Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisrael and may the grace of our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) be with you on this the second sabbath of the Omer Count.

Today's passage which I received while meditating this morning is from the opening verses of Psalm 71:

"In Thee, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge; never let me be put to shame. As Thou art righteous, rescue me and save my life; hear me and set me free, be a rock of refuge for me, where I may ever find safety at Thy call; for Thou art my towering crag and stronghold. O Elohim (God), keep my life safe from the wicked, from the clutches of unjust and cruel men" (Ps.71:1-4, NEB).

I have had to change my sermon this morning from the one I was preparing based on some experiences I had last night and this morning. Every one of us is - or ought to be - alarmed at the recent attack by the Republic of Israel on Syria, a client state of Russia, which could so easily unravel into a world conflict. Though the sabre-rattling has been going on for some time and this is hardly a 'surprise', the consequences could well be lethal not just for the innocent civilians in the region thanks to the wickedness in high places in the Western governments, but for the last vestiges of liberty that is everywhere being eroded by a tidal wave of totalitarianism.

I was watching a documentary made by the communist North Koreans yesterday analysing Western imperialism that was shockingly accurate. Indeed there is increasingly little to distinguish the two except for method because those who rule us are very much in alignment with the junta in Pyongyang because they are steered by the same invisible dark powers.

Many, who have bought into the 1948-Restoration-of-Israel lie are unwisely claiming that the prophecy in Isaiah about the destruction of Damascus is about to be fulfilled - someeven claimed a year ago that it would be fulfilled in 2012 when it was not:

"The masa (burden) of Damascus. Hinei (Behold), Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a heap of ruins" (Is.17:1, OJB).

If you read on, you will see that the destruction of Damascus and of Syria is closely linked with Israel's own destruction, and specifically, the destruction of the Northern Ten Tribes under Ephraim - this has nothing to do with Judah:

"'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 Yahweh of hosts. 'In that day it shall come to pass that the glory of Jacob will wane, and the fatness of his flesh grow lean" (Isa.17:3-4, NKJV)

The "burden" or masa is a reference to the tribute paid by Ephraim to Syria as an overlord. The modern-day Republic of Israel is not a vassal state of the modern-day Arab Republic of Syria so this cannot have anything to do with today.

If we interpret this passage as a drash or a midrash - as an allegory of, say, today's nations - in which case "Ephraim" would refer to the company of nations that is the 'West', then we have to equally apply the allegory to "Syria" and its capital "Damascus". Since Israel-Ephraim is not in the Holy Land today and is not a vassal state of Syria paying masa [1] or tribute, then clearly "Syria" and "Damascus" would have to refer to something more general like the Arabic or Muslim nations. If this is correct then what this prophecy might be saying is that the Muslim world will be dealt a fatal blow with the destruction, say, of Mecca, but would simultaneously bring down the West with it. There is no doubt that the West is a hostage to Islamic terrorism to some extent.

I am always warning people to read Scripture in context. Just because the Israeli Republic has attacked some underground facility in Damascus with, it has been claimed by some, dirty radioactive bombs, doesn't mean Isaiah 17:1 has been fulfilled or is about to be fulfilled. A nuclear attack by the Israeli Republic on any Arab capital would assure world war and the annihilation of the Israeli Republic, which is maybe what is planned anyway. We do know that the Illuminati plan is to create the destruction and chaos needed for them to stage a global coup d'état. Also, a part of the enemy plan is to deceive believers that certain Bible prophecies are being fulfilled before our eyes so that they can fool many into accepting the Anti-Messiah or Antichrist they have all lined up. Believers are being fooled en masse in so many ways, and not just Christians but Messianics who are so sure that the 'Jews have got it right' when the deception is universal among all groups.

There is no doubt that our eyes are supposed to be on Damascus, the most ancient continuously inhabited city of the Middle East. It was well-known in Abraham's day and it is very likely that his servant Eliezer was from this city. It is my belief that this passage was fulfilled a long time ago with the capture of the city by the Assyrians. A parallel account is to be found in Amos:

"'But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad. I will also break the gate bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven, and the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden. The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,' says Yahweh" (Amos 1:4-5, NKJV).

"The riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria" (Isa.8:4, NKJV).

"So the king of Assyria heeded him; for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it, carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin" (2 Kings 16:9, NKJV).

But how, you might ask, can Isaiah 17:1 have been fulfilled when it has never been a "heap of ruins"? Now while it is perfectly true that the expression, a "heap of ruins", can refer to a city utterly destroyed - a pile of rubble - as was also prophesied of Jerusalem and Samaria, that is not the only meaning of this expression. Of Jerusalem we read:

"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant" (Jer 9:11, NKJV).

"Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, and I will uncover her foundations" (Mic.1:6, NKJV).

Of the two capitals of Israel and Judah, respectively, only Samaria had her foundations uncovered to never be rebuilt whereas Jerusalem was rebuilt upon the rubble of the old and of the intermediary Roman city, Aelia Capitoleum. However, there is a figurative meaning of the expression, "heap of ruins" as we see in the following passage used by Isaiah as well:

"In the day you will make your plant to grow, and in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; but the harvest will be a heap of ruins in the day of grief and desperate sorrow" (Isa.17:11, NKJV).

We use the word "ruin" in much the same way today. We often speak of careers, relationships and other non-physical things as being 'ruined', don't we? More than likely - and this is my reading of Isaiah 17:1 - Yahweh is telling us that as a political and military power and oppressor (as Syria was of Israel) - Damascus would become a "heap of ruins".

I am not, of course, saying that this passage cannot be interpreted in the p'shat or literal sense for obviously there is good precendent to claim that it may be but what I am saying is that the context hardly points to the situation today. So whilst modern Damascus, captured by the Arabs from the original Aramaean inhabitants in AD 634, now capital of the Syrian Arab Republic, may experience much destruction, as it already happening in the ghastly present West-instigated civil war, I do not believe you will pick up your newspaper any time in the near future and see the headline, 'Damascus Nuked to Obliteration'. I do not see this happening. Rather, I am more concerned about other things that I want to talk about before ending my address.

As far as we are concerned, the war in Syria is a sideshow to the 'main action' (even though I know this is painfully real to the hapless Syrian population who have my sympathy and moral support). The 'main action' is the collapse of the global economy, the suppression of the personal liberties of ordinary citizens, and the oppression of Christians and Messianics everywhere. Every single believing household had therefore better know what it is doing by getting with with Elohim (God). This is the time - right now - in which we should be winding up our preparations and getting ready for the aftermath of the financial collapse. For some, disaster has already struck - in the rich United States and the premier nation of the world (up until now), there are already millions of dispossessed, homeless super-poor people living it rough. This is just the beginning.

I had a very disturbed night last night, there was a lot of dark spiritual activity. I saw a number of visions this morning. The enemy feels emboldened - he is more arrogant and cockey than usual because of the way things seem to be going in his favour. I saw some of them and they are turning their attention to unprepared and unprotected believers in the hope of easy pickings. I saw that some unprepared believers are making rash, illogical, ill-conceived and panic-driven decisions that will cost them dearly, and that they are expecting to be able to live off, or under the covering of, those believers who are prepared. Some, who have made little or no preparations, are planning to just appear on the doorsteps of those who have prepared even though they have been squandering their resources in plans and pleasures that are not in Yahweh's will. These people will not be given access to the places of refuge when they knew in advance what they had to do. I am not speaking here just of spiritual preparedness but of physical preparedness - food, water, medicines, fuel and so on. If at this late stage of the prophetic day you still aren't prepared - with provisions up to a year - you need to attend to that now - as soon as the Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh are over! Get to work, do not delay!

I am not saying that collapse will happen tomorrow or that it will necessarily happen by the end of next month, as has seemed likely, but I am saying that it will be very soon and that the present system cannot bear up much longer. I am making the assumption, right or wrong, that we have less than two months left. You may not have to wait for collapse for governments to raid your bank accounts in outright thievery anyway as they have already done in Cyprus and elsewhere. Once they know they can get away with a criminal act, they will commit yet more criminal acts.

Yahweh is, I believe, going to intervene but do not assume that He will suddenly fill your larder or direct you to someone who can feed you. Nearly everyone will be struggling to feed their own so do not make that assumption! I know some very foolish people who believe that 'God will provide' for them and that they should do absolutely nothing. They are being arrogantly presumptuous, reflecting that 'teacher's pet' attitude that Yahweh hates.

"In Thee, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge; never let me be put to shame. As Thou art righteous, rescue me and save my life; hear me and set me free, be a rock of refuge for me, where I may ever find safety at Thy call; for Thou art my towering crag and stronghold. O Elohim (God), keep my life safe from the wicked, from the clutches of unjust and cruel men" (Ps.71:1-4, NEB).

Endnotes

[1] OT:4853, from OT:5375; a burden; specifically, tribute, or (abstractly) porterage; figuratively, an utterance, chiefly a doom, especially singing; mental, desire

Comments from Readers

[1] "Thank you!" (AM, USA, 8 May 2013)