;

PSALM 83 WAR

THE DESTRUCTION OF DAMASCUS

DAMASCUS

HOW SOON?

I HAVE BEEN HEARING ABOUT THE PSALM 83 WAR FOR SEVERAL YEARS THAT I'VE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION.  WITH RUSSIA GETTING INVOLVED AND MOVING TROOPS THERE, AS WELL AS PLANES AND MILITARY EQUIPMENT TO SYRIA, THE WAR IS BOUND TO INCREASE.  THE UNITED STATES HAS ALSO BEEN SENDING PLANES THERE AND THEY NOW HAVE TO COOPERATE WITH EACCH OTHER SO THEY DON'T ANOTHER WAR BY HITTING EACH OTHER.

WHAT IS THE REAL REASON?  IT WAS PROPHESIED A LONG TIME AGO.

I DECIDED TO MEDITATE ON IT TODAY.  THIS IS HOW IT WENT:

 

MEDITATION:  I ASKED GOD IF PSALM 83 WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.

HE ANSWERED:  "IT'S BEEN PROPHESIED"

THEN HE SAID, ""REIGI HAS ACCEPTED - SUPERMAN IS HIS COMFORT."

EVERYONE KNOW THAT SUPERMAN LIVES IN AMERICA AND REPRESENTS AMERICA.  BUT WHO OR WHAT IS REIGI?

I GOOGLED REIGI AND CAME UP WITH THIS WEBSITE:  http://www.karatebyjesse.com

The question is: why do we have to bow?  Here is the real reason to reigi (etiquette) in karate.

It was best summed up by Matsumura Sokon who at the age of 76 wrote the following in 1875:

"A PERSON WHO IS TRULY HUMBLE WILL ALWAYS HAVE AN INNER CALM"

It means you are ego-free and before you even engage your opponent, you inwardly accept that however it turns out, it turns out no matter what anyone thinks or says.  It is totally free of ego.

THEN I HAD TO THINK ABOUT THE SUPERMAN ASPECT.

HE WAS TRULY FEARLESS NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED AND HE ALWAYS WON HIS FIGHTS AND BATTLES.

JOE MASON MENTIONED ONE OF HIS FAVORITE SONGS BY JIM CROCE - AND THE MAIN WORDS ARE "DON'T TUG ON SUPERMAN'S CAPE."    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qUXcXuMSE&list=RD-4qUXcXuMSE#t=48 

 

SO, WHAT ABOUT PSALM 83?

Psalm 83King James Version (KJV)

83 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

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.

For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Lord.

17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth.

King James Version (KJV)

by Public Domain

Notes in the Bible tell us that this song is connected to Isaiah 8

Isaiah Chapter 8

 

1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.

2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.

4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,

6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

 
FOLLOWING THAT PROPHECY, WE GO TO ISAIAH 17

Isaiah Chapter 17

 

1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel.

7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

9 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

 

THE REFUGEES 

Isaiah Chapter 18

 

1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.

4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.

6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

 

AN IMPORTANT COMMENTARY

The Isaiah 17 Damascus Bible prophecy has been fulfilled

Because of the latest developments in Syria, prophecy prognosticators are coming out of the woodwork . . . again. The same thing happened in 2011 when prophecy hobbyists were claiming that Isaiah 17 was being fulfilled right before our eyes. Here’s an example from a video that was uploaded on July 21, 2011:

Damascus in Isaiah 17 is going to be destroyed in 1 day. This is about to occur in our lifetime in just a matter of months. It’s in the news and everywhere you look! This is going to fulfill one of the biggest biblical prophecies of all time! Be ready for Christ’s Return after this occurs! I hope this gives you hope of His coming!

Notice the time reference: “in just a matter of months.” That was more than two years ago making it a false prophecy about a true prophecy that was fulfilled nearly 2700 years ago.

Never learning and people forgetting, the claim is being made again that the events prophesied in Isaiah 17 about Damascus were never fully fulfilled in history, and like clockwork, naïve Christians are getting sucked in.

The topic has even gotten attention from the mainstream media. TIME magazine picked up on the story. So did the Huffington Post, Mother Jones, and USA Today among other media outlets. Glenn Beck’s The Blaze has an extended article on the topic: “Why Some Believe These ‘End Times’ Bible Verses Could Hold the Key to the Syrian Crisis.”

Not all end-time prognosticators teach that the Damascus prophecy is being fulfilled in our day. Surprisingly, Dr. Charles Dyer, who is a professor at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, argues that Damascus “was destroyed in the 7th and 8th centuries” B.C. I say surprisingly since in 1991 he wrote The Rise of Babylon: Sign of the End Times in which he claimed that present-day Iraq is the Babylon of Isaiah 13 and Revelation (16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21). He maintained that Saddam Hussein’s building program was proof that Babylon would rise from the desert sands in fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

Dyer’s book even had Saddam in a Nebuchadnezzar look-a-like pose with the following caption:hussein

SADDAM HUSSEIN and the ancient world conqueror Nebuchadnezzar. Not only do they look alike, but their mission is the same — to control the world. And the symbol of this world domination is an ancient city [Babylon]. . .

It’s obvious that Dyer has taken a different approach when it comes to the Damascus prophecy:

Isaiah 17 predicted the destruction of the city, along with the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel… Damascus was captured by Assyrians in 732 BC and the northern kingdom of Israel fell when the capital city of Samaria was captured by the Assyrians in 722 BC.”

And 100 years later, the prophet Jeremiah also predicted the fall of Damascus, which had been rebuilt, he added. “His message was fulfilled when the city was captured by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.”

In addition to Dyer, dispensational author Mark Hitchcock, who sees prophetic fulfillment in everything that’s going on today, makes a strong case that the Damascus prophecy has been fulfilled. After offering a helpful critique of some speculative interpretations of the Isaiah 17prophecy, Hitchcock offers this cogent commentary:

I believe it makes more sense to hold that Isaiah 17 was fulfilled in the eighth century BC when both Damascus, the capital of Syria, and Samaria, the capital of Israel, were hammered by the Assyrians. In that conquest, both Damascus and Samaria were destroyed, just as Isaiah 17 predicts. According to history, Tiglath-pileser III (745–727 BC) pushed vigorously to the west, and in 734 the Assyrians advanced and laid siege to Damascus, which fell two years later in 732.(1)

It’s unfortunate that Hitchcock couldn’t leave well enough alone. At the end of the chapter he writes, “Having said that, I do believe that events today in Syria point toward the fulfillment of biblical prophecies that have not yet come to pass.” He claims that “the stage is being set for a Middle East peace treaty prophesied in Daniel 9:27.”(2) There is no mention of a Middle East peace treaty in Daniel 9:27, an antichrist, a gap of nearly 200 years, a rebuilt temple, a covenant with the Jews, etc.(3)

Even Tim LaHaye’s Prophecy Study Bible concludes that the Isaiah 17 prophecy was fulfilled when “God used Tiglath-pileser of Syria to destroy Damascus in 732 B.C.”(4) Notice the word “destroy.”

The same is true of the comment on the passage found in The Apologetics Study Bible:

“Damascus continued to be a city in the OT era (Ezk 27:18), the NT (Ac 9:19-27), and today. This does not negate Isaiah’s prophecy, which referred to the destruction of Damascus as the powerful capital of Syria during the Syro-Ephraimite War. His words were consistent with his prophecy about the fall of Damascus in 7:7-8 and 8:4, and his announcement that Assyria defeated Damascus and exiled its inhabitants to Kir (2 Kg 16:9). After many years in ruin, it later became a small city in the Assyrian province of Hamath. Isaiah was not claiming that it would remain a ruin for all time.”(5)

I’ve written numerous articles about how modern-day prophecy writers twist and distort prophetic texts that end up being used by skeptics to call the authority of the Bible into question. Biblical skeptic Tim Callahan follows the arguments of today’s prophecy watchers and concludes along with them that the prophecy has not been fulfilled, thus, making it a false prophecy. He writes, Damascus “has been sacked numerous times, to be sure. But the prophecy explicitly states that it would cease to be a city forever, and the prophecy is explicitly wrong. Curiously, neither Gleason Archer(6) nor Josh McDowell(7) mentions this failed prophecy.”(8) The reason is quite clear as why they don’t. The Hebrew text does not include the word “forever” in 17:2. More about this issue below.

Here are six contemporary examples from evangelical, Bible-believing prophecy writers who claim — like the skeptic Callahan — that the Damascus prophecy found in Isaiah 17 (and Jer. 49:23–27) has not been fulfilled:

You get the picture. According to the above comments, the belief among futurists (mostly but not all dispensationalists) is that Isaiah 17, and its counterpart in Jeremiah 49:23–27, have not been completely fulfilled because Damascus is still in existence. How can a prediction about cities that would become a “heap of ruins” still be in existence today?

Forever and Ever?

The first item that needs to be discussed in the addition of “forever” to the Isaiah 17:2 that is not found in the majority of Bible translations. The TIME magazine article offers this translation ofIsaiah 17:1–2: “See, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. Her towns will be deserted forever.” I’ve checked numerous translations, and only a few include the word “forever.” The Revised Standard reads “her cities will be deserted forever,” while the New American Standard version includes a marginal note based on the Greek Septuagint (LXX) translation that includes the phrase “forever.”

