Syria in Bible Prophecy

More than 200 verses in the Bible mention Damascus, Assyria and Syria. (Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay)

Syria is back in the news after The United States bombed Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria last week. Opinions are flying around on if we should have or should not have. Still, regardless of personal viewpoint, it is now history, and history marches on.

God knows when the civil war in Syria will end and how the geopolitical map will look once all the smoke clears. Will Russia be the primary outside influence within the Middle East? The United States? China? Will Israel be divided into two nations, be destroyed, increase the size of her borders, or all things remain relatively the same?

Biblical prophecy often gives us the result without explaining how the world gets there. Example: the restoration of Israel. Israel did not exist from 70 AD, when the Romans destroyed it, until May 14, 1948. Ezekiel wrote of Israel’s rebirth in the prophecy of the dry bones (Ezekiel 37). In writing that Israel would become a nation again (the end result), he did not tell us of the Balfour Declaration, WWII, the Holocaust, and other events that impacted the restoration of Israel (how the world got there).

Bible prophecy is more than what happens with Israel and Christians; it also speaks of other nations. Syria is one of those nations. As with many other prophecies, the Bible tells us the end result of Syria but does not give us much information on how Syria arrives there.

When studying Bible prophecy, you will need some maps. Many towns and nations have different names today than at the time of the Bible’s writing.

As far as Syria is concerned, the Bible mentions “Syria” in seventy-one verses. That is the area that Syria controls today. The Bible also talks of the country of Assyria, which is modern-day Syria and western Iraq. Then there is Asshur; Asshur was the grandson of Noah. He settled in Babylon (modern-day Iraq) about halfway between the modern cities of Mosul and Bagdad. The city of Asshur was the first capital of Assyria. When you read of Asshur in the Bible, it can refer to Noah’s grandson, descendants, or the city in which his descendants settled. Since a significant portion of Assyria was modern-day Syria, and Asshur was Assyria’s capital, references to Asshur could also include Syria.

In addition to all the references of Syria and Assyria, fifty-five verses of Scripture mention the city of Damascus by name. Syria is a significant player in the Bible. The words, “Syria” “Damascus,” and “Assyria” are mentioned in over two-hundred verses.

What then does the Bible say about the end of Syria?

There are at least three times the Scripture mentions the destruction of Syria or Damascus.

Isaiah 17:1, “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.”

In Amos’s first two chapters, there are nine areas mentioned that God says will be destroyed. Damascus is one of them. Amos 1:3-5, “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.”

In Psalm 83‘s invasion of Israel, Assur, and therefore Syria is one of the invaders. Those nations that invade Israel in this battle meet a fiery end. Psalm 83:13-15, “O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.”

The destruction of Damascus takes place in one night. The end of the chapter describing the end of Damascus reads, “And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us” (Isaiah 17:14).

The Psalm 83 invasion will most likely result in the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Syria’s end.

Do not get all bent out of shape over the airstrikes the US made the other day. God knows all, and therefore knows the end of Syria and has shown it to His prophets Isaiah, Amos, and Asaph. However, it works out, it will all work out as prophesied in the Bible.

* * * * *

With houses of worship currently closed or restricted across much of the nation, the editors of the Baltimore Post-Examiner are inviting an array of spiritual teachers to share insights from the ages along with words of comfort and encouragement. These timely messages are not exclusive to any particular faith walk and will be included in our ongoing Spirituality series.