Is God Shaking the Middle East?

Having been focused on Israel’s war with various enemies for almost 14 months, international attention is suddenly turned to Syria where a rebel coalition, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has achieved remarkable success against the Syrian government forces in just a few days.

The BBC’s International Editor, Jeremy Bowen, describes ‘the turmoil that has gripped the Middle East since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October last year.’ And he goes on to write that Israel’s response to those attacks has ‘upended the status quo.’

The Islamic Republic of Iran sent Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the weekend. A spokesman said that Iran’s military advisers were present in Syria and will remain in the country in accordance with the wishes of the Syrian government.

In recent years, Iran has invested billions of dollars in Syria, supplying weapons, advisors and recruiting militias to help the Assad regime regain control over most of the country. That enabled the Iranians to maintain a ‘land corridor’ for shipping weapons to its main proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon.

But Israel’s success in the prolonged struggle with Hamas and Hezbollah has significantly weakened Iran’s position. Vulnerable to another Israeli attack and without the protection previously provided by Hezbollah, the Iranian regime finds itself in a very difficult position as another ally suffers a setback.

Nor is Russia well placed to provide significant help for the Syrian government, being preoccupied with the extremely costly war in Ukraine, which has left it short of military personnel.

Thus, there is a very significant change in the Middle East, and its potential impact upon the whole world brings to mind the prophecy declared by Haggai and echoed hundreds of years later in the letter to the Hebrews:

“Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” (Hebrews 12:26)

The possibility that God is at work in all this is significantly increased by the fact that Israel is so heavily involved in the events, as it fights multiple fanatical enemies.

This update by TBN Israel includes a significant segment on the situation developing in Syria.