Where Is This Going?

As everyone knows, on Saturday, October 7, Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas struck Israeli territory with a barrage of about 3,000 missiles, thanks in large part to a temporary and suspiciously ill-timed failure of their Iron Dome air defense system. At the same time, waves of Hamas terrorists penetrated Israeli territory, killing over 1,300 innocent civilians (with a documented focus on young children, women, and the elderly), and taking over 200 hostages alive back to Gaza.

The next day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially declared the nation of Israel to be at war with Hamas. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) called up 300,000 reserves and swiftly cleared Israeli territory of all terrorists, and began launching airstrikes on Gaza. In addition, Israeli ground troops have begun moving into Gaza to attack enemy sites and rescue hostages.

I'm going to leave off with the intro right there, because this article obviously isn't meant to be an up-to-the-minute report on the conflict itself—I'm not trying to earn my War Correspondence Merit Badge. So much is happening so fast that people can scarcely keep up with it, and heaven only knows what will have transpired by the time I post this article. But that's OK, because the current state of the conflict is not my primary focus—it's prophecy. Plus, I'm sure you are getting all the news you need from any number of sources.

To say that this recent attack has the prophecy community in a tizzy is an understatement. Watchmen the world over are burning the midnight oil, doing their God-given best to sort things out and get a handle on what this means and where this is going in terms of end-time prophecy, and for many of those watchmen two particular events have become the primary focus:

The attacks described in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38–39.

The first thing I want to do in this article is take a fresh look at Psalm 83 in order to (a) patch up some misunderstandings I had about it up until recently, and (b) offer a view of it that is different from what I previously held. (You know me: When I realize that I'm wrong about something in regard to biblical interpretation, I don't fudge on it—I fix it.) I also want to consider possible ways in which the current conflict in the Middle East could ultimately impact or relate to the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39 and other major end-time events.

After all, most prophetically aware believers understand that the attack of Gog-Magog is a key prophetic event coming in the foreseeable future—and I don't plan to get carried away and end up putting too much emphasis on the issue of timing or anything, but the big, overriding question on everyone's mind right now is reflected in the title:

Where is this going?

I doubt very much that this article will answer all your questions, but I pray that it will at least clarify a few of the elements of the scenario we are looking at today and help you focus your attention on the right things and in the right direction so you don't go adrift in a sea of semi-scriptural speculation.

Setting things straight

Prophecy watchers have a wide variety of opinions on the particulars concerning the conflicts described in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38–39 and their possible relationship, and a truckful of books have been written about them over the last decade or two. Personally, I have devoted a lot more time and attention to Ezekiel 38–39 than to Psalm 83, which I have only briefly addressed in an article entitled "The Turning Point" back in May of 2018.

I recently went back and reread what I wrote in that article, however, and it wasn't long before it hit me right between the eyes:

I got it wrong.

And I mean bad wrong. Now, I admit that at the time I wrote that article, I had been largely unimpressed by the efforts of some to sell the idea that Psalm 83 was yet future and preceded the attack of Ezekiel 38–39, and in one particular section of the article I linked to above I listed three reasons why I disagreed with the idea that Psalm 83 was a distinct attack that preceded Gog-Magog, as well as why I was inclined to believe that Psalm 83 and Gog-Magog were actually (gasp) two different descriptions of the same attack.

The "some" I am referring to were spearheaded by Bill Salus, who had published a prophecy bestseller five years earlier entitled PSALM 83: The Missing Prophecy Revealed (2013). In what would become known as the Salus scenario, the people groups listed in Psalm 83 constitute the inner-ring countries that closely surround Israel, and they attack it at some point prior to Gog-Magog and are destroyed by the IDF. Israel then proceeds to take over most of the territory of these inner-ring countries and as a result greatly expands into a Middle-Eastern superpower, until they are subsequently threatened by the outer-ring countries (Russia, Iran, Turkey, et al.) in the attack of Gog-Magog and Israel is defended by the hand of God Himself.

