Russian Troops Arrive in Syria to help Assad

In a move that is making waves across the international news outlets, it is being reported that Russia "anti-terror" troops have arrived in Syria to help Syrian President Assad with his internal crackdown on the opposition. While this is not really a surprising move, for watchers of Bible prophecy this event could be a watershed moment as "Magog" begins to make it's present felt in the region. The prophet Ezekiel predicted thousands of years ago that in the latter day or end times that there would be a surprise invasion of Israel led by none other than "Magog" or Russia.

A Yahoo News article reports:

A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions.

Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.

Now the Russian Black Sea fleet's Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard according to the Interfax news agency. The Assad government has insisted it is fighting a terrorist insurgency.

Russia is trying to downplay the troop deployment to Syria as a "peacekeeping" type move as well as being there to "evacuate" Russian citizens in the country. This to me is not a very convincing story. It appears that Russia is beginning to make a move to expand their influence in this turbulent region just as the prophet Ezekiel said they would here in the end times. The Yahoo News report also went on to report:

The Iman replaced another Russian ship "which had been sent to Syria for demonstrating (sic) the Russian presence in the turbulent region and possible evaluation of Russian citizens," the Black Sea Fleet told Interfax. RIA Novosti, a news outlet with strong ties to the Kremlin, trumpeted the news in a banner headline that appeared only on its Arabic language website. The Russian embassy to the US and to the UN had no comment, saying they have "no particular information on" the arrival of a Russian anti-terrorism squad to Syria.

Moscow has long enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Assad regime, to which it sells billions of dollars of weapons. In return Russia has maintained a Navy base at Tartus, which gives it access to the Mediterranean. Last week Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had no plans to send troops to Syria.

Right now the U.S. government is denying knowledge of Russian troops in Syria but I would be almost certain to say that the U.S. and Israel are watching this and know exactly what is going on. Russia looks to protect it's interests in the region and as I recall a news article from a few years back, Russia has called Syria their "most important ally" in the region. You can bet your bottom dollar that Russia is going to try to help Assad hold on to power as there is an awful lot at stake for Russia in terms of economic, military, and energy resources that motivates them to enter the fray so to speak in the region. I personally would not be surprised to see Russia further "increase" there involvement in the region in the coming weeks and months.

Russia for their part is keeping the news of it's troop deployments low key as they only reported the deployment of the troops on their Arabic language website. As the Yahoo News article stated this development is sure to have profound repercussions for the region. Russia and China have both voted to block resolutions aimed at Syria in the United Nations Security Council. Bible prophecy watchers know that unfulfilled prophecies concerning Isaiah 17 and Ezekiel 38-39 are ones that could possibly be on the horizon. This means that we should be following this development with very keen interest as it could point to the speeding up of Bible prophecy. Stay tuned!

Reference:

Chris, Rapture Forums Staff, “Russian Troops Arrive in Syria to help Assad”. Accessed 23^rd January 2012. http://raptureforums.com/RaptureReport/rapturereport03192012.cfm.