It happened almost overnight. The world’s perception of Abu Mohammad al-Julani changed from that of a wanted terrorist to the respected president of Syria. A year ago, the United States had a ten-million-dollar bounty on his head; it regarded him as one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Now it recognizes him as the president of a legitimate Syrian government.
The fawning of world governments over this desperado, who now wears a suit, is proving misguided, although few, if any, recognize their error. Julani is still the same murderous thug who led a lengthy and bloody revolt that ended late last year with him as the new leader of Syria.
According to a Reuters news report from June 30, 2025, Julani’s forces “massacred 1,500 Alawites,” which is an ethnic group that lives along the Mediterranean Coast of Syria. The Syrian government is also behind the recent mass killings of the Druze, another ethnic and religious group within its borders.
Julani’s attempt to massacre the Druze people led to recent Israeli attacks against his forces. Israel’s defense of this people group included the bombing of government buildings in Damascus. Amir Tsarfati reported on his telegram page that in an attempt to avoid the airstrikes by the IDF, the Syrian forces disguised themselves as Bedouins in an attempt to continue their murderous assault apart from the detection of the Israeli armed forces.
The Syrian government’s massacre of innocents has extended beyond Arab ethnic groups. As reported by Amir Tsarfati on Telegram, Syrian “Jihadists killed Pastor Khaled Mzher, shepherd of the (Good Shepherd Evangelical) church, along with all his family members, siblings, their children, his father, and his mother (20 bodies) in the Syrian city of As-Suwayda.”
The Prophecy of Damascus’ Destruction
Although the mainstream media ignores the horrific massacres ordered from Damascus, we know that God sees all the bloodshed as well as the great grief of those dealing with the murder of their loved ones.
Do the accounts of the killing of innocents in Syria point to the nearness of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the destruction of Damascus?
Isaiah 17:1 KJV – “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.”
The capital city of Syria has never suffered such a fate since the time Isaiah recorded these words about 2,700 years ago; it has remained a viable inhabited city ever since the days of the prophet. As the horrific bloodshed instigated by the Syrian government continues, is it possible that we are nearing the day when the Lord will reduce Damascus, the Syrian capital, to “a heap of ruins?” I think so.
The picture in Isaiah 17:1 of Damascus reduced to rubble reminds me of pictures from Gaza after Israeli bombs left large sections of its cities in total shambles. This has already happened to parts of Damascus as the result of Israeli bombing, but the city as a whole remains intact. At least for now.
The Bible doesn’t tell us how or when God will completely destroy the large and populous city of Damascus, making it totally uninhabitable. A nuclear blast could do this, but how would that happen?
Will It Happen Before the Gog/Magog Invasion?
Many Bible prophecy experts believe that God’s judgment will fall on Damascus before the Gog/Magog war (Ezekiel 38-39) since Ezekiel doesn’t list Syria as one of the invading nations. Syria’s absence is also conspicuous because, with its current leadership, it would surely join this all-out assault on Israel. One of the nation’s leaders recently stated that their future agenda is to “liberate Jerusalem.”
The primary path of the Gog/Magog invaders will be through Syria onto the mountains of Israel, which makes its exclusion from the list of nations in Ezekiel 38 all the more noteworthy and strongly suggests that Damascus’ destruction happens first.
Will It Happen Before the Rapture?
At first glance, Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Damascus seems rather obscure. It’s curious that of all the many prophecies concerning nations besides Israel recorded in the Old Testament prophets, this one catches our attention, and we realize that the city has remained viable ever since the prophet recorded the Lord’s promise of its total destruction.
Will we see the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Damascus’ demise before the Rapture? It’s possible, and oh, what a sign pointing to the nearness of the Rapture that would be! If we are here to witness it, we will know that our remaining time on the earth is exceedingly short.
I believe it’s more likely that Jesus will take us home before the destruction of Damascus and the subsequent invasion of Israel described in Ezekiel 38. What we see today, however, provides us with considerable evidence that God’s patience with Syria may come to an end in the near future. Soon afterward, His wrath will fall on Damascus, the Gog/Magog invaders of Israel, and then to the rest of planet Earth during the Tribulation period.
It’s just like God, who loves to predict still future events from ancient times, to leave this prophecy concerning the destruction of Damascus as a gem for us to find. The prophecy explains Syria’s absence from the list of the Gog/Magog invading nations. And should the world blame Israel for the city’s demise, such a perception would certainly motivate them to attack Israel soon afterward.
Because the Rapture is a signless event, we cannot say for sure whether or not it will happen before or after Damascus’ destruction. Regardless, what we see happening in Syria is yet another sign pointing to the nearness of the time when we will meet Jesus in the air.
