Syria has exploded in violence yet again. Over 500 people are estimated to have been killed over the past week, as Syrian rebels, in part supported by Turkey, began seizing towns and villages on their way to the country’s second-biggest city, Aleppo. These forces are targeting Iran-backed forces in northern Syria and have even killed a senior member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran’s stronghold in Syria is being weakened. And not just because of this insurgency. Israel has been conducting military operations in Syria to prevent Iranian arms supplies to Iran’s proxy Hezbollah. This comes just after Israel decimated Hezbollah in Lebanon. The fate of these two countries is closely linked.

One opposition figure from the Aleppo area told Israeli public tv yesterday, “Nobody knows if Iran and the regime would have been weakened without the recent Israeli attacks in Syria, which have allowed us to return and free the lands and the country.” These insurgents are very pleased with Israel’s actions in Lebanon.

Syria’s dictator, Bashar Assad, has been a close ally of Iran. But how long will Iran be able to keep protecting him? Hezbollah’s intervention earlier in the civil war is one reason Assad is still in power. It certainly seems this rebel uprising threatens to overturn the status quo.

In our August Trumpet issue, I wrote: “Iran is about to lose its influence over Syria and, as a result, over the whole region. This will dramatically change events around Jerusalem.” In our newest Trumpet issue, which went to press a week before these recent events in Syria, I wrote, “Israel’s recent attacks against Iran’s proxies will likely help bring about this prophesied shift within Syria.”

We have to examine these events in light of Bible prophecy.

Psalm 83 prophesies of an alliance among several Arab states—including Syria—with Turkey and Germany. This is very different from another alliance described in Bible prophecy led by Iran. These two confederations are opposed to one another. (Read Chapter 4 of my free booklet The King of the South for a detailed explanation.)

Based on Psalm 83, I wrote this in our September 2012 Trumpet: “Right now, Bashar Assad’s Syria is closely allied with Iran—but this prophecy shows that these two nations are about to split. This will have a domino effect on other nations. These events will really shake this world and dramatically alter the course of history!”

In that same article, I noted that Turkish-Iranian ties would break over Syria. “Turkey has also been allied with Iran, but it too is going to side with Germany in the future! Why? Because it disagrees with what Iran is doing in Syria! While Iran supports the Assad regime, Turkey supports the rebels” (ibid).

Exactly what will happen to Assad is uncertain. It is possible he will break with Iran. Whatever happens to him, Iran’s influence in Syria is certain to diminish!

This renewed conflict also greatly worries Germany. Germany currently houses close to a million Syrian refugees, some of whom have become German citizens. In light of this recent conflict, some parliamentarians are warning that Germany cannot take any more refugees.

Some of the Syrians in Germany have been celebrating the recent advances against the Iran-backed Assad regime. Syria’s civil war has raged for 13 years. Assad, together with Iran and Russia, has inflicted great evil on the Syrian people. Many Syrians really want help from Germany. More than wanting a place of refuge, they want Germany to help them reconstruct their economy and make progress nationally. Germany has its own goal: It wants to repatriate the Syrian refugees it took in. Many of these refugees, who do want to return home, want an alliance with Germany, not Iran. This is an important factor to consider.

What will happen next? As I explain in my article “The Fall and Rise of Lebanon,” Bible prophecy shows that the outcome won’t be what Israel, nor America or Britain, would like. Yet there is great comfort in the fact that God, who recorded these prophesies and is orchestrating them for His purposes, is ultimately in charge. We urgently need to understand this prophecy—and watch for it to be fulfilled!