“THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS”
Isaiah 17:1
Introduction
by
Doug Krieger
Today, December 30, 2004, the Fox News Channel had a lengthy discussion with military leaders and pundits regarding Syria’s persistent encouragement of the current insurgency plaguing Operation Iraqi Freedom. It appeared they had been reading virtually all the contents of this four-part series!
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to check out the geopolitical tea leaves and come up with that one; does it? Yet, the next geopolitical development prophesied in Holy Writ should come as no surprise; not if you understand the message of Isaiah 17 and 18.
Scoffers, however (and we include amongst the secularists many a “dear brother and sister in the Lord”), insist that the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent Tsunami Waves which struck throughout the Indian Ocean region are just a happenchance phenomenon that occurs every 100 years—and that such occurrences are made worse by population growth, etc.
Likewise, do they scorn the notion that “wars and rumors of wars” have occurred from time immemorial. Further, that “false Christs” and the “spirit of Antichrist” have plagued humanity for centuries. Indeed, the Biblical prophecies are simply a hodgepodge of generalities that fit whatever situation you desire!
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man” (Luke 17:26). Little do these “antidepressants” realize that they are fulfilling prophecy by maintaining such a superlative attitude!
But can the prophets so clearly forecast the immediate demise of Syria? Speak of Israel’s military alliance with the pre-positioned forces of “the prince who is to come”—leader of the “Mystery Nation/People” of Isaiah 18?
Do Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jesus, Paul and John (among others) tell of the upcoming and imminent “Syrian Regime Change” (affecting Lebanon and the disillusionment of the Palestinian Authority)?
We contend that they do and that the struggle within Christendom once again revolves around the theological tectonic plates which collide with each other time and again: “Spiritualization” methods of hermeneutics, popularized by Origen and Augustine, and embraced by both the Catholic Church and most Reformational Churches, as well as Liberal Christianity and “Kingdom Now” Evangelicalism—stands in stark theological contrast to evangelicals who embrace “Biblical Literalism” which de facto ascribes to the Messianic Scenario by D. R. Shearer and recently released through the tribnet blog.
Yes, the battle lines have always been drawn—but Israel’s MATERIALITY changes the eschatological equation! That’s what disturbs so many “spiritualized brethren” among us.
This series will bring you face to face with the immediate upsurge of Radical Islamic Fundamentalism/Nationalism which will take place shortly after Syria’s demise: The Gog-Magog War of Ezekiel 38 and 39 (as well as Isaiah 17:12 and Daniel 11:40-45).
The occupation of virtually the entire Levant by the USA-led “Coalition of the Willing” will join with Israel in a DEFENSE PACT that will precipitate this conflict and/or immediately thereafter what once stood as a “Memorandum of Understanding” between Israel and the USA, will become a full-blown TREATY WITH DEATH AND HELL (Isa. 28:15, 18; Dan. 9:27).
The All-Islamic Federation of both nations north of Israel (“King of the North”) and south of Israel (“King of the South”) will mount a concerted PINCER ATTACK on BOTH the forces of the West and Israel and will be resoundingly defeated! The Bible makes it abundantly clear that in this onslaught, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and virtually all nations in the Saudi Arabian Peninsula will NOT align themselves with this All-Islamic Federation. Instead, Iran, Turkey, and other Islamic peoples south of Russia, as well as Egypt, the Sudan and Libya will head up the “Southern Islamic Federation” of peoples allied with the “King of the North.”
You will more clearly understand the prophetical timing of these events and the theological debate surrounding the interpretation of the Scriptures . . . we encourage you to study the Word of God yourself to see if these things be so . . . God bless you in your pursuit of the Truth!
“THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS . . . .
CATALYST FOR THE GOG-MAGOG WAR
Part 1
MOSUL ATTACK HIGHLIGHTS SYRIAN CONNECTION
As
the full report of American casualties came in from Mosul’s al-Ghizlani
military camp (a.k.a.
Forward Operating Base Marez) on Dec. 21, 2004—with the death toll now at
22 and figures of the wounded soaring—resemblance of Israel’s trauma stalked
the American military: SUICIDE BOMBER! SHADES OF THE SUICIDE BOMBING BY
HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON (the Marine Barracks, 1983)!
The Taliban-style/linked terrorist group, Ansar al-Sunnah—the same fundamentalist group responsible for beheading 12 Nepalese hostages—claimed responsibility. But the dirty little story behind all this is Syrian involvement—alleged or otherwise, SYRIA WILL TAKE THE RAP!
Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, and every neocon “out there” (and, of course, the Israelis) have been decrying Syria’s funding, training, “warehousing,” and coddling of the Iraqi insurgents, Iraqi Baathist leadership, and, most certainly, every Osama, Abu, and Yassir terrorist clique in the world! The “Road to Damascus” is paved with terror—and America will not easily forget the source from whence it flows:
“‘The people of the region will receive [America] with rifles, blood, arms, martyrdom and martyrdom operations,’ Nasrallah (Shiite Hezbollah leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah) said in a speech delivered a week before the war (in Iraq) began. His remarks were broadcast on Al Manar, the group's Beirut-based satellite television station.
“‘In the past, when the Marines were in Beirut we screamed, ‘Death to America!’ Nasrallah said. ‘Today, when the region is being filled with hundreds of thousands of American soldiers, ‘Death to America!’ was, is and will stay our slogan.’
“Hezbollah's renewed focus on America has sharpened the long-standing debate among U.S. officials over whether the United States can, and should, go after the group. Some believe that a showdown has been overdue since 1983, when the group blew up the U.S. Embassy and a Marine barracks in Beirut. The attacks killed more than 300 people (Note: Hezbollah is based in Syrian-occupied Lebanon and is supported “officially” by both the Shiite Mullahs of Iran and Syrian largess.).”
Sooner, rather than later, SYRIAN STATE-SPONSORED TERRORISM must be stopped—so why not NOW? These two articles will unravel—from a geo-political construct and an eschatological paradigm—the Gordian knot of Syria’s entanglements and how the West (primarily the USA and her anxious ally, Israel) intend to—once and for all—free the Middle East from Islamic terrorism’s grip! Also, we will examine just why the US deems such an immediate endeavor plausible and why Israel’s enthusiasm—along with her neocon/Christian Right allies—demand it.
IRAQ = SYRIA = GOG-MAGOG = “TREATY WITH DEATH AND HELL” – A Biblical backdrop . . .
Note: These series of articles will confirm that Syria has and will become the catalyst that will set off the Gog-Magog multi-national conflagration. Syrian’s complicity in allegedly harboring, training and funding the Iraqi insurgency will be the reason used by both the Bush Administration and the Sharon Government as the next step in DEMOCRATIZING THE MIDDLE EAST (i.e., “Subduing Syria”).