Well, I give Bill an A+ for creativity (and a D– for following Scripture in anything resembling a sensible manner). Straight up: The Salus scenario is a flight of fancy that makes for a far better movie script than a plausible interpretation of Scripture...so much so that I'm mildly surprised Hollywood hasn't pounced on it (unless it has already inspired a low-budget "apocaflick" that I'm blissfully unaware of.)

So, here are the three points I discussed in that 2018 article I linked to above to explain why I disagreed with the Salus scenario and was tempted to think that Psalm 83 was the same attack described in Ezekiel 38–39, followed by some comments to clarify how I missed it:

1. The players:

Ezekiel lists people groups that correspond to the modern nations of Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya, Sudan (which many people don't realize was known as "Ethiopia" in Ezekiel's day), and possibly Algeria and Tunisia that would mount an existential attack on Israel in Ezekiel 38:1–6, but then cryptically states that the attack would include "many peoples with you" in verse 9. Well, "peoples" means "nations" here, so is it really such a stretch to think that those "many peoples" might include the inner-ring countries mentioned in Psalm 83?

Remarks: Although in reality it is plausible that some of the Psalm 83 players could join in with the A-team of Ezekiel 38–39, this is speculative and certainly no reason to assume Psalm 83 is the same attack as Gog-Magog. In fact, as we shall see in point no. 3, it is scripturally impossible for Psalm 83 and Gog-Magog to be the same attack. And, perhaps ironically, it is also impossible in the Salus scenario because in Bill's game plan all the inner-ring countries are attacked by the IDF and taken over by Israel before we even get to Gog-Magog (which, as we shall see, is a problem). And that begs a key question:

Will the inner-ring countries really be destroyed by the IDF and annexed by Israel in the aftermath of Psalm 83, enabling Israel to balloon into a genuine Middle-Eastern superpower??

Keep reading.

2. The goals:

The stated reason for the Psalm 83 attack is to wipe Israel out as a nation so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more (Psalm 83:4). The stated reason for the attack of Gog-Magog is take a spoil (Ezek. 38:11–12). The Salus scenario seems to suggest that these two objectives are sufficiently different to warrant viewing them as two different attacks. But since the spoil here is natural resources (gas), these two objectives aren't just not mutually exclusive, they go hand in hand:

Q. How do you take a country's natural resources?

A. You defeat and take over that country.

Remarks: Although I still believe the basic idea behind this has some degree of validity, it's really neither here nor there and certainly doesn't prove these two conflicts are one and the same. For example, if the players of Psalm 83 actually were to wipe Israel out as a nation, I'm sure they would be more than happy to help themselves to Israel's huge natural gas deposits—Gog or no Gog.

But here's the kicker:

3. The results:

Both attacks end the same way: The nation of Israel as well as the nations of the world realize that the God of Israel is the LORD (Psalm 83:17–18; Ezek. 38:23; 39:7, 22). It makes little sense to think that God would deem it necessary to reiterate this result in two attacks in fairly rapid succession, and hence they are most likely the same attack.

BZZZZZZ!!! Wrong answer! Thank you for playing! So...what do we have for our loser, Vanna?

Remarks: This is where I missed it big time—there's more to it than that. Two key issues we have to get straight in regard to the Psalm 83 players are (a) how and (b) when they are destroyed. So bear with me—I'll get us there.

There is a subtlety to Psalm 83 that is easily overlooked, but it is crucial for a proper interpretation of the psalm. Here is the passage in question, which is the second half of the psalm:

Note with care the tone of these statements: The psalmist is basically just praying that God would ultimately judge and punish these inner-ring countries for the way they mistreat Israel so that men (i.e. the whole world) will know God is the LORD. In other words:

The psalmist isn't saying that God does those things right then and there—he is praying that God would do those things at some point.

Simply put, it's a lament followed by a prayer for God to act (also referred to as a "lament prayer" or an "imprecatory prayer"). In other words, many have expressed legitimate doubts as to whether Psalm 83 is really a prophecy at all, and claim it's just a prayer for God to judge Israel's neighborhood enemies. I won't be overly dogmatic about it, but at this point I am inclined to agree.

