Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83 Prophecy Update

[Sean Osborne]

The laws of physics may be applicable to the situation in the Middle East, particularly the law which holds that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. The powerful kinetic forces at work within the Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah-HAMAS military alliance make the outbreak of a major MidEast war all but inevitable in the near-term. News reports from several sources makes this inevitability quite clear.

I want to note in this update a couple of key sentences seen in the secular-oriented text of today's Debkafile report which resonates with the prophetic words of Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83.

Debkafile: Syria will not stand by idly next time round if Israel goes to war against Iran's nuclear program or an aggressive Hizballah or Hamas, but go for Israel's cities.

Isaiah 17:1-3 “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid. The fortress also will cease from Ephraim, The kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Syria; They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” Says the LORD of hosts.



Debkafile: "Assad must be told bluntly," he (Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman) said, "that in the next war, not only will Syria be beaten but he and his family will lose power. You will not remain in power, and neither will your family."

Psalm 83:9-12 "Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon, Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, Who said, “Let us take for ourselves the pastures of God for a possession.”"


The continuing blog I'm running for this can be found here.

[WazOz]

Great read Sean, many thanks, the journey to understanding is a long one, and these posts help a searcher like me.

[Inky]

I have been watching daily for the events to finally unfold in Iran and Syria along with their little (ok big) band of terrorist brothers. I can’t believe it hasn’t happened already.

Great post Sean.

[Robert]

I've been watching intently as well; one morning, i expect to wake up and see prophecy transition to history.

[Suzanne]

Shelle and I discussed this on the phone last night. I think that Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17 could begin at any moment. Ahmadinejad and the mullahs have seemed perturbed at the thought of sanctions against Iran lately, and I think that they will nudge Assad into joining in the next Israeli/Hamas/Hezbollah skirmish. All Hamas, Hezbollah, or Syria has to do is introduce some sort of WMD into the battle to have Isaiah 17 happen.

[mikalikat]

Something has to happen soon. It's like a never-ending game of chicken.

[Keith]

All the "actors" seem to be taking their places.

[Sean Osborne]

It's truly fascinating to see all of these things occurring before our eyes.

What is also widely unacknowledged is that the growing Ezekiel 38/39 alliance between Iran, Turkey and Russia is on tis face an untenable alliance. It should not exist according to current conventional wisdom and political, ideological, relgious realities, yet it is nevertheless building day by day.

For example,Turkey is a resurgent Sunni Islamic state in the process of casting off all of its former strongly defended secular nature. Iran is a radical Hojjatieh/Shi'ite regime in the throes of a revolution which may well result in its becoming a Hojjatieh/Shi'a military dictatorship. And then there's Russia who is also engaged in a very hot war with Al-Qaeda in the northern Caucasus region of its sovereign territories of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. These three, on the surface, have nothing in common. Perhaps there is something to the age old adage that opposites attract. That attraction is most likely the demonic spiritual influences which incubates their ever-increasing hatred of Israel. Certainly our Almighty God knew these things even before the foundation of the world.

Then I look to the nation state which lies in the midst of all this turmoil and the coming wars of Isaiah 17, Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38/39 and has no prophetic role in any of them, but is invoked, largely symbolically, in much of the various prophecies dealing with Daniel's 70th Week.

My thoughts on this prophetic subject follow.

Babylon and the End of the Age



Is the Babylon of the Old Testament the same Babylon New Testament Scripture refers to at the ‘End of the Age”? The purpose of this article is to point out why I do not believe the two are to be confused. The original, physical political entity known as Babylon was the original ‘World Empire’ from the Biblical perspective and other is ‘symbolic’ of the global system of government during Daniel’s 70th Week.



Yes, I hold to the interpretation that there will be no resurrection of a physical or historical Babylonian Empire. The Scriptural evidence for this interpretation is the God-given vision of Daniel regarding the statue which began with Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel’s vision of the distant future and the time of the end. That Babylon is gone forever into history and is the fulfilled prophecy of Isaiah 13:20-21.



The God-given sequence of empires thereafter is very specific with each subsequent Middle Eastern empire built upon the ruins of the Babylonian Empire: the Persian Empire, the Hellenic Empire of Alexander and its prophesied division into four rump empires, of which the Seleucid Empire and its Antichrist precursor (Antiochus IV Epiphanes) was most important, and finally the Roman Empire.



