Psalm 83 and Current Events

“They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, ‘Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.’ For they have conspired together with one mind; against You they make a covenant…O my God, make them like the whirling dust, like chaff before the wind…That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord, are the most high over all the earth” (Psalm 83:3-5, 13, 18). These days, with so much going on in the world of politics, Middle Eastern affairs, and economic downturns, it is not unusual to hear people asking questions about Bible prophecy. So much is going on that it boggles the mind. There is overwhelming evidence that these events have taken on an accelerated pace since 2001—kind of like birth-pangs. The question often asked is “what’s next?” Many students of Bible prophecy, me included, have focused on a 2,600-year-old prophecy found in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, foretelling an enormous last-days invasion of the nation of Israel by an Iranian led Russian equipped coalition. The one glaring thing about this invasion is not who participates but who does not. Amazingly, the nations immediately surrounding Israel—those who participated in the 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 wars to destroy Israel—are not named as coalition partners in this invasion. So the obvious question is “why?”

I am becoming more and more convinced that the answer to this question is found in Psalm 83. This Psalm speaks of the defeat of the nations that border Israel and appears to prophesy a distinctly separate event from the Ezekiel 38-39 invasion. Furthermore, Psalm 83 seems to indicate it might be the next event on the prophetic calendar, and it might very well be this event that brings about the destruction of Damascus, a prophecy found in Isaiah 17:1: “The burden concerning Damascus, ‘Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city and will become a fallen ruin.” This prophecy clearly indicates the capital city of Syria will cease to be a city. I believe this event might very well be on the near horizon. I further believe this event will involve some type of chemical and nuclear exchange between Syria and Israel. In the end, Syria is obliterated, Israel’s surrounding enemies are defeated, and the stage is set for the Russian-Iranian advance against Israel, followed by a geo-political vacuum that gives rise to a revived Roman Empire and the coming world dictator known as the Antichrist. Then the prophesied Seventieth Week of Daniel will begin. So, while Americans prepare to elect a new president, and the world watches to see who will be the next Prime Minister of Israel, these geo-political events continue to take shape—powerful prophetic events that are staging like airplanes preparing to land at a busy airport—all falling into their specific chronological order. And the amazing thing is the world blindly continues its call for “peace and safety” while a majority of those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ fail to even take notice.

The times in which we live are indeed interesting. I cannot help but believe we are living in the last of the last days. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that God’s Word is true, its prophecies are to be literally fulfilled, and the major one that remains yet unfulfilled—the Seventieth Week of Daniel—is about to begin. However, before that occurs, the Bible mentions another earth-shaking event that will soon take place—the Rapture of the Church. Numerous passages in the New Testament speak of Christ’s return for His Bride—the Church. These passages clearly indicate this event will occur before the Seventieth Week of Daniel begins. I believe this event will occur at any moment. Therefore, my challenge to believers is to be ready. My challenge to my Replacement Theology friends is stop calling God a liar but rather believe His Word to be literally true. My plea to those who do not believe is simple—repent and believe the Gospel. The Psalm 83 prophecy may soon come to pass. Whether the Rapture occurs before, during or after this event is known only to God but it will occur before the Seventieth Week of Daniel begins. Our responsibility is to be ready for His soon return while warning others of coming judgment and imploring them to be saved.