Awaken Bible Prophecy Update 10-18-23: Prophetic Markers in Israel’s War

The war that Hamas launched against Israel on October 7, 2023 continues to resonate prophetically.  Evidence is mounting that this is indeed (or will become) the Psalm 83 War.  Under that assumption, the outcome will have significant ramifications for Israel, the entire Middle East, and as a set-up for the future Ezekiel 38 War, a.k.a. the War of Gog of Magog.

Beyond that, it has the potential to radically alter the way the eventual Daniel 9:27 covenant agreement brokered by the Antichrist will shape up.  The assumption the vast majority of Bible prophecy teachers have had is that this coming treaty, which brings false peace and security to Israel for a supposed seven-year period, is that it will involve an Arab/Muslim/Palestinian contingent so as to facilitate the building of the third Jewish temple.

What if this is incorrect?  What if this war results in such a drastic victory by Israel against her antagonists that this idea of a peace covenant with these players effectively becomes a ridiculous proposition?

Your intrepid host for this Prophecy Update – that would be me – has a completely different take on the Daniel 9:27 treaty deal.  It is so different and so radical that I’m not aware of any other Bible prophecy teacher who has ever suggested it.  In fact, it is so “out there” you’ll probably think I’m off my rocker – so far out on that proverbial limb that I’m sawing away at it to my own demise.  But, let’s talk about this today, and you can come to your own conclusions.

How’s that for a teaser to encourage you to watch or read this Update and to think outside the box – or to put me inside and shut the lid?

Transcript:

The war that Hamas launched against Israel on October 7, 2023 continues to resonate prophetically.  Evidence is mounting that this is indeed (or will become) the Psalm 83 War.  Under that assumption, the outcome will have significant ramifications for Israel, the entire Middle East, and as a set-up for the future Ezekiel 38 War, a.k.a. the War of Gog of Magog.

Beyond that, it has the potential to radically alter the way the eventual Daniel 9:27 covenant agreement brokered by the Antichrist will shape up.  The assumption the vast majority of Bible prophecy teachers have had is that this coming treaty, which brings false peace and security to Israel for a supposed seven-year period, is that it will involve an Arab/Muslim/Palestinian contingent so as to facilitate the building of the third Jewish temple.

What if this is incorrect?  What if this war results in such a drastic victory by Israel against her antagonists that this idea of a peace covenant with these players effectively becomes a ridiculous proposition?

Your intrepid host for this Prophecy Update – that would be me – has a completely different take on the Daniel 9:27 treaty deal.  It is so different and so radical that I’m not aware of any other Bible prophecy teacher who has ever suggested it.  In fact, it is so “out there” you’ll probably think I’m off my rocker – so far out on that proverbial limb that I’m sawing away at it to my own demise.  But, let’s talk about this today, and you can come to your own conclusions.

How’s that for a teaser to encourage you to watch or read this Update and to think outside the box – or to put me inside and shut the lid?

We’ll jump right into this momentarily.  First, we’ll pray and read from God’s Word.

<PRAY>

Scripture

Psalm 74:18-23

Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and a foolish people reviles your name.
Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;
do not forget the life of your poor forever.

Have regard for the covenant,
for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.

Arise, O God, defend your cause;
remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

Prophetic Markers in Israel’s War

• We’ll start with what I think is an extremely prophetic statement by Benjamin Netanyahu
• It is captured in this article’s first sentence:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today pledged that the Israeli response to the unprecedented military operation by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza Strip “will change the Middle East.”

• A meme that I saw captures this perfectly
• It shows the urban area of Gaza by the Mediterranean Sea in the top picture
• The bottom picture shows a parking lot
• Frankly, I’m not sure how much Netanyahu considers the prophetic implications surrounding Israel
• Or if he’s aware of them, how much he believes in them
• Regardless, his declaration that what Israel does in response to the unprecedented attack upon her by Hamas rings absolutely true – particularly if we consider that this conflict may indeed be the Psalm 83 War
• The consequences are actually staggering as we consider future prophetic events
• First, let’s consider the issue that has recently been on the table between Israel and Saudi Arabia
• Pushed by the Biden Administration is what could actually be considered as an extension of the Abraham Accords facilitated initially by President Trump
• The Biden Regime has been hoping that they could make Israel and Saudi Arabia come to the table for a formalized peace treaty by the end of this year
• Probably the major sticking point with this agreement is that the Saudis have been saying it will not happen unless there is a Palestinian two-state solution with their capital in East Jerusalem
• There were some rumors that Netanyahu may have been agreeable to this so as to cement his legacy
• Were those rumors true?
• Who knows?
• The one thing we can be assured of at this point is that the idea of a two-state solution has just been completely blown to smithereens
• I can’t imagine any future possibility of Israel agreeing to give the so-called Palestinians anything in the aftermath of these hostilities
• Given what the Prime Minister said that basically Israel will wipe out the Palestinians, i.e. change the Middle East, there will be no Palestinians with which to make such a treaty
• Where does that leave the Saudis with their demand?
• I think it will put the Israeli Saudi Arabia agreement back on hold
• In fact, in the last week, the Saudis have said they have no interest at this point in pursuing this agreement
• A little later I’ll discuss why I think this will continue to be the case and what it means prophetically

