Is the Church identified in Psalm 83?

by Bill Salus

Recently I received and email asking a very interesting Church related question regarding the "hidden ones" of Psalm 83:3.

They [Arab confederates] have taken crafty counsel against Your people [national Israel], And consulted together against Your sheltered [hidden] ones. (Psalm 83:3; NKJV) Some translations use the word "hidden" instead of sheltered.
Question: I have a question concerning Psalm 83:3 and its link with Isaiah 26:20. The last section of the Psalm verse reads..” and consulted against thy hidden ones “, and Isaiah explains who these are that are hiding. I understand these passages refer to the Saints/Church.

That being the case would not the inference in the psalm be that the Church has already been taken before the fulfillment of that prophecy?

Kindest Regards
Garry M.Answer: Brother Gary, since Psalm 83 appears to be a Pre-Tribulation event, I presume that makes you a a Pre-Trib Rapture believer. I'm also a Pre-Tribber. In fact, I get goose bumps at the sound of a trumpet. However, I don't believe the Church is identified anywhere in Psalm 83. Furthermore, since the Rapture is an imminent event, Psalm 83 is about to occur, and the Church is still present, it is very possible that Christians may witness the final fulfillment of Psalm 83.

In Psalm 83:3, the Hebrew word for "hidden" in "hidden ones" is Tsaphan. This word does not appear in Isaiah 26:20 or anywhere else in the book of Isaiah. The first usage of Tsaphan is in Exodus 2:2-3 alluding to the baby Moses being hidden by his mother from Pharaoh's edict of death in Egypt. At the time all newborn Hebrew males were being killed at birth in order to keep the Hebrew ethnicity weak and enslaved. However, a remnant led by Moses ultimately survived and departed for the Promised Land.

Typologically, from an end time’s perspective, the mother of Moses likely represents national Israel and Moses, the faithful end time’s remnant that eventually emerges from within it. Similarly, the next usage of Tsaphan is found in Joshua 2:4 whereby Rahab was hiding the two spies. These two also typologically signify a select sub-group or remnant of Israel.

I believe that Psalm 83:3 alludes to both national Israel (Your people), which exists today in a condition of unbelief, and the faithful remnant (hidden ones) that comes out from national Israel in the end times in a condition of belief. Although the faithful remnant hasn’t emerged yet from within Israel, one will in the Tribulation period. They are currently “Tsaphan”, within national Israel. Presently, they remain unidentified but probably exist on the world scene somewhere unknowingly. However, omniscient God knows who and where they are.

Psalm 83 represents a genocidal attempt of the Jews and the final destruction of the Jewish State, that the name Israel be remembered no more. (Ps. 83:4). Geo-politically the Arab confederates want to destroy Israel and confiscate the Promised Land. We see this stage setting in the Middle East today. Geo-prophetically, Satan wants to destroy all Jews worldwide, especially the infamous coming faithful remnant, to prove God is not a covenant keeper.

In Genesis 13:15, 22:17, and elsewhere, God unconditionally promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, descendants forever. In Genesis 15:18 these patriarchs were promised land from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates in Iraq and Syria. The Psalm 83 Arabs dwell upon a majority of this “Holy Land” today. They want to destroy the Jews and possess the land (Psalm 83:12).

Psalm 83 represents the first of three end time’s genocidal attempts against the Jews. Ezekiel 38 & 39 appears to follow soon and sequentially on the heels of Psalm 83. In Ezekiel’s prophecy Russia, Iran, Turkey, and several other nations will confederate to kill the Jews and confiscate the plunder and booty that Israel will possess after they defeat the Psalm 83 confederacy.

Lastly, the Antichrist will muster up his Armageddon forces in the Tribulation Period in a final Jewish genocidal attempt. This is when the Tsaphan, faithful remnant, of Israel will emerge. They become the saved remnant of Romans 9:27 and 11:26. They are also the “sons of the living God” in Hosea 1:10 and Romans 9:26. I believe the Psalmist Asaph was informing us that Israel’s Arab enemies will attempt to kill all Jews, even the hidden faithful end time’s remnant, so that God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be broken.

Although the Church may be here to witness Psalm 83, it does not appear to be indentified anywhere in the Psalm. Psalm 83 is Satan's attempt to inspire the Islamic Arabs that hate and surround Israel to destroy the Jews and the Jewish State in order to prove God is a promise breaker. In fact, the Church needs to come out of hiding on Psalm 83 and preach the possibility that it’s about to find final fulfillment.

Best reading regards
Bill Salus
info@isralestine.net

Understanding the Geopolitics of Zionism vs. Palestinianism

By Bill Salus

Presently there are two conflicting ideologies competing for sovereignty over the Holy Land. They are Zionism and Palestinianism. Recognizing their powerful affects upon the geo-politics of the Promised Land is prerequisite for achieving a comprehensive understanding of what’s driving today’s Israeli - Palestinian conflict.

