“That men may know
that thou art the Most High over all the earth!”
Psalm 83:18

Human history is divided into TWO STAGES separated by the COMING of Jesus Christ. His “first coming” has occurred, as indicated by the orange cross, and His “second coming” is near, as indicated by the third, yellow, but downward arrow.

• The “church age” ends at the same time the second yellow arrow points upward, in- dictating the rapture of the church, followed by the 7-years of Tribulation, the second coming of Christ, with His church, the Millennial Kingdom, the Great White Throne Judgment, and eternity future.
• On the left side of the cross, the star of David represents the birth of the nation of Israel. A little to the right, the yellow arrow pointing downward represents the fall of the nation of Israel, and the star of David that is between the two yellow arrows pointing upward represents the rebirth of the nation of Israel on May 14, 1948.
• We know the rapture of the Church has not happened. Therefore, logically, and theologically, as far as God’s time-line of events, we are somewhere between those two events—within the “Church Age” – but near the “end of the age”!

According to Biblical prophecy, as the “end of the age” draws near, three groups of people will try to destroy the nation of Israel, and annihilate the people of God,

• Israel’s neighbors—the Arab States as outlined in Psalm 83
• Israel’s neighbor Syria—as described in Isaiah 17
• A confederation of states led by Russia, Iran and Turkey—Ezekiel 38-39

All wars between mankind are, at their core, the fleshing out of the divine war between the forces of God and the forces of Satan.

• • “Satan” – means opponent or rebel
  • “Israel” – means God contended
    • “EL” – “Elohim” – Hebrew for GOD
    • “Yisra” – “Sarah” – Hebrew for RULE
    • “Yisra-EL—”God Rules

Therefore, all wars originated in the battle between God and Satan in Genesis 3:15, and will culminate at the return of Jesus Christ to defeat Satan.

The war began between the sons and seed of Abraham

• “Sarah” – Isaac—Jacob—the people of Israel—Genesis 12:1-3
• “Hagar” – Ishmael—Esau—the Arab people—Genesis 16:1-16
• “He (Ishmael) will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren!” – Genesis 16:12

The “Arab-Israeli-Conflict” began with the birth of these two sons, and it began to increase in its intensity since the rebirth of Israel in 1948. 

• For centuries, the Arab people wandered in the wilder- ness of Arabia as sheep herders. They had no specific borders between their tribes, only a common hatred for the Jewish people that was handed down to each

The Jews did not “take” the land now being referred to as Palestine, because the Arabs never owned it.

• After the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD, the land which was then named “Palestine” was ruled by foreign occupiers. 
• From 70AD to 1516 it was “no man’s land” – a hiding place for those who were trying to hide from the law.
• From 1516-1917 it was ruled by the Ottoman Turks who regarded it as Southern Syria.
• Since the Turks sided with the Germans in WWI and lost, their land was divided among the allied victors, with the French getting the land of Syria and the Brit- ish receiving the land of Palestine, which at that time included the Jordan Valley.
• In 1917, the British created a “homeland” for the Jews, but changed their mind to give 77% of the land to the Arabs, creating the state of Jordan.
• Israel accepted the agreement, but the Arabs did not because it did not include Jerusalem. 

After the Holocaust of WWII, the Jews returned to their home- land saying they would never leave that land again. In 1947, the United Nations recognized Israel as a sovereign state, but they also apportioned part of the land for a Palestinian state.

• Israel accepted the UN plan and was declared a new state on May 14, 1948.
• The Arabs rejected the plan and declared a “holy war” to ex terminate all the Jewish people and to ‘take back the land!”
• Since 1948, there have been five wars and one uprising in the Arab effort to re-take Israel:
• The Suez War of 1956
• The Six Day War of 1967
• The Yom Kippur War of 1973
• The Lebanese War of 1982
• The Gulf War of 1991
• The Arab Uprising in September 2001
• The Current Hamas invasion of Israel – October 6, 2023

The goal of the Arab world is NOT the establishment of another Palestinian State, to which Israel has agreed many times! 

The real goal of the Arab world is the destruction of Israel as a nation, and the Jews as a people – a plan that was adopted by the Arab League of Nations in 1974.

The Middle East war continues because it is really an Arab- Israeli war, not an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also in large part a war between barbarism and civilization and in many ways an Islamic religious jihad against the Jews

God kept His promise to the descendants of Ishmael!

• There are 21 Arab states with a combined population of 175 mill- ion people who live on 5.3 million square miles of oil rich land.
• Compare that with the one Jewish state, with a population of just over 6-million people, who live on a little less than 8,000 square miles of land.
• For the most part, because of their perpetual hatred of Israel, the Arabs have squandered their blessing. Rather than finding ways to meet the needs of their people, they have focused on finding new ways to engage war with
• The Bible says there will come a day when God will turn the hearts of Ishmael’s descendants toward the descendants of Jacob. They will recognize the God of their father, Abraham as the One True God, and both families will worship Jesus Christ as the King of Israel.

Background on Psalm 83:

Psalm 83 could be understood as one of those unique passages of Scripture that is both “historical” and “prophetic.”

• In the book of Judges, we read where the Ishmaelites, the Edomites, and other descendants of Ishmael and Esau came against Israel and they were successful in inflicting damage, but not to the extent described in Psalm 83.

However, many Bible Scholars see the real meaning behind this Psalm being lived out right before our eyes in the Middle East today for two reasons:

• All of the Arab nations mentioned in Psalm have aligned themselves against the nation of Israel.
• Many of the Arab leaders are now using their own version of Psalm 83 as their “war cry” to annihilate Israel.

Psalm 83 was written by a Jewish priest name Asaph 3,000 years ago at a time when Israel was experiencing unprecedented blessings.

