*Damascus, the capital of Syria (Bernard Gagnon*)

Israel attacked Iranians in Syria and Iran is angry:

Iran vows deadly suspected Israeli airstrike on its consulate in Damascus “will not go unanswered”
April 2, 2024
Iran and one of its key proxies vowed Tuesday to respond to a strike widely attributed to Israel that demolished Iran’s consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus and killed 13, including two Iranian generals.
Iran’s state TV reported Tuesday that the country’s Supreme National Security Council, a key decision-making body, met late Monday and decided on a “required” response to the strike. The report said the meeting was chaired by President Ebrahim Raisi, but provided no further details.
The “cowardly crime will not go unanswered,” Raisi said on his office’s website, according to Agence France-Presse.
AFP reports that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on his official website that “Israel will be punished” for the attack.
Iran’s state TV said that the attack killed “seven Iranians and six Syrian citizens,” AFP noted. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-israel-syria-damascus-airstrike-consulate-revenge/
April 2, 2024

Iran has asked the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to discuss an Israeli airstrike that destroyed Iran’s consulate in Syria’s capital.
The strike Monday killed at least seven people, including senior military advisers, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said.
In a letter Monday, Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. Zahra Ershadi called on the Security Council to discuss “this egregious violation” and prevent future acts that would endanger diplomatic missions.
“Considering the far-reaching international implications of such a reprehensible act which can exacerbate tensions in the region and potentially ignite more conflict involving other nations, Iran urges the Security Council to condemn this unjustified criminal act and terrorist act perpetrated by the Israel regime in the strongest terms possible,” Ershadi wrote.
Israel declined to comment on the attack.
Iranian Ambassador Hossein Akbari condemned Israel for the strike.
Akbari vowed revenge “at the same magnitude and harshness.”
Israel has carried out several hundred strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years. But the number has escalated since the beginning of the nearly six-month Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza and periodic clashes between Israel’s military and Hezbollah fighters along the Lebanon-Israel border. https://www.voanews.com/a/iran-calls-for-un-security-council-meeting-after-israeli-airstrike-destroys-iranian-consulate-in-syria/7552953.html

Iran and Syria are angry about this. One day, the two of them will hit Israel hard.

Consider the following prophecy:

1 The burden against the Valley of Vision.
What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops, 2 You who are full of noise, A tumultuous city, a joyous city? Your slain men are not slain with the sword, Nor dead in battle. 3 All your rulers have fled together; They are captured by the archers. All who are found in you are bound together; They have fled from afar. 4 Therefore I said, “Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; Do not labor to comfort me Because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.”
5 For it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity By the Lord God of hosts In the Valley of Vision — Breaking down the walls And of crying to the mountain. 6 Elam bore the quiver With chariots of men and horsemen, And Kir uncovered the shield. 7 It shall come to pass that your choicest valleys Shall be full of chariots,And the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
8 He removed the protection of Judah. You looked in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest; 9 You also saw the damage to the city of David, That it was great; And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. 10 You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, And the houses you broke down To fortify the wall. 11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls For the water of the old pool. But you did not look to its Maker, Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago.
12 And in that day the Lord God of hosts Called for weeping and for mourning,For baldness and for girding with sackcloth. 13 But instead, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
14 Then it was revealed in my hearing by the Lord of hosts,”Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, Even to your death,” says the Lord God of hosts. (Isaiah 22:1-14 NKJV)

Last week, I posted the following after quoting part of Isaiah 22:

