Next Level Conflicts (1)
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The Struggle Between Two Nations: Then and Now!
Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”
I. The MYSTERY in the PSALM!
Psalm 83:1 O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still
Embedded in the historical record of Psalm 83 is a prophetic mystery.
What is a biblical mystery? It is something concealed in the Old Testament revelation but revealed in and through the New Testament revelation!
Who is the author of this Psalm? A man named Asaph
A. The IDENTITY of Asaph!
2 Chronicles 29:30 Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph . . .
B. The GIFTING of Asaph!
2 Chronicles 29:30 . . . sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer!
C. The PRAYER of Asaph!
Psalm 83:1 O God do not remain quiet; and O God, do not be still!
Psalm 83:2 For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves!
Psalm 83:3 They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire against Your treasured ones!
Embedded in Asaph’s prayer is a last days mystery that is being revealed today!
II. The IDENTITY of the STRUGGLE!
Psalm 83:13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust!
Psalm 83:15 So pursue them with Your tempest and terrify them with Your storm!
Psalm 83:16 Fill their faces with dishonor, that they may seek Your name!
It will help us understand this prophecy if we can identify who THEY and THEM are.
In order to do this, let’s go back to the book of beginnings (Genesis), to see who THEY and THEM might be!
Genesis 15:18 On that day The Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given the land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates . . .
In this covenant God established with Abram, God gave His word to Abram that his descendants will receive land with specific borders.
The promise was given to Abram before he had any children. As Abram and his wife Sarai got older, they reasoned in their hearts that God probably wanted them to use a surrogate wife to conceive through Abram.
While on vacation in Egypt, Sarah chose an Egyptian handmaiden named Hagar for Abraham to have sex with.
Hagar conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Ishmael. Thirteen years later, Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Isaac!
Sarah witnessed Hagar mocking Isaac and demanded Abraham denounce Hagar and Ishmael and God confirmed to him that it was His will for Abraham to do so!
God affirmed to Abraham that He had plans for Ishmael and his descendants but they were different than His plans for Isaac and his descendants.
This would become the beginning of the struggle between two nations and two peoples: The Arab people and the Jewish people!
As Isaac grew older he eventually married a woman named Rebekah but she was not able to conceive, she was barren.
Genesis 25:21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived!
Genesis 25:22 But the children struggled together within her . . . And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples shall be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger!
These two sons would be in constant conflict with one another, in the womb and outside the womb!
They would be the personification of the two nations and two peoples that originated from Abraham and Hagar and Abraham and Sarah.
These two sons would be named Esau and Jacob and God revealed to Rebekah that Esau the older would serve Jacob the younger!
Malachi 1:3 Was not Esau Jacob’s brother, declares the Lord, yet I loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau (Romans 9:13) . . .
History confirms the perpetual conflict between the descendants of Ishmael and Esau with the descendants of Isaac and Jacob.
Where did the name Israel come from?
Genesis 35:10 And God said to him, “your name is Jacob; you shall no longer be called Jacob, but ISRAEL shall be your name
Genesis 35:11 Thus He called him Israel!
This is a struggle that is traced back to the births of Ishmael and Isaac and expanded through the descendants of Esau and Isaac.
It is this ancient conflict that is being played out in front of our eyes today!
Asaph was aware of this ancient conflict, and he certainly was aware of some aspects of the conflict that was taking place at the time of his writing.
For they have conspired together with one mind; Against You they make a covenant:
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites;
Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
Assyria also has joined with them; They have become a help to the children of Lot. Selah.
Who are THEY referred to in 83:4-5?
Tents of Edom =PALESTINIAN- REFUGEES May 14, 1948 descendants of Esau that settled in tents in the southern part of Saudi Arabia after Israel’s rebirth
Ishmaelites = SAUDI ARABIA these are descendants from Abraham’s illegitimate son (Ishmael), who mostly settled in Saudi Arabia
Moab = PALESTINIANS & C. JORDAN these are descendants of Lot by incest by one of his daughters who settled in Central Jordan
Hagrites = EGYPTIANS from Hagar these are Arabs who descended from Sarah’s handmaiden Hagar. They are the Arabs of Egypt.
Gebal = HEZBOLLAH & N. LEBANON These are Arabs that settled in Northern Lebanon which are known today as Hezbollah and Lebanese.