• Concerning the nature of the hostilities, i.e. the savagery and brutality that Hamas has shown, I believe this leads exactly to what Netanyahu has said
• Israel has been living in a very hostile neighborhood for a long time
• In modern times, from Israel’s very beginning as a nation-state in 1948, her enemies have desired to eliminate her and have conspired together periodically to do just that
• The miraculous aspect of the various wars against Israel is that despite overwhelming odds, she has prevailed
• In the 1948 War of Independence there are numerous accounts of supernatural occurrences that resulted in the enemy being confused and beaten
• God has inevitably been with Israel
• Why?
• Because Israel is the Promised Land, and the Jews are His Chosen People
• God has a plan and a purpose for Israel
• In fact, He has promised that those who curse Israel will themselves be cursed
• There is no nation that can harm Israel unless God allows it
• The premise of the Psalm 83 War is that Israel is attacked by a conspiracy of hostile nations that directly surround her just as in the past
• Just as in those former days, the Israeli military – today in the form of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) – overcomes and gains victory against Israel’s foes
• Is God in the middle of this current conflict, and was He in those former ones?
• Absolutely
• But the primary means of defeating her enemies will be from Israel herself
• I make that distinction because when the Ezekiel 38 War occurs, it’s God alone who defeats the attacking nation without any input from Israel – the purpose being that He gets all the credit and glory
• In this current Hamas war, we see terrible atrocities
• Beautiful young women are raped and butchered
• Babies are being beheaded
• Babies and young children have even been raped
• IDF soldiers are being beheaded
• Hamas has wantonly mowed down hundreds of innocent civilians
• It is for these reasons that Netanyahu has made the statement he did
• Israel is completely fed up with Hamas, and at this point will give no quarter
• There is no peace agreement that can be negotiated
• How do you make nice with the guy who has a knife to your throat and intends to brutally slit your jugular?
• I think Israel has had enough of that
• For this reason, Israel will likely do to Hamas what Hamas intended for Israel
• Israel will annihilate Hamas and drive it into the sea
• That will change the face of the Middle East!
• That Gaza parking lot will become a reality

• What else can happen as this conflict escalates?
• We already have Hezbollah launching a few missiles out of Lebanon
• Hezbollah has also stated that if Israel mounts a ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza that it will join in solidarity with Hamas against Israel
• To add to the situation, Syria has lobbed several mortars against Israel
• Even Iraq has voiced the possibility of joining against Israel
• How do these three factions affect the prophetic picture?
• Guess what prophetically critical city is the capital of Syria?
• Guess who has a strong controlling interest in this city?
• If you said Damascus is the city and Hezbollah is the controlling faction, you get a gold star
• Since both Hezbollah and Syria are major participants in the Psalm 83 War (along with Iraqi descendants from what used to be Assyria), guess what could very well happen given these circumstances . . .
• If you said that they may put Isaiah’s prophecy about the destruction of Damascus into play, you get another gold star
• Here is Isaiah 17:1,14 in this regard:

Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city
    and will become a heap of ruins.

At evening time, behold, terror!
    Before morning, they are no more!
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    and the lot of those who plunder us.

• Isaiah 17 discusses how Israel has forgotten God (v10)
• As a result, she is brought low (v4)
• But God will act as He must, and Damascus will perish as city
• The text indicates a sudden and all-encompassing destruction
• It has been speculated this means the city could be leveled by a nuclear bomb
• That remains to be seen, but this significant prophecy is very much on the table

• What else is possible with this war?