Israeli/USA outrage over Syria’s tolerance and support for virtually all major terrorist organizations in the region (Including: Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Al Fatah, AMAL, and scores of other terrorist cells/orgs. like Ansar al-Sunnah, who receive training, refuge, funding, directly or indirectly through Syrian “official complicity”) can no longer be tolerated by “the civilized world.”
In particular, Israel will play a MAJOR ROLE in eliminating Syria’s military and, ipso facto, the elaborate network of terror organizations through Lebanon and Syria. The “Palestinian Authority” will be consigned, as a result of the collapse of Syrian “resistance” against Israel, to irrelevance and possible expulsion from Israeli “territory” or face humiliating compliance to all Israeli political aspirations in the region.
A cacophony of “incidents” and “confirmations” against Syria will enflame anti-Syrian rhetoric until THE SYRIAN CARD DROPS! Once Syria is “democratized,” the US will formalize a DEFENSE PACT with Israel, guaranteeing her security in the event of further “efforts to destabilize the region.” This AGREEMENT will act as a MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING whereby nations who concur with its principals and procedures will be invited to initial THE ACCORD, thereby supporting a new status quo for the Greater Middle East.
This will immediately exacerbate Islamic passions throughout the Middle East. A “Northern Alliance,” headed by Iran (including Turkey), and a “Southern Alliance,” headed by Egypt (and known in the Bible in the north as Gog-Magog (“King of the North”) and in the south as the “King of the South”)), will “come up against” US forces in Iraq, as well as the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) primarily in Israel (although both USA/IDF forces by then, will virtually be under joint command and scattered throughout Syria/Lebanon (i.e., the whole of the Levant)).
Furthermore, the United States of America, in accordance with Isaiah 17 and 18, as well as Daniel 11, will lead the primary assault against these Islamic nations/armies in a stunning military CAMPAIGN that will decisively altar the geo-political equation throughout the Greater Middle East (cf. Ezekiel 38 and 39). This spectacular victory for “The West” will demand an OVERALL PEACE SETTLEMENT for the region, akin to the Yalta Agreement for all of Europe. This agreement will be heralded by the “Free World” (and, in particular Israelis) as the greatest achievement for World Peace for the Modern Era. It will be BASED UPON THE ORIGINAL ACCORD signed after the “Syrian Engagement.”
However, its implementation will be fraught with considerable unrest and continued violence, as other Islamic nations throughout the world continue to explode in “rebellion” against the West’s “democratic designs,” and as China and other Asian nations manifest their concern for American hegemony throughout the world.
Now . . . bear with us . . . this is NOT as farfetched as you might think. We’ve been saying most of this for years now . . . and we affirm that the Bible’s been declaring it for millennia; but, we’ll get to the Biblical aspects of the “Syrian Card” a little later, but first, let’s take you on the “Road to Damascus.”
THE PLOT THICKENS—“AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING”
“Conflict of Civilizations”
The “democratic takeover” of the Middle East began in earnest (in so far as a deliberate geo-political reshuffling of the region is concerned) in the early ‘90s. Its ideological raison d’être, oddly enough, was propounded by Harvard Prof. Samuel Huntington’s published essay, “The Clash of Civilizations.” Here, he contended that conflicts around the globe would no longer be waged over “ideology,” but over culture (Israeli correspondent Aluf Benn, Ha’aretz, November 14, 2002).
Huntington subscribed “bloody borders” to Islam. For example, “fault lines of conflict” run through Kashmir, Bosnia, Nigeria, Sudan, Mindanao in the Philippines, etc., and Israel is lumped with the West (i.e., a “Western creation”) and centered on the fault line.
The Israeli “right” took to Huntington’s analysis, but so did Ehud Barak’s “left”, who described Israel as a “Western fortress” in the region. Israeli’s Aluf Been in the cited Ha’aretz article postulated: “Israel is the only country to absolutely support the American decision (to go to war with Iraq), and has urged it to act, and quickly . . . the tangible result of the change in consciousness has been deepening Israel’s dependence on American defense and economic support . . . Sharon led that policy.”
THE ROAD TO MIDDLE EAST PEACE RUNS THROUGH BAGHDAD—THEN TO DAMASCUS!
Former CIA political analysts, Bill and Kathleen Christison, point out that the pro-Israel neo-conservative policymakers in the Bush administration make little effort to hide their real intentions in going to war with Iraq (“and later perhaps against Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, and the Palestinians”). Likewise they point out that the hypocritical “left” denies Israel’s complicity in US “domination of the Middle East” or “the U.S. drive to assure global domination and guarantee security for Israel.” Christisons said:
“Some leftists who otherwise oppose going to war against Iraq will trot out charges of promoting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the old czarist forgery that asserted a Jewish plan for world domination.”
But is there Israeli complicity for the US war in Iraq? Sure seems that way—listen to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in mid-1996 through Israel’s “Institute for Advanced Strategic and Politic Studies” (and, remember, our little friend, The Scaife Foundation, (Richard Mellon Scaife), et al, has contributed over $584,000 to this “Israeli Think Tank” in helping to formulate and propagate this policy):
“Since Iraq’s future could affect the strategic balance in the Middle East profoundly, it would be understandable that Israel has an interest in supporting the Hashemites in their efforts to redefine Iraq. Israel’s new agenda can signal a clean break by abandoning a policy which allowed strategic retreat, by reestablishing the principle pf preemption, rather than retaliation alone and by ceasing to absorb blows to the nation without response. Israel’s new strategic agenda can shape the regional environment in ways that grant Israel the room to refocus its energies back to where they are most needed: to rejuvenate its national idea. Ultimately, Israel can do more than simply manage the Arab-Israeli conflict; it will transcend it. As a senior Iraqi opposition leader said recently: ‘Israel must rejuvenate and revitalize its moral and intellectual leadership’. It is an important, if not the most important, element in the history of the Middle East.’ Israel—proud, wealthy, solid, and strong—would be the basis of a truly new and peaceful Middle East.’ (Written for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mid-1996, by the Scaife-funded Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies.).
