Setting the Table -continued

(I don't know why this didn't go out Fri.  Sorry about that ;maybe because I didn't include a picture)

"Oh God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still" (Psalm 83:1).

Hey Gang:  I have a problem with my lawn.  It began a couple years ago with a tiny spot where it appeared the grass had been stricken with some weird disease and had died.  And each year since, the spot has increased in size until this year it covers a spot twenty feet square.  I do believe that if I do not find out what is causing this rapid growth of decay, I will have no lawn for it seems bent on conquering every inch of it. 

On top of this the moles have added to my woes; they have invaded from every side and my yard is covered with underground caverns as they seek  their daily ration of grubs.  But today is invasion day.  I am not going to go down without a fight.  I will roll my lawn, lime my yard, fertilize my lawn and I will attack the grubs in my lawn and I will not stop until I am victorious over my lawn. 

Since Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948, I have watched a similar process happening to Israel.  I keep asking the question, “Why the Obama's of the world think they have the right to dictate to Israel what they will do with their land?”  I am often asked, “Where is the United States in prophecy?” And I refer them to the Zechariah 12:3: "And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it “-(Jerusalem)". 

My focus this morning is on the participants of Psalm 83, because I believe one very simple spark by one simple-minded person could initiate the Psalm's 83 wars.  But, as you read Psalm's 83, be advised the hatred for Israel is not restricted to these countries but has encompassed the entire world. 

In my travels I have learned that most folks today believe the Old Testament was nixed in importance when Christ arrived on the scene.  They read passages like Psalm 83 and say, that was for another day.  They do not have a clue that each of the countries listed in Psalm 83 is alive and well and have a deep hatred for Israel. All are armed and battle ready to attack the "apple of God's eye". 

They do not take the time to dig into the passage and discover what nations God is talking about here,   the Tents of Edom refers to the Palestinians refugees of Southern Jordan.  The Ismaelites are today's Saudi Arabians; Moab consist of Central Jordan and Palestinian refugees; the Hagrites refer to Egypt;  Gebal is Northern Lebanon today;  Ammon is located in Northern Jordan; Amalek is located in the Negev and Sinai Peninsula areas;  Philistia, much in the news lately, is located in The Gaza Strip controlled by  Hamas; Tyre, is located in Southern Lebanon and consists of Hezbollah and Assyria, which is also much in the news today, now located in war torn Syria and Northern war torn Iraq. 

  

If you look at your map and locate all of these nations you will see the ring of terror that surrounds Israel is nearly complete.  The only hole is Jordan; there is, growing upheaval by the Palestinians within Jordan that could take King Abdullah down and complete the  circle.  A new menace in the form of ISIS, has also declared that Jordan is on their hit list.  Bill Salas refers to this as the Inner Circle of nations.  We will deal with the "Outer Circle of Ezekiel 38-39 at a later time.

Now, notice verse nine, "Deal with them as with Midian".  A side trip to Judges 7:1-24 gives us the history of Gideon and his defeat of the Medians, a massive enemy with three hundred men, empty pitchers in their hands, and very loud voices.   I believe God, with this example and the others listed, is saying that Israel will do most of the fighting in this war.  Ezekiel 37:10 tells us that Israel will be blessed with an exceedingly great army.  

It is the humble belief of this writer that we could wake up tomorrow and this war could being waged.  I suspect it will not be a long war, for when the wars have gone bad for the Arab's they tend to seek the ‘Peace of Saladin’ to give them time to rearm and try again at a later date.  Kind of like Satan in his dealing with Jesus in the wilderness.  When Satan saw he was not going to get anywhere with Jesus, he decided it was better to split and wait for a more opportune time. (Luke 4:13). In the final battles that are yet to come, there will be no better times for Satan and his minions.

Blessings,

Gramps