They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” (Psalm 83:4, ESV)
Throughout the world, we now hear adversaries of Israel chant, “From the river to the Sea.”
Understanding this phrase’s full intention, it’s a call to completely wipe out Israel — that the Jews have no right to live in their own nation. And undergirding this chant is a religious zealotry that hates Israel.
Geographically, the river is the Jordan River, and the sea is the Mediterranean Sea. The nation of Israel exists today between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean!
Do you see an eerie resemblance of “from the river to the sea” to the prophecy in Psalm 81 when it says, “Come let us wipe them out as a nation?”
Reading further in Psalm 83, we see a coalition of nations aligned against Israel, with all of them desiring its destruction . . .
For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant — the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot (Psalm 83:5-8).
It would save me a lot of time if the Prophet Asaph, who wrote Psalm 83, had also prophesied the current locations of those mentioned. But alas, that’s my job as the heroic blogger behind Interruptions.
Let’s get on with it.
Edom = Palestinians and southern Jordan;
Ishmaelites = Saudi Arabia;
Moab = Palestinians and central Jordan;
Hagrites = Egyptians;
Gebal = Hezbollah and northern Lebanon;
Ammon = Palestinians and northern Jordan;
Philistia = Hamas of the Gaza Strip;
Tyre = Hezbollah and southern Lebanon;
and Assyria = Syrians and northern Iraq.
All these nations and peoples are now echoing the chant, “From the river to the Sea.” These nations and peoples also completely surround Israel today.
HHHHMMMHHM.
The relationship of Psalm 83 with events happening today gets more eerie every day when we read the news!
Almost 30 percent of the Bible is prophecy. There are about 23,000 verses in the Old Testament and just under 8,000 verses in the New Testament. So, 30 percent of 31,000 is 9,300 verses of predictive prophecy in the Bible.
Prophecy ultimately demonstrates that our sovereign God controls history. Nothing surprises Him, and He is working all things to the good.
Psalm 83 describes what happens to these nations surrounding and attacking Israel . . .
O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest (Psalm 83:13-15).
God’s ultimate purpose with the total and sudden defeat of the enemies around Israel is to undermine the religious strongholds that cause hatred of God’s chosen people.
What happens to these adversaries?
Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord (Psalm 83:16, ESV).
Yes, the destruction of a false religion so that the former adherents can find the God of the Bible. That’s the sole purpose of history — God desires many to be saved.
The eerie becomes clear!