Scaife’s think tank implicates Syria in the mix—after the Iraqi vacuum is “formulated” (i.e., Saddam is removed, and regime change takes place); to wit:
“The vacuum tempts Iraq’s neighbors to intervene, especially Syria, which is also driven to control the region. Iraq’s chaos and Syria’s efforts simultaneously provide opportunities for the Jordanian monarchy. Jordan is best suited to manage the tribal politics that will define the Levant in the wake of failed secular-Arab nationalism. If Jordan wins, then Syria would be isolated and surrounded by a new pro-Western Jordanian-Israeli-Iraqi-Turkish bloc. It would be prudent for the United States and Israel to abandon the quest for ‘comprehensive peace,’ including its ‘land for peace’ provision with Syria, since it locks the United States into futile attempts to prop-up local tyrants and the unnatural states underneath them. Instead, the United States and Israel can use this competition over Iraq to improve the regional balance of power in favor of regional friends like Jordan.” (“Coping with Crumbling States: A Western and Israeli Balance of Power Strategy for the Levant” 1996)
The “Syrian Card” was analyzed by Ben Lynfield of the Christian Science Monitor (nearly seven years after the aforementioned Israeli think tank proposed as much); to wit:
“The installation of a pro-American government in Iraq would help Israel vis-à-vis another enemy: SYRIA. ‘After Iraq is taken by US troops and we see a new regime installed as in Afghanistan, and Iraqi bases become American bases, it will be very easy to pressure Syria to stop supporting terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, to allow the Lebanese army to dismantle Hezbollah, and maybe to put an end to the Syrian occupation in Lebanon,’ he says. ‘If this happens we will really see a new Middle East. It might be enough not to invade Syria but just to have an American or UN blockade so that no one can ship weapons to it,’ Steinitz adds. Mr. Ezra predicts a US strike would ‘calm down the entire region’ by eliminating ‘the extremism of Saddam.’” (Note: Deputy Interior Minister Gideon Ezra of Israel and Yuval Steinitz, a Likud party member of the Israeli Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee; Christian Science Monitor, August 2002). (All highlighting my emphasis.)
The BAGHDAD-DAMASCUS NEXUS was laid out by the administrations neocons as elucidated by the Boston Globe’s John Donnelly and Anthony Shadid on September 10, 2002:
“As the Bush administration debates going to war against Iraq, its most hawkish members are pushing a sweeping vision for the Middle East that sees the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq as merely a first step in the region’s transformation. The argument for reshaping the political landscape in the Mideast has been pushed for years by some Washington think tanks and in hawkish circles. It is now being considered as a possible US policy with the ascent of key hard-liners in the administration, from Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith in the Pentagon to John Hannah and Lewis Libby on the vice president’s staff and John Bolton in the State Department, analysts and officials say. Iraq, the hawks argue, is just the first piece of the puzzle. After an ouster of Hussein, they say, the United States will have more leverage to act against Syria and Iran, will be in a better position to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and will be able to rely less on Saudi oil . . . .” (John Donnelly and Anthony Shadid, Boston Globe, September 10, 2002).
Yes, so ends the old “Soviet sphere of influence” and Baathist Socialism (i.e., Arab Nationalism). And, in its place, Islamic Radical Fundamentalism—take your pick!
OIL FOR PEACE—NOT “LAND FOR PEACE”
The reconfiguration of the Mideast and the thick fog which enshrouded the actual intent of this Administration’s policies surrounding the war in Iraq—is now becoming quite clear:
· The main objective of the American economy (and therefore of American policy) is the oil of the Caspian Sea.
· The existence of a secure American base in the heart of the Arab world will also enable Washington to bully all the Arab regimes, lest they stray from the straight and narrow.
· The new situation will destroy the last remnants of Arab independence. Even today, almost all the Arab countries are dependent on America (Uri Avnery, September 10, 2002)
UC Berkeley journalism professor Sandy Tolan, in a Los Angeles Times piece on December 1, 2002 (“Beyond Regime Change”) took elevated notice of the Oil/Israeli link (and, consequently, the ultimate ROAD TO DAMASCUS; to wit:
“The new map would be drawn with an eye to two main objectives: controlling the flow of oil and ensuring Israel’s continued regional military superiority. (Patrick Clawson, policy analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy) . . . quoted during a Capitol Hill forum on a post-Hussein Iraq in 1999: ‘U.S. oil companies would have an opportunity to make significant profits,’ he said. ‘We should not be embarrassed about the commercial advantages that would come from a re-integration of Iraq into the world economy.’ But taking over Iraq and remaking the global oil market is not necessarily the endgame. The next steps, favored by hard-liners determined to elevate Israeli security above all other U.S. foreign policy goals, would be to destroy any remaining perceived threat to the Jewish state: namely, the regimes in Syria and Iran.”
The Tolan piece is rather up to date, wouldn’t you say? Arch-Neocon Michael Ledeen puts it right out front in so far as focusing on Mideast terror networks after the Iraqi incursion (April 2002):
“This is the head of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Commission (going after Brent Scowcroft)? Doesn't he read the newspapers? He doesn't seem to realize that Saddam is actively supporting al Qaeda, and Abu Nidal, and Hezbollah.
“However, nobody is perfect, and Scowcroft has managed to get one thing half right, even though he misdescribes it. He fears that if we attack Iraq ‘I think we could have an explosion in the Middle East. It could turn the whole region into a caldron and destroy the War on Terror.’
“One can only hope that we turn the region into a cauldron, and faster, please. If ever there were a region that richly deserved being cauldronized, it is the Middle East today. If we wage the war effectively, we will bring down the terror regimes in Iraq, Iran, and Syria, (my emphasis) and either bring down the Saudi monarchy or force it to abandon its global assembly line to indoctrinate young terrorists.
“That's our mission in the war against terror.”
ENTER CONDOLEEZZA RICE—ARCHFIEND OF HEZBOLLAH . . . THE ADMINISTRATION’S CURRENT PUSH AGAINST SYRIA . . . building its case . . .
Timing is everything. Just when Secretary of State Colin Powell vanishes from the scene and the Syrian Card is about to drop, enter the likes of Condi Rice. As Rice enters the arena of international diplomacy, she does so with a background in Soviet expertise on how the Evil Empire once clawed away at the Middle East. She is well aware of the Bear’s incursions into the region and those who still remind her of that influence.
Again, reaching into the past and bringing us into the immediate, Robert Novak, in a Washington Post piece on December 26, 2002 picked Rice to “go after Syria” by going after Hezbollah:
“National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has insisted that Hezbollah, not al Qaeda, is the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization. How could that be, considering al Qaeda’s global record of mass carnage? In truth, Hezbollah is the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization from Israel’s standpoint. They are viciously anti-American in rhetoric; and, the Lebanon-based (Syrian supported) Hezbollah is focused on the destruction of Israel. Thus, Rice’s comments suggest that the U.S. war against terrorism, accused of being Iraq-centric, actually is Israel-centric. That ties George W. Bush to Arik Sharon. What is widely perceived as an indissoluble Bush-Sharon bond creates tension throughout Islam. On balance, war with Iraq may not be inevitable but is highly probable (well, that’s happened!)” (Novak, Washington Post, Dec. 2002).
Imagine, Condi to the rescue and in the nick of time—just as the following takes place on the Road to Damascus via this Washington report:
“Iraqi interim president Ghazi al-Yawar said officials suspect that Syria is harboring the insurgents who are fomenting unrest in Iraq . . . ‘I think we’re having insurgents coming from Syria,’ Yawar told CNN television . . . the insurgents ‘have a lot of cash, which they stole from the Iraqi Central Bank before the collapse of the old regime,’ he said. ‘They’re using their own money.’