On the surface this conflict appears as a resolvable territorial dispute of strategic soil inside the Fertile Crescent, but at the core it involves the complexities of the angelic conflict, Arab hatred of the Jew, and ultimately, the epic battle between good and evil. God’s covenant making character is held in contest by Satan and it’s acting out in its final stages through this Mideast conflict.

The world wants to broker a two state solution forcing Israel to forfeit land to the Palestinians assuming this will enable the two ethnicities to live side by side in lasting peace. However, genocide of the Jew, not peace with the Jew, is the end game of Israel’s enemies. It always has been and always will be until the Messiah, Jesus Christ, returns to punish Satan and subsequently set up the millennial kingdom bringing peace on earth and goodwill to men.

Satan determined long ago that his best course of action to discredit God’s character was to destroy the “apple of God’s eye”, the Jewish people. A careful review of Hebrew history dating back to the time of Moses’ conflict with Pharaoh, on to Haman’s Persian genocidal plot of the Jews, followed by Herod’s “Babes of Bethlehem”, and more recently Adolph Hitler’s holocaust attempt, offers sufficient historical precedent attesting to this truth.

The International Community wants Israel to give back lands captured by the Israeli Defense Forces in the aftermath of the six day war of 1967. According to Genesis 15:18 these territories belong to today’s Israeli descendants of Abraham. This Holy Land standoff between Satan and God, played out through the Arabs and Jews, is what the world witnesses almost daily on the 6 o’clock news.

The underpinnings of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict are indelibly rooted in their contemporaneous struggle for religious and geo-political autonomy in the Biblical Promised Land. It is an ideological war between Zionism and Palestinianism.

The term Zionism was coined by Nathan Birnbaum and later popularized by Theodor Herzl in his 1896 book entitled Der Judenstaat (the Jewish State in German). Zionism, as it was originally understood, advocated the best way to avoid the Anti-Semitism spreading rampantly throughout Europe at the time was to create an independent Jewish State in Palestine.

The word was derived from Mount Zion in Jerusalem, which was the historic symbol of the Jewish homeland since 6th Century BC. Today Zionism banners the Israeli government's view that it is Israel’s God given right to possess their fair portion of the Holy Land and to declare a Jewish State therein.

Conversely, Palestinianism is a term the Egyptian born British scholar, Bat Yeor, alludes to in her 2005 book “Eurabia”. Palestinianism condenses jihadist values, by promoting the destruction of Israel and the denial of Hebrew biblical history and hence Christianity. It preaches Islamic replacement theology and the Arabization and Islamization of the Holy Land’s biblical archeology.

In a nutshell, Zionism promotes the rightful existence of a Jewish State in the Holy Land and Palestinianism vehemently opposes any such State! This is why the Palestinians and the preponderance of their Arab and Persian supporters today refuse to accept Israel’s right to exist. In fact, it is almost impossible to find a Palestinian school text book that includes a Middle East map with Israel located upon it.

Additionally, Palestinianism is at the center of Arab Nationalism. The Palestinian refugee plight ignites the Arabs to unite and will ultimately cause many of them to collectively fight against Israel. With each passing conventional Arab – Israeli war or conflict the Palestinianism rally call gains more momentum among Israel's predominately Islamic enemies. Ultimately it seemingly escalates into the climactic concluding Arab – Israeli war foretold to come in Psalm 83.

Secular world leaders can’t fix the Middle East problem because it is a deeply rooted in the supernatural. In the center of the geo-political equation are the three major religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, listed in the order of their advent upon the world scene. Many Jews and Christians believe God gave the disputed Mideast territories to the Jews for their eternal homeland called “Israel”. Conversely, the pro-Palestinian Arabs and Persians seek the creation of one final Arab State instead called “Palestine”. They perform Islamic Jihad to accomplish this end.

Presently this ideological controversy has pushed the Middle East to the brink of war. Decade old political attempts to resolve the matter through land for peace deals have served to salt the wound. The Promised Land in question is the central issue and threatening to take it from Israel and dangling it like a carrot on a stick in front of the Palestinians is like playing Robin Hood for all the wrong reasons. It portrays Israel as the wealthy villain and the Palestinians as the unjustly impoverished.

Israel in political moves of conciliation has attempted to appease the Arabs and Palestinians by withdrawing from portions of the disputed territories. In May of 2000 Israel unilaterally withdrew from the security zone in Southern Lebanon only to be punished by a 34 day conflict in the summer of 2006 with Hezbollah. Four thousand rockets struck Israeli soil during that conflict. Today, less than four years later, Hezbollah has 15 times as many rockets (60,000) inclusive of scud missiles recently obtained from Syria.