The physical destruction of Babylon, as prophesied also by Jeremiah 50 and 51, occurred over many years and was not complete until Seleucia, the new capital of the Seleucid Empire founded by Seleucus I Nicator circa 305 BC was literally built brick by brick from the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. Any Bible prophecy student can look at a detailed map of modern day Iraq and determine that the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon lies just east of the Euphrates River near the city of Al-Hillah and Seleucia was built in the desert 20 miles south of modern day Baghdad and 70 miles to the northeast of the original Babylon along the banks of the Tigris River. Aside from the geographic differences, Babylon was an ancient Middle Eastern culture while Seleucia was very much a Western Hellenistic culture.



In addition to this we also have Isaiah 13 serving as a central prophetic theme regarding a symbolic “Babylon” and the end times “pains of a woman in childbirth” concurrent with the overwhelming fear that overtakes every man’s heart, and the darkening of the stars in their constellations, the sun and the moon which was repeated by Jesus Christ during his Olivet Discourse found in Matthew 24. Isaiah’s Babylon in this prophecy is a symbolic Babylon representing the utterly corrupt world government system of the Antichrist within Daniel’s 70th Week.



In this day and age it is very interesting to note that Israel, in the form of its military and intelligence services has returned to northern Iraq, in the region known today as Kurdistan and in ancient times as Assyria. The Israeli’s are developing an alliance with the Kurd’s and providing them with state of the art military equipment and training. What the Israeli’s receive in return is copious amounts of critical human intelligence regarding all manner of goings-on within western Iran, northern Syria and eastern Turkey. For their part the Iranians, Syrians and Turks are none too pleased with this alliance. Perhaps it is this Israeli-Kurdish military alliance that Jeremiah 51:6 speaks to with respect to Daniel’s 70th Week, for there appears to be a direct correlation between Jeremiah 51 and Revelation 17 and 18.



In the aftermath of the soon-to-be fulfilled prophecies of Isaiah 17, Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38/39 the global dominant kingdom of the Antichrist shall arise. Since the prophetic word of Revelation came directly from the Father to the Son to John on Patmos, circa 90-95 AD, it most assuredly speaks of future events even to our age, yet given the signs of the times we know the season is upon the world and this future is within the span of this generation. That modern Iraq will fall within the Euro-centric kingdom of “the people of the prince who is to come,” that is out of the two legs standing upon ten toes. This last day’s kingdom of the Antichrist is a revival of the Roman Empire, and the inclusion of modern-day, post Saddam Iraq can be seen in the events that have occurred in the past seven years since 2003 and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Iraq is now completely an integral part of the Western sphere of influence and will play a key role in the coming post-paradigm shift of the current world order.

[Chris]

I've been watching intently as well; one morning, i expect to wake up and see prophecy transition to history.

It's very possible. We could wake up one morning to smoking Iranian nuclear facilities.

[Sean Osborne]

I'm really curious as to what it will be that keeps Iran on the sidelines during Isaiah 17.

Iran has a signed treaty obligating her to come to Syria's, Hezbollah's and HAMAS aid during a war with Israel.

Seems we are indeed due for huge headlines in the very near future.

Perhaps the first ever large-scale military preemtion utilizing EMP weaponry is what those headlines will discuss.

[e-man]

I'm really curious as to what it will be that keeps Iran on the sidelines during Isaiah 17.

Iran has a signed treaty obligating her to come to Syria's, Hezbollah's and HAMAS aid during a war with Israel.

Seems we are indeed due for huge headlines in the very near future.

Perhaps the first ever large-scale military preemtion utilizing EMP weaponry is what those headlines will discuss.

Perhaps Iran's thinking is during this go around they'll let the proxies do the dirty work. When the proxies fail and Isaiah 17 happens, Iran will be completely shocked and will sit quietly until Russia decides to show the world that Ezekial was right, too. After all, if 2 or 3 of my buddies got their butts kicked by the little 4 foot nothing kid down the block, I'd wait til I had a trained black belt with me before I went to try my luck.

[Chris]

I'm really curious as to what it will be that keeps Iran on the sidelines during Isaiah 17.

Iran has a signed treaty obligating her to come to Syria's, Hezbollah's and HAMAS aid during a war with Israel.

Seems we are indeed due for huge headlines in the very near future.

Perhaps the first ever large-scale military preemtion utilizing EMP weaponry is what those headlines will discuss.

If Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83 happen soon, then it is likely that Israel will have nuked Damascus. If that is the case then Iran would likely sit on the sideline due to the fact that if they moved they could be hit by Israel. Maybe the fulfillment of Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83 is what leads to the unique confederation of Turkey, Russia, and Iran. The 3 would move with their allies and try to invade Israel. Russia could provide the nuclear cover and tell Israel that if they nuked another country after Damascus they would be struck by Russia nuclear weapons. I doubt Obama (the closet moslem) would stand up to Russia.