The inclusion of the word “forever” is based on the Septuagint (LXX) Greek translation of Isaiah 17:1–2 that reads as follows:

1. See, Damascus will be removed from among cities

and will become a ruin,

2. abandoned forever, to be a fold and resting place for flocks,

and there will be no one to drive them away

The translations that do not include the word “forever” follow the Hebrew text. The LXX uses the phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (eis ton aiōna = “into the ages”) to translate a disputed Hebrew word. The “forever” translation is based on the Hebrew word “Aroer” which in other contexts is the name of a city.

Dead Sea Scroll_Isaih 17
Isaiah 17:1-2 from the Isaiah scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament considers the word עֲרֹעֵר to be a proper noun, a place, a particular city named “Aroer” — “a Biblical town on the north bank of the River Arnon to the east of the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan.” There are three cities in the Bible named Aroer, “one in the territory of Judah (1 Sam. xxx. 28), one at the southern extremity of the land of Israel east of Jordan (Jos. xii. 2, xii, 6), a third farther north and near to Rabbah (Jos. xiii. 25, Num xxxii. 24).”(11)

I checked numerous commentaries and found several(12) that follow the LXX translation and others(13) that mention the LXX variation but do not follow it. So why the difference in translation? How does the city “Aroer” become “abandoned forever” in Greek? A little knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet is necessary in order to understand why the LXX translators came up with εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (“into the ages,” i.e., “forever”) in Isaiah 17:2. The Hebrew letters r (r) and d (d) are similar in shape. The resh (r) is rounded while the daleth (d) is squared on their right corners. Soarō ‘ēr (עֲרֹעֵר = Aroer) becomes ‘adê ad (עַד עַד) for the LXX translators. The double use of the Hebrew עַד is translated as “forever and ever” elsewhere in Isaiah (e.g., Isa. 30:8; 32:14, 17; 34:17;59:21).

Other than the LXX, there does not seem to be any reason to adopt changing the Hebrew letters. These comments from the Pulpit Commentary are interesting and might shed light on the historicity of the city of Aroer as it relates to the Damascus prophecy:

Sargon’s annals tell us of a “Gal’gar,” a name well expressing the Hebrew ערער, which was united in a league with Damascus, Samaria, Arpad, and Simyra, in the second year of Sargon, and was the scene of a great battle and a great destruction. Sargon besieged it, took it, and reduced it to ashes (‘Records of the Past,’ 50. s.e.). There is every reason to recognize the “Aroer” of this verse in the “Gargar” of Sargon’s inscriptions. They shall be for flocks (comp.Isaiah 5:17; 7:25). It marked the very extreme of desolation, that cattle should be pastured on the sites of cities. None shall make them afraid; i.e. “there shall be no inhabitants to make any objection.”

John N. Oswalt notes that the Hebrew construction “the cities of Aroer” constitutes “a very special wordplay”(14) that ‘adê ad (עַד עַד) does not give. So it’s most probable that the Hebrew is correct and the LXX’s reworking of the Hebrew is based more on an interpretive hunch than actual manuscript evidence.

Contextually, Isaiah does not use עַד in places that describe the ultimate destiny of cities. This means that its use in Isaiah 17:2 would seem to be out of character with how עַד is used elsewhere in Isaiah and translated as “forever” (Isa. 9:6; 26:4; 30:8; 45:17; 57:15; 64:9; 65:18). Isaiah prefers to use the Hebrew word olam when he’s describing the destruction of an enemy or city (14:20; 25:2; 32:14; 34:10).

Compare Isaiah 25:2 with 17:2 and notice that the Hebrew word olam is used for the word “forever” for an unnamed city:

For You have made a city into a heap,
A fortified city into a ruin;
A palace of strangers is a city no more forever [עֹלָם/olam],
It will never be rebuilt.

We know from the history of the period that a number of cities were destroyed never to be rebuilt, for example, Babylon:

And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there  (Isa. 13:19–20).

The use of olam in a context that is very similar to what’s found in Isaiah 17:2 may be one of the reasons that the majority of translations stay with the Masoretic Hebrew text arō ‘ēr (עֲרֹעֵר) instead of the LXX variation עַד עַד since עֹלָם (olam) is the preferred word used by Isaiah when the destruction of cities and nations are in view.

So if the Hebrew is followed, there is nothing in Isaiah 17 that indicates that Damascus and its surrounding cities would be destroyed “forever.”

Timing

“When” a prophecy is said to be fulfilled is very important to know in determining what events fulfill the prophecy. Time indicators can tell us if the prophecy is going to be fulfilled in the distant future or in the near future. Sometimes a prophecy’s fulfillment is open ended. The New American Standard has “Damascus is about to be removed from being a city” (Isa. 17:1). According to Oswalt in his commentary on Isaiah, the Hebrew construction “hinnēh . . . mûsār is a participial construction indicating imminent action, ‘Behold, Damascus is on the point of being removed.’”(15)

Joel Rosenberg, who believes that Isaiah 17 is a prophecy that has not been fulfilled, appeals to other chapters in Isaiah in an attempt to make his case that the Damascus prophecy is like Babylon, never really fulfilled:

In Isaiah 13, we read about the coming judgment/destruction of Babylon. But the context makes it clear that the prophecies will happen deep in the End Times, just prior to the Second Coming of Christ. In Isaiah 13:6, for example, we read, “Wail, for the Day of the Lord is near!” In Isaiah 13:9, we read, “Behold, the Day of the Lord is coming.” Both of these references indicate that the prophecies concerning the destruction of Babylon will occur in the last days leading up to the “Day of the Lord,” an eschatological biblical term that refers to the actual, literal, physical return of Christ to earth at the end of the Tribulation.

How can a prophecy state that “the Day of the Lord is near” (Isa. 13:6) when, according to Rosenberg, the prophecy hasn’t been fulfilled yet? John Walvoord, who Rosenberg quotes approvingly, makes a valuable comment about the multi-faceted character and application of the “day of the Lord: “The ‘Day of the Lord’ is an expression frequently used in both the Old and New Testaments to describe any period of time during which God exercises direct judgment on human sin. The Old Testament records a number of times when Israel endured a day of the Lord, lasting a few days or, in some cases, several years.”(16)

“Day of the Lord” is not code for “deep in the End Times, just prior to the Second Coming of Christ.” Consider these extended remarks by dispensational prophecy writer Ronald Showers on the meaning of “day of the Lord”:

The Day of the Lord refers to God’s special interventions into the course of world events to judge His enemies, accomplish His purpose for history, and thereby demonstrate who He is — the sovereign God of the universe (Isa. 2:1–2; Ezek. 13:5, 9, 14, 22–23; 30:3, 8, 19, 25–26).

Evidence for this significance of the Day of the Lord is found in references in the Scriptures to past Days of the Lord. The Bible indicates that there have been several past Days of the Lord in which God exercised and demonstrated His sovereign judgment on other nations. He raised up Assyria to judge the northern kingdom of Israel during the 700s B.C. (Amos 5:18,20), Babylon to judge the southern kingdom of Judah during the 600s and 500s B.C. (Lam. 1:12; 2:1, 21–22; Ezek. 7:19; 13:5; Zeph. 1:7–13; 2:2–3), Babylon to judge Egypt and its allies during the 500s B.C. (Jer. 46:10; Ezek. 30:3), and Medo-Persia to judge Babylon during the 500s B.C. (Isa. 13:6, 9).(17)

Notice his statement about the judgment of Babylon in Isaiah 13, thus, contradicting Rosenberg’s claim that the Babylonian judgment is yet in our future.

Isaiah 13 is a description of a localized judgment of a world power that existed long ago. Who did God raise up to judge Babylon? “Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them” (13:17a). There are no Medes today. We know from Daniel that Darius the Mede conquered Babylon (Dan. 5:30–31).

To claim that after 2700 years the Damascus prophecy has not been completely fulfilled is to question the integrity of the Bible as skeptic Tim Callahan has done. “Being removed” does not necessarily mean “being removed forever.”

A Heap of Ruins

If the Hebrew text is followed, the cities, including Damascus, are not said to be a “heap of ruins” forever, only that they would be destroyed and become a “heap of ruins.” Consider language about the judgment of Jerusalem by the Babylonians:

“Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her. But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes more than the lands which surround her; for they have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.’ Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’ therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. ‘And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again’” (Ezek. 5:7–9).

As compared to every other nation, Israel’s judgment would be worse (“I will do among you what I have not done”), and that would have to include the judgment on Damascus and her surrounding cities. And yet, we know that after 70 years of captivity (Jer. 29:10; also 2 Chron. 36:21-23; Jer. 25:12; 27:22; Dan. 9:2; Zech. 7:5). God restored the people of Israel to their land and Jerusalem as a city even though its judgment was parallel with that of Damascus in Isaiah 17:3–6:

The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,

And sovereignty from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram;
They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.

Now in that day the glory of Jacob will fade,
And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

It will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain,
As his arm harvests the ears,
Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the valley of Rephaim.

