Psalm 83– The next war in the Middle East?
Prophecy
is becoming history right before our eyes. As the war clouds gather in the
Middle East, we watch as the prophecies of Ps 83, Isa 17, and Jeremiah 49
unfold in the news of the day. A close look at Ps 83 gives us great insight
into the future as the Islamic nations and the terrorists in the Middle East
prepare to attack Israel.
Psa 83:1 NASB - A Song, a Psalm of Asaph. O
God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.
Psa 83:2 NASB - For behold, Your enemies make
an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves.
Psa 83:3 NASB - They make shrewd plans against Your people,
And conspire together against Your treasured (or hidden) ones.
Psa 83:4 NASB - They have said, "Come, and let us wipe
them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more."
This
verse is today's headlines as the Islamic peoples that surround Israel spout
their threats and rhetoric.
Psa 83:5 NASB - For they have conspired together with one
mind; Against You they make a covenant:
Psa 83:6 NASB - The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab
and the Hagrites;
Psa 83:7 NASB - Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with
the inhabitants of Tyre;
Psa 83:8 NASB - Assyria also has joined with them; They have
become a help to the children of Lot. Selah.
These verses provide the names of the ten nations which have evidently
formed a coalition against Israel, the Edomites, the Ishmaelites,
Moab, the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, the Philistines,
Tyre,
and Assyria.[4] Let's first identify the various players (thanks to Bill Salus for much of the research)
Ishmael was the eponymous father of the Arabs, his brother Isaac being the father of the Jews. ISHMAELITES (Heb. יִשְׁמְעֵאלִים), a group of nomadic tribes related according to the Bible to *Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar. In Genesis 25:13–15 and I Chronicles 1:29–31 there is a list of "the sons of Ishmael," which requires special consideration (see below). Apart from this list, the designation "Ishmaelite(s)" is found in Genesis 37:25–28; Judges 8:24; Psalms 83:3; I Chronicles 2:17 and 27:30. "The sons of Ishmael" is composed of nomadic peoples who dwelt on the borders of Palestine and in the wide desert area in North Arabia and the Syrian-Arabian desert from the eighth century B.C.E. on,
The Tents of Edom refers to the Palestinians of the West Bank and southern Jordan. The Moabites refers to the Palestinians and central Jordanians.
The Hagarites corresponds with Egypt, Gebal with Hezbollah and the Lebanese. Ammon includes the Palestinians and northern Jordanians, Phillistia corresponds with Hamas and the Gaza Strip.
Last but not least are Assyria (Syria and Kurdish Iraq) and Tyre, (Hezbollah and South Lebanon).
The peoples named here are the forefathers of the Islamic peoples surrounding Israel today that are currently planning to destroy her.
Persia -- modern Iran -- doesn't make the list. Iran's fingerprints are all over the battle plan, but the combatants are all Arabs. Iranians are Persians, not Arabs.
This Ps 83 is the war (a war between Israel,
Hizbollah, Hamas and other Islamic terrorists groups with Iran’s indirect
involvement) that seems to be developing for the near future as we watch.
This war could include the war of Isa. 17 and Jer. 49. The war of Ezek. 38 that
involves Iran/Persia and the Islamic nations north and south of Israel would
follow this war.
If we look at the rest of the verses of Ps. 83, perhaps they
will give us a hint of just how these enemies of Israel are defeated.
Psa 83:9 NLT - Do
to them as you did to the Midianites and as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the
Kishon River.
Jabin was a
Canaanite King and Sisera was the commander of his army. (Judges 4)
Psa 83:10 NLT -
They were destroyed at Endor, and their decaying corpses fertilized the soil.
Jabin's army
used "iron chariots" (tanks?) and was totally destroyed in the east
end of the Jezreel valley between Mount Tabor and the Kishon River. Sisera was
murdered by Jael ( a Kenite), with a tent peg through his head. The Kenites
were an ancient clan that was eventually incorporated into the tribe of Judah.
(Judges 7)
Psa 83:11 NLT - Let
their mighty nobles die as Oreb and Zeeb did. Let all their princes die like
Zebah and Zalmunna,
Zebah (man-killer or
sacrifice) and Zalmunna were the two kings who led the vast
host of the Midianites who invaded the land of Israel, and over whom Gideon gained a great and decisive victory (Judges 8). Zebah and
Zalmunna had succeeded in escaping across the Jordan River with a remnant of
the Midianite host, but were overtaken at Karkor, probably in the Hauran, and routed by Gideon. The kings were taken alive and brought back across the
Jordan; and confessing that they had personally taken part in the killing of
Gideon's brothers, they were put to death (compare 1 Samuel 12:11; Isaiah 10:26; Psalms 83:11).
Karkor - foundation, a place in the open
desert wastes on the east of Jordan (Judges 8:10), not far beyond Succoth and Penuel, to the south. Here Gideon overtook and routed a fugitive band of Midianites under Zebah and Zalmunna, whom he took
captive.The boundaries of Hauran
generally extends from near Damascus and Mt. Hermon in the north to the Ajloun mountains of
Jordan in the south. The area includes the Golan Heights on the west and
is bounded there by the Jordan Rift Valley; it also includes Jabal ad-Duruz in the east and
is bounded there by more arid steppe and desert terrains.
