped bare of people. Well, if Israel set off nuclear bombs that close to herself, most people would have to leave wouldn't they? Anyway, it's interesting to speculate on how these things might come about! With that said, I don't think we should assume that we are necessarily in that time now. But, if we were in that time - I think we would see Israel continue to get squeezed, we'd see her giving up substantial portions of land and we would see her surrounded completely by enemies - and even the U.S. would become an enemy (which thanks to Obama it already has). Hmmm... very interesting!
• Jonathan Cousar

  
   

  May 23, 2011

  By the way, I love verses 12-14 of that passage:
  
  "Look! The armies rush forward like waves thundering toward the shore. But though they roar like breakers on a beach, God will silence them. They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind or like dust whirling before a storm.
  
  IN THE EVENING ISRAEL WAITS IN TERROR, BUT BY DAWN ITS ENEMIES ARE DEAD!
  
  This is the just reward of those who plunder and destroy the people of God."

  By the way, I love verses 12-14 of that passage: "Look! The armies rush forward like waves thundering toward the shore. But though they roar like breakers on a beach, God will silence them. They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind or like dust whirling before a storm. IN THE EVENING ISRAEL WAITS IN TERROR, BUT BY DAWN ITS ENEMIES ARE DEAD! This is the just reward of those who plunder and destroy the people of God."
• Joseph Amendolea

  

  Member
   

  June 7, 2011

  Our alliance with Israel is especially important to the Catholic Church as it is the one derived most closely from the Jewish faith and even retained a lot of Jewishness when the Apostles converted to Christ. Our priests use similar vestments to the Rabbis and priests of the Jews and a lot of our prayer traditions are derived from the Judaic tradition as well

  Our alliance with Israel is especially important to the Catholic Church as it is the one derived most closely from the Jewish faith and even retained a lot of Jewishness when the Apostles converted to Christ. Our priests use similar vestments to the Rabbis and priests of the Jews and a lot of our prayer traditions are derived from the Judaic tradition as well