Psalm 83 phase (attack on Israel by Arab neighbors) is essentially over

Submitted by Michael S (United States), May 18, 2015 at 22:40

Hi, Tovey

I believe I have already commented on your post, but not on your reference to Psalm 83. The pertinent passage, I think, is:

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

It would be hard not to take this as prophetic of the physical attacks on Israel in 1948-73. I'll list the underlined countries here:

• Edom: part of NW Saudi Arabia (attacked Israel in 1948) and SW Jordan (attacked Israel in 1948 and 1967), and the Sinai (as part of Egypt, attacked Isrel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973). The Amalekites were an Edomite tribe.
• the Ishmaelites aka the Hagarenes: descendants of Ishmael and Hagar, ancestors of the Arabs (the Arab League attacked Israel in 1948, and has led a continuous political war against Israel ever since)
• Moab and Ammon, which were the children of Lot: Jordan, which attacked Israel in 1948 and 1967
• the Philistines: lived in Gaza, which was occupied by Egypt in 1948, 1956 and 1967, Since 1994, it has been the base for rocket attacks by the PLO and Hamas
• Gebal and Tyre: in present-day Lebanon, which attacked Israel in 1948 and has served as a base for rocket attacks by Hizbullah
• Assyria: in northern Iraq, formerly ruling all of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Gaza and Egypt. Iraq and Syria joined in the attacks on Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973

All these countries are conspicuously absent in the attack by Turkey and allies on Israel in Ezekiel 38-39; and Isaiah 19 even prophesies that they will be at peace with Israel in the future. I think their days of attacking Israel are over, so the "Psalm 83 Phase" of the Anti-Israel War is essentially over. The only remnants of it are the rocket attacks from Gaza and Lebanon, and the pathetic "Intifada". Even those are really attacks by puppeteers Iran and Turkey.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".