Yet gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives on the topmost bough,
Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree,
Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

Mark Hitchcock makes the following good point:

When we read Isaiah 17:1–2 and 17:3–7 together, we are forced to conclude that at the same time Damascus suffers devastation, Israel will also fall. . . . Isaiah 17 was fulfilled in the eighth century BC when both Damascus, the capital of Syria, and Samaria, the capital of Israel, were hammered by the Assyrians.”

The same is true of Jeremiah 49:23–27. Hamath (Isa. 10:9; Jer. 39:5; Amos 6:2) and Arpad (2 Kings 18:34; 19:13; Isa. 10:9) are no more. Where are “the fortified towers of Ben-hadad” (Isa. 49:27; 1 Kings 15:18-20; 2 Kings 13:3)?

The Historical Record

A study of the historical record indicates that Damascus became a heap as Isaiah predicted. Consider these examples:

Contemporaneous with what happened to Damascus, “in that day the glory of Jacob will fade” [lit. “be made thin”] and the fatness [Isa. 10:16] of his flesh will become lean” (Isa. 17:4). This most likely refers to the famine that followed the siege and deportation of the northern tribes (2 Kings 16:9).
Damascus was utterly destroyed in fulfillment of what was predicted in Isaiah 17. The destroyer himself —Tiglath-pileser — said so in his Annals:

“I took 800 people together with their property, their cattle (and) their sheep as spoil. I took 750 captives of the cities of Kurussa (and) Sama (as well as) 550 captives from the city of Metuna as spoil. I destroyed 591 cities from the 16 districts of Damascus like ruins from the Flood.(19)

Tiglath-pileser “destroyed” Damascus — made it a “heap” — just like Isaiah predicted. The Bible is true, and all modern-day prophecy writers who claim that the Isaiah 17 passage has not been fulfilled have unwittingly aligned themselves with skeptics and promoters of war because prophecy demands it.
Endnotes:

  1. Mark Hitchcock, Middle East Burning: Is the Spreading Unrest as Sign of the End Times? (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2012), 176.(↩)
  2. Hitchcock, Middle East Burning, 178.(↩)
  3. See Gary DeMar, Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church, 4th ed. (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 1999), chap. 25.(↩)
  4. Tim LaHaye, gen.  ed., Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2000), 707, note on 17:1–14.(↩)
  5. Gary Smith, “Isaiah,” The Apologetics Study Bible, gen. ed. Ted Cabal (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007), 1015, note on 17:1.(↩)
  6. Gleason L. Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1982).(↩)
  7. Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life Publishers, 1979).(↩)
  8. Tim Callahan, Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment? (Altadena, CA: Millennium Press, 1997), 60–61.(↩)
  9. Harry Bultema, Commentary on Isaiah (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publishers, 1981), 184.(↩)
  10. For example, Peter A. Steveson, A Commentary on Isaiah (Greenville, SC: BJU Press, 2003), 142.  See also, John D. W. Watts, Word Biblical Commentary: Isaiah 1-33, rev. ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 293.(↩)
  11. J. A. Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, 2 vols. in 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan (1875) 1953), 1:333.(↩)
  12. For example, George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Isaiah, I-XXXIX (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 298(↩)
  13. For example, John A. Martin, “Isaiah,” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Victor Books/Scripture Press, 1985), 1064.(↩)
  14. John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1–39, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986), 348, note 3.(↩)
  15. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1–39, 348, note 1.(↩)
  16. John F. Walvoord, Prophecy: 14 Essential Keys to Understanding the Final Drama (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1993), 114–15.(↩)
  17. Ronald Showers, “The Biblical Concept of the Day of the Lord,” Israel My Glory, April/May 1992, 30.(↩)
  18. Davide Nadali, “Sieges and Similes of Sieges in the Royal Annals: The Conquest of Damascus by Tiglath-Pilester III,” KASKAL Rivista di storia, ambienti e culture del Vicino Oriente Antico, vol. 6 (2009), 138.(↩)
  19. Brent A. Strawn, Sarah C. Melville, Kyle Greenwood, and Scott Noegelm “Neo-Assyrian and Syro-Palestinian Texts II,” Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation (Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History), ed. Mark W. Chavalas (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005), 333.(↩)

source  http://americanvision.org/9371/isaiah-17-damascus-bible-prophecy-has-been-fulfilled/

 

ANOTHER WARNING EVEN WORSE I DREAMED ABOUT SEVERAL YEARS AGO:

The World At War With Syria - The Whole Pre-Trib Psalms 83 - Isaiah 17 - Ezekiel 38-39

syria-war410-200What I am about to write will no doubt surprise some of you and probably several will think I have gone off the deep end. But with the study I have been conducting several years, I can no longer agree with what many are putting out there regarding a pre-trib battle scenario; specifically the whole Psalms 83 - Isaiah 17 - Ezekiel 38-39 Scenario.

Just to fill those of you in who may not really be up on this idea, here is the proposed idea in a nutshell…

  1. Israel is surrounded by enemies
  2. Israel, through the IDF defeats the immediate surrounding enemies, wins and gains the land.(Psalms 83)
  3. This then triggers the destruction of Damascus (Isaiah 17)
  4. Which in turn triggers the Gog Magog War (Ezekiel 38-39)

It is a nice scenario, in fact I have written on it myself agreeing with it. But I cannot agree with it any longer.

I got an email recently from a gentleman asking about a book called Isralestine by Bill Salus. In fact, I have been getting a lot of questions about the book as well as questions about a pre-trib Gog Magog War with everything going on in Syria. I hope to address all of that in this article.

The Psalms 83 idea which originated with Bill Salus is fairly new idea, well Gary Stearman wrote about it back in the mid 1990’s and I assume that the idea did not fly that well because he did not write about it again until recently.

To be frank what Salus has promoted is what has been called a “political fairy tail” and one that has literally ripped scripture out of context. What he did was find three words in Eze 37:10 "exceedingly great army" and then backwards engineered this grand idea that is when he came across Psalms 83 his “ancient blueprint.” This idea does not stand to solid scrutiny and in fact twice Salus has entered debates and twice he refused to defend his position.

Now this is not an intentional “hit piece” on Salus, what I intend to show is the flawed logic in this whole pre-trib Psalms 83 - Isaiah 17 - Ezekiel 38-39 Scenario. The fact that it is with the Psalms 83 idea that Salus wrote about is what “begins” this new and expanded scenario.

Psalms 83 – A Petition To God

Nowhere in reading Psl 83 do we see the intervention of man as proposed by Salus. Instead we clearly see that in this chapter it is God who intercedes on the behalf of Israel. When you clearly read Psl 83 for what it is, you literally see it as a petition to God asking God to personally intervene and not through the works of man or the IDF as Salus claims. In fact if people would just sit and actually read the entire Psl 83 chapter one would see that. But what amazes me is that no one is really willing to crack open the bible, instead what I am witnessing is what I call “parroting the parrots.” Many have clutched on to this idea as “gospel” because of all the “facts” and footnotes. Where actually it is mere words of men and their books, and not what scripture truly states.

The problem that I have with this entire psl 83 - Isa 17 - Eze 38-39 is that IF this takes place, why does Christ need to return in seven years when Israel can do it themselves?

Israel destroys her neighbors as Salus promotes

Israel destroys Damascus with a proposed nuke as many out there propose

Israel wins the Gog Magog war and burns weapons for seven years.

This is what is being taught and people are buying it.

This, Then That…Then The Rapture… The Real Problem

HERE IS A REAL PROBLEM….It is a fact that many people are using this scenario as a means to predict the timing of the rapture. Sure many will not come out and actually say it openly and boldly stated. Instead it is alluded to and I have heard this idea come from many teachers out there. In fact Tim LeHaye even promotes the idea in the opening scenes of his “Left Behind” movie with Kirk Cameron.

What is being alluded to and even being taught by some is that all we have to do is watch for this sequence of events to take place and then we know the rapture is at hand.

Folks, this is highly un-biblical for no man knoweth the hour. In fact it is this same sort of argument that the Mid and Post tribbers give…What do they say? “We just gotta wait it out.”

Why do we as pre-tribbers condemn the Mid and Post Tribbers when we ourselves are promoting a sequence to predict the rapture just like they are? Isn’t this a double standard?

There is absolutely no sign associated to the Rapture; it is a stand alone event that must take place prior to the tribulation.

Victorious and Emboldened Israel Kowtows to a European?

The many people who are standing on this idea, they are overlooking a major point.

Israel will own everything from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River, from Turkey to Egypt and to the victor goes the spoils.

Now, I know many Israelis and they are a hard tenacious sort of people. In no way will they gain that much land, power and resources and in turn give it over to some guy from Europe claiming to be the messiah.

The obvious outcome of this scenario, which no one seems to really see is that the Israelis will be emboldened because it was God who stepped in on their behalf. They will see this scenario as a fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham. If any of you have met Israeli's you know that they are a hard, shrewd people and you know that what I say is true. They will stick to their guns because they have God on their side and the whole world knows it.

But again we are discussing a scenario here and it is this sort of logic that people do not think about.

