Biblical Audio Commentary – My Two Cents As To How the Israel-Hamas War Plays Out

Biblical Audio Commentary – My Two Cents As To How the Israel-Hamas War Plays Out

Transcript:

Whether or not the Israel-Hamas War turns out to be the prophesied Psalm 83 War is a matter of current dispute among Bible prophecy teachers.  I think the likelihood is high that it is Psalm 83 playing out in real time.  It’s true that the two major wars in the 20^th Century – WW1 and WW2 – aren’t directly referenced in the Bible, but in one sense, close enough, as they fall under the heading of wars and rumors of wars.  Of course, they were secular and basically moved the world forward in many ways, so as to set-up end-times events.  A major example of that is the fact of the Holocaust during WW2.  Six million Jews were killed in fulfillment of Ezekiel 37 – The Valley of Dry Bones.

That prophecy goes on to speak of the regeneration of the Jews coming together once more in the land of the living.  It also shows how God is little-by-little bringing His Chosen People to a final realization that Jesus is their Messiah.  Israel is secular.  The people are far from Godly.  In fact, Tel Aviv, Israel is considered the gayest city in the world.  Israelis desperately want to be loved by the world.  As a result, they have thrown in their cards with every secular, ungodly movement possible.  Looking at the demonstrations in the US and worldwide against Israel with the progression of this war, as the masses demonstrate their antisemitic hate, we can see this desire on Israel’s part to be like everyone else, isn’t working out so well.

Psalm 83 tells of a confederacy of 10 nations that conspire against Israel to literally annihilate her from the face of the earth.  Psalm 83:4 captures this intent:

They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”

Check one box for Psalm 83 in regard to the war currently in progress.  It has been shown indisputably that Hamas had instructions to commit atrocities – not only against the IDF soldiers, but against Israeli civilians.  The Hamas terrorists took a drug known as Captagon.  It essentially turns someone into a zombie killing machine.  It has the nickname of the Jihadist Drug.  You can read more about it at the links provided here and here.  The instructions to Hamas, plus the taking of these drugs, turned them into demonic savages, whose only desire was to please their dark lord and master.

We’ll need to see several other key participants enter this fray to be counted among those detailed in the psalm, but nothing at this point rules out that possibility.   The primary group is, of course, Palestinian Hamas, noted in the psalm primarily as the Tents of Edom, i.e. refugees, plus Gaza, previously Philistia.  I think it’s a given that Hezbollah will enter.  Its people out of Lebanon represent Gebel and Tyre.

Will the Saudis in some manner enter the war?  They are Ishmaelites.  How about Egypt?  They are Hagarenes or Hagrites.  Is it possible that Jordan may participate?   They have significant representation in the psalm as Moab and Ammon.  There are also Syria and Northern Iraq as members of the opposition, which are part of ancient Assyria.  Last but not least is the Arab population in the Sinai area of Egypt, considered Amalek in the psalm.  Interestingly, Benjamin Netanyahu made a contentious reference to Amalek from 1 Samuel 15:2-3, which says:

Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

As the Times of Israel reported:

The premier quotes the biblical injunction to remember what the Amalekites did to the Israelites. “We remember, and we are fighting.”

In other words, the resolve that Israel has against this implacable, ancient enemy is, and should be, the total eradication of them just as of old as decreed by God.  When the Lord ordered the Israelites to devote to destruction an opposing people group, that meant every single man, woman, and child.  The Israelites weren’t always obedient to God in this regard.  The adversary could not remain in the midst of Israel without severe consequences.  This has shown itself as true with Israel allowing the inhabitation of Gaza, along with Judea and Samaria – popularly known as the West Bank.  Israel has lived with the enemy within far too long.  She realizes it, and knows that for her continued existence, the Arabs masquerading as Palestinians must go completely one way or the other.

The fact of Yemen declaring war on Israel has some folks saying that this obviously negates the potential for this conflict to be the psalm 83 War, because Yemen is not listed as one of the scheming confederates.  Here’s my current take on that:

Is it possible for other nations to be hostile, but because either:

#1- they aren’t engaged to the level of conflict as the surrounding nations are, or

#2 – because they ultimately don’t lose territory to Israel like her immediate neighbors do

–> perhaps their engagement doesn’t rise to enough importance for the psalmist following God’s guidance to mention, or they don’t lose territory to Israel and that’s the point of the psalm?  We’ll just have to see.

How might this war play out?  We have experts on all sides suggesting this and that.  The one thing they neglect is to see what God says.  Based on considering this war through that particular lens, in bullet list form here’s my two cents . . .

