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Let me begin by boldly stating
that the outline of a major military alliance aimed at going to war with
Israel is now becoming clear. So far, it seems to link Syria (and by
extension Lebanon), Iran and Iraq together with Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat. Each country seems to have its own reason for being involved in such
a plot: Iraq to officially rejoin the Arab world and help break UN sanctions
imposed after its humiliating Gulf War defeat, Iran to further spread its
leadership of the worldwide Islamic fundamentalist movement, and Syria to
try and weaken Israel enough that it will evacuate the entire Golan Heights,
as it did southern Lebanon last May.
However, if I am correct in suspecting that the possibly looming conflict
could very well fulfill an ancient prophecy found in Psalm 83, as detailed
below, then at least two other countries listed in that psalm must come on
board: Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Naturally, both officially backed Arafat's
new uprising at the Arab League emergency summit meeting in late October,
as did all the Arab states. The Saudis even pledged a quarter of a billion
US dollars to aid the uprising, although Arafat has complained that very
little money has flowed his way so far. But neither Riyadh nor Amman is really
very eager to jump on board a ship piloted by Saddam Hussein or the Iranian
mullahs.
The Saudis could be expected to financially back any new war effort, if only
as a form of protection money to keep the radicals at bay. On top of that,
the desert kingdom is the earthly seat of Islam, and therefore must at least
give lip service to any holy war struggle to "liberate Jerusalem" from detested
Jewish control. Jordan is a different matter altogether. It is one of the
smallest, must vulnerable Arab states in the region. Unlike its rich Gulf
cousins, its economy is desperately struggling to keep afloat. More than
this, a majority of its population is of ethnic Palestinian origin (in other
words they or their older relatives originally resided west of the Jordan
River). Not too many of them were happy when the late King Hussein signed
a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, feeling it was premature to do so until
all outstanding Arab-Israeli issues were resolved, especially the fate of
refugees and the final status of Jerusalem. It is important to note that
most of Jordan's Palestinian residents are either refugees themselves or
the offspring of the same.
All this means that the young untested King Abdullah will probably find it
impossible to cling to his father's peace pact with the increasingly unpopular
Jewish State. If he resists the powerful eastern warfront that is apparently
now developing, he may find himself the target of the same assassination
bullets that have been directed at Israeli embassy personnel serving in Amman
in recent days. One way or another, if I am correct in saying that Israel's
next major war may well be the fulfillment of Psalm 83 (and of course I may
NOT be correct; only God knows for sure), then Jordan must fall in line,
however that occurs.
CONSPIRACY
Israeli military analysts say that the 1991 Iraqi long-range missile strikes
on Israel's congested coastal plane were probably a foretaste of the next
major war. It will not be fought on some remote battlefield like the Sinai
desert or the sparsely-populated Golan Heights, by soldiers backed by tank
and artillery fire and supported by air force jets and helicopter gunships.
The next big bust-up, if it comes, will undoubtedly feature ballistic missile
attacks upon urban centers. Most chillingly, missile warheads are likely
to contain chemical weapons, if not nuclear ones.
Several official scenarios exist as to how Israel's next war might begin,
and who could be involved. They have been drawn up by Israeli military planners
at the request of the government. Although the projections are supposed to
be top secret, some details have been published by the Israeli and foreign
press.
Most war scenarios are said to start with a complete breakdown of the slow-moving
Arab-Israeli peace process, followed by local and then regional violence.
We are already apparently seeing the first part of this scenario unfold in
these tumultuous days. The spark is usually projected to be the same one
that set off the violent new Palestinian uprising in September--an unresolved
struggle over who gets what in Jerusalem.
When I moved to Israel in 1980, many Christians here and abroad were expecting
an imminent Soviet invasion. The superpower "detente" worked out between
Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev in the early 1970's was falling apart under
the weight of the Kremlin's armed intervention in Afghanistan. Nuclear weapons
where being manufactured like hotcakes on both sides of the East-West divide.
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) was the strategic doctrine that both superpowers
were clinging to in hopes that it would deter the other from firing the first
round.
I have felt for many years now that the next major attack upon Israel will
not emanate from Russia. Instead, I believe it will probably be of more localized
origin, and lack superpower backing. I am not just saying this because the
sprawling Soviet empire crumbled in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I arrived
at this position around 1982 when the Russian bear was still big and boisterous.
My revised stand was based on biblical research , coupled with new insights
I gained from living here in Israel. These led me to conclude that the Gog
and Magog invasion is most likely connected to the final war of Armageddon.
It seems likely to me that
the outline for Israel's next major conflict is found in the ancient Hebrew
scriptures. Indeed, I suspect it is located in a psalm.
PSALM 83
Asaph begins his psalm by pleading for God to "not remain quiet; Do not be
silent and, O God, do not be still." The reason for his distress is quickly
revealed in verses 2 through 4: "For behold, Thine enemies make an uproar;
And those who hate Thee have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against
Thy people, And conspire together against Thy treasured ones. They have said
'Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be
remembered no more.'"
Who are these shrewd enemies plotting to destroy the Jewish State? Asaph
carefully lists them in verses 6 through 8: "The tents of Edom and the
Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebel, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia
with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have
become a help to the children of Lot."