Psa 83:12 NLT - for
they said, "Let us seize for our own use these pasturelands of God!"
Note that
they came to take land for their own use. (Trying to establish an Islamic,
Palestinian state?)
Psa 83:13 NLT - O
my God, scatter them like tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind!
Psa 83:14 NLT - As
a fire burns a forest and as a flame sets mountains ablaze,
Psa 83:15 NLT -
chase them with your fierce storm; terrify them with your tempest.
Note that
they were scattered by a wind, burned with fire, chased with a fierce storm,
and terrified by God's tempest.
Psa 83:16 NLT -
Utterly disgrace them until they submit to your name, O LORD.
Psa 83:17 NLT - Let
them be ashamed and terrified forever. Let them die in disgrace.
Psa 83:18 NLT -
Then they will learn that you alone are called the LORD, that you alone are the
Most High, supreme over all the earth.
They are
disgrace, ashamed and terrified forever. They die in disgrace. The key message
is that God alone is the Lord, the Most High, supreme over all the earth.
The picture painted here is of battles in the east end of the Jezreel
Valley extending into southern Syria and northern Jordan where the Arab Islamic
peoples surrounding Israel are completely defeated. The leaders are killed and
Israel emerges a powerful army but it is clear that it is the God of Israel
that is the reason for the victory.
As we look at the impending war in
the Middle East, we see Islamic forces surrounding Israel on all sides, Egypt
to the south, Gaza on the west, Lebanon, on the north, Syria and Jordan on the east.
Terrorist organizations are massing weapons all borders of Israel and in Gaza
and the West Bank. The attack from Syria will likely include tanks coming
across the Golan Heights and into the Jezreel Valley with rocket and terrorist
attacks coming from Gaza (Hamas), the Sinai (the Muslim Brother Hood), the West
Bank (the PLO), and from Hezbollah on the north.
The trigger for this assault might
well be a confrontation with Iran over the development of nuclear weapons. The
stage is set: the players are in place. The destruction of Damascus (Isa 17:1)
and Ammon (Jer 49:2) could well be a part of this war. If this is the case,
then a study of Isa 17 and Jer 49 could tell us more about the upcoming Ps 83
war in the Middle East.
A quick overview of Isaiah 17 shows
us much about the dynamics of the war in the Middle East. It starts with the
complete, sudden destruction of Damascus, Syria. We can surmise that it is
destroyed by a military attack.
We also see that Jordan will be involved at
the time that Damascus is destroyed. Jer. 49 reveals to us that Amman will be
destroyed and the neighboring cities burned with fire (conventional
weaponry). The prophecies against Moab
and Amman (Jordan) are given in Isaiah 15-16 and Jer. 48-49. These prophecies
tell of great destruction and cities destroyed in the areas east of Israel (Isa
17:1,2).
Next we find that
the Palestinian strongholds of the West Bank will also be destroyed or removed
as a player in the coming events. We are
also told that there will be a remnant in Syria that will be much like the
remnant of Israel after the historical earlier Assyrian invasion.
The
picture being painted here is of an attack on Damascus and the terrorists in
Samaria. Given the current situation of the growing threat of Iran gaining
nuclear weapons, and the fact that the leading terrorist organization are
headquartered out of Damascus, an Israeli attack on Iran and Syria and on the
terrorist camps in Samaria seems not only possible, but highly likely. The
response to this attack will most probably be counter attacks on Israel’s key
cities and their military bases. Israel
will suffer during these events. There
will be poverty, privation and desolation. Israel will also suffer much with
deaths, food shortages, poverty and fear. It will seem that Israel has been
abandoned like fields after the harvest. The valley of Rephaim is the area west
and southwest of Jerusalem (would include the Tel Aviv-Joppa area). This tells us that the area west of
Jerusalem including Tel Aviv will suffer during this time of military activity,
stripped bare and abandoned like fields after the harvest.
We do find that there will be a surviving
remnant in Israel. The surviving remnant will be in a "high
place". The only safe and high
place that I can imagine in such a time as this will be in the Lord. I believe that the believers in the land will
survive. At least part of the surviving remnant will be in the High Place of
the Lord's protection, the Rock, their hiding place. These would be the hidden
ones of Ps 83:3.
All of these
events are intended to bring God's people Israel back to him. The remnant will look to their God, their
creator and have respect for the Holy one of Israel. These events drive the Jews back to God and
in fact drive them to come to believe that Jesus is their Messiah. The believers in the land today will be a
“voice crying in the wilderness, behold Jesus is the Messiah”. These events
will be the catalyst of a great revival in the Land of Israel.
The strong,
largest cities west and north of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa will be
forsaken. They will become just like the
cities of the Hivites and Amorites abandoned when the Israelites (Joshua and
company) came long ago. And there will
be desolation, but what about Jerusalem?
Looking to Jer. 49:25 NIV, it seems that for some reason Jerusalem is
not "forsaken" or destroyed, and not abandoned.
