Isaiah 17 - Damascus prophecy tracking.

[Aijalon]

Over the years I was active on the old forums, my understanding of the scriptures changed, and one of the biggest ways it changed was in how I see the imagery of apocalyptic prophecy for its symbolism.

I recall a discussion that started out being about the statistic that Damascus is the world's oldest continuously inhabited city and people were looking at the Syrian civil war and the chemical weapons and and all that stuff as an indicator of possible imminent return of Christ because Damascus might be wiped out.   I found that as I looked into it, I felt that the prophecy was being fulfilled quite nicely in the mystical and spiritual sense of the passage.

I'll leave you to read the chapter for yourself.

As to recent events, the Ukraine war made me think of Syria.   In the first few days of the Russian invasion 200 casualties were reported as a big deal.  I was amused.   The Syrian war had millions of casualties and tens of millions of displaced people.  It is now in its 11th year, and its finally coming to a close, perhaps.

All this got me to thinking about the old thread on the forums where I posted news on the Eschatology forum, periodically bumping the old topic about the Syria war, to track the possible fulfillment of the prophecy.   The ruination of the Syrian culture and society.

Here we are..... 2022.   The bad news is war will go on and on without end until Jesus returns.  The good news is, his word does not return void.     

A quick bump of this subject..... per the story:  3,700 casualties in the Syrian civil war in 2021.
https://www.npr.org/2021/12/24/1067871944/syria-civil-war-3700-deaths

[Aijalon]

thought I might post an update.

Ukrain war is one year on, and there are perhaps 100,000 total casualties.  The refugee situation is several million, but mostly internally displaced.


Since its start in 2011, the Syrian Civil War has created the largest refugee population in the world, constituting over a third of the global refugee population. In 2018 the United Nations recorded 6.7 million Syrian refugees, nearly 40 percent of Syria’s population that year. Most fled to Turkey and other regional allies, but hundreds of thousands have found asylum in Germany, the United States, and Canada. Within Syria itself, an estimated 6.5 million civilians have been displaced. Several human rights organizations have called the Syrian Civil War the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Syrian-Civil-War/Civil-war

[Fenris]

Over the years I was active on the old forums, my understanding of the scriptures changed, and one of the biggest ways it changed was in how I see the imagery of apocalyptic prophecy for its symbolism.

A passage in the bible might actually just mean what it says. Or as the Good Dr Sigmund Freud put it, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".

There are plenty of biblical prophecies that obviously refer to yet to happen events. Why not analyze those?

[Aijalon]

would you care to explain how the literal sense of the passage is the appriate view here?  I'm all for the straightforward literal approach.

For anyone curious, one of the symbols in the passage is a barren fig tree, with just a couple of figs on it.   Recalling how figs are used to convey spiritual fruit, and the cursed fig tree represented spiritually barren Jerusalem.... I see this as a connection.... Isaiah is foretelling of a time when the spiritual condition of Syria will be completely stripped bare.

[RabbiKnife]

Sometimes a fig is just a …

[Aijalon]

Sometimes a fig is just a …

How will Syria be like a bare fig three then, if the figs don't represent something?

[RabbiKnife]

The Babylonians destroyed everything in both Israel and Syria.  They were equal opportunity plunderers.


Not sure how this passage is either confusing or apocalyptic.

Seems to be fairly straightforward.  Even when Neb carried both Israel and Judah off into captivity, the Babylonians left a few poor people in the land to till the ground and grow a few crops.  Remember the condition of Jerusalem when Ezra and Nehemiah returned.  The land wasn't completely empty, but it was certainly desolate.

[Fenris]

Not sure how this passage is either confusing or apocalyptic.

Agree! Again, there are many prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled. Why not talk about those?