Escalation

An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. - Isaiah 17:1

Well, it would seem that the news concerning Israel is getting hotter. Sure, the IDF incursion makes it to the top of the news headlines for a little while before all the other news takes center stage again (granted there have been some doosies with the bombings in Mumbai and with North Korea behaving badly).

The military operations continue in Gaza with a spectacular airstrike that severely damaged the Palestinian Foreign Ministry building. Other airstrikes and bombings have been targeting key members of the ruling Hamas party.

But what really took the cake is when Hezbollah militants crossed into Israel from Lebanon and killed eight Israeli soldiers and captured two others. Calling it an "act of war," Israel has kept its promise of harsh retaliation and crossed into southern Lebanon, where the IDF is now targeting Hezbollah assets. There have even been airstrikes hitting the Beirut airport.

Naturally Iran and Syria, who support Hezbollah, are crying out in anger. The U.S. is pointing fingers at Iran and Syria. Diplomats are scurrying all over the Middle East trying to broker a peaceful resolution to this latest conflict.

Israel right now is only going after Hamas and Hezbollah targets. They're not interested in engaging Syria - yet. But my gut feeling tells me this isn't going to get better any time soon, and this will continue to escalate (I think this time the skittish folks who set prices on oil futures may be right).

One interesting thing to consider is that Damascus holds an interesting piece of the puzzle of Biblical prophecy - as in they won't be there anymore (see also Jeremiah 49:26-27). Everyone suspects that Israel has the bomb. If Syria is as tangled up in this whole mess as we think they are, or more importantly - as Israel thinks they are - Israel may find themselves in a position where they feel it necessary to deploy that bomb. There are many targets to consider - Tehran being one of them. But Damascus is the most logical. And that could be the hook that turns Russia and the Arab world against Israel as prophesied in Ezekiel 38. Then again, only God really knows how it will all go down.

Keep watch, my brethen. Stay vigilant.