Here we see that
the large cities west of Jerusalem will be attacked. Tel Aviv and Haifa will be attacked but
Jerusalem will not be. It would seem
that the attacking armies and the terrorist organizations that are associated
with those attacking Israel attack Haifa and Tel Aviv, the large cities of
Israel, but not Jerusalem, where the great Shrine of the Dome and Mosque are
located.
This destruction
of Damascus and Amman and the events of the Ps 83 war cause a great uproar
among the nations, the multitude of many people. The international community mounts a great
protest and apparently their armies rush forward towards Israel like waves
thundering towards the shore. This might
be the catalyst that brings us to Ezek. 38 where a new set of players come into
the picture (Ezek 38:1-8).
The nations of
the world are in an uproar against Israel for attacking Iran, Jordan, and
Syria. They seem to "rush" at
Israel like breakers on a beach. But
God silences them. They flee far off
like chaff in a windstorm, like dust whirling before a storm. The international reaction to these events is
extreme, off-the -scale outrage. As Ezekiel saw, these armies come against
Israel but on the mountains of Israel, God defeats them. Israel waits in
terror in the evening, but by dawn its enemies are dead. This is the reward of those who plunder and
destroy the people of God. (Ezek 38:18-23)
All of this activity happens in a short period of
time. This scenario includes Israeli
attacks on Iran, Damascus, Amman, terrorist strongholds Samaria and perhaps
even on Egypt (Jer. 9:25-26, Ezek. 29:1-32:32)
and other Islamic neighboring nations (Jer. 48-50, Ezek. 38). This scenario includes attacks against Israel
and on Tel Aviv and Haifa from Islamic forces surrounding Israel (Ps 83), then
forces from the north (Ezek 38). All of this is related to the first 6 seals of
Rev. 6 although some believe that the Ezek 38, 39 wars occur at the end of the
seven years of tribulation, just before the Lord returns. This activity sets up
a revival in Israel, but also a great falling away from the faith in the
nations due to great persecution of Jews and Christians who support Israel. These
wars initiate political activities that enable a powerful world leader (really
the Antichrist) to arrange a 7-year peace treaty between Israel and those
attacking her. This will initiate
Daniel's last week of years, the time of the tribulation, the days of the wrath
of God (Dan 9:26-27).
With the breaking of the 6th seal of Revelation
6, a great earthquake signals the coming of the wrath of God (Rev 6:12-17). The
fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Rom 11:25-29) as the true Church is taken
to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thes 4:16-18, Matt 3:7, Rom 5:9, 1 Thes 1:10,
5:9) and the 7 years of tribulation are about to begin.
Daniel’s last week of years, the 7 years of tribulation, deal with
Israel and the Jews and the judgment of the kingdoms of the world. As God
judges and cleanses the nations of the world, He completes His irrevocable
covenant promises to Israel. These promises are a National Land forever (Gen 12:1; 13:14-15, 17; 15:18-21), spiritual
blessings and redemption (Isa. 61:8; Jer. 31:31-40; 32:40; 50:5; Heb 8:6-13;
13:20), a dynasty (Kingdom of no end), a nation (the house of Jacob),
and a throne (the throne of David, 2 Sam 7:11, 13, 16; Jeremiah 33:3-26;
31:35-40; 1 Chron. 7:12; 22:10; Isa. 55:3; Ezek. 37:25; Hosea 3:4-5; Ezek.
37:21-28; Amos 9:11-12; Jer. 30:7,11,18).
They guarantee Israel a permanent national existence, perpetual title to
the land of promise, material and spiritual blessing through the Messiah, and a
King forever.
The climax is the
Lord’s triumphal return to establish His Kingdom on earth and take His rightful
place as King of kings and Lord of lords over all the earth. And He will rule
and reign for 1000 years from His throne in Jerusalem with His Bride, the true
Church at His side.
Jeremiah 49 also gives us some information concerning
these battles of Ps 38. Ammon and the surrounding villages in Jordan will be
burned with fire. Israel will take back the land taken from her. Her leaders
will flee to distant lands.
The
Edomites will be destroyed. Damascus will be destroyed with fire. Arab tribal
people from the east (Kedar, the people of Hazor) will be destroyed. And God Himself will go
with Elam’s (western Iran) enemies to shatter it. God will bring great disaster
upon the people of Elam. They will be chase with the sword until they are
completely destroyed.
Could the Ps 83 war be the war released by the breaking of the second
seal of the great scroll? (Rev 6:3-4). Could it be a precursor to the war of
Ezek 38? If so, then we will be witnessing the events initiating Daniel's last
seven years, the years of great trouble or tribulation, and the rapture of the
true Church.
For the world these will be terrible times,
times of war, disease, death, and very great trouble. But for the Saints of
God, the true Church, these are the days of the Hope of Glory, the Blessed
Hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ
(Titus 2:11-14). These are the days when Jesus comes in the air to catch up His
Bride, the true Church (Jn 14:1-6, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Phil 3:20-21, 1 Thes 1:10, 1
Thes 2:19-20). These are the days that precede the coming of King Jesus to
earth a second time to establish His Kingdom on earth.
Rev
22:20 NKJV - He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming
quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Rev
22:21 NKJV - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you all. Amen.
