“Concerning Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard bad news; they are disheartened. There is anxiety by the sea, it cannot be calmed. Damascus has become helpless; she has turned away to flee, and panic has gripped her; distress and pangs have taken hold of her like a woman in childbirth. How the city of praise has not been deserted, the town of My joy! Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD of hosts. “And I shall set fire to the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.” Jeremiah 49:23-27
Have you paid attention to the news out of Syria? Two western journalists were killed (one American woman and one French man) in the heavy bombing in the town of Homs. Civil war is raging and the Assad regime is using helicopters to strafe the streets with bullets. Everyone is a target not just the Free Syria Army.
Why should we care about what’s going on in Syria? Syria is Israel’s neighbor to the north. The Lord loves the Syrian people and wants them to know Him. Believers we first called Christians in the town of Antioch, Syria. Paul was on his way to Damascus, Syria when he encountered Jesus and was converted. The early church grew thanks to believers living in Syria. Jeremiah speaks of a time when Syria’s capital, Damascus becomes deserted. Might that time be coming soon? The current regime has repeatedly cursed the state of Israel. Syria has found allies in both Russia and China, who vetoed two United Nations resolutions which condemned the Assad government for their military actions against their people.
58 foreign policy experts noted in their report to President Obama: “For eleven months now, the Syrian people have been dying on a daily basis at the hands of their government as they seek to topple the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad. As the recent events in the city of Homs—in which hundreds of Syrians have been killed in a matter of days—have shown, Assad will stop at nothing to maintain his grip on power. Given the United Nations Security Council’s recent failure to act, we believe that the United States cannot continue to defer its strategic and moral responsibilities in Syria to regional actors such as the Arab League, or to wait for consent from the Assad regime’s protectors, Russia and China. We therefore urge you to take immediate steps to decisively halt the Assad regime’s atrocities against Syrian civilians, and to hasten the emergence of a post-Assad government in Syria. Syria’s future is not purely a humanitarian concern. The Assad regime poses a grave threat to national security interests of the United States. The Syrian government, which has been on the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism list since 1979, maintains a strategic partnership with the terror-sponsoring government of Iran, as well as with Hamas and Hezbollah. For years, it facilitated the entry of foreign fighters into Iraq who killed American troops. For years, it secretly pursued a nuclear program with North Korea’s assistance. And for decades, it has closely cooperated with Iran and other agents of violence and instability to menace America’s allies and partners throughout the Middle East….The Syrian people are asking for international assistance. It is apparent that American leadership is required to ensure the quickest end to the Assad regime’s brutal reign, and to clearly show the Syrian people that, as you said on February 4, 2012, the people of the free world stand with them as they seek to realize their aspirations.” (from Joel Rosenberg’s blog entry entitled, THE EVIL ASSAD REGIME MUST BE BROUGHT DOWN AND BROUGHT TO JUSTICE, OR FACE JUDGMENT: Time is running out according to Bible prophecy).
What will be the Obama Administration’s reaction? So far, they have done little but express their disdain for the slaughter of the Syrian people. The Middle East is on the verge of imploding, and our government does not seem to have the courage to take action. Perhaps, they see our fragile economy as a reason to do nothing. We can’t afford another war. We really can’t afford for Middle East to implode! Pray for the persecuted church in Syria. They are experiencing terror and chaos at the hands of their brutal leaders. Pray that our leaders and other world leaders take courageous action to stop this madness. Pray for the peace and protection of Israel as well.