However, the fateful pivotal episode that should lead to the soon coming Mother of all Mideast wars occurred in the summer of 2005. That dreadful August Israel’s government experienced enormous pressure from the George W. Bush American administration to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza. Gush Katif was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements inside of Gaza at the time. At the risk of provoking an Israeli civil war, these Gush Katif settlers were forced to vacate their homes. Some of them still seek proper assimilation back into Israeli society today.

On the day the last settler was removed from Gush Katif the storm clouds of Hurricane Katrina were forming over the Atlantic. In probable fulfillment of the curse for curse in kind clause contained in Genesis 12:3, America was forced into its own Katrina refugee crisis much like was created in Israel as result of Gush Katif.

That following January 2006 the Palestinians elected the Hamas of the Gaza territory, a vowed enemy of Israel, as their representative government. George Bush did nothing to prevent this from occurring. In fact, he had previously publicly discounted the potential for a Hamas election victory over the Fatah party. Shortly thereafter, Hamas began to indiscriminately lob Katusha rockets into neighboring Israeli cities.

This led to the 22 day Operation Cast Lead war between Israel and Hamas in December 2008. This conflict, in my prophetic estimation, is the straw that may end up breaking the camel’s back. This conflict caught Hamas’ allies with their tales between their legs. None of them were able to do anything but rattle their sabers from the sidelines. This infuriated them as it mocked the fabric of their supposed Arab Nationalism in support of Palestinianism.

However, this is not the case today. Hamas’ friends are boldly showing their disdain toward Israel. Turkey, for instance, has severed most of their political ties with Israel. By Turkey’s own admission, this is a direct result of Israel’s decisive victory in Operation Cast Lead. Additionally, bonafide war pacts were confirmed in December 2009 between Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas. This means that should Hamas be attacked by Israel in the future, which holds a high degree of probability, Israel runs the risk of provoking a major Mideast war.

Furthermore, Lebanon’s president Michel Suleiman has pledged his support to Hezbollah in the likely event Israel and Hezbollah go toe to toe again. Even Israel’s moderate peace partner Jordan’s King Abdullah is warning of a summer time 2010 war if a Palestinian - Israeli peace is not achieved immediately.

Jeremiah 12:14-17 informs us that the Arabs of Palestine, i.e. today’s Palestinian Refugees, were to be assimilated into their ancient surrounding Arab homelands. The Arab nations that were to assimilate these refugees have chosen to banner their refugee plight rather than bear the burden of their resettlement. Historically many of these Arab nations warred against each other, however today they are unified in their support for Palestinianism and opposition of Zionism.

Palestinianism and Zionism have no common ground. They represent opposing ideologies. Allowing them to coexist is a recipe for disaster. The scripturally supported solution is for the Arabs to support Zionism, abandon Palestinianism, and resettle the Palestinian refugees back into their historical homelands. According to the forthcoming foretold prophetic episodes described in Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38, and elsewhere, this is not the course Israel’s modern day enemies apparently take.

Why Arabs Hate Jews!

by Bill Salus

Present Middle East hostilities between the Arabs and Jews can be traced to a disposition of hatred originating almost four thousand years ago. At that time God made an unconditional covenant with the Hebrew patriarch Abraham. Due to the inherent blessings contained within this covenant, the infamous family characters of the Bible; Hagar, Ishmael, Esau, Moab, Ammon, and Amalek, coveted the contents of this covenant. These jealous individuals and their descendants that followed came to hate the Hebrews, the heirs of this blessed covenant.

Throughout time the neighboring Gentile peoples of the region found it advantageous to embrace rather than resist this adversarial disposition. Ultimately it evolved into a cleverly conceived religious package giving it license to unleash itself in a holy war. The “Jihad”, as it is often labeled, presently underway in the Middle East, finds its justification in Islam, but its roots are in this longstanding hatred.

The Bible describes this disposition as an ancient hatred or in some translations a perpetual enmity. The two Hebrew words are olam ebah, and when used together they describe a condition stemming back long ago in ancient times, perpetuated throughout time, manifesting into hostility with no apparent end in sight. They are only paired together in the entire Bible in these two passages listed below:

"Because you have had an ancient (olam) hatred (ebah), and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end. (Ezekiel 35:5 NKJV; emphasis added)

'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because the Philistines dealt vengefully and took vengeance with a spiteful heart, to destroy because of the old (olam) hatred (ebah).” (Ezekiel 25:15 NKJV; emphasis added)

The first passage refers contextually to Mount Seir located in Edom, which is the territory of Esau . Today this area is known as Southern Jordan. In the Ezekiel 35:5 passage we see that the hatred was "had", or spawned, in the territory most closely associated with Esau. In the second passage of Ezekiel 25:5 we find that the Philistines embraced what was already preconditioned ("because of") in Edom by Esau. Today what was formerly known as Philistia, the land of the Philistines, is now sometimes referred to as "Hamastan", home of the Hamas, in the Gaza Strip. In both scriptures it is an enmity exhibited exclusively against the Jewish people. For a better understanding of the conflicts between the twin brothers Esau and Jacob, click here to read my article "The Twin Prophecies of Jacob and Esau".