Gotta be: Bill Salus argues that one of the 10 players of Psalm 83 (Assyria) wasn't an enemy of Israel until well after the psalm was written, which proves that it's gotta be a real prophecy—but this is speculative. It's more likely due to lingering questions over the authorship and date of the psalm. A number of Bible scholars argue that it could have very easily been written "to" or "for" Asaph (rather than "by" Asaph) many years later.

For example, notice that Psalm 83 is conspicuously lacking in the telltale characteristics that earmark many Old Testament prophecies. Most prophecies contain structural elements that clue the reader in that it's a prophecy (such as lines written in the first person singular from what would appear to be God's point of view: "I will turn you back, and put hooks into your jaws..."). It reads like a prophecy; it sounds like a prophecy. There are obvious clues that tell us it's a prophecy ("The word of the LORD came to me..."). But Psalm 83 lacks any of that, and reads and sounds just like what I said: a lament followed by a prayer for God to act. In other words:

About the only reason anyone today considers Psalm 83 to be a prophecy set to be fulfilled during the run-up to the Tribulation is because someone published a highly speculative prophecy bestseller to that effect.

But in Ezekiel 38–39 (which is obviously a prophecy in every sense of the word), things are quite different. Now it is God telling us through His servant the prophet what He is going to do, and He makes it quite clear when He is going to do it. Here's a section of the prophecy to illustrate the point:

This is clearly not just someone praying for God to someday judge and punish countries who continually attack and harass Israel: It's God Himself telling us that He is going to carry out His judgment and punish these nations for even attempting such an attack on the apple of His eye.

In other words, He's not going to merely respond to the attack, He's going to intervene and stop it Himself as soon as it gets off the ground.

God tells us straight out that He Himself will miraculously crush this massive attack (because Israel will have no one else to turn to), and the last verse (v. 23) tells us that the world will know He is the LORD—and Ezekiel 39:7 and 22 make it clear that this also applies to the Jews themselves. As I have discussed previously, I believe it is clear that Gog-Magog is the event that God uses to turn His attention back to His people Israel and begin the unhardening process that He applied to them following their rejection of His Son their Messiah, and bring them back into a relationship with Him. This process will culminate in the purging of Israel and the drawing out of the believing Jewish remnant who will be preserved through the Tribulation and ultimately ushered alive into the Millennial Kingdom when Christ returns.

Note that this is one key scriptural reason why I believe the Rapture will occur at some point before God's intervention in Gog-Magog: After the Rapture, God is finished with the Church and can proceed to turn His attention back to Israel. The Church is home and dry.

Now, as far as the final answer to the prayer of Psalm 83 is concerned, God does indeed judge and punish those people groups mentioned for attacking Israel. But rather than being destroyed by the IDF in fighting that (a) precedes the attack of Gog-Magog (as in the Salus scenario) or (b) corresponds to Gog-Magog (as in my stupid mistake), Scripture makes it clear that God judges and punishes these nations during the Day of the LORD when He judges the Christ-rejecting nations of the world during the seven-year Tribulation.

The 10 people groups mentioned in Psalm 83 have been absorbed into the Arab/Muslim nations that surround Israel today, but a number of these peoples are specifically mentioned by name in various places in the Old Testament as being judged by God during the Day of the LORD. For example:

Edom and Moab: Numbers 24:17–19
Assyria and Ammon: Zephaniah 2:8–11
Philistia and Tyre (and probably Gebal): Joel 3:4–8

Some of these nations are mentioned as being judged during the Day of the LORD in several places in Scripture, not just the references I have listed above—this is just a taste to show you what I mean (and details may depend on the translation). God finally answers the psalmist's prayer and judges the people groups in Psalm 83 when He pours out His judgment on a Christ-rejecting world during the Tribulation. And I scarcely see how anyone can miss this:

That means none of the inner-ring countries are attacked and taken over by Israel before the Tribulation as per the Salus scenario.

And that means it is demonstrably wrong—and it also means the final answer to the prayer of Psalm 83 that asks God to judge the nations that come against Israel can neither precede nor correspond to Ezekiel 38–39. One reason I say that is because, as I discussed in some depth in a previous article, Gog-Magog virtually must precede the Tribulation—it makes no sense whatsoever to place it at any point during the outpouring of judgments of the Tribulation proper. In fact, Gog-Magog helps create the scenario that will give rise to the treaty of Daniel 9:27 that begins the Tribulation.