“The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing US military intelligence officials, that Iraqi insurgents are being directed to a greater degree than previously suspected by loyalists of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein living in Syria . . . the sources told the daily that a handful of senior Iraqi Baathists are collecting money from private sources in Saudi Arabia and Europe for the insurgents and are managing some of their operations from Syria . . . in separate interviews with the Washington Post, Yawar and Jordan’s King Abdullah II (interesting?) also raised concerns about Syria’s role in Iraq . . . Abdullah, meanwhile, noted that the governments of both the United States and Iraq believe that ‘foreign fighters are coming across the Syrian border that have been trained in Syria.’ ‘There is a sinister campaign to create an atmosphere of hostility against Syria,’ he told the daily (i.e., Imad Moustapha, Syrian ambassador to the US).”
And, from the President himself prior to the Mosul attack on Sunday, December 19, 2004:
“Hinting at another possible showdown in the Middle East, President Bush warned Syria on Sunday it could face serious consequences for harboring fleeing members of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s regime. His threat came as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said there was new evidence that some top Hussein deputies had escaped across the border into Syria. ‘The Syrian government needs to cooperate with the United States and our coalition partners and not harbor any Baathists, any military officials, any people who need to be held to account,’ Bush said.”
But, it gets better . . .
“Bush would not say whether he was prepared to take military action if the Damascus government refuses to turn over top Iraqi officials (and, of course, they won’t because they claim they don’t have any) seeking safe haven in the country. But he leveled a new charge at Syria: POSSESSION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS. The allegations, contained in a recent CIA report, have been vociferously denied by the Syrian government. However, Bush said, he believes the country has chemical weapons, and U.S. officials are weighing how to respond.”
And, in conclusion . . .
“The Bush administration has long viewed Syria as a threat to American interests in the region and to staunch U.S. ally Israel. Syria has become a permanent fixture on the State Department’s list of countries that sponsor terrorism because it has given sanctuary to groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, all of which have staged terrorist attacks on Israel . . . on Sunday (Dec. 19, 2004 and before the Mosul attack) Rumsfeld said there was evidence the Syrian government might be paying fighters to kill U.S. and British troops in Iraq.”
Rumsfeld said in this same Washington (AFP) report:
“‘On one of the buses, they found something like several hundred thousand dollars and a number of leaflets that suggested that people would be rewarded if they killed Americans,’ Rumsfeld said on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation.’”
“The materials were found after what the defense secretary described as a fierce firefight with U.S. troops in which a number of the Syrian-backed fighters were killed. Rumsfeld said some fighters had been sent back to Syria, while others had been taken captive as prisoners of war. Rumsfeld said it would be up to Bush and Congress to decide what action to take against Syria, but added that the Damascus government had already damaged its reputation by intervening in the conflict in Iraq.”
“Rummie” piles on more “evidence” to wit:
“Rumsfeld said Sunday that some (Iraqi Baathist officials) were most likely staying in Syria while others had traveled to other countries. One of Saddam Hussein’s half brothers was captured in northern Iraq on Sunday (December 19, 2004); U. S. officials believe he was planning to cross the border into Syria. Asked what the United States would do if it learned Hussein (half brother of Saddam) had taken refuge in Syria, Rumsfeld said: ‘I think Syria would have made an even bigger mistake.’”
“White House and Pentagon officials believe the U.S. war in Iraq could help persuade other U.S. adversaries—from North Korea to Syria to Iran—to limit their links to terrorist groups and their development of weapons of mass destruction to avoid being next on Bush’s hit list . . . the President was asked by a reporter: ‘Now that there’s a vacancy on the axis of evil (Iraq is “off the list”), is Syria a good candidate?’ Bush replied: ‘We will deal with each situation as it arises.’”
ROMANS STAND TOGETHER AS ONE!
The last spat of information on our Road to Damascus came as a result of a rambling series of exchanges between the President and the media during the week of December 20, 2004. Some of these exchanges took place in the presence of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, America’s staunchest “Old European” ally.
President Bush enumerated a litany of charges against both Syria and Iran in the War on Terrorism at a joint news conference with Berlusconi. The PM had recently regained some credibility, having been exonerated by the Italian courts on charges of corruption (Note: The wheels of Italian justice move exceedingly slow.).
Al Jazeera spelled out the “Roman Empire” identification that PM Berlusconi exhibited during the press conference with President Bush; to wit:
“Berlusconi, Washington’s closest ally in Europe, pledged wide-ranging support for a second-term Bush agenda that calls on all European nations to back the U.S. position in Iraq.
“‘I wanted to reassure President Bush that I will do any possible effort to strengthen the relationship between the United States of America and Europe, because I agree with him: THE WEST IS ONLY ONE,’ Berlusconi said.” (my emphasis)
On December 22, 2004 the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, warned Syria that Washington was prepared to impose stiffer sanctions if she failed to clamp down on fugitive Iraqi officials and end its involvement in Lebanon.
On May 11, 2004 the U.S. imposed sanctions on Syria for its support of militant groups including Hamas and Hezbollah. These sanctions called for freezing assets of certain Syrian individuals and the launching of an investigation into the Commercial Bank of Syria as a “money laundering institution.”
CHRISTIAN LIBERALISM
IS CONFUSED
Part 2
. . . a slight detour from the Road to Damascus . . . but we’ll get back on track soon
Introduction
My last tome centered on
what I called, “The Road to Damascus” and how the politics of the “Syrian
Card” is being played out by the West. But, before I get on that road again
from a “Biblical perspective” I must address a few skeptics and scoffers who
scorn the “Messianic Scenario” written by D. R. Shearer and featured during
this past week on
www.the-tribulation-network.com.
You see, you really can’t appreciate contemplating a Biblical reflection relative to the “Syrian Equation” without understanding the impact of this small dissertation . . .
CHRISTIAN LIBERALISM IS CONFUSED
I find it altogether
refreshing, in some ways, to read the ranting of the Rev. Rich Lang of
Seattle’s Trinity United Methodist Church in the Ballard District rail on the
“Antichrist” elements within the Religious Right in his open letter to
President George Bush featured in
Real Change:
Dear President Bush:
“You claim Christ but act like Caesar. There is blood all over your hands with the promise of even more blood to come. You sit atop the nations like the Biblical Whore of Babylon openly fornicating with the military men of might.”
“The power and seduction of this administration emerges from its diabolical manipulation of Christian rhetoric . . . the mirror opposite of what Jesus embodied. It is, indeed, the materialization of the spirit of Antichrist: a perversion of Christian faith and practice.”