What most people jump to is that this scenario opens the door for the Antichrist to come in and claim the spoils, and “allow” Israel to rebuild the temple. Why does Israel need permission when they own it already and Islam is wiped off the face of the earth?

So out of this, if this took place according to how some of these teachers are presenting and if you take it to the logical conclusion, again I have to ask "Why does Christ need to return in seven years to "rescue" His people when they can basically do it themselves?"

In fact why is there a need for Armageddon when the nations that Israel goes to war with have been destroyed by them (IDF) already?

When we read the scriptures addressing the Day of the Lord / Armageddon, why is it that all the countries mentioned are all Muslim Middle East countries? Not one is a European country.

There is a problem here…God was supposed to wipe out the nations spoken about in Psalms 83 - Isaiah 17 - Ezekiel 38-39 Pre-Trib Scenario already. I mean that is what is being taught out there right?

Am I to understand that all these countries come back to power and strength in just seven years? That is impossible, even with 1/6 of an army that is left (eze 39). It takes a minimum 18 - 20 years to secure a minuscule amount of the country’s young to equip a minimal army to fight again after all have been wiped out according to the scenario. How can these numbers be attained in just seven years and ready to go to battle at Armageddon?

And here is another point, during this time it is God’s Judgments’ taking place, scrolls, bowls, trumpets, these are wiping out a third of mankind. How can the enemies of Israel regain their numbers to fight again in just seven years?

Are you following the logic as well as seeing the flaws in the whole Psalms 83 - Isaiah 17 - Ezekiel 38-39 Pre-Trib Scenario.

Some of you are going to say that the whole world will be against Israel, but I have to point out that Israel in this scenario is victorious and owns ALL the land from Egypt over to the Euphrates and to the north of Turkey and the Mediterranean sea. They are victorious.

Why do shrewd, stiff does necked Israeli's need to give it all up when they have no more enemies? They own it all and can do anything they want. The Arab / Muslim threat is now eliminated; at least that is what is being taught. Is it the EU that will rise up and invade Israel? If that is the case, where in scripture can one point to where they (EU Countries) are named like all the rest of Israel's enemies in the last days?

See it is this sort of logic that people are not thinking about. People are not playing the scenario completely out to its logical end. Folks, the God we serve is one of logic and reasoning. Instead there are people out there that have this fairy tale idea that the AC will step in and Israel will kowtow to this guy from Rome.

See if Israel is victorious, there is no one to ask permission to re-build the temple, no need to grovel up to the west because they own the oil, they don't need anyone's permission because they are victorious and the world knows it.

Folks, do you realize the stigma that Israel will have with the world if this is the
correct scenario?

Just look at the 6 day war…after that took place no country in their right mind would invade Israel. The world saw that Israel was God's chosen and that her army was the biggest and baddest military in the land.

If the Psalms 83 - Isaiah 17 - Ezekiel 38-39 Pre-Trib Scenario would take place again as those who teach, no country in their right mind will mess with Israel at all. Because if they do, they run the risk of the same thing happening to their country that happened to Jordan, Lebanon, Persia, Ethiopia, Egypt, ect ect ect. that the Psalms 83 - Isaiah 17 - Ezekiel 38-39 Pre-Trib Scenario promotes.

Do you see the logic?

Another fact is that the religious Jews are growing in numbers and that the secular Jews are dwindling. So having religious Jews in power that maintain a Zionist attitude, no way will they give up all of the land and spoils when they don't need to.

The problem with this Psalms 83 - Isaiah 17 - Ezekiel 38-39 Pre-Trib Scenario is that it does not hold up to what scripture teaches. In the last days Israel is not victorious; in fact she is a burdensome stone. She is surrounded by her enemy; she is the center of the world with the temple mount being the prize. 

Scripture does not teach a victorious Israel like those that teach Psalms 83 - Isaiah 17 - Ezekiel 38-39 Pre-Trib Scenario. Like I stated before, I used to teach this also, that is until I started to really read scripture in light of scripture and not in light of what I have been taught by men or by the books I have been reading.

What I believe is that the Gog Mag - Armageddon- Day of the Lord is all one in the same that take place at the end of the Tribulation. I have been conducting a mountain of research; in fact here are fourteen reasons why Ezekiel 38 & 39 is Armageddon. I welcome anyone to prove these all of these statements incorrect using proper literal context, solid hermeneutics, logic and reasoning in light of scripture and not what some guy wrote in a book.

Why I believe that Gog Mag - Armageddon are possibly one in the same 

(1) Not one statement in these two chapters (38-39) mention a war in Israel before Armageddon [or after]. There is only one major battle addressed in scripture and it is the Day of The Lord.. AKA Armageddon.

(2) The battle of Armageddon is the only war predicted by the prophets that could possibly be referred to in these chapters (Ezek. 38:17). Armageddon is mentioned many times by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and other prophets before the days of Ezekiel (Isa. 1:25-31; 3:25-26; 13:1-16; 24:21; 63:1-6; Jer. 25:30-33; 30:11,20-24; Joel 2-3; Oba. 1:15-21; Mic. 1:3-4; 2:12-13; 5:5-15; etc.).

(3) The destruction of Gog and his armies (Ezek. 38:18-23; 39:1-6,17-20) compares with similar statements about Armageddon in Joel 3; Zech. 14; Rev. 19:11-21.

(4) Gog will not fall upon the open field until Armageddon (Ezek. 39:3-5; Rev.19:11-21).

(5) The great supper for the fowls and beasts will only be at Armageddon (Ezek.39:4,17-20 with Mt. 24:27-28; Rev. 19:17-21).

(6) The presence of God (as pictured in Ezek. 38:18-21; 39:1-6,17-24) will not be until Armageddon (Isa. 63:1-6; Zech. 14:1-5; Rev. 19:11-21).

(7) The supernatural destruction of Gog and his armies (as described in Ezek. 38:21-23) will not be until Armageddon (Isa. 63:1-6; Joel 2-3; Zech. 14; Rev. 19:11-21).

(8) God will not magnify and sanctify Himself and set His glory among the heathen (as stated in Ezek. 38:23; 39:21-24) until He comes at the second coming of Christ -- at Armageddon (Zech. 14:1-21; Mt. 24:29-31; Rev. 19:11-21).

(9) Gog will not bring the many armies of the nations into Israel to be destroyed until the time of the second coming of Christ, at Armageddon, as referred to in Ezek. 38:18-23; 39:1-7 and proved in Zech. 14:1-5; Rev. 16:13-16; 19:11-21.

(10) The great earthquake of Ezek. 38:20 will not take place until the seventh vial and the second coming (Zech. 14:1-5; Rev. 16:17-21; 19:11-21).

(11) God's presence will not destroy Gog and his army until the second coming, at Armageddon (Ezek. 38:20; 39:2-7 with Zech. 14:1-5; Rev. 19:11-21).

(12) Gog and his army cannot be destroyed in a war in Israel before the second coming, at Armageddon, to fulfill Ezek. 38:18-23; 39:1-7,17-20, and then be destroyed again at Armageddon to fulfill Isa. 63; Joel 2-3; Zech. 14. We must therefore recognize all these passages as referring to the same destruction -- at Armageddon (Rev. 19:11-21).

(13) The burial of Gog and all his armies destroyed in the fulfillment of Ezek. 38-39 will be at the second coming of Christ (Ezek. 39:11-16 with Dan. 7:11; 2Th. 2:8-12; Rev. 19:11-21).

(14) It is at the second coming of Christ that God's glory will be set among the heathen and Israel will be completely gathered and blessed (Ezek. 39:21-29; Zech. 14; Mt. 24:29-31; Rom. 11:24-29; Rev. 19:11-21).

Ok… getting off my soap box now. Hope I gave everyone some food for thought and
that they will really look into what I have presented here with earnest and not just blow it off because it goes against what has been taught and read in books.

If you feel that I am not correct, then please contact me with the evidence you have to present.

In the end we must remember that we serve a God of logic and reasoning, therefore His ways are the ways of logic and not of feelings or emotions. We must look at scripture through the lens of scripture allowing the Holy Spirit to interpret for us. We have got to stop putting square pegs into round holes and this silly backwards engineering and ripping scripture completely out of context like we have done.

I wish to thank T.E. Mitchell for his help with the research with the 14 points; I hope to introduce him as a Prophezine regular contributor in the future.

SOURCE  http://www.prophezine.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=633:the-world-at-war-with-syria-the-whole-pre-trib-psalms-83-isaiah-17-ezekiel-38-39

The Book of Ezekiel is all about this:

Gog and Magog (/ɡɒɡ/; /ˈmɡɒɡ/; Hebrew: גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג Gog u-Magog; Arabic: يَأْجُوج وَمَأْجُوج Yaʾjūj wa-Maʾjūj) are names that appear in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), the Book of Revelation and the Qur'an, sometimes indicating individuals and sometimes lands and peoples. Sometimes, but not always, they are connected with the "end times", and the passages from the book of Ezekiel and Revelation in particular have attracted attention for this reason.

