Chronicling God's Mercy
Greetings in the Lord!
Well, this post is to get caught up with the prophetic word regarding events in Syria.
As you may recall, I have shared several times about the prophetic word the Holy Spirit gave in 2003-2004 regarding Syria from 2 Chronicles 10. Basically, it is the story of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who took power after Solomon passed away. He did not have the same wisdom or power or favor that Solomon had, and the people were really tired of being overburdened from the king by that point and asked that he make their loads lighter. Rehoboam consulted with the elders first, who said to do so would win the hearts of the people, then, he went to his buddies who told him to make it even more difficult for the people to show them how strong he was. This advice appealed to the insecure and prideful nature of Rehoboam and he opted for this. However, nearly all of Israel left him after that and only the towns in Judah supported him. So it is with Bashar Al Assad--he is Rehoboam. When he started to crack down on the Syrian people in 2009-2010, most of the country quit supporting him. That was a major turnaround from when I lived there! When I shared the prophetic word from 2 Chronicles 10 back then, most Syrians told me "Never! We love Assad!" Well, seven short years later they were rioting in the streets protesting his rule. It just didn't happen out of the blue; if you read a little further back in Scripture you'll see that God had it in His heart to take most of the kingdom away from Rehoboam and only give a remnant as a promise to David. Likewise, it is in God's heart to take most of Syria away from Bashar Al Assad because of the sins of his father, and so it shall be.
This week, however, the Lord continues in 2 Chronicles, chapter 11. We read that Rehoboam mustered all of his fighting men to make war against Israel for abandoning him, but ultimately was restrained by the word of the Lord. I do believe that Trump's bombing of the military base in Syria was a manifestation of God's restraining Assad from making an all-out war on his people. In context to the prophetic word in chapter 11, the chemical attack to the northern town may have been the first in Assad's planned campaign to wipe out insurgents once and for all, but luckily the strike on the airbase may have scrapped those plans.
Also interesting to read is 2 Chronicles 11:13, where it says "the priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him." In this case, the "priests" would be the Christian community, as we are called 'priests' because we serve the one true God. Even when I lived there the Christians were treated pretty good by the ruling Alawites, so this verse is not surprising. But it goes on in verses 14-15 to say that the priests and Levites were rejected by the Israelites that separated from Rehoboam, because they wanted to serve calf and goat idols instead of God and select their own priests! This would be the same as all of the Syrian Muslims who have left Assad to join life under the Sharia Law of ISIS. They are not serving God, and there is a violent rejection/persecution of Christians under ISIS. So naturally, most Syrian Christians support Assad. Chapter 11 goes on to say that Rehoboam retreats back to "his" cities and begins to rebuild and fortify them, which no doubt, will be happening.
"He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine. He put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his." 2 Chronicles 11:11-12.
Therefore, we can expect that Assad will begin to reinforce the cities that are still loyal to him and that plans to rebuild will start to be formulated. However, one has to wonder if chapter 12 will be played out as well. In that chapter, Rehoboam is attacked by Shishak of Egypt and ends up being a vassal state to it. In Assad's case, "Egypt" could very well be Iran or Russia. The chapter also says that while Rehoboam continues to be leader of the fraction of the state he's been given, that "there was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam." Jeroboam was the man who got control of all the rest of the country--in this case, probably ISIS, but Lord knows. We can only prophesy in part... The good news is that in 2 Chronicles 12:6, 7 & 12 it talks about God's mercy coming upon Rehoboam because he humbled himself before the Lord.
"Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, "This is what the Lord says, 'You have abandoned Me; therefore, I now abandon you...' The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The Lord is just." When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: "Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance...They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the kings of other lands." 2 Chronicles 12:5-8
So, the key for Assad is to humble himself before the Lord, and the Lord will give them relief and preserve his rule from complete deposition. As praying Christians, we can pray for President Assad's heart to be softened that he might turn to the Lord in this humility. We can pray for his Christian and Alawite supporters too, that they would turn to the Lord in prayer, that a whole prayer movement would break out and seek the Lord's face for mercy--and God will be faithful to ease their burdens. My Syrian friends are in this category and I can tell you that many are doing this; I read on their Facebook pages prayerful petitions to God Almighty for His mercy. Let's join with our brothers and sisters to pray for God's mercy, even a softening of Assad's heart to turn to the Lord and seek His face and God will be faithful to move on their behalves. Amen
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
Well, this post is to get caught up with the prophetic word regarding events in Syria.