• First, let me comment about Iran’s possible involvement because it’s been making threats about joining this conflict if Israel invades Gaza
• It seems inconceivable that Iran won’t actively take part in this war now, but if it does, that would seem to make its involvement in Ezekiel 38 rather problematic
• Instead, I think so that prophecy is fulfilled, Iran will continue fighting Israel through its proxies and not directly engage
• Iran may also attack the US through its embedded terror cells, which have been allowed to penetrate our nation because of the Biden Regime’s purposeful plan to destroy us
• How convenient for Iran and the globalists who both hate our nation!
• The possibility does exist for Israel to take out the Bushehr nuclear facility in southwestern Iran – which was Elam in the Old Testament
• At some point the prophecy of Jeremiah 49:34-39 will come into play:

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah:

This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“See, I will break the bow of Elam,
    the mainstay of their might.
I will bring against Elam the four winds
    from the four quarters of heaven;
I will scatter them to the four winds,
    and there will not be a nation
    where Elam’s exiles do not go.
I will shatter Elam before their foes,
    before those who want to kill them;
I will bring disaster on them,
    even my fierce anger,”
declares the Lord.
“I will pursue them with the sword
    until I have made an end of them.
I will set my throne in Elam
    and destroy her king and officials,”
declares the Lord.

“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam
    in days to come,”
declares the Lord.

• When this occurs is anyone’s guess right now
• But be assured it will happen in this current timeframe
• A terrible disaster will come upon Iran in this area
• The people will be scattered – perhaps because of nuclear fallout
• Then at some point in the future God will gather the non-hostile people of Iran and they will become Christian and a blessing to Israel
• Might this take place during this current conflict – which would dissuade Iran from attacking now?
• Or will it take place during Ezekiel’s War?
• This remains to be seen

• I’ve said we need to keep an eye out for Jordanian involvement
• Psalm 83 speaks of the three nations: Edom, Moab, and Ammon conspiring with the others
• The lands previously comprised of these three nations is the Jordan of today
• Why does this matter?
• Because of what Ezekiel 39 says in the aftermath of the War of Gog of Magog
• Here is Ezekiel 39:11-13:

“On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord God. 

• There are major implications with these verses
• Note that the Ezekiel war results in the utter destruction of the attacking coalition
• God does this
• For traditional Judaism, dead bodies make people who touch them unclean
• There is also the potential in this war that chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons are brought to bear in targeting Israel
• Bodies must be buried “outside the camp”, so to speak, so as not to taint or corrupt those inside the camp
• Anyone participating in this body burying effort will be considered unclean and will be required to be repeatedly cleansed
• The text says that much of Israel will engage in this burying process, and that it will take seven months
• That’s a huge effort which indicates how many dead bodies there will be scattered throughout Israel
• Notice where they are buried, which is highly significant
• They are buried in a valley east of the Dead Sea
• When you look at a map of Israel, what do you observe?
• You should see that Israel is bordered on the east by the Dead Sea
• On the other side of this body of water is the nation of Jordan
• I ask you a question: Can you by any stretch of the imagination conceive of Jordan allowing Israel to bury this multitude of possibly contaminated bodies within its territory?
• Would Mexico or Canada allow the US to bury such bodies on their soil if we still had our own soil in which they could be placed?
• That makes no sense, does it?
• So, how might this aspect of the prophecy be fulfilled?
• And make no mistake – it must be fulfilled as the text tells us
• The only conceivable way is if Jordan joins in the conflict in a fairly substantial manner and is routed as thoroughly as other hostile participants
• Upon winning this major Psalm 83 victory – which is exactly what the psalm says will happen, Israel will gain land mass, including this area of Jordan that will become Israeli territory
• Review my prior Biblical Audio Commentary titled: Israel’s Prophesied Psalm 83 Land Grab for further details
• You should begin to see how the puzzle pieces fit together that argue for a Psalm 83 War
• BTW – I think more Bible prophecy teachers are beginning to come around to thinking that this Israel-Gaza conflict may be the Psalm 83 War
• Here is a link to an article by Joel Rosenberg is obviously very open to this potential
• There are aspects of Ezekiel’s War that simply cannot be rationalized unless there is this preceding conflict
• You can also learn more about this in last week’s Prophecy Update titled: The Israel Conspiracy
• There is also a deeper dive in my Prophecy Update of earlier this year titled: A Soon-Coming Psalm 83 Proxy War