What is most intriguing is that Bible scholars say there is no evidence that
such a far-reaching regional conspiracy--uniting ten enemies to the north,
east, west and southeast of Israel-- ever occurred in ancient times! I quote
from page 503 of the respected "Revised New Bible Commentary" (Eerdmans,
1970): "No such widespread alliance of adjacent states as is described in
verses 6-8 is mentioned in the Old Testament." The textual evidence is strong
that the psalmist is describing a tangible military alliance against Israel.
This is not only confirmed by the plotter's intention to "wipe Israel out
as a nation," but by the allusions to other historic battles later in the
psalm. An actual military plan of attack is being hatched here, not just
a spiritual plot against the kingdom of God. Indeed, such an alliance is
so massive and intimidating that it surely would have been mentioned elsewhere
in the Bible if it had been formed in ancient times.
I believe that the psalmist was foreseeing a distant end-time plot against
the restored Jewish State of Israel. It is quite interesting to note that
modern descendants of all of the listed conspirators took part in the 1948
and 1967 pre-planned (and shrilly trumpeted) assaults upon Israel. The first
seven people groups were all located east of Israel. They were semi-nomadic
tribes whose fluid boundaries often overlapped. The first two, Edom and the
Ishmaelites, have also become synonymous today with the entire Arab-Muslim
world. This is because both peoples are thought to have migrated further
south into the Arabian peninsula--the seat of Islam. On top of that, Ishmael
is an important figure in Islamic theology. So in modern terms, these names
could be referring to the oil-rich country of Saudi Arabia,
*~* which backed front-line Arab forces in 1948 and
1967, or to the entire Arab-Muslim world that stretches from Morocco to Oman.
I believe the former option is the most probable one.
Moab was situated due east of the Dead Sea, with Edom to its south and Ammon
to its north. The other listed eastern tribes--the Hagrites, Gebal and
Amalek--mingled in this area. Of course, the name Ammon is very much still
with us today. It is the capital of the modern Kingdom of Jordan (usually
spelled Amman in English). The fledgling country where these ancient tribes
roamed played a pivotal role in both the 1948 and 1967 wars.
It is not hard to identify the modern equivalent of Tyre. In biblical days,
it was the leading city of Phoenicia. The area is now part of the battle-scared
country of Lebanon. Israel's northern Arab neighbor officially took part
in both the Independence and Six Day wars, although her military contribution
was negligible. Since 1970, south Lebanon has been the most active battle
zone between Arab (and Iranian) Muslims and Israeli Jews.
Historians believe that the Philistines sailed to Canaan from either the
Greek island of Crete, or from the Anatolian region of western Turkey. Wherever
they originated, iron-wielding Philistine warriors proved formidable enemies
to the settling Hebrew tribes. However, they were eventually absorbed by
attacking Assyrian forces and disappeared as a separate people group. However,
the name "Philistine" was resurrected by the Romans, who applied it to the
Promised Land in an attempt to obliterate the Jewish connection to Zion.
This took place after the Roman legions destroyed Judea in AD 70. One of
the main Philistine towns was called Gaza. The modern city by that name has
served as the unofficial seat of the Palestinian autonomy government, while
the Gaza Strip is home to over one million Palestinians. This provides a
strong hint as to who the modern equivalent of the ancient Philistines might
be. An even greater hint is the very name "Palestinians," derived from the
ancient Philistines.
Although they were not a significant military power in 1948 or 1967, Palestinian
Arabs were at the political center of the wars that broke out in those years.
Had their leaders wholeheartedly accepted the 1947 United Nations partition
plan, as a few recommended, surrounding Arab states would have found it morally
difficult to attack the emerging Jewish State. Palestinian sufferings over
the years have provided a potent excuse for the enduring "holy war" struggle
against re-born Israel.
The last nation mentioned
in Psalm 83 is the powerful Assyrian empire, which acts as "a help to the
children of Lot," i.e. to Moab and Ammon. The biblical Hebrew literally states
that Assyria has become "an arm" to Lot's descendants. The great empire stretched
over the territory of several modern countries, including western Iran, parts
of Turkey, most of Syria and even very briefly along Egypt's Nile river.
But it was centered in what is today Iraq, with its capital, Nineveh, situated
on the banks of the Tigris river. Baghdad took a very active role in the
1948 and 1967 Mideast wars. However, it was mainly a supporting role, with
Iraqi forces bolstering those of Jordan and Syria. In that sense, Assyria's
modern equivalent was literally acting as a "helpful arm" to the eastern
front-line states. So to summarize, the modern countries where the ten ancient
people groups resided are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, the Lord's land
itself, Iraq and probably Syria.
CONCLUSION
Again, only the Creator knows if this prophetic psalm will be fulfilled in
the coming months or years. Israel could face a series of wars in the
last days that are not foretold in the ancient biblical Scriptures. But I
lean heavily toward the proposition that Israel's next war will be the one
described in Psalm 83, and that its fulfillment is probably not too far off.
If so, may we all experience the same mercy that Asaph implores God to shower
on the conspirators who plot to destroy His chosen people: "Fill their faces
with dishonor, that they may seek Thy name oh Lord! (verse 16). |
