Watchman Blog

A Land of Unwalled Villages

Grace Thru Faith (Link) - Jack Kelley (June 26, 2010)

I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record by now, but there’s an enormous potential for a giant leap forward in End Times prophecy this summer, and this week we came breathtakingly close to witnessing its beginning.

After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm, you will be like a cloud covering the land.

This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages, I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people – all of them living without gates and bars.” (Ezekiel 38:8-11)

Many students of prophecy, myself included, see the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 as one of the most significant events on God’s prophetic calendar. In the scenario Ezekiel described nearly 2500 years ago, a coalition of Moslem countries, armed and led by the Russians, will attack Israel and be utterly defeated due to God’s direct intervention. He will use this battle to re-introduce Himself to Israel as their protector, to recall the rest of His people to their ancient homeland, and to reinstate His relationship with them.

Isaiah 17, An Oracle Against Damascus

Grace Thru Faith (Link) - Jack Kelley (June 5, 2010)

In the past couple of years it has become even clearer that Isaiah’s prophecy of the destruction of Damascus will soon come to fulfillment, perhaps being part of the Psalm 83 scenario I’ve written about.  If so, it would explain why Syria is not included among the coalition of Moslem nations who will gather against Israel in the Battle of Ezekiel 38. Updating our study of Isaiah 17 seems a fitting conclusion to our recent reviews of Ezekiel 38 and Psalm 83.

Emboldened by the outcome of the 2006 Hezbollah Israel war, Syria has become ever more bellicose in it’s behavior toward Israel, as if inviting confrontation.  Aggressive acts have included moving large military forces onto the Golan, opening the crossing that gives Syrians access to Israel for the first time since 1973, forming and training a Syrian terrorist force to infiltrate Northern Israel, and openly helping Hezbollah re-arm in violation of UN resolution 1701.  Now Hezballah and Syria are building a massive fortified wall, 22 kilometers long, that promises to be one of the biggest fortified structures in the Middle East. It is designed as an obstacle against any Israeli tank forces heading through Lebanon toward the Syrian capital, Damascus.  And most recently, Syria has moved 800 long range missiles into firing position and updated targeting coordinates for specific locations in Israel in preparation for war.

It’s been known for some time that Syria has one of the world’s most advanced chemical weapons programs, even though such things are illegal, and is probably in possession of the bulk of Saddam Hussein’s WMDs that the MSM (main stream media) delights in telling you never existed.  Recent satellite imagery suggests significant efforts to update Syria’s known chemical weapons facilities.  They’ve also mobilized reserves, set up alternate communication centers, and moved all official historical and legal documents out of Damascus. They did this because they believe that Israel will respond to a chemical attack by destroying Damascus with nuclear weaponry. They’ve recalled all their citizens living in Lebanon. They’ve purchased Russian arms and defensive systems costing hundreds of millions of dollars in an effort to protect Damascus.

Mideast Matters May Meltdown in 2010!

Prophecy News Stand (Link) - Bill Salus (April 14, 2010)

Major Mideast wars are coming according to the Bible prophecies in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38-39. It would be prudent for people to prepare now, in 2010, for their soon and sequential arrivals.

It is public knowledge that as of December 2009 Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas became allied together by bonafide war pacts against Israel. Iran is a member of Ezekiel 38-39 and Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas appear to be identified in Psalm 83. These war pacts reportedly commit them to fight alongside each other should any of them come under attack by Israel. Had these war pacts been in place during the 22 day conflict between Israel and Hamas that ended in January 2009, the outcome could have been dramatically different.

Back then the Israeli Defense Forces (I.D.F.) seemingly ambushed Hamas with their retaliatory show of force and caught these others off guard. None of them were able to lift a finger to rescue Hamas from the pounding inflicted by the I.D.F. Iran’s nuclear program was incomplete, Hezbollah was in the process of restocking their rocket arsenals, and Syrian war scars from 1948, 1967, and 1973 made them reluctant to join alongside Hamas. Thus, these vowed enemies of Israel were reduced to sideline saber-rattling at the time.

However, matters have deteriorated and are quite different today. A brief review of Mideast events occurring since the Israel – Hamas war suggests the Fertile Crescent is presently a ticking end time’s bomb set to explode. In addition to the war pacts described above, here are a few more troublesome interim occurrences:

Who are Daniel’s end time’s Kings of the North and South?

Prophecy Depot (Link) - Bill Salus (November 27, 2009)

A blogger recently stated - “Another person wrote in yesterday asking pretty much the same thing - if Syria’s wiped out by Psalm 83 and “the king of the North” is always a reference from Daniel that has been historically corroborated as Syria, then how can Syria be bothering Israel and the Antichrist later in the Tribulation. Very good question! I don’t know, though, and can only speculate that as a vassal of Israel the ruler of Syria rebels at some point.”