• This brings us to the issue of the 7-year covenant agreement brokered by Antichrist
• As I’ve made pains to outline, this current war – under the assumption it is Psalm 83 – will essentially eliminate the existential threat to Israel from literally all of her hostile neighbors
• The next aspect is what happens in the Gog-Magog War
• As noted earlier, Saudi Arabia is a distant observer who has no part in the conflict
• Likewise, the Saudis express lukewarm concern as seen in Ezekiel 38:13:

Sheba and Dedan [i.e. Saudi Arabia] and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’

• There isn’t a whole lot of emotion being expressed here
• It’s a statement of fact on their part
• The Saudis aren’t hostile, but they certainly aren’t allies
• They neither have, nor want, any part of this war
• It should also be evident to all that this Ezekiel conflict ends very badly for the attacking nations of Russia, Iran, Turkey, and other Muslim participants
• This being the case, what remains of Islam that is any kind of a threat to Israel?
• The narrative among Bible prophecy teachers is that Israel signs an agreement with nations that are a threat to her
• The treaty keeps them at bay and allows Israel to build the third temple
• What’s the threat to Israel from Islam after these two wars?
• Who will stop her from building the temple, especially after the mighty victory from God?
• Based on all this, I think we have to look in another direction for which entity described as the “many” that Israel feels she must engage with in this covenant and which Antichrist so conveniently brokers
• Here is Daniel 9:27 with that verbiage:

And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

• We do well not to forget what Isaiah 28:14-15,18-19 warns:

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;

Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
As often as it passes through it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.