In some interpretations from ancient times to the late Middle Ages, Gog and Magog were identified with Eurasian nomads such as the Khazars, Huns and Mongols; in Islam, they were sometimes identified first with Turkic tribes of Central Asia and later with the Mongols, although others interpretations exist. Throughout this period they were conflated with various other legends, notably those concerning Alexander the Great, the Amazons, Red Jews, and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and became the subject of much fanciful literature. In modern times they remain associated with apocalyptic thinking, especially in the United States and the Muslim world.

How close are we to experiencing that?

Ezekiel 38King James Version (KJV)

38 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

17 Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face.

19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

King James Version (KJV)

by Public Domain

Ezekiel 39King James Version (KJV)

39 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.

Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:

10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.

12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.

13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.

14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.

15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog.

16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.

21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

25 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;

26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.

27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;

28 Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.

29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.

King James Version (KJV)

by Public Domain


 


The 2001 Gog and Magog Hill Crop Circle Formations

 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in has hand the key of the bottomless  pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and  Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it  over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended.  (Revelation 20:1-3)

 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be loosed from his prison, and will come  out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to  gather them for battle; there number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the  broad earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city; but fire came down  from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the  lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented  day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:7-10)

 Links to articles about the Gog Magog Hill 
Crop Circle Formations of 2001

666' Ring at Gog Magog Hill 
 near Cambridge
 

Angel - Gog Magog Hill (2) Crescents 
and 75 lines, July 26, 2001

Crop Circle Co-Creation

 Cambridge (UK): Crop Circle site  
Gog Magog Hills Formation 2

 


The tradition of Gog and Magog begins in the Hebrew Bible with the reference to Magog, son of Japheth, in the Book of Genesis and continues in cryptic prophecies in the Book of Ezekiel, which are echoed in the Book of Revelation and in the Qur'an. The tradition is very ambiguous with even the very nature of the entities differing between sources. They are variously presented as men, supernatural beings (giants or demons), national groups, or lands. Gog and Magog occur widely in mythology and folklore.

The Hebrew Bible

The first occurrence of "Magog" in the Hebrew Bible is in the "Table of Nations" in Genesis10, where Magog is the eponymous ancestor of a people or nation (without any accompanying apocalyptic symbolism, or mention of Gog, although "Magog" may mean "the land of Gog"):

2. The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, andTiras
3. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

In this occurrence Magog is clearly the name of a person, although in the anthropologyproposed by Genesis, ethnic groups and nations are founded by, and usually named after, their founding ancestors. The names of Gomer, Tubal, Meshech, and Togarmah also occur in Ezekiel.

The earliest known reference to "Gog" and "Magog" together is also in the Bible, in the Book of Ezekiel:

2."Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3. And you shall say; So said the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Gog, the prince, the head of Meshech and Tubal.

Here it is not clear (in the Hebrew) whether Gog or Magog are people or places, and different identifications have been made. These are discussed after the text itself. The Interlinear Bible (Hebrew - Greek - English) states 2. as: "Son of man, set your face toward Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; and prophesy concerning him."

10. Thus says the Lord "On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind and you will make an evil plan:
11. You will say, "I will go against a land of unwalled villages..."(FRZ)(FRZ:mostly refers to Iraq as Frz (Unwalled Villages) in the book of Ester)
12. "To take plunder and booty..."13. Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, will say to you, "have you come to take a spoil?"

They will be joined by Persians from the East, Phut from the West, Kushites from the South, and others. We are told that Gog dwelt north of Israel, but there is little else to identify Gog in the passage. Gog and his allies are to attack "a land of unwalled villages" to collect booty, but before attacking Israel itself will be reduced to a "sixth" of their size (Ezekiel 39:2). Their reduced army will be destroyed in Israel, their dead buried in the Valley of Hamon-Gog for all to see and comment on (39:15-17).

Addressing Gog and Magog, God describes how the attacks will be repelled (Ezekiel 39:1-16). The army of Gog and Magog primarily includes people from the nations of Gog, Gomer,Tubal, Meshech, and the house of Togarmah from the North, the latter of which are mentioned as descendants of Japheth in Genesis (q.v.). God describes the aftermath of the battle later in the same chapter, addressing "thou, son of Man":

17. ...,thus says the Lord, "Speak to every bird and every beast of the field, "Assemble yourselves and come,...""
18. " You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams and lambs, of goats and bulls, all them fatlings of Bashan"

Ezekiel (38 and 39) says that Gog will be defeated.

The New Testament

Gog and Magog are mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation, which draws on the depiction of them in the older prophetic works. They appear in verses 20:7-8:

7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
8. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. (KJV)

Here, Gog and Magog are identified as the nations in the four corners of the earth, and their attack is represented as an eschatological crisis after the Millennium, to be vanquished by divine intervention. The language of Gog and Magog's destruction is very similar to that of their mention in Ezekiel.

Gog and Magog appear in Qur'an sura Al-Kahf (The Cave), 18:83-98, as Yagog and Magog (Ya-juj/Ya-jewj and Ma-juj/Ma-jewj or يأجوج و مأجوج, in Arabic). Some Muslim scholars contend that the Gog in Ezekiel verse 38:2 should be read Yagog (there is a "Y immediately before Gog in the Hebrew version. The verses state that Dhul-Qarnayn (the one with two horns)travelled the world in three directions, until he found a tribe threatened by Gog and Magog, who were of an "evil and destructive nature" and "caused great corruption on earth". The people offered tribute in exchange for protection. Dhul-Qarnayn agreed to help them, but refused the tribute; he constructed a great wall that the hostile nations were unable to penetrate. They will be trapped there until doomsday, and their escape will be a sign of the end:

But when Gog and Magog are let loose and they rush headlong down every height (or advantage). Then will the True Promise draw near - (Qur'an 21:96-97)
 

The Qur'anic account of Dhul-Qarnayn follows very closely the "Gates of Alexander" story from the Alexander Romance, a thoroughly embellished compilation of Alexander the Great's wars and adventures (see below). Since the construction of a great iron gate to hold back a hostile northern people was attributed to Alexander many centuries before the time of Muhammad and the recording of the Qur'an, most historians consider Dhul-Qarnayn a reference to Alexander (see Alexander in the Qur'an). However, some Muslim scholars reject this attribution, associating Dhul-Qarnayn with some earlier ruler, usually Cyrus the Great, but also Darius the Great. Gog and Magog are also mentioned in some of the hadith, or sayings of Muhammad, specifically the Sahih Al Bukhari and Sahih Al Muslim, revered bySunni Muslims.

Jewish traditions

Ezekiel's identification of Gog and Magog is confusing. Verse 38:2 could identify Gog orMagog as a person, the other as a land. The Greek version of that verse identifies Gog as a land, Magog as a person. In both versions, however, verse 38:3 unambiguously identifies Gog as a person, the prince of Meshech and Tubal. The King James translation is given above; it follows the interpretation of verse 38:3.

In terms of extra-biblical Jewish tradition, Gog the "prince" has been explained being one of the 70 national angels – of whom all except one, Michael, the guardian angel of Israel ,cording to this interpretation, Gog is the angel of a nation called Magog (literally meaning "of Gog" or "from Gog"). Gog in this view represents an apocalyptic coalition of nations arrayed against Israel. Some Biblical scholars believe that Gyges (Greek Γυγες), king of Lydia (687 BC-652 BC), is meant; in Assyrian letters, Gyges appears as Gu-gu; in which case Magog might be his territory in Anatolia

In his book Antiquities of the Jews, the Jewish historian and scholar Josephus identifies Magog with the Scythians, but this name seems to have been used generically in antiquity for a number of peoples north of the Black Sea

GOG-MAGOG - HOW SOON WILL IT HAPPEN?

source: http://www.greatdreams.com/war/gathering-of-eagles.htm

 
 

SALUS TRANSCRIPT OF THE PSALM 83 WAR FROM THE JIM BAKKER TV SHOW
AIRED ON 9-30-15 AND 10-1-15

BILL'S WEBSITE:  www.prophecydepotministries.net
PROPHET DEPOT MINISTRIES

BILL S.   A lot of the things we see going on with ISIS and IRAN, I believe there is a biblical principle I believe we to teach people about.

All they are getting are the geopolitical insights of the issues and everyone wants too know what the Bible has to say about these events.

It has a lot to say about IRAN and even ISISis mentioned in Psalm 83 so there is a lot to talk about from the biblical perspective, so owe can put somebearing on this and see what is going on.

You say, when will the people actually wake up and see the end to this and earthquakes and things like that.

These biblical passages will cause people to wake up, and they are about to find this - fulfillment.

I think we are going to see the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and prophecies (plural)

We've been seeing that this began when Israel became officially recognized as a nation on May 14, 1948.

That tipped the time toward the end times question. We are 67 years toward the amazing prophetic events told centuries ago.

Psalm 83 and Isiah 17:1

Domascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.

The prophecies of Ezekiel 38 and Jeremiah 49 - they occur, and one will build upon another and nothing will ever be the same again.  That's why we need to let the people know what the Bible says about these events that are going on.

The Vatican has urged Israael to give up their nukes. It seems that the whole world has come against Israel.

