PSALMS 83


When Gog invades the sons of Ishmael [shiites] will seize the opportunity according to their ideology to assist in the destruction of the Jewish state - see Joel 3: 4- 6, Isa 11:10-14, Zech 14: 1, Obadiah, Ezk 38; 11 ! A repeating pattern of enmity v4

"Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation"



Historical background to Psalm 83

[fulfilled in the days of Jehoshaphat]

This Psalm is sometimes taken (within the Christadelphian community under an alternative prophetical view) as evidence that a Jewish-Arab conflict is the cause celebre of latter day bible prophecy, it's the great issue of the time of the end! A Jewish-Arab controversy - proof Psalm 83; there are ten nations in the psalm which are in turn linked to the ten toes of Daniel 2, to suggest that this is the final great stage of the battle. That battle, by the way, will result in a terrible and total defeat for Israel. 


Consulting one of the psalms of Asaph found in 2 Chronicles 20: 5

'For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee'.

'There came in some who told Jehoshaphat saying, there cometh a great multitude against thee' - v2.

Again, v 12 in Jehoshaphat's prayer he says,

'O our Elohim, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us',

and again in v15 in the middle,

'Thus saith Yahweh unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude.'

But the question is, who were the ring leaders? who was leading the drive of this confederacy on this occasion? Psalm 83 tells us in verse 8,

'they had holpen the children of Lot' [Moab and Ammon].

'And it came to pass after this also that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside', v1

A confederacy - but it's lead by the children of Moab and Ammon, who are the children of Lot,

'And when they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh set ambushments against the children of Ammon and Moab,' Psa 83: 22

so Moab and Ammon were the ring leaders as was said in Psalm 83, the children of Lot.

'Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession',

and the margin itself says, see 2 Chronicles 20 verse 11, and the prayer of Jehoshaphat which said,

'behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit',

and the spirit of the psalm was echoed in the prayer of Jehoshaphat. Lastly Psalm 83 concludes

'Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: That men may know that Thou, whose name alone is Yahweh art the Most High over all the earth'.

The Psalmist cried for a victory on that day, that everyone might know amongst the nations, how great the God of Israel is! And in 2 Chronicles they put the singers in front of the army and they marched off to battle, with the singers in front, and when they got into the battle field, there was no need for a battle because God had already destroyed the hosts of the enemy.

'Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Yahweh had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of Yahweh. And the fear of Elohim was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that Yahweh fought against the enemies of Israel'. 2 Chron 20: 27

The Psalmist had said,

'let them be put to shame that men may know that Thou, whose name alone is Yahweh art the Most High over all the earth'; v17,18

and Chronicles had said the same thing. That's fulfilment of the Psalm. So there's an historical background to Psalm 83, so by the way, it's already been fulfilled in the days of Jehoshaphat, so before we leap into a conclusion that it's a latter day psalm, we need other evidence that necessarily it might have a latter day explanation.

Notes from a study by Bro Roger Lewis



 In a sense we could see this conspiracy to destroy Israel from being a nation (Psa 83:4) since their national rebirth May 14th 1948, when the next day five Arab armies descended on Israel to destroy it at birth. *

1 (A Song or Psalm of Asaph.) Keep not thou silence, O Elohim: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O El.

This is a cry from the heart when Israel faces destruction, and faces an existential threat.*

2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

Protesters cry against Israel alleging war crimes*.




2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

The Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre (v7)

Israel decided to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip, so they withdrew all the Israelis, there was about 8,000 and they offered to resettle them elsewhere. One last settlement held out to the bitter end, and the soldiers had to go and literally drag them out, one by one, it was the settlement of Netzarim, the last of all the Jewish settlements to leave, but finally they were gone, all of them. They removed all the military personnel and they handed over responsibility to the PLO to govern Gaza.

This was in the days of Ariel Sharon, he was an old battle warrior, so why would Sharon have given up the Gaza Strip, the warrior that he was? Well, I think he was playing a game of political brinkmanship with the world at that time. There was pressure to negotiate on the West Bank, releasing the West Bank to Palestinian control.

I think what Sharon did, to test the world, to show the world that the Jews can do business, he said, 'well, let's give them the Gaza Strip to start with, shall we? we'll hand it over, we'll withdraw in full and we'll allow them to develop and control the Gaza Strip as a Palestine national entity, a Palestinian state, and see how that goes. If all that sorts out, well, and we live in peace and amenity side by side, then we can talk about the West bank in due course.

But Sharon knew the spirit of Ishmael, he knew the words of Genesis,

'and he shall be a wild man; every man's hand shall be against him and his hand shall be against every man'.