Further, Lang is absolutely right on regarding the Christian Right’s quest for Dominionism (although he does NOT understand the nuances between evangelical Premillenialism and Postmillenarian Dominionists . . . somehow he lumps the whole lot of them together . . . and I’m leading up to the “Syrian Card” . . . eventually):
“The progressive church (a.k.a. “Liberal Church”) should bring back—and this sounds so crazy—the word ‘heresy.’ The end times theology and this other thing called Dominionism or Christian Reconstruction—those are heresies.’ Lang says not to believe Christian Coalition leader–turned–Whore of Enron–turned Bush/Cheney campaign lieutenant Ralph Reed when he claims the Christian right has no plans to upend the Constitution and impose its religion on civic life. ‘He’s a liar,’ says Lang. ‘Dominionism is the notion that God has given the dominion, the governance of the world, to the church. And so Christians literally are born to rule, by force if necessary, to bring the Kingdom of God on Earth. I believe that the theology that drives the Bush administration affirms this.’ When Falwell preached, ‘We must take back what is rightfully ours,’ his ambitions did not stop at U.S. borders. This is a Church of a Law Unto Itself.”
Now, after the brilliance of Rev. Lang’s analysis facing America’s religio-political scene, he commits spiritualized suicide by these ludicrous remarks which are oxymoronic (I’ll explain):
“‘It’s so ludicrous!’ laments Lang. ‘Such a twisting of scripture (Note: Lang refers to Darby’s ‘Dispensational Truth’ and ‘Biblical Literalism’ juxtaposed to Augustinian ‘spiritualization’ of Scripture.). That history is scripted is something that it seems to me Christians ought to have an instinct to be repulsed against. You follow a code, there’s magical meanings in the text.’
“But Lang knows why people cling to millennial dreams—like Dubya’s, his life was saved by a fundamentalist church. ‘It attracted me because I came out of chaos. Alcohol and drugs; 19 years old and I was dyin.’ I needed a strong fence around my life and people who cared for me, and I got both. But after about a year of reading what they taught me, I started to raise questions.’
“Further study convinced him that Augustine was on the right track, after all, in reading apocalyptic literature as spiritual advice, not a sneak preview of tomorrow’s headlines. ‘Revelation is written to the churches in its time, not to the churches in the 21st century. It’s written to seven churches in Turkey.’ As for the Antichrist warnings in John, he reads them not as a literal prediction of Bush but as a warning against the eternal danger of his hypocritical, Mammon-worshiping, proudly elitist, heartless, narrowly legalistic spirit. ‘I John seems to be obsessed with language like this: ‘How can you say you love God, who you have not seen, if you do not love your brother and sister, who you have seen?’ Who are in need of food, clothing, shelter? The implication of the doctrine of the Antichrist is that there is an economic disparity in the community, and people are using their religion, not practicing it.’” (Article by Tim Appelo in The Seattle Weekly, December 8-14, 2004, “Is Bush the Antichrist?”)
So, Lang really doesn’t see the Bible with a classical prophetic message for our time . . . simply a book of moral and spiritual lessons—powerful, but not prophetically predictive.
Lang’s inane and oxymoronic comment here betrays a profound ignorance on his part regarding the current debate taking place within the Church. D. R. Shearer’s Messianic Scenario brought out that the same Dominionists despised by Lang are the same ones who, like Lang, EMBRACE AUGUSTINIAN HERMENEUTICS. Lang excoriates these DOMINIONISTS, thinking they are Darbyites—akin to the Left Behind Series of Tim LaHaye! WHAT DECEPTION IS THIS!
What on earth does the Rev. Lang (apparently saved in an Evangelical Church and now a turncoat liberal . . . and a confused one at that) think Augustine was doing “back then” when he attempted to justify the Roman Catholic Church’s KINGDOM NOW marriage with the Kingdoms of this world? Does he not have any historical sense of theology? Shame on him!
Yet Lang’s “right track” Augustine thinking will prevent Christians from committing a “sneak preview of tomorrow’s headlines” and from personifying the Antichrist; instead, they’ll be protected from worshiping Mammon and commence loving their brothers and sisters? They will then live out the gospel by addressing the issues of “economic disparity in the community” as they embrace the spiritualization of Augustinian theology, while denying the future Antichrist! And, excuse me; dare Lang condemn the Mammon of the Evangelical wing of the Church when the United Methodist Church’s pension funds and subsequent investments into all things Babylonian reach into the billions of dollars? I don’t think you want to go there—something about throwing rocks from glass palaces.
No, this does not excuse those Biblical literalists who “say and do not”—for they profess a heavenly citizenship but act as if they lived in the KINGDOM NOW that Lang allegedly despises. St. Augustine read the Revelation as “spiritual advice” for one reason only: TO PERPETUATE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH’S RULE AND REIGN UPON THIS EARTH—the same “rule and reign” that the Rev. Rich Lang so deeply resents in his fellow Methodist, President George Bush! Rev. Lang renounces Biblical Literalism which has been hijacked by the same damnable theology that has condemned the Church to the Kingdoms of this World! Instead of the loving and caring community of fundamentalist believers who brought Rich into the SPIRITUAL KINGDOM ON EARTH, he despises his birthright, deprecates theology (that’s the only conclusion I can derive from his self-hating confession) and places his trust in the road to Augustinian destruction; the same theology embraced by every SOCIAL JUSTICE DENOMINATION on the globe.
D. R. Shearer is absolutely correct: REVIVALISM (getting people saved from alcoholism like the Rev. Rich Lang) is the mission of the Church. REFORMING THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES is “inconsequential” to the Gospel Message. Here’s the real “separation of Church and State” that Lang desires . . . but he can’t have it both ways.
Yes, the Bible is a book of “spiritual truth” which is unique and utterly profound—but it is a book with a real WELTANSCHAUUNG (“world view”). We’re called to be “salt and light” in this world. We’re told to love one another as Christ loved us and to “lay down our lives for the brethren” and to extend ourselves and our resources to a dying world . . . but first and foremost we are told that we are “in this world, but not of this world!”
What Lang and the liberals are so pushed out of shape about is the FACT that the conservatives have finally caught up to their game and are taking over the same TEMPORAL REIGNS OF POWER that were once the exclusive purview of the National Council of Churches! It was fine and dandy when the fightin’ fundies were “not of this world,” but once they got engaged in the “process” and tried to exert their influence like the “Progressive Christians” (and what a putdown is this term “Progressive” Christians” juxtaposed to those who apparently are not “Progressive?”) they became what Lang calls of “the spirit of Antichrist.” Now isn’t that convenient?
I guess the reason I’m so pushed out of shape, and “conflicted” over someone like Lang is this: The same deception afflicting the once stalwart Biblical literalists who despised the Kingdoms of this World; who, like Abraham, “looked for a city whose builder and maker is God,” yet are now being sucked into the vortex of Mammon and Political Power, is the same deception afflicting the Liberal or so-called Progressive Wing of the Church. They will not endure “sound doctrine” but will “spiritualize” the Bible to fit their social agenda and call it “righteousness” (a.k.a. “justice”), while denouncing the prophetic message of the Word of God for our time—not knowing that it is that very LITERAL, PROPHETIC PREACHING that is precisely what will save them and this generation for whom they are concerned!