So Bill Salus was wrong, but so was I—the chief difference being that I am doing my level best to go back and get it right, and Bill is still doing his level best to defend what he wrote in order to sell his book. And forgive me if I sound a bit cynical, but man...it grieves me when I think of some of the prophecy bestsellers that have lined the shelves of Christian bookstores over the last 20 years. This is a classic example of how many people get their foot in the door of the Christian publishing industry today:

Come up with an intriguing scenario that's at least marginally scriptural but that's a little bit "out there" that's guaranteed to grab the attention of many prophetically inclined believers, and then continue to push and sell that idea and support it for all you're worth to maximize sales.

Works like a charm.

So, in spite of any surface similarities some claim these two conflicts possess (like I foolishly did five years ago), the fact that the grand finale of Psalm 83 and the grand finale Gog-Magog clearly do not mesh scripturally is a telling difference. And what it's telling me loud and clear is these two conflicts simply cannot be the same.

Armageekiel: This reminds me of one reason why I am inclined to disagree with those who want to cast Ezekiel 38–39 as the battle of Armageddon. (Yes, some do, as I discovered to my surprise recently.) I mean, I get it...yes, there are some similarities—but I would respond to that the same way I respond to post-tribbers who want so desperately to read the Rapture in place of the Second Coming in Matthew 24:29–31:

Similarity doth not equivalence make.

For example, they'll say...

"Hey, there's a big earthquake in Ezekiel 38:19, and there's a big earthquake in Revelation 16:18 associated with Armageddon. So they could be the same!"

Well, yeah...but during the end times, there are more earthquakes occurring than you can shake a seismograph at (Matt. 24:7; Rev. 6:12; Rev. 8:5; Rev. 11:13; Rev. 11:19). So...with all due respect, this isn't necessarily the strongest of arguments.

So the bottom line is that I was stone-cold wrong when I posited five years ago that Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38–39 share the same outcomes and so are quite likely the same conflict.

They don't and they aren't.

(But hey, I'm lovin' that set of steak knives I got out of it.)

In this section, we have focused on God's ultimate answer to the prayer of Psalm 83, and that involves Him judging and punishing the inner-ring nations that conspire against and attack Israel to wipe it off the map, which He does when He judges the nations of the world during the Tribulation. In contrast, the Gog-Magog players are decimated by the hand of God as soon as they get their attack in gear before the Tribulation.

Now let's turn out attention to the actual attack described in the psalm.

What about the attack itself?

Psalm 83 starts out by describing 10 people groups that immediately surround Israel who seek to do the following:

Clearly, any discussion of Psalm 83 must deal primarily with this attack, not just God's judgment of the perpetrators. In the Salus scenario, the assumption is that this attack has never been fulfilled in the past, but will be prior to the attack described in Ezekiel 38–39. In other words, his scenario is based on the idea that those inner-ring countries surrounding Israel have never attacked it all at one time in the past, and so Psalm 83 must be describing an attack that is still in our future.

But is it? I had actually wondered about this before, but I had never gotten around to really looking into it to any degree. Up until I sat down to write this article, I had always kinda gone along with the widespread assumption that the attack of Psalm 83 was yet future—my big goof was that I wrongly suspected it was the same attack as Gog-Magog.

So as I looked into this question a little deeper, I was surprised to learn that there are highly respected, highly capable proponents of Bible prophecy that are fully satisfied that the attack described in Psalm 83 has occurred before.

According to some, more than once.

I have long been a fan of Amir Tsarfati, a native Israeli who has become a leading voice in prophecy-related news and teaching, and who is the founder of Behold Israel, a non-profit organization whose stated mission is to "provide reliable and accurate reporting on developments in Israel and the region."

While preparing to write this article, I discovered that Amir believes that the attack described in Psalm 83 was carried out during the Israeli War of Independence (May 1948–March 1949), aka the First Arab-Israeli War, in which a coalition of the surrounding Arab states attacked Israel on May 15, 1948—the day after they declared themselves an independent nation.