The blogger alludes to Daniel 11:40, which foretells the coming of two kings that war against the Antichrist near the end of time. These kings are identified as the “king of the south” and the “king of the north”. Daniel chapter eleven references a “king of the south” eight times and a “king of the north” seven times. Most expositors believe that seven of the eight king of the south references, and six of the seven king of the north, have already found fulfillment in connection with Egypt (south) and Syria (north). Thus the common teaching is that the king of the south is an Egyptian, and the king of the north a Syrian.

Both Bloggers, questioner and responder, appear familiar with this traditional teaching. They also preclude the possibility that Israel defeats their Arab enemies, including Syria, in the Psalm 83 War prior to the fulfillment of Daniel 11:40. Thus, the legitimate question is raised that if Syria is wiped out as per Psalm 83 how can the Daniel 11:40 king of the north be a Syrian.

Another school of thought regarding the Daniel 11:40 king of the north connects with the Ezekiel 38 Gog of Magog invasion. Some believe because this invasion is led by Russia in the latter years (Ezekiel 38:8) from the uttermost parts of the north as per (Ezekiel 38:15), that this king is a Russian rather than a Syrian.

Middle East Update 2

Psalm 108
O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth; That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me. God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts? Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

In watching the news, there are some more stories I feel relevant to add here as an update.

• Fear of new Mid East ‘Cold War’ as Syria strengthens military alliance with Russia Times Online (August 21, 2008)
• Russia sends aircraft carrier to Syria Barents Observer (August 20, 2008)
• Monitor: UN peacekeepers in Lebanon co-opted by Hizbullah World Tribune (August 20, 2008)
• As US Looks to Improve Ties, Libya Positions Itself in Russia’s Corner CNS News (August 19, 2008)
• Israeli missile defense system detects Syrian tests World Tribune (August 19, 2008)
• Israelis: War With Hezbollah Inevitable Newsmax (August 18, 2008)
• Report: Israel threatened to target Syria if Hezbollah attacks YNet News (March 14, 2008)
• Lisbon treaty would have helped in Georgia crisis, says France EU Observer (August 18, 2008)
• Lebanon, Syria open diplomatic relations The Jordanian Times (August 15, 2008)
• 'Syria and Hizbullah gaining strength' The Jerusalem Post (August 12, 2008)
• Exclusive: Hizbollah ’stronger than before’ and ready to strike Israel Telegraph UK (August 2, 2008)

Keep watching…

Middle East Update: Interesting Summer?

In case you’ve just joined the Watchman Newsletter or have not yet seen some of the stories linked from it, my current theory in light of what I’ve studied from the Bible and seen in current events reported here is as follows. (I’m just watching and reading in prayer, so in all things hold to Acts 17:11.)

The attack of Ezekiel 38 & 39 where Iran, Russia, Turkey, Libya and friends attempt to destroy Israel and God destroys them with fire and brimstone from heaven, will come before the abomination of desolation and indeed be the event that both quiets the opposition and cause a spiritual shift in the nation of Israel that will lead to the rebuilding of the temple for the third time in several millennia.

The Coming Times: 2008 And Beyond

In the course of studying Bible prophecy and watching current events, a series of events became clear that I would like to lay out for you here. It began with my personal search through the Bible to see for myself if God’s Word clarified itself to the point of the bride of Christ being able to understand the times in which we live. I had read in the Bible that we would not be in darkness and that we should watch and pray, but there are so many personal interpretations of scripture out there and I hadn’t taken the time to really search the scriptures myself because I didn’t feel I had the background to understand. So acknowledging my deficiencies, I came before the Lord in prayer and asked Him to reveal His Word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and show me His plans and not my own desires or interpretations of His plans.

This doesn’t mean I’m always right and this is not a claim to have all the answers. I will never stop warning people not to take my word for anything but to search the scriptures themselves to see whether these things are so. Acts 17:11 The Watchman Bible Study website is the result of my search for Truth and my desire to share the clarity I’ve discovered written into and interpreted by the Bible. While I am not always correct the Bible is, and so if this sequence of events does not turn out to be completely accurate that doesn’t change the Bible’s validity, just shows my lack of full understanding.

What I would like to focus on in this post is a collection of diverse prophesies found throughout the Bible in the order of events as understood through examining the context of these prophesies in light of the HIStory, Our Future Bible studies. The premise of this collection of research by other watchmen on the wall traces Israel’s judgment history through time and showing how that snaps to Israel’s feast days and the 70th week of Daniel, the final seven years of God dealing with Israel before His return in glory. These studies examine the precision of Bible prophecy and history to build faith in what was already fulfilled with 100% accuracy to look toward the future with faith that God’s Word will again be fulfilled in the future with that same accuracy. According to Matthew 24:14,15 “the end” comes at the abomination of desolation, which the HIStory, Our Future Bible studies place in just under one year (February 16, 2009) from today (March 3, 2008).