The Bible accurately foretells specific events – in precise detail – sometimes even centuries before they occur.

Approximately 2500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible.  About 2000, or 80%, have already been fulfilled to the letter, with no errors.

Because we know that the remaining 500 or so prophecies will definitely be fulfilled, we look for news, and trends, that you’d expect to be taking place.

Call it signs of the times.

I’m sure you are aware that there is a civil war in Syria.  The conflict began in March 2011, with demonstrations.  Protesters in Syria demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. His family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971.

In April 2011, the Syrian Army fired on demonstrators across the country.  The protests then turned into an armed rebellion.  Opposition forces were soldiers who had left the Syrian army, and civilian volunteers.

In late 2011 the Islamist group al-Nusra Front began to have a bigger role in the opposition forces.

In 2013 Hezbollah entered the war in support of the Syrian army.

World governments are scrambling.

The UN and US leadership want Syrian President Assad gone.
The CIA has been smuggling weapons to the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria as well as providing funding.
Russia and Iran want Assad to stay.
The US is pushing for Middle Eastern led military action.
The US, UN, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and other world powers are pushing for an escalation of force to oust the Syrian President.
In July 2015 NATO gave its approval for the Turkish army to enter Syria.

One humanitarian group says, “Syria’s civil war is the worst humanitarian crisis of our time.  Half the country’s pre-war population — more than 11 million people — have been killed or forced to flee their homes.”

I may have gotten some of the facts wrong; it’s complicated.

The question we want to ponder is this: Is any of what is happening in Syria prophetic?

I can say, with confidence, that, from reading the Bible, you would expect something very, very serious to be occurring in Syria in the last days leading up to the Tribulation.

The prophet, Isaiah, predicted, “The burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap” (Isaiah 17:1).

The prophet Jeremiah says something similar, in chapter forty-nine of his book.

Joel Rosenberg, author and lecturer, commenting on these prophecies, writes,

These prophecies have not yet been fulfilled.  Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth.  It has been attacked, besieged, and conquered.  But Damascus has never been completely destroyed and left uninhabited.  Yet that is exactly what the Bible says will happen.  The context of Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49 are a series of end times prophecies dealing with God’s judgments on Israel’s neighbors and enemies leading up to — and through — the tribulation.

Bible prophecy, read literally, suggests certain things to look for; they are the signs of the times.  Conflict in Damascus, Syria, is certainly something you’d expect; it’s among the 500 or so unfulfilled prophecies.

You know what else you can expect?  The church will not be on the earth for any portion of the Tribulation.  Jesus promised He’d come for us before that terrible time.  He will come and resurrect the dead believers, than snatch-away those who are alive.  We call this the Rapture of the church.  It is imminent – meaning it could happen any moment.

Are you ready for the rapture?  If not, get ready, stay ready, and keep looking up.  Ready or not, Jesus is coming!