[Navyblue]

If Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83 happen soon, then it is likely that Israel will have nuked Damascus. If that is the case then Iran would likely sit on the sideline due to the fact that if they moved they could be hit by Israel. Maybe the fulfillment of Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83 is what leads to the unique confederation of Turkey, Russia, and Iran. The 3 would move with their allies and try to invade Israel. Russia could provide the nuclear cover and tell Israel that if they nuked another country after Damascus they would be struck by Russia nuclear weapons. I doubt Obama (the closet moslem) would stand up to Russia.

Shalom Chris, Sean, and all.

Imma-gonna-throw this in as a 'What-If,' since that is about how I visioned it, a while back while talking to God/Jesus. I was asking about Gog, of MaGog attack (not a war), and what brings it about. The answer, as such, that I received was something more of a question, but it went something like: 'What do you think destroys Damascus?' I was impressed with the idea that Iran fires a NUC at Israel, the bird goes wrong, and detonates over Damascus. Iran, and allies, are hard pressed to divert the blame onto Israel, but through the insanity of the times, are able to convince the world that Israel attacked, and destroyed Damascus. This brings on the retrobution strike from Russia and associates; but in accordance with Prophecy, Israel (afraid to defend themselves), are defended the unbeatable YHVH, which takes seven years to clean up, after God does His thing on the attacking forces.' (much paraphrase into words, from impression on my heart, but close). Am I correct?? Ask Holy Spirit. He has not mentioned anything close to that since that one time.

IMO, Iran may well have enough weapons grade fuel, to make two or three weapons, but wants to have five or six, made and on the pad, before attempting to destroy Israel. The situation in and from Iran is now such that we are down to two choices, as I agree with from a news interview this morning, 1. Iran continues, and becomes an Nuclear Nation, on a very short fuse, or, 2. Israel, or SOMEBODY other than Israel, takes out the facilities of Iran. (DO NOT rely on the USA, as our Commander and Chief, IMHO, will take no steps to save the only country he hates more than this Country he is President of.

Please don't get me wrong. I believe BHO loves this country, and wants what is best for this country. The problem with that is that he wants something other than what the Constitutiion calls for, so wishes to change the times and the seasons of this country to fit his determination of 'Right.' (and in 'right' I am not talking Conservatism). but, nuff of that.

Sorry, I started out to offer a simple 'What-If,' and ended up in a tyrade of Presumed behavior. I do believe we are so so close to the Rapture of the Church/Bride, and the Tribulation unto Millennium, I can immagine not being able to click on the send button for this post. So, I gotta hurry, so someone will read it, so they can tell me, while in flight, how wrong I am...



In Messiah, His soon coming. Arley

[KR McKay]

I'm really curious as to what it will be that keeps Iran on the sidelines during Isaiah 17.

Iran has a signed treaty obligating her to come to Syria's, Hezbollah's and HAMAS aid during a war with Israel...

I have wondered that, as well.

My best guess -- and that's ALL it is -- is that

1. Israel bombs the nuke sites and cripples Persia, militarily.
   
2. Then, we have the Psalm 83 War with Persia unable to participate.
   
3. Then, Magog rearms and rebuilds Persia so that they are ready in time for Gog/Magog.

Like I said, just a guess...

[nana]

[bghtnpd4]

Shelle and I discussed this on the phone last night. I think that Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17 could begin at any moment. Ahmadinejad and the mullahs have seemed perturbed at the thought of sanctions against Iran lately, and I think that they will nudge Assad into joining in the next Israeli/Hamas/Hezbollah skirmish. All Hamas, Hezbollah, or Syria has to do is introduce some sort of WMD into the battle to have Isaiah 17 happen.

Yep...I agree, big sis!

[Suzanne]

Yep...I agree, big sis!

And, it doesn't look as though it will be much longer before it happens.

[jtheb]

Is there any prophecy that Israel initiates the conflict?

[Sean Osborne]

Is there any prophecy that Israel initiates the conflict?

No, I don't believe there is. Isaiah 17:14b shows Israel to be the victim of Arab shacah (to plunder, take spoil) and bazaz (to spoil, plunder, prey upon) and in Psalm 83 Israel is the victim of a confederation of Arab nations who plot to annihilate Israel. It is the Arabs who say “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” Clearly, the Arab's are the aggressors.