As you may recall, I have shared several times about the prophetic word the Holy Spirit gave in 2003-2004 regarding Syria from 2 Chronicles 10. Basically, it is the story of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who took power after Solomon passed away. He did not have the same wisdom or power or favor that Solomon had, and the people were really tired of being overburdened from the king by that point and asked that he make their loads lighter. Rehoboam consulted with the elders first, who said to do so would win the hearts of the people, then, he went to his buddies who told him to make it even more difficult for the people to show them how strong he was. This advice appealed to the insecure and prideful nature of Rehoboam and he opted for this. However, nearly all of Israel left him after that and only the towns in Judah supported him. So it is with Bashar Al Assad--he is Rehoboam. When he started to crack down on the Syrian people in 2009-2010, most of the country quit supporting him. That was a major turnaround from when I lived there! When I shared the prophetic word from 2 Chronicles 10 back then, most Syrians told me "Never! We love Assad!" Well, seven short years later they were rioting in the streets protesting his rule. It just didn't happen out of the blue; if you read a little further back in Scripture you'll see that God had it in His heart to take most of the kingdom away from Rehoboam and only give a remnant as a promise to David. Likewise, it is in God's heart to take most of Syria away from Bashar Al Assad because of the sins of his father, and so it shall be.
This week, however, the Lord continues in 2 Chronicles, chapter 11. We read that Rehoboam mustered all of his fighting men to make war against Israel for abandoning him, but ultimately was restrained by the word of the Lord. I do believe that Trump's bombing of the military base in Syria was a manifestation of God's restraining Assad from making an all-out war on his people. In context to the prophetic word in chapter 11, the chemical attack to the northern town may have been the first in Assad's planned campaign to wipe out insurgents once and for all, but luckily the strike on the airbase may have scrapped those plans.
Also interesting to read is 2 Chronicles 11:13, where it says "the priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him." In this case, the "priests" would be the Christian community, as we are called 'priests' because we serve the one true God. Even when I lived there the Christians were treated pretty good by the ruling Alawites, so this verse is not surprising. But it goes on in verses 14-15 to say that the priests and Levites were rejected by the Israelites that separated from Rehoboam, because they wanted to serve calf and goat idols instead of God and select their own priests! This would be the same as all of the Syrian Muslims who have left Assad to join life under the Sharia Law of ISIS. They are not serving God, and there is a violent rejection/persecution of Christians under ISIS. So naturally, most Syrian Christians support Assad. Chapter 11 goes on to say that Rehoboam retreats back to "his" cities and begins to rebuild and fortify them, which no doubt, will be happening.
"He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine. He put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his." 2 Chronicles 11:11-12.
Therefore, we can expect that Assad will begin to reinforce the cities that are still loyal to him and that plans to rebuild will start to be formulated. However, one has to wonder if chapter 12 will be played out as well. In that chapter, Rehoboam is attacked by Shishak of Egypt and ends up being a vassal state to it. In Assad's case, "Egypt" could very well be Iran or Russia. The chapter also says that while Rehoboam continues to be leader of the fraction of the state he's been given, that "there was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam." Jeroboam was the man who got control of all the rest of the country--in this case, probably ISIS, but Lord knows. We can only prophesy in part... The good news is that in 2 Chronicles 12:6, 7 & 12 it talks about God's mercy coming upon Rehoboam because he humbled himself before the Lord.
"Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, "This is what the Lord says, 'You have abandoned Me; therefore, I now abandon you...' The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The Lord is just." When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: "Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance...They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the kings of other lands." 2 Chronicles 12:5-8
So, the key for Assad is to humble himself before the Lord, and the Lord will give them relief and preserve his rule from complete deposition. As praying Christians, we can pray for President Assad's heart to be softened that he might turn to the Lord in this humility. We can pray for his Christian and Alawite supporters too, that they would turn to the Lord in prayer, that a whole prayer movement would break out and seek the Lord's face for mercy--and God will be faithful to ease their burdens. My Syrian friends are in this category and I can tell you that many are doing this; I read on their Facebook pages prayerful petitions to God Almighty for His mercy. Let's join with our brothers and sisters to pray for God's mercy, even a softening of Assad's heart to turn to the Lord and seek His face and God will be faithful to move on their behalves. Amen
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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