The Vatican thinks if Israel gave up their nukes, it would ease the issues in the middle east.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel has been saying for the longest time that the number one threat facing this entire generation, not just the mididle east, is Iran's nuclear program.

People are deceived. 

There is more said in the Bible for these days than in any other generation. So, we need to get that inrormation out.  The prophecies are right at our doorstep. What are they?

It says in Hosea 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Because you have rejected knowledge...

We don't want people to be deprived of that knowledge that people need to understand.

Jim Bakker:  What is happening in America these days tells us that we are in the last days.  The signs are going to increase more and more and more.

Bill S.  Psalms 83 is an Arab/Israeli conflict that has been going on for many centuries.

Nobody took the 9/11 attack as biblical and Pastor Chuck Smth sais we needed to keep our attention on the Middle east and keep our focus on Ezekiel 38 invasion and Gog Magog and Turkey and Iran so I would say 'thank you'!  At least someone is keeing their eye on perspective on what is going on here.

I thought closely about russia and turkey.

NOTE: Russia moved their military into Syria this week to protect President Assad.

This is about terrorism which is a byproduct of the Arab / Israeli conflict.

As the Arabs continue to fight against the nation of Israel and were defeated in 1938, 1967, and 1973, they adapted propaganda from the United Nations and terrorism as another way to slow down the growth of Israel and to harm Israel.
So terrorism was an ugly situation in the middle east.  But the world has a deaf ear to foreign policy.  As long as busses were blowing up in Jerusalem and pizza parlors in Jerusalem - that is sad, but when Alqueda came and put it in our back yard on 9/11, and the train blew up in Spain in 2004, and a bus bonbing in London in 2005 and many other things - now terrorism is a worldwide problem and has a face. I was instantly studying the Arab/Israeli conflict. I want to know everything in prophecy, but foremost I want to know what is imminent and could affect my family and the body of Christ.

So, I was led to a few prophecies that seem imminent and one is Psalm 83, the Arab/Iaraeli conflict, so through a series of confirmations, I had all kinds of notes, si I'd get up every morning and study at 4 to 5 am and studt Psalm 83 and related prophecies and found 150 related verses to Psalm 83, which is only 18 verses and the Lord would take me all over the place.  I would open up the Bible and He was there.

My first study became the book, "Isralation" the Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East."

A copy of Psalms 83 was found in a wet bog in Ireland by a construction crew in 2006 which seemed rather prophetic.

While that was going on, there was a 34 day conflict between Hezbollah, where Hezbollah lobbed about 4,000 missles into Northern Israel and put most of Israel into bomb shelters for that whole month.

What is interesting is that when you look at Psalm 83, its the only place out of 1189 chapters in the Bible, 150 psalms and over 31,000 verses of the Bible where you have reference to any verses where you have any reference to Hezbollah which, in the Bible were the inhabitants of tyre to Israel in confrontation.

Psalms 83:7   Gebal and Ammon, and Amelek, the Phillistines were the inhabitants of Tyre.

Israel has had a rlationship with Lebanon in the past and Tyre where Solomon was building the temple and they were good relationships but this is the only place you would see a resemblance to confrontation.

At the same time, the Irish Psalm 83 was discovered, I was putting the final touches on my book om Psalm 83.  So is that coincidental OR  providential?

I think this is very prominent for our time.

In 2 Chronicles 29:30 King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to Praise the Lord and of Asaph the seer.

King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.


Asaph wrote 12 different Psalms and among them the most prophetic is Psalm 83.
  • Topical Bible: Asaph - Bible Hub

    biblehub.com/topical/a/asaph.htm 

    Asaph. (collector of the people). A Levite, son of Berechiah, one of the leaders of David's choir. (1 Chronicles 6:39) Psalms 50 and 73-83 are attributed to him; ...

At the time he wrote it, Israel was experiencing unprecedentef blessings.  They had their anointed King David.  they had their last temple.

They were winning wars. Rain was falling in their season and Aseph came up with this prophecy that was nothing short of genocidal against the Israel people.

This prophecy didn't happen in the Old testament and it didn't happen in the dispersion of the people out into the world.  It's most probable now.

NOTE: The composition of the Psalm is debated, but he references in verse 9 to Assyria, is by many sources the time of Assyrian ascendancy, the 9th to 7th centuries B.C.

Others have placed the composition of the Psalm between the time of Saul to the age of Maccabees. this is suggested by Archbishop of Mopsuestia who lived in Antioch, Syria from 350 to 428 AD.  His title was 'Mar Theodor' 'The Interpreter.'

Theodore of Mopsuestia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_of_Mopsuestia

Mar Theodore the Interpreter. Archbishop of Mopsuestia ... 350 – 428) was bishop ofMopsuestia (as Theodore II) from 392 to 428 AD. He is also known as ..


VERSES 1-5 - makes the enemies into a confederacy.
Their goal is to destroy Israel
Israel did not become a nation until May 14, 1948
Israel's enemies have harbored a hatred throughout the years

VERSES 6-8 names the participants
The one listed first is always significant
edom and the Ishmalites; of Moab and the Hazarenes
Gebal and Ammon, and Amalek, the Phillistines with the inhabitants of tyre
Assur (Assyria) and the children of Lot

ANCIENT ISRAEL

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2012/08/richardson120803new.jpg

Thus, according to this popular prophetic scenario, a coalition of nations, including Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian peoples, will very soon join forces to attack Israel.


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/which-nations-does-psalm-83-really-include/#45TqZxIPVRqwuEmh.99








In EZEKIEL 38-39 Gog and Magog are listed first, but that is a whole different prophecy.

The Edomites have representatives in the refugees of Palestine.  When you see them in a tent encampment, then you know this peophecy is about to happen.  That was 67 years ago.

There are 10 populations listed.  6 are familial relations with Abraham, Isaac and Jscob.

EEDOMITES - Descendants of Jacon's twin Esau

ISHMALITES - Descendants of Isaac's brother Ishmael

HAGARENES - Desendants of Ishmael's mother Hagar

AMORITES and MOBITES - Descendants of Abraham's brother Lot  (this is modern day Jordan)

AMALETHEY - Grandson of Esau = Amelek through Eliphaz

These people got jealous of the Abraham covenant.
see:  biblebelivers.com

GENESIS 12:3  I will bless thou who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

It is God's plan of redemption.

The hatred of those:

EZEKIEL 35:5  Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword.

The words 'Olam Eboth' in Hebrew mean:

A longlasting generational hatred.  It manifests with no apparent end in sight.  It's conscious.  It has to be suegically removed.  There will be a final conflict where the hatred is done away with.

THE OTHER FOUR MEMBERS ARE:

THE PHILLISTINES = GAZA

GEBAL = LENANON

ASSYRIA - WHERE ISIS IS

INHABITANTS OF TYRE = HEZBOLLAH

1948 - ARAB - ISRAELI WAR

1967 - 6 DAY WAR - EGYPT, JORDAN, SYRIA, IRAQ, LEBANON

1973 - YOM KIPPUR WAR -  EGYPT, SYRIA

TERRORISTS ARE EVERYWHERE NOW AND PLANNING TO COME TO AMERICA

LEBANON, SYRIA, JORDAN, IRAQ, SAUDI ARABIA, ISIS, EGYPT

10-1-15 - IRAN, HEZBOLLAH, SYRIAN ARMY, prepare to launch offensive against CIA proxies.
Backed by Russian air strikes, the SYRIAN  military including Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah troops, preparing to take back the Idlib and Hoan countryside from the CIA's Jehafist mercenaries.

None of these countries recognizes Israel as a legitimate state. They all want it to be Palestine.

The United Nations just approved the Palestinian State and raised it's flag at the U.N last week.

 Let's talk about ISIS for a moment.  The children of Lot would be Jordan. 
Amman was in northern Jordan.
Moab is central Jordan.

The Jordanian army is the weakest. They are just propping up the Hezbollah kingdom.  They are not there in an offensive military. 

ISIS has got their eyes on Jordan.

King Abdullah II of Jordan came to the United Nations to consult with President Obama three times this year (2015)  He is concerned about ISIS moving in on Jordan. He wanted help with the Palestinian Peace talks as well.

When Asaph wrote 3,000 years ago, he included Assyria.  At that time Assyria was northern Syria and northern Iraq.
 
When Isaac wrote 300 years later, Assyria had moved down to where Syria is now and Damascus.

ISIS has already taken over the entire original Assyria that Asaph wrote about.

They may move in on Jordan and help the children of Lot, and if they do, in fulfillment of this prophecy and that is why Israel is building fences along Jordan's border.  Jordan is also building a border fence.

Many photos of Jordan's fence line.  http://search.aol.com/aol/image?q=Jordan+fence&v_t=client97_searchbox&s_it=searchtabs

If Jordan gets taken over, then the Temple Mount comes into question.  Jordan has defacto control over the Temple Mount right now.

Temple Mount photos  http://search.aol.com/aol/image?s_it=topsearchbox.image&v_t=client97_searchbox&q=temple+Mount

There are roughly 60% or so of the Jordanian population is discontent Palestinians. They want a state of their own. They don't have any civil liberties where they live.  Many sympathize with the ISIS  Sunni Caliphate they want to establish in the Middle east.

