The Sunni and Shiite hate each other, at least in the enclave of hierarchy leadership. Both groups hate Jews and possibly Christians more than they hate each other. Shiite Iran has been able to cobble together a loose alliance of various factions of Sunni and Shiite to attack the Jews as evidenced by Hamas, Hezbollah, The Palestinian Liberation Organization and others. Sunni Turkey has made a play in Syria to topple the government through its support of the Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-led revolt. Iran’s support of Asaad was severely limited because Israel had weakened Hezbollah and it wasn’t able to prop up Asaad. This situation may well have deep prophetic implications.
Many pontificators of the prophetic are watching Damascus from an Isaiah 17:1 perspective, which says, “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” Indeed, this is an end-time prophesy as indicated by the words “in that day” throughout many verses in the chapter, making the time frame very close to, if not when, Christ returns. As we look at the Syrian situation, however, there are a few things that may need to fall into place before the destruction of Damascus, and they appear to be on the move presently. Ezekiel 38 prophesies that Gog, of Magog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, leads a coalition of Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, and Libya against Israel in a colossal end time battle, which the LORD himself defeats.
Magog, Meshech and Tubal are all located in Turkey. For Turkey to lead a military assault as described in Ezekiel, Iran must fall into some sort of submission to Turkey. Shiite Iran has been working extremely hard to establish hegemony in the Middle East, especially when it comes to annihilation of Israel. Sunni Turkey, however, has the same designs. Turkey supported the HTS alliance in the overthrow of Asaad. Middle East Media Research Institute Vice President Alberto M. Fernandez, who served in Syria at the US Embassy in Damascus from 1993-96, writes: “Al-Shar’a’s [Leader of HTS] initial Jihadist organization in Syria–the Nusra Front–had a media outlet, the Manara Al-Bayda (“White Minaret”) Foundation. That white minaret is one of the towers gracing the same Umayyad Mosque in Damascus where Al-Shar’a just spoke.
“It is associated with Islamic apocalyptic literature and the end of all things. Syria’s putative new rulers are going to have to worry much more about the dire, volatile situation they face before them rather than how the world ends. Making sure the world does not end them will have to be the first priority.” In 2013, the terrorist group Nursa Front was considered the most effective opposition group in Syria, also a front for al Qaeda at the time, which Barack Obama and Joe Biden were sending $50 million per day to help overthrow Asaad. Recognizing the new Syrian government as legitimate is supporting a terrorist regime. All said, Turkey has made a prophetic move in Syria that may have a long-term impact of Iran falling in as an eventual ally to Gog as the prophecy clock moves forward.
Sources:
https://www.memri.org/reports/syria-after-revolution-now-comes-hard-part
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/04/11/syria-al-qaeda-connection/2075323/
