Damascus’ Cup of Wrath

From RaptureReady.com

Reports of atrocities coming out of Syria are reminders of the ongoing rage
of man against man. We live in a world headed for a time in which God must deal
in judgment with planet earth. We get an inkling of what faces the cities of
this world with the declaration found in the book of God’s most terrible
judgment. “And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of
the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:19).

The great commercial center at the time of that judgment will suffer as
perhaps no city or people have ever suffered, when God’s cup of wrath is full,
and He gives it to Babylon to drink. Jesus Himself said it would be the most
terrible time in human history–and that’s saying something! This earth has been
witness to regimes that have dealt so fiercely with their peoples that we
sometimes wonder how the Creator of all things could have allowed such
treatment.

The Lord has acted at times to judge the murderous governments throughout
history, of course. The Third Reich is an example. Hitler’s Reich was to last a
thousand years, but lasted barely twelve, and is today looked upon as among the
most heinous–certainly considered the most horrendous of the modern era. Yet
there are elements among us that view the Nazi regime as a good idea,
particularly because of the way that government treated the Jews.

Syria’s present tyrant-ruler is one such admirer of the Nazi attitude toward
God’s chosen people. Like all Muslim states of the radical sort–and it’s
difficult to find one that isn’t radical—the brutal Syrian dictatorship of
Bashar Al-Assad, successor to his father, Hafez Al-Assad, hates Jews with
satanic passion and has Israel in its crosshairs for annihilation. For this
reason it can be said with certainty that, barring repentance, the Syrian leader
and his ilk are in for some very rough times indeed. God’s Word says about the
people of earth and their treatment of Abraham’s progeny: “And I will bless them
that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).

But, it is not the Jews alone that the Syrian dictator comes against with
luciferian anger. He slaughters anyone who would defy his self-anointed right to
rule with an iron fist of oppression. He is doing so with abandon these days,
even in the face of pressure–although milquetoast pressure—by the international
community.

The world of opposition to what’s going on in Damascus and surrounding area
is of the spineless sort because of threats from Russia and China. Putin and the
Chinese leadership have made it clear that any military action to put Assad out
of power will be met with Russian and Chinese force. It is much like in the
cold-war days when the Soviets and the Maoists held the nuclear threat over the
heads of the world’s diplomatic community.

As the death tolls rise with Assad’s military murdering people in plain view,
yet blaming the opposition rebel forces of perpetrating the killings, the
international community sends the likes of former U.N. head, Kofi Annan, to
plead with the Syrian dictator to stop the genocide.

During his meetings, Annan renewed an appeal to the Assad regime to end the
violence against its people. Annan said he expressed the international
community’s concerns about the government attacks, including last week’s
slaughter in Houla.

“We are at a tipping point,” Annan said. “The Syrian people do not want the
future to be one of bloodshed and division. Yet the killings continue and the
abuses are still with us today.”

Eleven nations, including the United States, said they are expelling Syrian
envoys in a coordinated action over the killings. Besides the United States,
Japan, the Netherlands, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
Bulgaria and Canada announced that they are expelling some Syrian diplomats.
(“13
Bound Bodies Found in Eastern Syria,” UPI.com, 5/30/12)

There seems no chance of a Jonah-Nineveh sort of repentance by Assad and his
ruling henchmen. We can say with certainty, then, that God’s judgment is on its
way to Syria. But, it’s not just the fact that God will judge anyone who hates
Abraham’s seed, or that judgment will come because of the obvious sins of the
regime in murdering the Syrian people. We can know with certainty God’s judgment
is coming because of the prophecy, with which most Bible prophecy students are
familiar.

“Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous
heap” (Isaiah 17:1). Damascus’ cup of wrath is about to be poured by the mighty
hand of God. But, lest the rest of the world think this city that harbors most
every Islamist terrorist organization that is blood-vowed to destroy Israel is
alone in the prophetic promise to drink of that cup of wrath, consider again the
following forewarning to all cities of earth: “And the great city was divided
into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in
remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness
of his wrath” (Revelation 16:19).

–Terry

Full article:
http://raptureready.com/rap16.html