That's what happened in Syria and that is what happened in Iraq. Sympathizers that went with them and that's what they took over those terrortories.

So you can see there are concerns that is going to happen again.  As for America they can come in externally but they can come in internally.

The Lord does not issue prophecy in the Bible to impress us, but to inform us.

He wants us to know what is going on.

This is not just for the scholarly.  We have to take what complicate it and uncomplicate it and put it into terms we can understand.

When Asaph wrote that, he didn't have PALESTINIANS and ISIS and HEZBOLLAH.  He had EDOMITES and MOABITES. ETC.

We have to say that  if Asaph was with us today and if this is a prophecy for now, who would he be saying are the people you need to be watching for.  As these things are unfolding in the Middle east right now.

These things could be happening very soon and the church could be here for this.

Christ could come and get us at any time, but we could be here for the prophecies as well.

We need to be prepared for them.

The information is for us and it's not God's fault that we don't get it and get it out to the people.
 
PS 83: Asaph is petitioning God how he would like Him to deal this Arab confederacy which is going to come and destroy Israel.

Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.


Asaph takes us back to Judges 4:8 Barak said to her, (Deborah)  "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."

Gideon and the Midionites  (also called Jerub-Baal) where we have a history and precedent.  Deborah and Barak  7 - I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.'" 8Then Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go."9She said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.…

11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

Gideon had a 300 man army with the help of the tribe of Epheris which actually killed a tribe of 120,000 Midionites.

What had happened to that time, the Midionites had approved the Israelites for 7 years ans God came to Geon and said, "that oppression is now over. We are going to go and deal with that issue.  So what he did as we look at the example in that one is - he empowered the Israel defense force of that time, because that's what Gideon was at that time, to deal with being outnumbered, and outmanned.

He also talks about the princes and Kings Oreb and Zeeb.

Judges 7:25 
They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.


Gideon Defeats Midian

 Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against

 Midian and take the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan." So all the men of

 Ephraim were summoned and they took the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. 
25They

 captured the two leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they

 killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb

 and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.


 
The army actually turned on themselves by doing foolish things to themselves.


Judges 8:28  There was Midians subdued before the children of Israel so that they lifted their heads no more. 

It was like a supernatural victory.

It was like on May 14, 1948 when Israel was proclaimed a state, Arab nations immediately attacked.  these were a rag tag army, right out of the holocaust, and here comes these advanced Arab armies, Palestinians who were living there at the time.  to get out, they only had 5 days. there will be no Israel.  They had fighter jets and Israel only had shovels at the most. they thought we can take them out, get out and take out Israel and go back in and take over their neighborhood, their houses, their communities, their businesses.

What a terrible miscalculation.

Israel flew a few fighter jets had a few hand grenades and dropped them on strategic sources and targets with glass milk bottles and they won the war they never should have won.  It was a Gideon - David - Goliath miracle.  Still today.  It was a miracle.

Mr. Salus goes on to talk about the Cananites.

DEBORAH AND THE CANANITE OPPRESSION

JUDGES 4 AND 5

Deborah

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead.So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim.Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.

Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading[a] Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethelin the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”

Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

“Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 There Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.

11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab,Moses’ brother-in-law,[b] and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannimnear Kedesh.

12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.

14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. 15 At Barak’s advance, theLord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.

16 Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left. 17 Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite.

18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.

20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”

21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.

23 On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.

The Song of Deborah

On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

“When the princes in Israel take the lead,
    when the people willingly offer themselves—
    praise the Lord!

“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
    I, even I, will sing to[a] the Lord;
    I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.

“When you, Lord, went out from Seir,
    when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook, the heavens poured,
    the clouds poured down water.
The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
    before the Lord, the God of Israel.

“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
    in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned;
    travelers took to winding paths.
Villagers in Israel would not fight;
    they held back until I, Deborah, arose,

    until I arose, a mother in Israel.
God chose new leaders
    when war came to the city gates,
but not a shield or spear was seen
    among forty thousand in Israel.
My heart is with Israel’s princes,
    with the willing volunteers among the people.
    Praise the Lord!

10 You who ride on white donkeys,
    sitting on your saddle blankets,
    and you who walk along the road,
consider
 
11 the voice of the singers[b] at the watering places.
    They recite the victories of the Lord,
    the victories of his villagers in Israel.

“Then the people of the Lord
    went down to the city gates.
12 ‘Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
    Wake up, wake up, break out in song!
Arise, Barak!
    Take captive your captives, son of Abinoam.’

13 “The remnant of the nobles came down;
    the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.
14 Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek;
    Benjamin was with the people who followed you.
From Makir captains came down,
    from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s[c] staff.
15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
    yes, Issachar was with Barak,
    sent under his command into the valley.
In the districts of Reuben
    there was much searching of heart.
16 Why did you stay among the sheep pens[d]
    to hear the whistling for the flocks?
In the districts of Reuben
    there was much searching of heart.
17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan.
    And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?
Asher remained on the coast
    and stayed in his coves.
18 The people of Zebulun risked their very lives;
    so did Naphtali on the terraced fields.

19 Kings came, they fought,
    the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,
    they took no plunder of silver.
20 From the heavens the stars fought,
    from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon swept them away,
    the age-old river, the river Kishon.
    March on, my soul; be strong!
22 Then thundered the horses’ hooves—
    galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord.
    ‘Curse its people bitterly,
because they did not come to help the Lord,
    to help the Lord against the mighty.’

24 “Most blessed of women be Jael,
    the wife of Heber the Kenite,
    most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk;
    in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
26 Her hand reached for the tent peg,
    her right hand for the workman’s hammer.
She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,
    she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 At her feet he sank,
    he fell; there he lay.
At her feet he sank, he fell;
    where he sank, there he fell—dead.

28 Through the window peered Sisera’s mother;
    behind the lattice she cried out,
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
    Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’
29 The wisest of her ladies answer her;
    indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
30 ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils:
    a woman or two for each man,
colorful garments as plunder for Sisera,
    colorful garments embroidered,

highly embroidered garments for my neck—
    all this as plunder?

31 So may all your enemies perish, Lord!
    But may all who love you be like the sun
    when it rises in its strength.”

Then the land had peace forty years.


 The Israeli's were oppressed for 20 years.  The Lord said that the oppression would end.  So they went to war and the Israeli's won and the Kenits never oppressed Israel again.

The same thing is going to happen again, even though Israel is outnumbered and outgunned.

Israel will never be oppressed again. 

I believe that's what the Psalm 83 war is about.

NOTE:  On 10-8-15, it was announced that oil was discovered in the Golan Heights.  This will change the dynamics of the Middle East forever.

So what we've got there, in my estimation , is that Asaph is petitioning the Lord to deal with it and tell Israel's defence forces - I have a plethora of verses in the book to show the fulfillment today of Bible prophecy to deal with this Arab confrontation once and for all, from top to bottom even though we are outmanned, outgunned, take out any possible problems so we can never be oppressed again, that the ancient hatred throughout the centuries will be gone once and for all.

I believe that will be the end of the Psalm 83 war and Israel is going to win that war.

Psalm 83:12  who said, "Let us take for ourselves the pastures of God for a posession."

They want to take over the promised land. And it finds application for our time today.

They don't want peace with the Jews. They don't want a two-state solution. They want a one-state solution and they want to fly the flag of Palestine over it.  Then they can control Jerusalem.  That's their goal.

NOTE:  The United Nations approved of Palestinian statehood in September of 2015 when Pope Francis visied there, and the flag of Palestine now flies in front of the United Nations building, however they do not yet have a land grant to go with it.

Asaph continues in verses Psalms 13-18 .

Psalm 13

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

Psalm 14

For the director of music. Of David.

The fool says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
    there is no one who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.

Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.
But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.
You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is their refuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
    Who may live on your holy mountain?

The one whose walk is blameless,
    who does what is righteous,
    who speaks the truth from their heart;
whose tongue utters no slander,
    who does no wrong to a neighbor,
    and casts no slur on others;
who despises a vile person
    but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
    and does not change their mind;
who lends money to the poor without interest;
    who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things
    will never be shaken.

Psalm 16

A miktam[c] of David.

Keep me safe, my God,
    for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    apart from you I have no good thing.”
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
    “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
    I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
    or take up their names on my lips.

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 17

A prayer of David.

Hear me, Lord, my plea is just;
    listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer—
    it does not rise from deceitful lips.
Let my vindication come from you;
    may your eyes see what is right.

Though you probe my heart,
    though you examine me at night and test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
    my mouth has not transgressed.
Though people tried to bribe me,
    I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
    through what your lips have commanded.
My steps have held to your paths;
    my feet have not stumbled.

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
    turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
Show me the wonders of your great love,
    you who save by your right hand
    those who take refuge in you from their foes.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings
from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
    from my mortal enemies who surround me.

10 They close up their callous hearts,
    and their mouths speak with arrogance.
11 They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
    with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
12 They are like a lion hungry for prey,
    like a fierce lion crouching in cover.