The Bible teaches that this continuous and contagious disposition of hatred will evidence itself in a final Arab - Israeli showdown. It predicts a major war in the Middle East between those Arab nations that have refused to abandon the angered ancient attitude of their ancestors, and the Jews. It amounts to the final contest over the blessed contents contained within the Abrahamic covenant! The victor is once and for all exalted as the true heir apparent! This soon coming war is described in Psalm 83 and is the central theme of my book; Isralestine, The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East.

This article briefly identifies below the roots of the hatred through scriptural accounts centered on the main patriarchs of the modern day Middle Eastern peoples. Much of the population in the region has their heritage traceable back to the patriarchs contained within this article. These ancestors were notable characters on the world scene, from which several historical nations were born.

These individuals were involved in significant events relative to the plan of God intended for the benefit of man. Therefore their interactions proved to be consequential in the history and development of the Middle East. The attitudes they adopted have been kept alive in the region throughout time immemorial.

In order to understand the family feuds that took place between the Arab and Israeli patriarchs it helps to note that Abraham was a legendary figure during his day. By the time the blessed Abrahamic Covenant was issued and popularized throughout the Holy Land, Abraham had undergone several significant notorious events.

In the Genesis 12:10-20 encounter between Abraham and Pharaoh, Abraham's notoriety became widespread throughout Egypt. Subsequently, Genesis 14 informs us that Abraham fought in a Mideast battle to redeem his nephew Lot from captivity. In the aftermath of Abraham's victory we see that the seven influential kings of Shinar, Ellasar, Elam, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar esteemed Abraham mightily. A theme also picked up in Hebrews 7:1.

With Abraham's infamy firmly in place, rivalries began to take place between Sarah and Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, the Israelites and their cousins the Moabites and Ammonites, and lastly the Great-Great grandchildren of Abraham, the Hebrews and the Amalakites (Genesis 36:12). These family feuds centered on, Hagar's, Ishmael's, Esau's, Moab's, Ammon's, and Amalek's coveting of the content of the Abrahamic Covenant. The chapter called "Olam Ebah", The Ancient Arab hatred of the Jews in Isralestine details the adversarial episodes that took place between the patriarchs according to the references below:

Sarah vs. Hagar - Genesis 16, Genesis 21
Isaac vs. Ishmael - Genesis 16 - 17, Genesis 21
Jacob vs. Esau - Genesis 25 - 28, Genesis 32-33
Israelites vs. Moabites and Ammonites - Numbers 22- 25, Judges 3, Judges 10-11, 2 Kings 3, 2 Chronicles 20.
Hebrews and Amalakites - Numbers 14, Judges 3.

Disputes developed and festered over time throughout the Middle East among the above patriarchal kinships. All of them staked claim to portions of the Promised Land. As per Genesis 13:8-11, Moab and Ammon claimed rights to modern day Central and Northern Jordan. As per Genesis 36, Esau and his Edomite descendants declared sovereignty over modern day Southern Jordan. Additionally, several other ancient non-family related populations like the Philistines, Assyrians, Syrians, and Tyrians staked their own territorial claims around Israel as well.

Deep rooted concerns developed among these peoples over Israelite claims to the land promised them through Abraham as per Genesis 15:18. Even today, Arabs adamantly refute Israelite claims to this territory.

The reestablishment of the nation Israel on May 14, 1948 served as a deafening echo of the past to the surrounding Arab States of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. The Arab nations responded with wars in 1948, 1967 and 1973 in an attempt to eliminate the Jewish nation to settle the territorial dispute. While all of these Arab States regained their national identity in the aftermath of World Wars I & II, most of them still refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist as the Jewish State.

Whenever a Jew tries to raise a blue and white flag over more Middle East land, the Arab states turn red with anger as the ancient Arab hatred of Israel is re-kin-dled. Psalm 83:4 declares there are Arabs who hate the LORD. Psalm 83:6-8 identifies them as Hagar, Ishmael, Esau, Moab, Ammon, and Amalek. Ultimately, this ancient Arab hatred of God's covenantal promises to the Jews that has incubated in the Middle East for centuries will manifest into the Psalm 83 war. It is at that fateful point that the Israeli Defense Forces, empowered by the LORD, (Ezekiel 25:14, Obadiah 1:18) will put to rest the age old disposition of the Arab hatred toward Israel and conclusively settle the territorial disputes.

Ezekiel 37:10 foretells of today's Israeli Defense Forces. They are emerging today, please watch video below.


Enjoy Jordan Chaviv's video called "We Will Survive" regarding Israel