He knew what the Arabs would be like in that region. As he expected, they continued hostile to Israel, and continued attrocities on Israel, and he would be able to say to all the world, 'well, look, we tried, we gave them the Gaza Strip and it hasn't solved anything, so we can't possibly talk about the West Bank at this stage! And he would have bought some peace and time for Israel.

There was one thing that Sharon didn't bank on! Hamas was elected to the government and not Fatah. Hamas is committed absolutely to the old battle cry of the Palestinians, 'no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel'. Hamas has an openly stated policy that they are there to destroy Israel, quite openly, they're not ashamed to say that, that's what they believe!

What happened in that particular region with a brutal, internal battle for the control of not the West Bank notice, but of the Gaza Strip, which ended up with the complete rout of Fatah out of that whole area. Hamas has just recently [2007] taken control of the whole of the Gaza Strip, absolutely and totally.

Israel declared the Gaza Strip to be, 'a hostile entity'. That's sounds like David and Hezekiah of old, that the Palestinians were on their doorstep and they regarded them as hostile; so the question is, who's funding Hamas? How come Hamas was able to do all of this? The monies flow through Syria, but it comes from Iran; and that same channel supports and equips Hezbollah in Lebanon (Tyre and Zidon).

Now what's interesting about that is this, Iran is Shiite not Sunni Islam.

Notes from a study by Bro Roger Lewis



3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.


A hostile entity

Iran is Shiite not Sunni Islam... the Shiites believe that the successors of those who came from Muhammad, ended up in what was called, 'the mysterious 12th imam'. The 12th imam was known as 'the hidden one', he's going to reappear at one particular stage in the history of the world.

When he reappears there's going to be a marvellous renaissance of the Arab nation, the 12th imam, the Shiites are waiting for him! Shiite teaching says that when the 12th imam appears it will be at the time when Israel is destroyed. Shiites believe that! Sunnies don't! Shiites are doctrinally committed to the destruction of Israel, so they're funding Hezbollah entirely (Tyre and Zidon) and they are funding Hamas in Gaza, in order that they might set up two Shiite Islamic enclaves driven by the same doctrinal imperative to destroy Israel.

That's exactly what we would expect prophetically. Because the bible's poems on Palestina were all poems of conquest not of peace. The bible had said that the inhabitants of Palestina would have sorrow take hold of them because Israel was coming to possess the Land.

Psalm 108 said David was going to conquer them. Isaiah 14 says, that Palestina would howl because Hezekiah would come and smite them; the bible never suggested peace treaties with the Palestinians but quite the reverse. In fact, the bible made it absolutely clear, that there was only ever safety for Israel when Palestina was subdued. So look at this little run of quotations which help to establish that.

Chronicles says that David smote the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and her towns out of the hands of the Philistines,' 1 Chronicles 18:1; I Kings 4:21 says, 'Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms unto the land of the Philistines, for he had dominion unto Gaza'; 2 Chronicles 17:11 says,'The fear of Yahweh fell on all the kingdoms, and the Philistines (Palestina) brought Jehoshaphat tribute'.

In the days of Uzziah the king, he went forth and warred against the Philistines and built cities about Ashdod and amongst the Philistines', 2 Chronicles 26:6 (the Jewish practice of building cities or settlements in occupied territory, is not a new one, Uzziah was doing it many years ago). Building settlements in occupied territory and of the time of Hezekiah as we've seen before, Hezekiah smote the Philistines even unto Gaza, 2 Kings 18:8.

David warred, Solomon had dominion, Jehoshaphat received tribute, Uzziah went out and warred against them, Hezekiah smote the Philistines. Now what's interesting about this is that all those kings had alliances, political alliances, but none of them ever, ever negotiated a peace treaty with Palestina, because peace only came when that area was under military subjection.

Notes from a study by Bro Roger Lewis

God, according to Hezbollah theology, cursed all Jews as blasphemers damned for all time and throughout history. Hezbollah, as well as the political/religious leaders of Iran, believe that the destruction of Israel will bring about the "reappearance of the Imam (the Shiite Islamic Messiah) - Wikipedia


Hidden ones. Glory of the immortalised saints not yet revealed



7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;


Is there a latter day application of Psalm 83

If Psalm 83 has a latter day application it would suggest two things:

There could be an Arab-Israeli conflict at the end and it could include Palestina, because that's what Psalm 83 verse 7 says (the word Philistines is actually the word 'Palestina') but that of itself doesn't establish that the Jewish-Arab conflict is the great contest of the time of the end, simply because there's some controversy again.