Listen, Rev. Lang, drugs and alcohol were sending you straight to hell—some people came along who cared for your soul, you apparently got SAVED and DELIVERED (from drugs and alcohol) . . . so why didn’t you see the worth of it all . . . and what’s wrong with SOUP, SUDS, AND SALVATION?
“And in his brilliant 1997 book, Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity, author Bruce Bawer is quoted as saying:
“‘It's deeply dismaying that millions of Americans who call themselves Christians are believers in something that has virtually nothing to do with the gospel message,’ mourns Bawer. ‘Darby, Scofield, and company have been a disaster for Christianity in America. Millions of people think they are adherents of ‘traditional Christianity’ when, in fact, they have been roped into a newfangled religion based on bizarre theological propositions that Jesus would never recognize.’” (From Tim Appelo’s article)
WHAT DO RED CHINA AND AUGUSTINE HAVE IN COMMON?
The more I “get into” the mind of Liberal Christianity, the more bewildered I become . . . and to think I came out of the same Lutheran Church that Tim Appelo did! The “gospel message” that Bawer advocates is the same milquetoast, powerless Christianity of liberalism that’s been fading from the American scene for the past fifty years! The same Norman Vincent Peale’s attraction to New Age positive thinking, which, for a while when dynamic liberalism led the charge for Civil Rights, had a message but forsook that message for nearly every bizarre and cultic stunt that the American Cultural Circus could muster!
Sure, Darby and Scofield got goofed up when it came to their apocalyptic scenario of the Church’s total escape from any future witness to the Kingdoms of this World; but at least they embraced a fervency of the gospel so impassioned and deliberate, that it preserved and rescued millions of those same Christians from the DEAD FORMALISM OF TRADITIONAL CHRISTIANITY whose roots were in this world, and not in the world to come! And, saved scores of alcoholics and drug attics!
O.K. – end of detour . . . because I’m going to get real LITERAL now, real big into apocalyptic literature that Augustine doesn’t want me to read, and, by the way what DO Red China and Augustine have in common? Well, neither one of them wants their readers to include John’s Apocalypse in the publication of Mandarin Bibles. I’m sure Rev. Lang, who concurs with Augustine’s assessment of the Revelation, would appreciate the People’s Republic ban of the Revelation.
Also, I’m big into possible headlines you might be seeing in tomorrow’s papers! And, yes, THAT THE ANTICHRIST IS TO COME (I John 2:18) is an absolute fact, a fact that the Rev. Lang, Tim Bawer, et al, should take note of—because the same “spirit of Antichrist” they bear witness of in the world today (and I don’t deny that they have), shall one day VERY SOON, PERSONIFY himself and deceive the same masses for which Lang and Bawer express their concern.
Indeed, may the Lord who saved them, keep them from this final deception that ravages the Church at large, especially in these United States of America. The “LITERALISM” they allegedly fear, is (God forbid!) the same literalism which could actually save them from the deception sweeping the nations, especially this one!
THE FRENCH AND THE WEST vs. SYRIA
Meanwhile, the French, finding common cause with the “West” (i.e., the USA), and, no doubt in an attempt to get back into the good graces of Uncle Sam, co-sponsored with the USA a UN Security Council resolution (9 to 0, Resolution 1559) demanding that Syrian troops be withdrawn from Lebanon.
Syria, whose long history with French interference into its internal affairs is well known, responded in kind:
“Syrian officials followed up by calling for stronger ties between Syria and Lebanon . . . Foreign Minister Farouq al-Sharaa said the issue of the resolution was over, and Syria and Lebanon were now focusing on ‘strengthening relations’ . . . according to Murhaf Jouejati, a professor of political science at George Washington university and a Syria specialist, Syrian concessions on Iraq have gone unheard.” (The Daily Star, A Bangladesh Daily, Dec. 20, 2004)
“SYRIA IS AT THE CENTER OF THE PROBLEM”
By now, the “Road to Damascus” is all but paved with Abrams tanks, and it won’t be long before that actually happens, if Jeffrey White, a former Middle Eastern analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency gets his way:
“The Syrian role is part of what many intelligence officials believe are the increasingly organized attacks on U.S. forces. ‘In the last two months or so, this notion that this is a Baathist insurgency has gained dominance in the [intelligence] community,’ he said. Coupled with that, he said, ‘there is an increasing view that Syria is at the center of the problem.’” (my emphasis)
Yes, the PLOT THICKENS, and the Road to Damascus is paved with Hamas, Hezbollah, Amal, dead Marines, dead Israelis, and, now, dead soldiers and contractors from Halliburton in Mosul. It’s almost time for GAME OVER and, as Gary Leupp in Counterpunch stated:
“Even if Israeli action provides the context (Leupp conjectures the IDF attack Hamas bases in Syria as a result of a horrific suicide bombing incident in Israel, perhaps as a result of Hamas leader Izz al-Din al-Sheikh who was assassinated by Israel in Syria in September, 2004), Israeli forces won’t be needed, and U.S. action will be lent some thin international legitimacy if a few hundred ‘coalition’ troops participate. Thus a second Arab nation will become Americanizedly ‘free,’ while Palestinians infuriated by these events will commit acts that will justify the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the West Bank.”
So, just in case you’re not aware of the “West’s” justification to eliminate the “Syrian Problem” – think no further. The Bible is NOT silent about all this . . . we’ll get into that part of the “equation” in Part II of our two-part article on the ROAD TO DAMASCUS.
“DAMASCUS WILL CEASE FROM BEING A CITY”
….SYRIA,
CATALYST FOR GOG-MAGOG
Part 3
ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS
Syria
has become a priority target of US/Israeli preemption in the War on
Terrorism. The recent
Mosul homicide bomber only validates the Syrian connection, as far as US
military strategists are concerned. Our last blog highlighted how neocon
policy makers and think tanks (both in America and in Israel) have sought to
“deterrorize” the region.
The effort at Mideast reconfiguration on the part of these strategists has been to defang Saddam Hussein first, thereby encircling Syria; and from thence, to neutralize Iran. Although Israelis have brought the Hashemite monarchy into the equation (i.e., as a “tribal strategy” after Saddam’s demise for Iraq), that particular “gift to Jordan” may not be necessary, given the fact that a “working democracy” is all that matters in Iraq in any event—notwithstanding Osama’s calls for Iraqis to boycott the January 2005 elections.
How Syria’s overthrow can be justified by these policy makers was repeatedly demonstrated in the last article; so now, as promised, we will discuss the Biblical ramifications of the equation—and this is the part that the Left just loves to hate (whereas they most likely enjoyed our initial “secular analysis”); but, we’re not out to please either the Left nor the Right—we’ll settle for the ABSOLUTE TRUTH (don’t you just love that expression—it sounds so final and almost pompous; don’t mean it to be that way, but if you want to take it that way, be our guest).