• They were in their own land –
• They were winning every war –
• They were talking about building their temple –
• They had their anointed King whose name was David-

Asaph was given the prophecy from God that one day ten nations would confederate to come against Israel with the common goal of destroying her. In verses 6-8, Asaph listed the ten nations: (today’s new names)

• Edom – Arabs that settled in the southern part of Jordan
• Ishmaelites – Arabs that descended from Ishmael, who settled in Saudi Arabia
• Moab – descendants of lot, by incest with his daughter, who settled in Jordan
• Hagarenes – Arabs that descended from Hagar, who settled in Egypt
• Gebal – Arabs that settled in the north Lebanon (the Hezbollah)
• Ammon – Arabs that live in the Capital of Jordan, who descended from Lot by in- cest with his second daughter.
• Amalek – the Arabs who descended from Lot and settled in area of Sinai.
• Philistines – Arabs who live in the area known as
• Tyre – Arabs that live in the Southern part of
• Assur – the Arabs that live in Syria and the Northern1

“Come let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance!”

In his prayer, Asaph asked God:

• Vs 9-10— that God would make the carcasses of His enemies like manure for the soil. Think about how many people have died in Libya, Egypt, Syria, and now in Gaza, the land designated for the “Palestinians.”
• Vs 11-12 – for God to destroy the kings and leaders of Egypt, Libya and the other nations, just like He did in the days of Gideon when they tried to seize the Holy Sites. Think about how many of those nations have seen a regime change and/or a change in their leadership.
• Vs 13-14 – to spin Egypt, Libya and the other nations like the stubble of a whirl- wind. He asked God to treat His enemies like a pile of wood in a fire; like dry brush in a raging wall of flames on a burning mountain. Just think of the mass riots and the out-of-control looting; the rape and torture and murdering of people, as well as the burning and destruction of property.
• Vs 15 – to pour out His wrath upon the Arabs and to make them afraid of Him – to respect Him. There is nothing but fear in the whole Middle East region today, be- cause everyone fears what the other nations are going to do!
• Vs 16 – to shame the Arab nations – embarrass them among the other nations of the world, not just to punish them, but to make them turn to Him.
• Vs 17 – to bring confusion and strife and trouble upon the Arab people, and if they did not turn to Him, let them be ashamed, and then let them perish.
• Vs 18— to defend Israel by fulfilling His Word and defending His name, so the whole world would know that Jehovah is God, and the only God.

Since this prayer has never been fulfilled, it appears to speak of a future time when the Arab nations that want to destroy Israel will:

• Not know or believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
• Oppose the God of the Bible by following another god – Allah
• Claim the holy sites as their heritage – The Temple Mount, Bethlehem, the Prom- ised land, Jericho, etc.,
• Oppose God’s Covenant with Israel regarding the land
• Unite with those whose common goal is the destruction of Israel and the annihila- tion of Jewish people.

Asaph prayed for God to defend HIMSELF – to defend HIS NAME, by letting HIS enemies know:

• That He is God – and the only TRUE God
• That His Word is true – and the only truth
• That He keeps His covenants – HE is a promise-keeping God

Reasons why the Psalm 83 is different from the “Gog-Magog” war described in Ezekiel 38-39:

• The List of the names of the Psalm 83 war only includes those Arab nations that are adjacent to Israel.
• The list of the names of the Gog-Magog war includes many new nations, led by
• The Psalm 83 war is about the land—it is about PRIDE.
• The Ezekiel 38-39—Gog-Magog war is About Greed—Russian wants Israel’s

There are four prerequisites for the Gog-Magog war to begin: (Ezekiel 25:13-14)

• Israel must be re-established in the Land as a sovereign nation (yes)
• Israel must be living securely “without walls”. (No)
• Israel must be living at peace in the Middle (No)
• Israel must be one of the richest nations on the (Possibly)
• If Israel makes peace with its Arab neighbors, it can relax it’s military and live in peace with the Middle east, and the additional land acquired will allow it to become one of the richest nations in the world, as well as respected world super-power.

Bible scholars place this war prior to the beginning of the Time of Tribulation and believe it may be the reason the Antichrist allows the Jews to rebuild the temple and to return to their animal sacrifices. (Obadiah 1:15-16) As a result of this massive military victory given to Israel by God, the map or the Middle East will change.

• Israel will significantly increase in size as the nation of Israel will encompass a ma- jor portion of the Middle East.
• The nations that form this Arab coalition fall within the scope of land from the cove- nant that God made with Abraham.
• At the end of this war, Israel’s borders will be reset very close to the borders that God established for Israel in is covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15:18.

What will be the result of that Psalm 83 war:

• Ezekiel 28:24-26 – the nation of Israel will live in relative peace, and the Arab na- tions will know that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the one, true God!
• Jeremiah 49;21— when the world sees how Israel devastated her Arab neighbors, the international community will also shake in fear—at least for awhile.
• Daniel 11:41— this victory will set the stage for the introduction of the Antichrist who deceives Israel into accepting him as a man of peace, but then turns against them to destroy them.

Looking down the road, how COULD these issues come to pass:

• Unless something happens (and we pray that it does) Israel will not be dwelling in safety and security as long as Iran has weapons of mass destruction.
• Israel believes if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, and the method of delivery it needs, they will not hesitate to use them, especially against Israel.
• Israel is already on the verge of a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear This could initiate this war or start a chain of events that would lead to this war.
• In 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12, the Apostle Paul said, in the last days, God will send strong delusion so powerful that most of humanity will believe the lies of the Anti- christ regarding “world peace”!
• What we do know for sure is that both the Psalm 83 war and the Gog-Magog war will happen according to Scripture, and neither one of them ends well for Israel’s