Ammon = PALESTINIANS & N. JORDAN these are descendants of Lot from incest with his second daughter and these are Arabs or Palestinian Refugees that live in the capital city of Jordan which is Northern Jordan
Amalek = SINAI these are Arabs or descendants of Lot known as the Amalekites or Arabs that live in the area of Mount Sinai today.
Philistia = HAMAS of GAZA these are the modern Palestinians or Arabs that live in the area identified as Gaza.
Tyre = HEZBOLLAH & S. LEBANON these are known as Hezbollah and live in southern Lebanon.
Assyria = SYRIA & N. IRAQ these are known as Syrian Hezbollah and perhaps northern Iraqis are included
As a SEER, the anointing on his gift gave him revelation for the future. The names of the nations and peoples have since changed, but the conflict is still the same.
III. The VICTORY in the CONFLICT!
Obadiah 1:18 Then the house of Jacob (Israel), will be a fire . . . but the house of Esau will be a stubble . . . so that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken!
One of the many promises God has made to Israel, is that when the fighting ends, Israel will be Victorious . . . for the Lord has spoken!
Who will the Lord use to eliminate the house of Esau?
Ezekiel 25:14 And I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel!
We know Asaph was not referring to anything that was fulfilled in his lifetime because of his reference to ISRAEL in Psalm 83:4 They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, so that the name of ISRAEL be remembered no more!”
We also know Asaph was not referring to anything that was fulfilled in his lifetime because there has never been a confederation of these nations in history.
Ezekiel’s prophecy of the valley of dry bones was not fulfilled until May 17, 1948
Ezekiel 37:10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life, and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army!
When God breathed life back into His people and they were recognized as a nation, it required a defense force to be established for them to defend themselves against their enemies.
In 1948, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), were formed. They had shovels and farming tools for weapons, but they had God for their Provider and Protector!
As soon as they were formed, they were attacked by the Arabs the newly formed IDF defeated them!
Nineteen years later, in 1967 the Arabs living in Jordan invaded Israel and once again, the IDF supernaturally defeated a much larger, better equipped, more sophisticated army!
It was at this time Israel seized control of Jerusalem as well as the Golan Heights!
In 1973 during the holiest day of the year for the Jews, Israel was invaded in a surprise attack.
Even though this was a surprise attack on their holiest day of the year, Israel was able to recover and defeat their Arab enemies in swift fashion!
And now, 50 years and a day later, in a surprise attack by Hamas occupying Gaza, a brutal, savage, bloody massacre resulting in more than 1,000 civilian deaths and hundreds of hostages has been launched against Israel!
Because of the yet to be fulfilled prophecy Asaph made in Psalm 83, God’s finger could be on the last days Prophetic trigger.
When the Prophetic trigger is pulled, there is no turning back from it and everything that will happen afterwards!
If this is the time the Psalm 83 wars are fought, The Arab countries that surround Israel will try to wipe them off the face of the earth!
But they will be annihilated (Obadiah 1:18 and Zechariah 12:9) and the survivors will KNOW that God is the Lord and that Allah is not his name and Mohammed is not his prophet!
For me, this answers the question as to how the third Temple can be rebuilt in Jerusalem without Arab opposition standing in the way.
Initially, Iran is not directly involved in the attack on Israel. They will believe Israel has been sufficiently weakened after these battles and it is at this time that Iran will try to finish what the Arab coalition could not finish.
However, according to Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49, Iran will be devastated and Damascus will not be an inhabited city anymore and this will occur in less than 24 hours.
In conclusion, what will occur when Psalm 83 is being fulfilled?
A major disaster will occur in Iran Jeremiah 49:34-39
Damascus will be destroyed in a day Isa 17, Jer 49:23-27
Final Arab-Israeli War is fought Psalm 83
Jordan will be toppled Jeremiah 49:1-6; Zeph 2:8-10; Ez 25:14
Egypt will be terrorized Isa 19:1-18
Israeli Defense Forces expand Ez 37:10, 25:14, Obad 1:18
Israel’s Borders are enlarged Obadiah 1:19-20, Jer 49:2, Zeph 2:9
The Vanishing of Christians occur globally 1 Cor 15:51-52
Decline of America is completed Ezekiel 38:13
We don’t know if this is the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end.
However, are you ready for eternity?
Do you have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ?
If something were to happen to you today, and you were to die and stand before God, what would you say if He asked you, why should I allow you entrance into Heaven, what would you say?
but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.