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ON THE PSALM 83 AND ISAIAH 17 WARS
Psalm 83, Isaiah 17

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

   The world has entered an era in which the Middle East will never be the same.

• While we are still in the early days of analyzing how all of this will play out in the bigger picture, we believe there are several prophetic themes to be watching at this time.
• The Psalm 83 war – while some Bible scholars believe the Psalm 83 war describes Israel’s War for Independence in 1948. However, the majority of prophecy watchers believe it will precede the Ezekiel 38 war by several years.
• The Isaiah 17 war – while some Bible scholars believe this event happened in 732 BC, since the City of Damascus was not totally destroyed, most prophecy watchers believe it is yet to happen.
• These two events are a part of the convergence of events that will bring about the Ezekiel 38 – Gog-Magog war.

   The Ezekiel 38 – “Gog-Magog” Islamic invasion of Israel is a massive military coalition led by a leader titled “Gog” from the land of “Magog,” who will launch an end-time invasion of Israel, supposedly to capture some kind of spoil.

• Russia is Magog, which includes the Old Testament nations of Rosh, Mesheck, and Tubal. Other named nations include Persia, which is modern day Iran, Ethiopia, and Put, which is modern day Libya, Gomer and Beth-togarmah, which is the old Georgia-Turkey area, and people of other nations.
• In Ezekiel 39:1-5, the prophet said God will abort the invasion “on the mountains of Israel.” God will shower the Megiddo Valley with both natural and supernatural forces, including a massive earthquake, torrential rain, hailstones, fire, brimstone, and plagues, causing such confusion, the enemy soldiers to attack each other.
• The Jews will use the weapons of the invading armies as fuel for seven years, and it will require seven months to bury the dead bodies.
• In Psalm 83:6-8, the nations that will come against Israel will include:
  • “The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites” – that’s southern Jordan and Arabia.
  • “Moab and the Hagrides” – that’s central and north Jordan. “Gebal and Ammon and Amalek” – that’s Lebanon and Syria and the Sinai Peninsula.
  • “Philistia” – that’s the Gaza Strip. “With the inhabitants of Tyre” – that’s more of Lebanon.
  • “Assyria also has joined with them” – that’s Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
• The people who live in these countries hate Israel and the Jewish people because they hate the God of Israel.
• Psalm 83:2-4, “For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

   Isaiah 17 prophesies a future event that will bring   about the Ezekiel 38, Gog-Magog war.

• Some scholars believe this event happened in 732 BC, when Assyria defeated the Arameans, captured Damascus, and carried away its people as slaves.
• However, since the city of Damascus was not completely destroyed, most prophecy watchers say it is yet to happen.
• Damascus is the longest continuously inhabited city on earth, with a history dating back almost 5,000 years, when it was the foundational center of Christianity, and served as a thriving hub for the Christian faith after the crucifixion of Jesus, and remained heavily Christian for centuries before the 7th-century Islamic conquest.
• Since Syria is well-known for having a large storehouse of chemical weapons in the Middle East, this could be the reason for its massive explosion and devastating destruction.
• So, the prophecy of Isaiah 17:1 is yet to be fulfilled, and the convergence of events happening today that involve Iran ties into the destruction of Damascus as well as the Ezekiel 38 Gog-Magog War.

Ten issues that tell us the final hours of this age are here:

• Europe is looking for an Antichrist figure. One in five Europeans say they would prefer a dictatorship in certain circumstances, and a quarter admits they would not mind if a capable leader limited democratic rights and acted without accountability—provided he was effective.
• Intensifying Lawlessness is everywhere. In Minnesota, not one elected official who participated in the Somali fraud of billions of dollars has been removed from office or arrested. ICE has been arresting illegal aliens convicted of murder, domestic abuse, sexual assault, and more.
• Canada is poised to criminalize Christianity with a ban on citing biblical truths. Once this brand of leftism comes to rule a country, as it has in Canada and Western Europe, civilizational ruin is sure to follow.
• Iran—the regime whose morality police beat a 22-year-old woman to death for a loose headscarf—has just been elevated to a role within a key United Nations body shaping global policy on women’s rights.
• A Pew survey says 60% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Israel. Antipathy toward Israel was more pronounced among younger people. This is Tribulation-Esque. Zechariah 12:3 says Israel will become the world’s burdensome stone.
• A prophetic storm is brewing due to the war with Iran. According to Ezekiel 38, the Bible says Russian invaders will enter Israel on horseback. Forbes says Russian forces are attacking Ukraine on horseback. A foreshadowing?
• The American-born Pope is paving the way for a global religion. He said that “Islam is a religion of peace we can learn from.”
• Tim Burchett (R-TN) has teased about alien life among us that has made contact with humans. Once the church is gone, America will be invaded by demonic beings.
• The war with Iran has already been described as causing the largest energy supply disruption since the 1970s. There is no easy “fix it” for this situation, which, even if it ended today, will continue to plague every nation on earth.