Of Syria, Gaza, and Guns

Things in the Middle East are continuing to approach the "boiling over" point.  The civil war in Syria simply has no ending - at least not in the near future.  Russia and Iran are doing everything to continue supporting the dictatorial and oppressive regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.  Last weekend it was reported that forces loyal to the Syrian government used chemical weapons against a Damascus suburb that was in the control of anti-government forces.  This was not the first time that Assad has used chemical weapons against his own people. 


On Monday, the United Nations Security Counsel was presented with a resolution, sponsored by the United States, that condemned the Syrian government for using chemical weapons.  The resolution was vetoed by Russia.  Britain and France have threatened air strikes against Syrian government bases.  Israel has already conducted an air strike against the military base from which the chemical weapons were launched.  President Trump has also voiced his anger at the chemical attack and has vowed some type of US retaliatory strike.  Both Russia and Iran have uttered their own threats should the United States strike back at the Assad regime. 


President Trump is in a very awkward position.  Last week he announced his intentions to begin bringing home the troops that we have in Syria.  He declared that victory over ISIS had been achieved in Syria.  He does not want the United States to become embroiled with the Syrian War itself.  Yet, he has stated that the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.  Furthermore, will Congress be supportive of the President's actions? 


We do know from the prophetic writings that Damascus, Syria's capital, will play a role in the last days, but will be suddenly destroyed completely.  Perhaps we are inching toward that very time.  You can bet that Israeli intelligence operatives are keeping a very watchful eye on what is happening to their neighbor on the northeast.


For the past several weeks, tensions have reached the "boiling point" along Israel's Gaza Strip border.  This protest has been named the "March of Return."  It is scheduled to culminate on May 14 - the 70th anniversary of the Declaration of Israel's Independence.  The goal is to flood Israel with millions of Palestinian "refugees", each claiming the right-of-return to those properties abandoned by family members in 1948 as they fled the War of Independence.  This right-of-return is an essential element in the Palestinian peace narrative.  If allowed, it would turn Israel from a Jewish state to an Arab Islamic State - simply because the Arab population would be the majority.  There have been almost constant border clashes with many Palestinian casualties. 


In this uncertain times, one can hardly afford not to pay attention to what is happening in the Middle East.  Many of the players that Ezekiel describes in chapters 38-39 are coming to the table.  Just last week key leaders from Iran, Turkey, and Russia met in Turkey to discuss the future of Syria and the Middle East.  Wow! These are exciting times for the believer!


Here at home, debate continues over gun control.  Louis DeBroux wrote a piece for The Patriot Post a couple weeks ago that I thought was excellent.  You can find the entire article at: www.patriotpost.us/articles/55014-yes-leftists-want-to-repeal-the-second-amendment.  "The recent mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school renewed the debate on gun control and the Second Amendment itself.  The stakes were raised this week.  The principle of the debate is simple: namely, the right to self-defense is a God-given right that predates government itself.  The Declaration of Independence proclaims we are each endowed by our Creator with certain 'unalienable rights' and that 'to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed.'  Got that?  Rights are secured, NOT granted, by government.


"Not according to former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who this week declared in a New York Times op-ed that it is time to repeal the Second Amendment.  He argued that the Court erred in 2008 when it ruled the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms (District of Columbia v. Heller).  Bizarrely, by arguing the amendment pertains only to the right of the government to form a well-regulated militia, Stevens claims to be the only right listed in the Bill of Rights that protects government rather than the individual.


"Indeed, the entire reason for the adoption of the Second Amendment was not to protect sport shooting, or hunting, or even for defense against criminals.  It was to provide a bulwark against the potential infringements on Liberty by a tyrannical government."


The article concludes: "In his Commentaries on the Constitution, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, the 'Father of American Jurisprudence,' made it clear and unambiguous, declaring, 'The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.'  Disarming law-abiding citizens will not protect innocent people; it will only leave them defenseless against those with homicidal intentions - not to mention at the mercy of tyrannical government.  It is beyond foolish to think otherwise."


Friends, the push toward the confiscation of guns is merely the first step.  In London, a city with extremely strict gun-control laws, the new weapon of choice is knives.  Now the Mayor of London wants to control the knives on the streets.  This is one of those vicious cycles that has no ending until every means that can be used for self-defense is taken away.  When that happens, the government will be in total control.  Those will be the days of the Antichrist. 


We live in a very confused world.  But there is hope on the horizon with that wonderful promise that the Lord is coming soon.  Oh what a day that will be when our Jesus we shall see!  How we need to help people be prepared when it happens.