Later, I stumbled across an interview with Amir (that I cannot find the link to now) in which he states that he believes that not only was Psalm 83 carried out in 1948, but that it happened again in June 1967 during the Six Day War in which Israel recaptured Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

Still later, I discovered that Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum of Ariel Ministries, a highly respected Jewish Bible teacher, also believes the attack described in Psalm 83 occurred in 1948, and also that Gary Ray of Unsealed is convinced it occurred in 1967 during the Six Day War, as does Amir Tsarfati.

These were bolts from the blue for me—I had scarcely given any thought to the idea of the attack described in Psalm 83 occurring in the past. Let alone in modern times. Let alone twice.

Even though I disagreed with Bill Salus and his "Israel takes over a huge chunk of the Middle East" scenario, like many people I casually assumed that he had at least done enough research to be confident that the attack of Psalm 83 had never occurred in the past and so it was a legitimate prophecy with its fulfillment still pending...and thus he felt motivated to write a prophecy bestseller and enlighten us all about it. I mused "Well, maybe Bill Salus knows something Amir Tsarfati doesn't know—maybe he dug up some information that refutes what Arnold, Amir, Gary, and others think." After all:

When you sit down to write a book, it goes without saying that you gotta do a lot of research so you know what you're talking about, right?

Then I ran across a written response from Bill Salus to Amir Tsarfati's opinion that the attack of Psalm 83 had already occurred in 1948. I was genuinely curious to see what Bill had to say, because I had never heard anyone make the type of claims about Psalm 83 that Amir and others were making. It had never even occurred to me that the attack of Psalm 83 might have already been carried out, since I assumed that surely Bill Salus was right on the basic point that its fulfillment was yet future, even if I disagreed with his overall scenario. Bill's response as to why Psalm 83 couldn't have been fulfilled in 1948 centered around the following point (and I am summarizing for brevity and clarity):

The very first people group that Psalm 83 mentions as conspiring to wipe Israel off the map is referred to as "the tents of Edom" (Ps. 83:6). The image of them living in tents is giving us a prophetic clue that this is a reference to Palestinian refugees. And since the Palestinians didn't become refugees until after the First Arab-Israeli War, that means it would have been impossible for those represented by "the tents of Edom" to participate in the conflict itself. For more on this, buy my book.

Yes, that's actually how Bill Salus refutes the idea that Psalm 83 couldn't possibly have been fulfilled in 1948: The "tents of Edom" is clearly a prophetic reference to Palestinian refugees who wouldn't exist until after the war that began in 1948. Seriously. Oh, and by the way, I didn't make up that last bit...he didn't pass up an opportunity to plug his book.

Uhh, no. I'm sorry, but the psalmist uses the phrase "the tents of Edom" for a very special, highly technical reason that flies over the heads of many Bible scholars. Follow along carefully, because this gets deep. The psalmist makes the most erudite use of the phrase "the tents of Edom" because...

They. Lived. In. Tents.

According to some Bible scholars, the Edomites hated the Israelites so deeply that they sought to remain in a condition of readiness to join in with any attack on Israel that cropped up—and they did so on numerous occasions. Thus, there were periods of time when they kept a large number of soldiers camped near the border (in tents) so they would be prepared to mount up and move out quickly join in any such attack. Ergo "the tents of Edom"—which is not a desperately strained reference to a group of Palestinian refugees that would exist three millennia in the future.

Plus, the expression "the tents of (someone)" is used in other places in the Old Testament, with no apparent reference to any future group of modern-day refugees of any kind. For example:

• The tents of Joseph (Ps. 78:67)
• The tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Num. 16:27)
• The tents of Cushan (Hab. 3:7)

Not sure about you, but I'm not aware of there being any tent-dwelling Cushite refugees in the area surrounding Israel at any time in recent years.

Sigh... If there is a moral to the story, it might be:

Think twice before you buy the latest prophecy bestseller.

Personally, I tend to agree with Amir Tsarfati. Since I am now inclined to believe that Psalm 83 is not a prophecy, it doesn't cause me any heartburn at all to think of this attack as being carried out both in 1948 and 1967. It just demonstrates how nothing has ever changed in regard to Israel's enemies and their hatred for God's people and their desire to destroy Israel.