DETOUR ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTED LIBERAL CONFUSION & BIBLICAL HEREMENEUTICS (i.e., “interpreting methods in Bible Study”)
While
taking our excursion down the Road to Damascus, we encountered a most
troubling and confusing theological phenomenon known as “Augustinian
Malaise”—a not so subtle immune deficiency disorder afflicting both the
Liberal wing of the Church (throughout the world), as well as Evangelical
Dominionists who are “theologically allied” with their Liberal foes. Both
wish to reform the current governmental social order—whether they wish to
admit it or not. At least the
Evangelical Dominionists (THIS IS AN EXCELLENT SITE) admit it; whilst
their erstwhile liberal allies, who abhor anything that bespeaks of inerrancy,
denounce their theologically allied Dominionist “compatriots.”
These Liberal foes have no theological idea to whom they are theologically united—instead they abhor the barbaric fundamentalists who ascribe to a more Biblical hermeneutical eschatology. These Scofield-Darbyites, along with their total distortions of the real Jesus, have been (in “liberalism’s progressive dialect”) a disaster to American Christianity, whereas PROGRESSIVE and, therefore, enlightened Christian Liberalism’s embrace of Augustinian spiritualization of the Revelation text, demonstrates the real intent of the “prophetic Scriptures” which is far and away the true spirit of Christianity and its gospel of love and social justice!
Christian liberalism (now that their brand of Christianity has been wholly given over to “higher biblical criticism” and the “historical Jesus” can only spiritualize their “prophetic voice” and speak in metaphors and symbolisms from the Revelation—hardly a tangible reflection of where most American Christians position themselves today!
Furthermore, what really irks the spiritualizing Liberals is the current Administration’s total embrace of evangelical literalism’s Armageddon scenario—man, does that one get their Liberal goat or what! Anyway, just as the liberals ignorantly and simplistically lump all evangelicals into one camp (i.e., the “Biblical inerrant/literalist camp”); they do so at their own peril by “throwing the baby out with the bath water.” In sum: Not all literalists are your enemies—in point of fact: Biblical literalism that does NOT subscribe to Tim LaHaye’s triumphal Christianity MAY be your ultimate anecdote within America’s current Southern brand of “resurgent evangelicalism.”
THE
“BURDEN OF DAMASCUS”
The passages found in Isaiah 17 and 18, Joel 2, Ezekiel 38-39 (including chapters 36-37), Daniel 11, as well as the temple passages in Ezekiel 40-43, Zechariah 9-14; and, finally, Amos 1:3-5, will be covered in our eschatological intrusion along the Road to Damascus.
The Apostle Paul’s conversion on the Road to Damascus turned the fledgling Christian faith, and the world at large, upside down! The question abides: Amongst all the external manifestations of fulfilled prophecy in the Bible (e.g., Israel’s rebirth in 1948; along with Jerusalem’s recognition as the Capitol of the Jewish State and its 1967 take over by the Jews; and, the ever-advancing incursions of the West vs. Islamic fundamentalism) is there another “Syrian Connection” that will turn the world upside down? I believe so . . . . let us examine these passages and the immediate eschatological implications of what we now face (Liberal Christianity hang in there . . . ).
THE “SYRIAN ESCHATOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS”
Throughout these eschatological discoveries, we shall adhere to the following (and, just because it makes rational sense doesn’t mean that the Bible is happenstance in its “prophetical conjectures”):
(1) Syria/Damascus will be the NEXT major prophetical happening among the Gentile nations—she shall find herself in a major conflagration with both the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and, secondarily, USA-led coalition forces. This shall primarily be an Israeli orchestrated, but USA-approved, military endeavor. Its primary purpose will be to:
(a) Eliminate insurgent funding and general participation against USA-coalition led efforts to “democratize” Iraq.
(b) Destroy “at the head” organized terrorism against Israel—making her the West’s (a.k.a., USA’s) uncontested ally in the Middle East and poised to “democratize” the entire region, including Egypt and Iran—all this in fulfillment of American neocon/Christian Evangelical efforts to “subdue the region” (particularly Lebanon, although Syria as well).
(c) SIMULTANEOUSLY, the political equation in Lebanon will be transformed (i.e., Terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, Hamas, Amal, Islamic Jihad, et al) will be made inoperable. Likewise, the Palestinian Authority will become utterly subservient to “Greater Israel” aspirations, i.e., anticipate Gaza’s “political irrelevance” and the West Bank’s “reallocation of Palestinian people” to commence in earnest (e.g., repositioned to other Arab lands now under Israeli-USA auspicious).
(2) THE GOG-MAGOG CONFEDERATIONS: Iran in the North (i.e., “King of the North”), along with a resurgent and radicalized Turkey and miscellaneous Moslem states north of Jerusalem/Israel (Ezekiel 38:2-3, 5-6; 39:1) will immediately coalesce (after Syria’s devastating demise) to form an “Islamic Resistance” to Western incursions into the sacred lands of Islam. This “Northern Alliance” will find affirmation for their purposes to overthrow “Western Incursions” (i.e., the USA-led Coalition forces THROUGHOUT the Islamic region, not just Iraq) with a “Southern Islamic Confederation” primarily led by Egypt, but including the Sudan (representing Islamic nations south of Egypt) and Libya (representing Islamic nations to the immediate west of Egypt). Biblically, this will be known as “The King of the South.”
(NOTE: Syria, Lebanon (i.e., “Tyre & Sidon”) Iraq, Jordan, nor nations within the Arabian Peninsula are mentioned as part of either the Northern or Southern Confederation of nations in the Bible.)
(3) THE GOG-MAGOG CONFLAGRATION: The Gog-Magog War of Ezekiel 38-39, and amplified in both Isaiah 17-18, and Daniel 11, will ensue after the “Syrian card falls.” The unfolding of this massive campaign of “Islamic annihilation” and resultant Western supremacy in the region will Biblically unfold as follows:
(a) Immediately after the Israeli-Syrian-USA War (a.k.a., “Syrian Regime Change”) AND as Islamic Jihad is “declared” by both nations north and south of Israel/Iraq (i.e., north of Israeli/USA “influence” and south of it) the USA will FORMALIZE her “safety net” over Israel: This is known in Scripture as “your covenant with death, and hell (Sheol) (Isaiah 28:15, 18) and orchestrated by the “prince who is to come” (Daniel 9:27: “He shall confirm an agreement (i.e., an “accord, treaty, defense pact” or “a covenant” –not “the covenant” but “a covenant”). This “defense pact” MAY necessitate a two-fold implementation: (1a) A “Memorandum of Understanding” primarily between the USA and Israel immediately following the Syrian War; and (2a) A FORMAL ACCORD which would be considered the actual DEFENSE PACT that will, after the Gog-Magog/USA-Israeli War result in an “International Agreement” wherein all parties of the Middle East and the “Coalition Forces” allied with the USA, concur with this Comprehensive Middle East Peace Settlement. This Accord will allow Israel to finalize implementation of her “Temple Aspirations” (which aspirations have already commenced upon the conclusion of the Israeli-Syrian-USA War). Whether this AGREEMENT is a two-fold or singular diplomatic effort by the West, is irrelevant to the equation/scenario.