• At this point in time, after Israel has won major victory over her adversaries, and they have literally perished, what is the point of Israel making an agreement with them?
• How could it even be described as a covenant of death that is agreed to so as to prevent an overwhelming scourge?
• As far as the Arabs/Muslims are concerned – there’s no there – there
• If they aren’t there, who is?
• I maintain that it will be the Vatican, i.e. the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), a.k.a. the Harlot of Revelation
• In researching the relationship between the Vatican and Israel, I discovered something that I consider rather interesting
• Where I’m coming from in my thinking arises from an article published by the Council of Foreign Relations, of all places, titled Vatican-Israel Relations
• The CFR article comments upon singular negotiations that occurred between the Vatican and Israel resulting in what’s known as the Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel
• Basically, this resulted from an uneasy relationship between the Vatican and Israel from its official inception as a state in 1948
• Pope Pius X at that time did not recognize the Zionist enterprise of the state of Israel
• Why?
• The Vatican could not recognize the Jewish people, because the Jews “have not recognized our Lord”
• There is an inherent hostility on the Vatican’s part toward Israel because of this belief that Israel is wholly responsible for Christ’s death
• The people of Israel have to atone for it by repenting and becoming part of the Roman Catholic Church and partake in its various works of salvation
• BTW – there was another document I found several years ago when I first worked on this published by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs commenting on Israel-Vatican Diplomatic Relations
• That document no longer seems to be available, but I have a copy which I’m also using for my comments
• An issue that was of vital importance is that the “Holy Places” of the Catholic church in Israel – according to the Vatican – could not be under Jewish custody
• This was unacceptable by the Vatican because “their disposition and safeguarding were matters to be determined between the Church and the Great Powers”
• In other words, there were theological problems surrounding a possible Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land
• Following those WW2 years, Pope Pius repeated his call for an “international status” as the best form of protection for the Holy Places
• Over the years the Vatican continued to call for the internationalization of Jerusalem
• In Vatican II in 1965 the Vatican made a declaration known as the Nostra Aetate that fundamentally changed its relationship with Israel
• Previously the Catholic Church had held the Jews responsible for the death of Jesus – basically guilty and unredeemable
• This 1965 declaration said that Jesus’ passion, i.e. His death and resurrection, “cannot be charged against all Jews . . . of today”
• That in effect took away the theological stumbling block in the relationship, but political issues remained
• Eventually the Six Day War in 1967 led to Pope Paul IV, at the time, to call for a “special statute, internationally guaranteed” for Jerusalem and the Holy Places – rather than internationalization which was their prior position
• This remains the Vatican’s formal position today – but as we’ll see, all is not well
• In 1993 after almost two years of negotiations, the Vatican and Israel signed the aforementioned Fundamental Agreement
• It was agreed that this was a starting point – more aptly described as a framework – for future negotiations and agreement
• We would call such a framework a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
• Those negotiations remain unfinished to this day
• The reason is because of Israel’s point of view that the potential fiscal and material implications of any special privileges that may be granted to the Catholic Church haven’t been resolved
• The subsequent Palestinian intifadas and other uprisings that have occurred tended to keep Israel-Vatican relationships uncertain, because the Vatican often sided with the Palestinians
• Here’s the bottom line on this:
• As the CFR document states “Property remains an issue”
• The 1993 Fundament Agreement has never been ratified by Israel’s Knesset
• Thus, the legal status of Catholic Church properties and communities in Israel are still under negotiation
• The RCC – Roman Catholic Church – has extensive properties in Israel
• When that region was under Ottoman Empire control many years ag, those properties enjoyed a special legal and tax status
• This status became unclear once the state of Israel was created
• That remains the issue today
• Since 2002, the Vatican has renewed calls for there to be an international agreement to protect what it considers its holy sites
• You can see there is an outstanding issue between Israel and the Vatican regarding property ownership within Israel and as to tax status
• So, let’s speculate a little bit
• We’ll make the Biblical statement that Israel attains victory in the Psalm 83 War
• Subsequently, after she has “peace and security” for a brief time, Ezekiel’s war occurs, and God devastates her foes
• Somewhere in this timeline the pre-Tribulation Rapture occurs, and there is a Gap Period until the official beginning of the Tribulation marked by the CONFIRMING of the covenant agreement
• In the scenario I’ve painted, the infamous covenant that Antichrist brokers is the confirmation of the Fundamental Agreement between the Vatican and Israel
• It is confirmed by ratification by the Knesset so that it become a formal, legal treaty
• So that the Harlot rises to prominence on schedule, it is highly likely the RCC will begin forcing its abominable religion upon the world prior to the actual Tribulation period
• What if part of this campaign involved Inquisition-type atrocities?
• After all, the Office of the Inquisition in the Vatican was never disbanded, it was simply renamed to the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith
• I discussed this in my Prophecy Update titled The Harlot of Rome and Babylon several months ago in July
• In other words, the Vatican is absolutely ready to begin its campaign of terror so as to force the conversion of all people in the world to it ecumenical version of Catholicism
• The RCC will not be satisfied with only legal claim to Israel – it wants the souls of the Israeli people
• If you’ve read any accounts of the Inquisition, you know that people were burned at the stake along with many other atrocious methods of killing people, all in the name of the One World Harlot Religion at the time, which will rise again
• Given this, what if the Vatican calls on the World Court and gets the United Nations involved, and it exerts massive political pressure?
• What if the threat is that the world military will come against Israel unless it relinquishes its claim on so-called Vatican property?
• What if Israel also understands the claim the Vatican has on the guilt of Israel and the need for atonement by joining the church?
• What if Israel sees this as the overwhelming scourge outlined in Isaiah 28?
• We know that world opinion and propaganda will always be against Israel even as it has already turned in this Hamas conflict throughout much of the media
• Naturally, Israel in her distress doesn’t call on God; rather she calls on Antichrist who has become her faux friend
• This is even before his official rise to that exalted and very corrupt position
• Antichrist then brokers the negotiations
• Through the Antichrist’s assistance, Israel and the Vatican reach the point where the 1993 Fundamental Agreement can be CONFIRMED and ratified by the Knesset
• BTW – In my novella that I released a couple months ago titled Tribulation Rising – Seal Judgments, I present exactly this scenario
• This then is the infamous covenant agreement by which Israel believes she has seven years of peace with no threat from anyone
• You might say I’m crazy for not buying into a covenant agreement that directly involves Muslims, but you should see that there is a potential for an alternative scenario
• No way, no how, are true believers still here on earth when all this occurs, so I guess we’ll have to watch the movie when it’s released, either during our 7-year honeymoon in heaven or subsequently during the Millennium
• I’ve always said a purpose of my Prophecy Updates and Commentaries is to get people to think
• By all means, do your own research, but keep an open mind and never hesitate to think outside-the-box
• We’ll see what develops in the next couple of months in Israel
• Hopefully – prayerfully – the conflict will quickly end with Islam destroyed, even while the number of civilian casualties is minimized
• Is this the Psalm 83 War?
• As I write this, I’m still waiting for confirmation, but the way it’s shaping up, it seems like it can be none other than this prophetic, imprecatory psalm come to life before our very eyes
• In other words, it is more than likely prophecy being fulfilled as the Bible maintains its 100% accuracy
• Why?
• Because God is alive, sovereign, and omniscient
• The Word of God is true in every respect