The question is often asked, "Where is Syria in prophecy?" How significant was the surprise bombing by Israel of a secret nuclear development site in Syria in 2011? When will the Isaiah 17 prophecy of the utter destruction of Damascus, their capital, be fulfilled? Syria's capital, Damascus, is considered the oldest continually-inhabited city on Earth, but Isaiah predicted its sudden destruction in the distant future.

Psalm 83 may also describe a war between Israel and her neighbors that will have the support of Assyria (Including modern Syria), but this war is different from the even-greater future war of Gog and Magog (Russia with Iran and other major Islamic countries). One would expect that war to include Syria, but it is not mentioned, perhaps because it will have already been eliminated by then.

One possible scenario that would include all these factors would be an escalation of the current tensions between Israel and the Palestinians so that a regional war erupts. Russia and Iran would not be involved directly because the time is not yet right for the War of Gog and Magog, but Syria might take the lead in the regional war against Israel. If Israel were to suffer an attack from Syria by a weapon of mass destruction, they could respond with overwhelming force to utterly destroy Damascus.

Another possibility is that the current civil war in Syria could spiral out of control and Syria's own known weapons of mass destruction would be used against Damascus, rendering it uninhabitable.

An intense civil war began in 2011, resulting in more than 190,000 deaths and some three million refugees leaving the country. In 2014 one of several rebel forces, The Islammic State of Syria, Iraq and the Levant (ISIL - also known as ISIS), a break-off group from al Quaeda, declared the establishment of the Islamic State, a new Islamic caliphate. It took control of large portions of Syria and Iraq by expremely brutal means including beheadings and crucifixions.

By the beginning of 2016 more than 250,000 Syrians had died and more than 11 million others had been forced from their homes by the civil war and the cruel tactics of the Islamic State.

Whatever happens to Syria could produce the temporary peace in the region that will exist a little later according to Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, when the War of Gog and Magog will begin.