(b) The radicalization of the Islamic World will commence in earnest after the defeat of Syria (let alone USA hegemony in Iraq/Jordan/Saudi Arabian Peninsula nations). Likewise, International-based Terrorism within the Levant, as well as “Palestinian Aspirations” will have been terminated by this war. Furthermore, a possible preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear facilities may occur (this will be accomplished by USA-IDF cooperation, simultaneously with the Syrian defeat and/or immediately thereafter). This MAY (in addition to the Syrian/Lebanon/Palestinian defeat) lead to the immediate rise of Turkey Islamic radicalism and the forging of the “Northern Alliance” between the Iranian Islamic State and Turkey. (NOTE: The Syrian/Lebanon/Palestinian defeat is clearly spelled out in Isaiah 17:1-11: Damascus/Aroer/Valley of Rephaim are Syria/Lebanon (Tyre and Sidon); the “Fortress of Ephraim” and Gaza (the Palestinian Authority, cf. Zechariah 9:1-6)
(c) The initial THRUST of the “Southern Alliance” (a.k.a. “King of the South”) will be against USA-led coalition forces in the Levant (including Iraq/Kuwait, etc.) and Israel (primarily in Syria/Lebanon) (Daniel 11:40a).
(d) After the “King of the South” launches its attack, the “King of the North” (i.e., Gog-Magog) will sweep down in a collaborative PINCER MOVEMENT to encircle the Israeli/USA-led Coalition forces. The subject of the Gog-Magog attack in Daniel 11:40 are the forces of Antichrist (i.e., the leadership of Western Civilization); whereas, the focus of the conflagration in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is against Israel.
(e) Both the “King of the South” and the “King of the North” will suffer virtual annihilation by the combined forces of “the prince who is to come” (Ezekiel 38 & 39; Daniel 11:40-43).
(f) Jordan (i.e., Edom, Moab, and Ammon) will NOT endure the wrath of Antichrist’s forces (nor, for that matter, the IDF) (Daniel 11:41); however, the West will for the first time station its forces within “the Glorious Land” (i.e., Israel proper, Daniel 11:45) as a result of this horrific struggle among the nations of the region. Jordan’s “escape” will undoubtedly be due to her alignment with the West in these confrontations.
(g) Saudi Arabia (ancient “Dedan”) and other Arabian Peninsula nations (e.g., Sheba/Yemen, the “southwest part of the Arabian Peninsula, ref. P. 1100, The Spirit Life Bible, NKJV, Thomas Nelson) are aligned with “The Ships of Tarshish” – i.e., the International Trading Empire of “Tyre and Sidon” which was incorporated into the Roman Empire (Alexander the Great defeated Tyre in 333 B.C. in the Eastern Mediterranean and Rome defeated Carthage in the Western Mediterranean in successive “Punic Wars” culminating in the devastation of Carthage itself in 146 B.C.). Ultimately, “The Ships of Tarshish” became synonymous with the West’s economic hegemony. It is the contention of this author that behind “The Ships of Tarshish” and its international trading empire (a.k.a., the ancient Canaanites of “Tyre and Sidon,” the Phoenicians (Greek name for these peoples) and/or the Punic people (Latin name for the same people)) is the King of Tyre (Ezekiel Chapters 26 through 28)). The “escapades” of the King of Tyre are wrought into merchandise, trade, and economic hegemony and bear remarkable parallels in his/its judgment in Revelation 18.
(h) Shortly after the “Victorious West” defeats the “King of the North” and the “King of the South” (i.e., Gog-Magog) a general uprising will prevail in both the “North” and in the “East” which will cause the triumphant West to pursue these “hot spots” and continue waging preemptive strikes (cf. Daniel 11:44). (Note: The absence of any “Western thrust” is noteworthy in that “The West” is unified in its victory.)
In summary:
(1) The “Syrian/Lebanon/Palestinian” War with Israel/USA-Coalition Led forces is imminent. (cf. Isaiah 17 and Zechariah 9:1-6)
(2) The West/Israel will be victorious in (1) above. (Isaiah 17 as well as Daniel 11 and Isaiah 17:12-14; 18:1-7)
(3) A “Memorandum of Understanding/Safety Net” by the USA will “officially umbrella” Israel. (Isaiah 28:15, 18 & Daniel 9:27)—Israel will emerge from the Syrian “episode” in “safety” and “unwalled” (Ezekiel 38:8a, 11) primarily as a result of the “Treaty with Death and Hell” (Daniel 9:27; Isaiah 28:15, 18).
(4) The Gog-Magog War will ensue shortly after the “Syrian Regime Change” (Ezekiel 38 & 39; Daniel 11:40-45; Isaiah 17:12-18:1-7)
(a) The “King of the South” will initiate the conflagration but immediately followed by . . .
(b) The “King of the North” in a massive “PINCER MOVEMENT” to destroy the pre-positioned forces of Antichrist (i.e., THE WEST) will sweep in against the USA/Israeli Coalition (Daniel 11:40-43)
(c) Gog-Magog/King of the South will be annihilated by the Western Alliance/Israel (Ezekiel 38:18-23 & 39:1-16)
(d) Jordan, as well as other Arab nations on the Arabian Peninsula will NOT be allied with radical Islamists (i.e., Gog-Magog/King of the South) but will have allied themselves with the “Ships of Tarshish” (a.k.a., Western Civilization and, in particular, the “King of Babylon/the USA.” (Daniel 11:41; Ezekiel 38:13)
(e) Further “incursions” and “wars of liberation” will ensue after the aforementioned conflagrations and include areas beyond the Northern Alliance (i.e., “the North”), as well as “elements in the East” (cf. Daniel 11:44).
(f) Note: The above chronological sequence of eschatological events occur immediately prior to and immediately after the 70th Week of Daniel’s Prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27a) but do NOT include events which occur in the midst of the 70th Week of Daniel (Daniel 9:27b) on (cf. Revelation 11, 13-16).
………..to be continued
The aforementioned verses can be found on these sites:
“DAMASCUS WILL CEASE FROM BEING A CITY”
……….SYRIA,
CATALYST FOR GOG-MAGOG
Part 4
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places . . . all of these are the beginning of sorrow.” (Matthew 24:7).
News trickling in from the nations affected by the monster earthquake (9.0) and subsequent Tsunami Waves depicts a latter-day apocalyptic occurrence beyond belief and rifles our attention onto the words of Jesus in the introduction of His Olivet Discourse found in Matthew 24 prior to his crucifixion.
&