13 Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down;
    with your sword rescue me from the wicked.
14 By your hand save me from such people, Lord,
    from those of this world whose reward is in this life.
May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;
    may their children gorge themselves on it,
    and may there be leftovers for their little ones.

15 As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;
    when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

Psalm 18

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lordthe words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

I love you, Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and I have been saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangled me;
    the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came before him, into his ears.
The earth trembled and quaked,
    and the foundations of the mountains shook;
    they trembled because he was angry.
Smoke rose from his nostrils;
    consuming fire came from his mouth,
    burning coals blazed out of it.
He parted the heavens and came down;
    dark clouds were under his feet.

10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
    he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
    the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
    with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
    the voice of the Most High resounded.[h]
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
    with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
    and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
    at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
    from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.

20 The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
    I am not guilty of turning from my God.
22 All his laws are before me;
    I have not turned away from his decrees.
23 I have been blameless before him
    and have kept myself from sin.
24 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
    to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
26 to the pure you show yourself pure,
    but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
27 You save the humble
    but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
28 You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;
    my God turns my darkness into light.
29 With your help I can advance against a troop
    with my God I can scale a wall.

30 As for God, his way is perfect:
    The Lord’s word is flawless;
    he shields all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the Lord?
    And who is the Rock except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength
    and keeps my way secure.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
    he causes me to stand on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle;
    my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You make your saving help my shield,
    and your right hand sustains me;
    your help has made me great.
36 You provide a broad path for my feet,
    so that my ankles do not give way.

37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
    I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so that they could not rise;
    they fell beneath my feet.
39 You armed me with strength for battle;
    you humbled my adversaries before me.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
    and I destroyed my foes.
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them
    to the Lord, but he did not answer.
42 I beat them as fine as windblown dust;
    I trampled them[j] like mud in the streets.
43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
    you have made me the head of nations.
People I did not know now serve me,
44     foreigners cower before me;
    as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
45 They all lose heart;
    they come trembling from their strongholds.

46 The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
    Exalted be God my Savior!
47 He is the God who avenges me,
    who subdues nations under me,
48     who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
    from a violent man you rescued me.
49 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
    I will sing the praises of your name.

50 He gives his king great victories;
    he shows unfailing love to his anointed,
    to David and to his descendants forever.

   

Asaph - Psalm 83:3-8  A tempest and a storm and a powerful destruction of the Israel country.  Thats where the confrontation will be.  This land for peace deal is not going to be the end result if this prophecy is going to take place and I believe it is.

And then he goes on to say the most important thing in verse 15.

Psalm 83:15  That they may know that you whose name alone is the Lord, are the most High over all the earth.


That is the endgame. We want them know, and many of the Arabs right now, especially in the Syrian reugee camps in northern Iraq are coming to know the Lord through miracles and dreams and sharers are coming in and talking to them and telling them about Jesus and as bad as it is in the squalor that they are living in they are getting a message that they never got before and they are content while they are sitting there.

It's a sad situation but many are coming to know Jesus Christ through these efforts at this point in time.

Ultimately who is referring to these in verse 18?  We people who will come to know him - noot only now, but after these events and after the tribulation.

Because there will be remnants - this is really good news - there will be faithful remnants of Jordanians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Iranians, and Jewish , who come to recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah after they go through these times of trevail and tribulation.   And they will come and set up his kingdom of 1,000 years in:

 Revelation 20:1-8


1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but
they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.


But we have to let them know now - terrible times are coming.


JIM BAKKER:  What about the teachers who bring the Ezekiel 38 together with the Psalms War?

Bill S.  Since Psalms 83 was put on the radar by these books, people are speculating and trying to look at it and focus on Ezekiel 38.

So they try to figure out how could there be another war that was overlooked , so they have tried to merge it, but it's  a very clumsy fit for various reasons.


REASONS PSALM 83 AND EZEKIEL 38 ARE DIFFERENT WARS

SEPARATE PATICIPANTS

ISRAEL MAP

Psalms 83 war involves shared borders

Ezekiel 38 - does not involve shared borders - They have never been Israel's enemies through time. But they will come against Israel for a different reason.  They come for plunder and booty.


SEPARATE REASONS FOR ATTACKING ISREAL

Psalm 83 war - To claim the land

Ezekiel 38 war - to take spoils


DIFFERENT WAYS THE ENEMIES ARE DEFEATED

Psalm 83 war - The army of Israel

Ezekiel 38 & 39 - Pestilence, hailstones, fire & brimstone

That event is very significant.  53 verses in Ezekiel 38 & 39 and God spelled that out with great specificity.


38 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

17 Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face.

19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

39 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.

Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:

10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.

12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.

13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.

14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.

15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog.

16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.

21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

25 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;

26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.

27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;

28 Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.

29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.

THAT IS THE GOG - MAGOG INVASION

EZKIEL 37  predicts a gathering of the Jews of Israel

Ezekiel 37King James Version (KJV)

37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of theLord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.

Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

15 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?

19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.

23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

28 And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.


followed by:

Zechariah  2

Zechariah 2King James Version (KJV)

I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.

Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.

And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,

And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:

For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.

Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord.

Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.

10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.

11 And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lordof hosts hath sent me unto thee.

12 And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.

13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.



Isaiah: 14: 24-32

24 The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.

27 For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.

29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.

30 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.

31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.

32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lordhath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.



Amos 3:1 

 Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,

You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.



Revelation: 9:11  11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Did you know there are 2 1/2 million Muslims in Russia?

EZEKIEL  38 & 39 are what we are marching toward. We aren't quite there yet, for various reasons I can tell you.

BILL S:    I believe that where we are in God's prophetic timeline are between two marquee events.  One of them was the recognition of Israel as a nation on May 14, 1948.

The other one is when God gives us notice that He is God.

EZEKIEL 39:7  So I make my Holy Name known to the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let them profane my Holy Name anymore.  Then the nation shall know that I am God, the Holy One in Israel.

He's the One who will let the world know he is the Covenant keeping God.

After He defeats this massive formidible armed invasion by Russia, Iran, Turkey, etc He is going to stand up and say. "I AM THE HOLY GOD that you need to put your faith in."

We are racing towards that.  So, we have a yard stick here of 36 inches and 1948 is the beginning and move our marker all the way to the 32-35 mark - 67 years fits in that gap.  

I believe that we are just 3 or 4 inches - I don't know how to equate that in time - not very far - from God putting the world on official notice that things are converging.

The issue with that  - even though we are that close to EZE - 38 & 39, several things have to happen, because the Israel described in that prophecy is very specific.

#1 - EZE - 38:8 .. but the people were brought out from the nations and they are living securely - all of them.

They are not like that yet! No! They are not, because it says they are living without walls, fences or gates, and very wealthy.

Israel Middle east is now the most fortified, walled, fenced place inside the Middle East. They are building walls all around.  

They have 403 mile wall that separates them from the West Bank which is where the Palestinians live.
It's called the Palastinian Separation wall.
 
They have a wall/fence along the Sanai to keep the terrorists of Egypt from coming in.

They are building a wall to keep the Jordan Hezzbollah terrorists out.  They are worried about ISIS moving in.      

west bank wall     JORDAN FENCE

WEST BANK WALL       JORDAN ANTI-ISIS FENCE

So they are not living securely and Psalm 83 has to happen before they can become secure.  They have Arab enemies all around them.

As for The United States, at the pace we are going, we have crossed every biblical boundary that once it is crossed, no nation, or empire has ever digressed and reversed itself from.    

They've never reversed themselves and every time they crossed those boundaries, they've been destroyed like taking the Bible out of the schools  and school sponsored prayer removed by the Supreme Court in 1963.

On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court declared abortion legal.

Now we have had about 70 million abortions.  It is at the rate of about a million per year.

That is what the northern border of Israel had destroyed by the Assyrians in 72 BC.

Then you came along with the Defense of Marriage Act of gays and lesbians couples in 2015.

All these things were adjudicated by the Supreme Court.  The Bible tells us that a marriage is between onw man and one woman and we can't go against that biblically endorsed law. 
 
This Jun, 25, 2015 - Supreme Court changed the definition of marriage nationwide- is the day that America died. 

As for sexual perversion, Sodom and Gomora was destroyed about 4,000 years ago.  Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt as it was probably a nuclear war.    

Wickedness and moral decodence - the Assyrian empire was destroyed in 612 BC by an invasion of the Persians.


As America continues to cross these lines and now turning our back on Israel with the Iran nuclear deal, which puts Israel in an isolated deadly position, where they'll now have to act on their own, and they probably will and they will strike Iran and  this will be a Human cross - from rivalry, this will be an epic scenario.

This probably is what we will wake up to see - and America is not on the right side of these things.

I tell Christians,  "Don't look for a political answer to come along and resolve all these things, - look to God because we need God in our life.

He wants us to understand what is going to happen. He wants you to have this information and have a right relation with him and and redeem the time because the time is NOW!  And NOW is very short!

Chuck Missler has been teaching about The Abandonment Wrath. Whrn you turn your back on God, God lets his hand of protection down!

That's what happened on 9/11.

IT'S TIME TO REPENT! 

WHERE IS YOUR HEART?  BILLY GRAHAM !  1957   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i95RXDyY70



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