And in one particular detail, what this Psalm suggests is the very opposite to the reasons that are pressed into service. Because the alternative view uses Psalm 83, to prove a devastating, shocking, terrible war that Israel loses and the Arabs win. But Psalm 83, if it proves anything at all, is not a catastrophic defeat of Israel by Palestina, but based on historical background in the days of Jehoshaphat, wouldn't it imply a brilliant victory for Israel!

That's much more in keeping with our expectations in terms of another Arab-Israeli war.

"the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre" Psa 83: 7

Tyre in Lebanon - where currently Hezbollah is in control of south Lebanon, funded by the Syrians who in turn are being funded by the Iranians... the hostility that Palestina shows is linked to the inhabitants of Tyre.



The Coasts of Palestina

'But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. ... 'And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Yahweh's';

'And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines (the coastal plain, by the way, where the Philistines were in Old Testament times) and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites even unto Zarephath' - Obadiah.

Zarephath is in Lebanon in between Tyre and Sidon. That's the very place associated with Palestina in Psalm 83, those hostile to Israel in Palestina and those hostile to Israel in the inhabitants of Tyre, and in the future it says that Israel will possess the territory of the Philistines, the plain, and they'll also possess the area of Zarephath which is the area of Tyre.

Joel 3. the battle of Armageddon, when the sheaves are judged.

'Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of threshing' v14 [cp Joel 3]

this chapter will go on to say,

'For behold, in those day and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem',

the time of the end, when the great confederacy comes down against Israel in the Land. ...in the middle of all that

'Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestina? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head'. v4

Clearly what they're being told is that the recompense of God shall be on the coast of Palestina, in recompense for some evil that they have given to God, and presumably God's judgments can only be outworked in fulfilment of Joel 3 verse 4, if there are Palestinians in Palestina, on whom the recompense can be visited. Otherwise, there's no basis for the fulfilment of the prophecy at the time of the end.

Notice how it's the coasts of Palestina. And Tyre and Zidon again, up the coast, the coastal cities of Lebanon, we've got the smell of the sea here somewhere! And that smell of the sea is in these verses and that significance of that seaside air, will become apparent by and by as our story about Palestina unfolds.

Notes from a study by Bro Roger Lewis



The coast of Palestina. [Gaza port]

So [writing in 2007] what do we expect? What is our biblical expectation for the latter days?

We expect the increasing drive of independent Palestinian activity in the coastal region of the Gaza Strip; we expect the increasing tendency of the Palestinian movement in Gaza to form into a state of enmity with Israel; we see the increasing likelihood that Israel's security with at least the Gaza Palestinians will not come by peace but possibly by some form of military control; and we see the increasing tension of the Palestinian conflict in Gaza as pre-staging the invasion of Gog and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'll tell you why because those three quotations - Obadiah 19, Joel 3, and Isaiah 11, suggesting a latter day Palestina - also suggest the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, because Obadiah says that in that day,

'saviours will come up on mount Zion';

and Joel 3 says

'there's a voice that will roar in Jerusalem',

and Isaiah 11 says,

'there will be an ensign set up for the nations'.

They're all code words for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ brethren and sisters what a marvellous thing! We see these things unfolding in the Middle East right now, we can have absolute confidence that Christ is near, His coming is sure. So let's be stimulated and go out and witness to the truth, and be thrilled that Almighty God has given us evidence, in all the controversy of the Middle East, that soon our Lord will come and solve that controversy that apart from His coming, will remain insoluble.

Notes from an address by Bro Roger Lewis



Many hostile Arab nations whom Yahweh describes as 'evil neighbours' in Jer 12: 14, but not Saudi Arabia (Dedan), or Tarshish friendly Arab gulf states (Sheba). The inclusion of Edom and Amalek indicates it is an anti-semitic conspiracy, probably involving the Vatican desiring to regain possession of the holy places of Christendom, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but also Jerusalem as a whole.*

 


8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

Assur: Northern enemy could be Russia

9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of Elohim in possession.

13 O my Elohim, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

Here. are echoes of Ezk 1. the cherubim, but here as knocking off the heads of artichoke Mal 4.1.2. the Sun of Righteousness burning up the wicked like stubble, Pslm,29 the seven thunders. and Zech.12.6. Obad. 17.18.

15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

*The time of judgment. Divine power unleashed - the irresistible forces of nature will be gathered to vanquish Israel's enemies.

'And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed Deity because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great'. (Rev 16:21)

16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Yahweh.

17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Yahweh, art the most high over all the earth.

This is the consummation of the Asaphite prayer, vindication of'Yahweh 's name.*

*Bro Richard Lister