Watchman: Take a Moment to Reflect Upon Psalm 83, a Profound and Often Underestimated Prophecy Believed to Be Written by the Prophet Asaph (2 Chron. 29:30).“And It Shall Happen in That Day That I Will Make Jerusalem a Very Heavy Stone for All Peoples; All Who Would Heave It Away Will Surely Be Cut in Pieces, Though All Nations of the Earth Are Gathered Against It.” (Zechariah 12:3)

HNewsWire:

Since Israel and Hamas are at war right now, I thought it would be a good time to read Psalm 83 again. It is an old promise that is often forgotten that was said by the prophet Asaph (2 Chronicles 29:30).

In Psalm 83, verses 4–8, it talks about how Israel's hostile Muslim Arab neighbors and their immediate surroundings could join together to make a ten-member confederacy that would try to wipe Israel off the map:

"They told him, "Come, let's stop them from being a country so that no one will remember the name of Israel." Because they all agreed on something, they have joined forces to fight you: the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia and the people who live in Tyre; and Assyria as well. Four to eight verses from Psalm 83

The last eighteen lines of the psalm are a prayer for his people to win. In Psalm 83:9–11, the defeat of the Arab confederacy is compared to Israel's wins over the Midianites and Canaanites in Judges 4–8. These victories ended Israel's oppression for good. This means that the confederates in Psalm 83 will no longer hurt Israel once they are beaten.

Psalm 83: A Dangerous Prophecy

Some people who study the prophets say that Psalm 83 is just a prayer of lamentation about Israel's enemies in the past. This view, however, doesn't take into account the fact that Israel had many more enemies than the ten nations listed in verses 6–8. It also doesn't take into account the very specific details and living conditions in this prophecy (for example, Psalm 83:8 says that one member of the confederacy actually needs help in the battle).

Some people say that Israel's wars in 1948 or 1967 fulfilled this promise. However, in 1948, more countries were involved than those in the psalm, and not all of those countries were participating in the conflict in 1967.

[1] Also, the tents of Edom, which are described in Psalm 83:6, were only built after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

[2]Since Psalm 83 seems to be a prophecy and the conflict it talks about has never fully happened in history, we can assume that a ten-country coalition will fight a war in the future to complete it. In fact, a lot of people think that the war in Psalm 83 was a warm-up for the war in Ezekiel 38–39, in which Russia and a group of mostly Islamic countries attack Israel.

Though they are Israel's most obvious enemies right now, the Arab states that share a border with it are not part of the Gog-Magog confederacy in Ezekiel 38:5–6. Since the invaders from Ezekiel would have to go through areas that are now mostly ruled by Arabs, it seems likely that Israel's enemies have already been dealt with or defeated.

The war between Gog and Magog is supposed to happen when Israel lives "safely" and "without walls" (Ezek. 38:8, 11). Today, Israel's 430-mile-long, 25-foot-high wall is not keeping terrorists away, and the country is not safe (yashab betach in Hebrew). It's important to remember that the biblical word yashab betach doesn't mean trust in one's military defense. Instead, it means security through military victory. [3] In Ezekiel 28:26, it says, "Israel will dwell safely [yashab betach] when I [God] punish all those around them who hate them."

The war in Psalm 83 could also be linked to or lead to the fulfillment of other end-time predictions. Some of these are the destruction of Damascus (Isa. 17; Jer. 49:23–27), the coming wars between Egypt and Jordan and Israel (Isa. 19:1–18; Jer. 49:1-6; Zeph 2:8–9; Ezek. 25:14), and the growing of Israel's borders (Obad. 1:19–20; Jer. 49:2, Zeph 2:9; Isa. 19:18).

In conclusion
Many end-time experts think that the Gog-Magog war will be the next big war in the Middle East, but Psalm 83 talks about a different war that is just as significant. Bill Salus, an expert on prophecy, says that Israel could be dragged into what he calls a "climactic, concluding Arab-Israeli war" before the Gog-Magog event.

The current conflict with Hamas could very well lead to this prophesied war if it gets worse and includes more countries. Whatever the case, the fact that ties between Russia and the nations in Ezekiel 38 are getting stronger and that the Hamas attack had help from both Iranian and Russian intelligence suggests that the Gog-Magog war will likely happen soon.

Also, did you know that the word "Hamas" is used in Genesis 6:11 and 6:13 to talk about how violent things were on Earth before the Flood? Is this just a coincidence? Look at the Hebrew writing that is written between the lines below.

Useful Links:

N. Jones (June 27, 2013). War of Psalm 83: Getting Rid of the Criticisms Lion and Lamb Ministries There is a blog post about the War of Psalm 83 that answers the critics' questions.
B. Salus (March 18, 2009). PSALM 83: Has It Finally Been Satisfied? http://www.prophecydepotministries.net/2009/psalm-83-has-it-found-final-fulfillment/ by Prophecy Depot Ministries

N. Jones (June 25, 2013). What's the Big Deal About the War of Psalm 83? The website for Lamb & Lion Ministries can be found at https://christinprophecyblog.org/2013/06/war-of-psalm-83-the-big-controversy/