Message details

-If you were to ask me what I thought could very well be the next prophecy to be fulfilled, I would have to say that it’s likely to be Psalms 83. -That’s not to say Isaiah seventeen couldn’t happen first, however, I think when push comes to shove that they may even happen together. -The reason I say this is because of what nations are named and listed in this prophecy and what these enemies of Israel are now doing.

Psalms 83:1-8 KJV A Song or Psalm of Asaph. Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. (2) For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. (3) They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. (4) They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. (5) For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: (6) The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; (7) Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; (8) Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

-Now what makes this so fascinating is that the list of nations that we have here are conspicuously absent from the prophecy in Ezekiel 38. -In addition to all of these nations not being involved in the allied attack on Israel, they are also the very nations closest in proximity to Israel. -What I would like to do is take an in-depth look at who these people groups are, but I have to confess, as an Arab myself, it’s not that clear.

-The reason it’s not so clear is that the Middle East is a melting pot of numerous people groups all of which make up the modern day Arab. -By way of example, the Egyptians are not technically Arabs, their Egyptians, and Iran isn’t even Arab, they are Persians and speak Farsi. -Turkey is not really an Arab nation either in the sense that they are not Arabs rather, they are Turks, such that they’re sort of the outsiders.

-Be that as it may, I’ll preface this by encouraging those wishing to make a further study of this to visit the website www.prophecydepot.net. -That said, I’ll quickly go through what I believe to be the who’s who of Psalms 83 with the hopes that we’ll all be able to connect the dots. -What I mean by that is, once we take a fresh look at each of these people groups, we should have a very clear picture of this prophecy.

1. The Edomites are the descendents of Esau, and are known today as modern day Jordanian’s. 2. The Ishmaelite’s I believe are the Egyptians, though there is some debate as to whether they are primarily Arab or Egyptian or both. -Some have suggested that they are Arabs who eventually settled in Arabia, known today as modern day Saudi Arabia. 3. The Moabites are also considered to be modern day Jordanian’s, as they are primarily located on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. 4. The Hagrites are descendents of Hagar, so again we have a mention of the Egyptians from Hagar making them similar to Ishmaelite’s. 5. Gebal is known today as the modern day Lebanese. Though I’m not Lebanese by blood, I am Lebanese by birth. 6. The Ammonites would be considered the modern day Jordanians and the modern day Syrians. 7. The Amalekites are considered to be modern day Syrian’s, Egyptians, and even Saudi Arabian’s. Clearly they are all the Arab people. 8. The Philistines are the modern day equivalent of the Palestinians who live in modern day Gaza which is ancient southwest Canaan. 9. Tyre is a city in south Lebanon, and again we have a mention of the modern day Lebanese people. 10. The Assyrian’s are believed to be modern day Iraq. Now, if this is true, and I believe that it is, then this has profound implications.

-Here’s what I’m thinking, it’s plausible that Psalm 83 will find its fulfillment before Isaiah 17, which finds its fulfillment before Ezekiel 38. -Now, I am keenly aware that I have probably jammed some gears here, but at the risk of an oversimplification, I’ll try to tie this together. -The nations here in Psalm 83 will be eliminated from the geopolitical landscape first, explaining their absence from Ezekiel’s prophecy.

-In other words, every nation we have listed in these prophecies are even now posturing themselves exactly as God said they would. -This is one reason that I believe we are the generation that will be alive at the time of the rapture of the church of Jesus Christ. -These prophecies are time sensitive and they are geography specific. In other words, these nations weren’t in position 100 years ago. -I’ll take it one step further and say that not only were they not in position 100 years ago, they wouldn’t likely be in 100 years from now.

-So, this is all fine and dandy, but what does this mean to me tomorrow morning when my alarm clock goes off? That’s a great question! -Here’s why, there is actually an alarm clock that’s going off, and it is found in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.

Romans 13:11-12 11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. NIV