• The rest of the confederates join the battle and this indeed becomes the Psalm 83 War
• It results in horrific casualties on both sides
• Public opinion – as it already has swung – will continue to be against Israel, as the world clamors for proportionality
• Unfortunately, the world does not understand the Middle Eastern/Arab/Muslim mindset that only raw power is the answer
• There can be no peace without total victory on Israel’s part
• That will come but at a terrible cost
• Because all of Israel’s surrounding neighbors enter into the war, all are impacted by Israel’s eventual victory
• To the victor, go the spoils
• The spoils in this case will include greater land mass for the nation of Israel that significantly reduces the size of her Muslim neighbors’ territory
• See the map I showed earlier for where this leads
• This victory by Israel does two more things:
  1. It destroys a great deal of the might and power of Islam
  2. It puts the fear of Israel into much of the world
• What it won’t do to any extent is to turn the hearts of Israelis to God
• It will prepare them for that time in the future, but in large measure they will retain their secular identity
• The way it prepares so many Israelis is because of the trauma they experience from the atrocities they’ve witnessed
• Many will have deep-seated PTSD
• Imagine you’re a 21-year-old female dealing with piles of dead, mutilated babies, or other young women who have been dismembered
• That kind of trauma sets up a tremendous need for the relief only God can bring
• This war also sets up the succeeding Ezekiel 38 War known as Gog of Magog
• It puts into place all the textual requirements necessary for that conflict to be another surprise, and for Israel to be unable to respond to the attack
• God will no doubt help Israel win this current war with many miracles, but it’s Ezekiel’s War where God does it all and gets all the glory for the victory
• In this conflict, I think that Israel will believe that it’s largely because of their human efforts through the IDF that they win so dramatically
• What are some prophetic events that may take place in the course of this war?
• There are two major ones
• These could happen during Gog-Magog, but I think it’s more likely they occur now
• We know that Iran is behind so much of this conflict operating through its proxies
• Iran provides armaments and whatever else Hezbollah and Hamas need
• Typically, Iran ships this matériel through Damascus in Syria
• The prophecy of Isaiah 17:1,14 will probably occur:

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.

• Note that Syria is a Psalm 83 combatant
• This speaks of an awful event that totally destroys this ancient city
• It sounds like a nuclear bomb does this
• I think it’s more likely Israel does it rather than the US, despite America and its war-mongers itching to enter the fray
• Why might Israel do it?
• Perhaps because Hezbollah is almost at victory’s door, and this is the means to break its back
• Secondly, Jeremiah 49:35-38 describes an attack directly on Iran – i.e. ancient Elam:

Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. I will terrify Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the Lord. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, and I will set my throne in Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord.

• This also seems to describe a nuclear event
• The Bushehr nuclear facility is in the southwest area of Iran
• It may be that Iran appears ready to directly join the war and Israel feels it must do a preemptive strike
• One way or the other with these two events, Iran gets put on hold until the time it subsequently joins with Russia and Turkey for Ezekiel’s War
• There are several other prophecies that could also come to pass now in conjunction with the Psalm 83 War
• Here is Isaiah 15:1 for Jordan:

Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,
Moab is undone;
because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,
Moab is undone.

• How about Isaiah 14:25 for Iraq?

that I will break the Assyrian in my land,
and on my mountains trample him underfoot;
and his yoke shall depart from them,
and his burden from their shoulder.”

• Here is Isaiah 14:30-31 for Gaza:

but I will kill your root with famine,
and your remnant it will slay.
Wail, O gate; cry out, O city;
melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you!
For smoke comes out of the north,
and there is no straggler in his ranks.

• This is quite interesting concerning Egypt in Isaiah 19:16-18:

In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.

 In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.

• This has Psalm 83 written all over it with part of Egypt becoming part of Israel
• Then we’ve got Tyre and Sidon, i.e. Lebanon in Isaiah 23:14-18:

Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for your stronghold is laid waste.

 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

“Take a harp;
go about the city,
O forgotten prostitute!
Make sweet melody;
sing many songs,
that you may be remembered.”

 At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.

• To me, this speaks of this area being devastated and brought back to life in the subsequent Millennial period, but obviously not at all faithful to God
• Finally, Isaiah 34:5,9-10 for Edom, i.e. Southern Jordan:

For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom,
upon the people I have devoted to destruction.

 And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch,
and her soil into sulfur;
her land shall become burning pitch.
Night and day it shall not be quenched;
its smoke shall go up forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
none shall pass through it forever and ever.

• In my humble estimation this comports with Ezekiel 39:11:

“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.

• In other words, this area of Jordan, through the victory earned in Psalm 83, becomes the burial place that Israel now owns where all the bodies for the Gog-Magog War are taken
• It’s an ugly place because of all this, and it remains so forever
• Do I have all these prophecies placed correctly in this current time period?
• It’s only with 20/20 hindsight that we see clearly
• Is it possible that some or all of them could find fulfillment now?
• Hey, even a blind man hits the dartboard once in while if he’s pointed in that direction
• What I’m saying is that neither I nor anyone else can be 100% on target given the circumstances on the ground until they actually occur
• What I can do is know that we are in a mighty spiritual battle and that Israel is at the very center of it
• These are highly prophetic times as we near the end of all history as we know it
• Don’t be complacent
• Don’t be lulled by these people – many Christians among them – saying none of these end-times events will happen for generations
• We’re there now
• Stay alert
• Keep watching with great anticipation for the Lord’s appearing for His true church
• Do all that you can to warn others that little time remains