Elam is a reference to at least some in Iran. The old Worldwide Church of God published the following:
Iranians comprise nearly 70 percent of the country. Iranians, though Islamic, are totally distinct from the neighboring Arab peoples of the Middle East. They are a mixed people of the remnants of Media and Elam and other ancestors of Semitic and Hamitic stock. (Stump K. South Asia in Prophecy. Plain Truth, July/August 1986, p. 5)
The Bible tells that after Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria took over Damascus, he moved Syrians to Kir (2 Kings 16:9-10). God’s word has the expression “the Syrians from Kir” (Amos 9:7), which is basically confirmation that Kir of Isaiah 22 would include Syrians. The Bible also tells of a time when Kir will be destroyed (Isaiah 15:1b) and also says that Syria’s capital Damascus will be destroyed (Isaiah 17:1).While this does not mean that Kir must (or must only) be a reference to Syria, the fact that Syria is an ally of Iran is interesting.
In Isaiah 22: 8, “Judah” is a reference to those in the land commonly called Israel–God will allow Israel to be attacked! In Isaiah 22:9, consider that “the damage to the city of David” is a reference to at least part of Jerusalem–and notice that the damage will be great. This, in turn, would be expected to result in a massive Israeli, possibly with US involvement, attack against Iran and its allies, like Syria.the
The fulfillment of Isaiah 22:6-9 could lead to the prophesied peace deal of Daniel 9:26-27 and the countdown to the start of the Great Tribulation.
But notice verse 8: He removed the protection of Judah.
Part of the protection of Judah, aka the nation called Israel, comes from the USA.
While Syria (and others) may be involved in removing “the protection of Judah,” the more the USA distances itself from Israel, the more tempting an attack may seem for Iran.
Anyway, we may well see Iran attack Israel in 2024, and that could possibly lead to the confirmation of the deal of Daniel 9:27.
The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following Bible News Prophecy video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

15:03
Iran and Israel Conflict
European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrel, has been brokering the nuclear negotiations involving Iran and said that he thinks the deal is “in danger.” Iran blames the United States, whereas the USA says they are not delaying it. Israeli sources stated that Israel will stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. Joe Biden says the USA would use its own military power to prevent Iran from getting such a bomb if need be. In 2021, Iranian lawmakers have submitted a bill seeking the government by law to commit to Israel’s destruction by the year 2040. Does the 22nd chapter of Isaiah point to damage coming to Israel from Iran and possibly Syria? Might Iran be concerned enough about limited progress with the USA to launch some type of attack? Is Iran the prophesied ‘King of the South’? Is it reasonable to think that the prophesied peace deal of Daniel 9:27 will not happen until after a military conflict. like a regional war? Should Christians watch the Middle East? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie discuss these matters.
Here is a link to our video: Iran and Israel Conflict.
We are in a time of wars and rumors of wars as Jesus foretold (Matthew 24:4-8).
The more desperate Iran becomes, the more likely it will take bold military actions.
Watch! (cf. Mark 13:37) (Thiel B. VOA: Hamas Leader Speaks in Iran of Israel’s ‘Political Isolation’. COGwriter, March 27, 2024)

Related to the attack and connections to the end times, last evening Michael Snyder posted the following:

We Are Just One Step Away From An Apocalyptic War In The Middle East
April 1, 2024
Did you see what just happened in Damascus? In an absolutely stunning move, Israel took out the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Needless to say, the Iranians are absolutely furious and they are promising a “harsh” response. For a long time, I have been warning my readers that an apocalyptic war in the Middle East will be one of the conflicts that defines World War III. The good news is that the war in the Middle East has not escalated to an apocalyptic level yet. But after what we witnessed on Monday, we are just one step away.
The building that was destroyed by the IDF airstrike was reportedly directly next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus…
This particular building was apparently the residence of the Iranian ambassador to Syria. …
This was a major victory for Israel, but the Iranians will inevitably respond.
In fact, Iran’s ambassador to Syria has already publicly stated that the response will be “harsh”…
Iranian Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari, who was not injured, said at least five people had been killed in the attack and that Tehran’s response would be “harsh.”
The Iranian Embassy in Lebanon said that the “barbaric Israeli aggression is a flagrant violation of international laws, diplomatic norms, and the requirements of the Vienna Convention.”
We shall see what Iran chooses to do.
As Zero Hedge has aptly noted, if Iran’s response is too severe, it could spark “an all-out regional war”…
For a long time, we have been warned that the Middle East would eventually erupt in flames.
Now we are right at the door.
Unfortunately, most people in the western world have no idea how bad this war in the Middle East is going to become. https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/we-are-just-one-step-away-from-an-apocalyptic-war-in-the-middle-east/

Yes, we may be at the verge of a major regional war, such as is prophesied in the 22nd chapter of the Book of Isaiah.

Furthermore, massive destruction is going to happen to Damascus.

Last week, I again warned that:

We are getting closer to the time of Damascus’ destruction. (Thiel B. CBS: WORLD Israel accused of killing dozens of Syria troops and Hezbollah fighters with major airstrikes near Aleppo. COGwriter, March 29, 2024)

As regular readers of this page are aware, the Bible shows that Syria’s capital, Damascus, will one day be destroyed:

7 thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Syria is Damascus (Isaiah 7:7-8).
3 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron. (Amos 1:3)
1 The burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid. 3 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. (Isaiah 17:1-3)
23 Against Damascus. “Hamath and Arpad are shamed, For they have heard bad news. They are fainthearted; There is trouble on the sea; It cannot be quiet. 24 Damascus has grown feeble; She turns to flee, And fear has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor. 25 Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy? 26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord of hosts. 27 “I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.” (Jeremiah 49:23-27)

Damascus has been claimed to be the “oldest, continuously-inhabited city” in the world. And while some have questioned that claim, the reality is that Damascus has not been destroyed to the point of becoming the “ruinous heap” since God inspired Isaiah, thousands of years ago, to record that would one day happen. The destruction would be expected to come from some type of warfare.

I have long felt that there were two biblically-related possibilities.

One is when the King of the South and the King of the North turn against each other as prophesied in Daniel 11:40-43.

And the other is related to an attack by Iran and Syria against Jewish Israel and Jerusalem as prophesied in Isaiah 22:6-9.

Why the ambiguity?

Well, mainly because Isaiah 17:1 is not totally clear about the time period, though the verses past it may be pointing to timing related to Isaiah 22:6-9.

If that is the case, then we could see Damascus destroyed within a year. Otherwise, particularly if its destruction is related to Daniel 11:40-43, that will not happen for at least four years from now.

A decade ago, we out out the following video on our BibleNewsProphecy channel:

11:54
Damascus and Syria in Prophecy
Will Bashar Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria?

That video goes through various scriptures and certain Islamic prophecies to explain what may and what will happen to Syria and its capital Damascus. Here is a link: Damascus and Syria in Prophecy.

We are getting closer to the time of Damascus’ destruction.

If Israel, Syria, and Iran begin to fulfill Isaiah 22:6-8, this could end up triggering the countdown to the start of the Great Tribulation!

We are getting closer to the time of Damascus’ destruction.

Peace deals normally do not come until after military conflict. There looks to be so much destruction in Isaiah 22 that a “peace deal” would come out of it–but the deal is only temporary:

26 And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate (Daniel 9:26-27).

The above is referring to a deal or covenant that has a time element attached to it. In a sense, this numbered deal could be considered an end time countdown–which about seven years later would have the scriptures in Revelation about Armageddon being fulfilled as well as Jesus returning to establish the millennial kingdom of God.

One day, relatively soon, Iran might inflict major damage to Israel before or after Israel may turn Damascus into a ruinous heap.

These latest attacks from Israel may help embolden Iran (and Syria) to take strong military action.

Expect to see a major regional war in the Middle East.

Related Items:

Damascus and Syria in Prophecy Will Bashar al-Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria. This is a YouTube video.

Iran in Prophecy Is Iran in Bible prophecy? If so, what does the Bible teach? What names, other than Persia, may be used to describe Iran? There is also a YouTube video titled Iran in Prophecy. Here are links to two related videos Iran In Prophecy and Iran and Israel Conflict.

The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27 This prophecy could give up to 3 1/2 years advance notice of the coming Great Tribulation. Will most ignore or misunderstand its fulfillment? Here is a link to a related sermon video Daniel 9:27 and the Start of the Great Tribulation. A short video is also available titled Trump’s Deal of the Century and Daniel 9 27? Here is a link to something related in the Spanish language: Estados Árabes emiratos unidos y el tratado de paz en el medio este.

Is the Future King of the South Rising Up? Some no longer believe there needs to be a future King of the South. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi or Caliph? What does the Bible say? Two videos of related interest are: The Future King of the South is Rising and The Rise and Fall of the King of the South. Here is a version the Spanish language: ¿Esta Surgiendo el Rey Del Sur?

Jerusalem: Past, Present, and Future What does the Bible say about Jerusalem and its future? Is Jerusalem going to be divided and eliminated? Is Jesus returning to the area of Jerusalem? There are also two related YouTube videos you can watch: Jerusalem To be divided and eliminated and God’s and Satan’s Plan for Jerusalem.

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. It is available inover 1,000 languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-related sermons: The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.