In AD 136, following the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Romans tried to erase the Jews' identity by renaming the region in honor of one of their most hated enemies, the Philistines. It became known as Syria Palestina, and the Romans wanted the name of Israel to be forever forgotten. But in 1948, the name of Israel was remembered once again when Israel became a nation, and that rekindled the Arabs' desire to ensure it would be quickly forgotten and remain so. But with one miracle after another, Israel won round one.

In 1967, it was rinse and repeat: Israel won round two.

Hold that thought. So as we look at the current situation in the Middle East, we turn our attention to the question on everyone's mind:

Where is this going?

OK, quick time out for something that's important. I know there are a lot of good prophecy folks out there right now, watching events unfold in Israel on a daily basis, and many of them are asking the same question:

Is what is happening in the Middle East leading to the fulfillment of Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38–39, both, or neither? Just where is this going?!

It's an important question, because if we go too far astray on this, then we won't properly understand what is happening in the Middle East and the surrounding region today. As a result, instead of boldly pointing people to the Savior because His prophetic Word is coming to pass just as written, we will sink ever deeper into the quicksand of confusion at this critical prophetic juncture and get bogged down contemplating our navels and fumbling through our Bibles for answers that, ideally, we should already have at the ready.

And I guarantee that people who know you are a believer will be asking you questions about this situation.

I've been worn slick in some of my adult English classes in the last few weeks by wonderful Taiwanese people who are keenly aware that I am a born-again believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ and seem to know a few things about the Bible and all that wacky end-time stuff—and who are genuinely curious about what is going on and what this is all about.

Our message to a lost and dying world that is being fast-tracked to an eternity of separation from a holy God who loves them enough to sacrifice the life of His Son so they could be saved should be something along the following lines:

The events we see happening in the world today are following an outline given to us in the Bible thousands of years ago, and that allows us to know for a fact that the Bible is true and that it's exactly what it says it is: God's prophetically confirmed Word. But that prophetically confirmed Word also tells us we are spiritually separated from a holy God who loves us. If we simply seek Him and ask Him in faith to forgive our sins based on the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf, He is faithful and just to forgive us and we will spend eternity with Him in heaven. Otherwise, we will soon endure the storms of judgment that we can see rapidly gathering on the horizon...not to mention face the possibility of being separated from Him for eternity unless we change our minds.

But we need to understand a few things about what the Bible says concerning those prophesied end-time events in order to do that in a way that will show people the truth of God's Word, and that the Holy Spirit can possibly use to get their attention and do what He's been doing to people for the last 2,000 years: penetrating their hearts, convicting them of sin, and drawing them to Christ.

Just as He did with me so many years ago.

So don't presume this is just a technical, academic matter—it's not. We need to get our story straight, so to speak, if we are going to have much influence on a world steeped in lies and deception and in desperate need of the Savior.

Now, the first major question I want to address pertains to this lament psalm that some are anxiously expecting to come to pass in the near future.

Should we be looking for Psalm 83?

So, first question:

Q. Should we be looking at what is happening in the Middle East now and expecting to see the inner-ring countries of Psalm 83 gather to attack Israel?

In a word, no. One thing we have to remember is that we are not seeing the sovereign nations mentioned in Psalm 83 coming against Israel, as Scripture plainly describes. What we are seeing are terrorist organizations that are funded, armed, and controlled by Iran that just happen to operate on the soil of some of these countries come against Israel.

Big difference, and that difference matters. This tells us that what we are looking at now is not the beginning of another round of the Psalm 83 attack.

For example, Gary Ray at Unsealed does a great job in his article of giving a rundown of virulently anti-Israel statements made by Arab leaders in the run-up to the Six Day War, and it clearly demonstrates that this was not just some gang of terrorists funded and directed by another Muslim power, as it is now. These include Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syrian President Nureddin al-Atassi, Syrian Information Minister Mahmoud Zoubi, Syrian Defense Minister Hafez Assad (who later became president), and Iraqi President Abdul Salam Arif, not to mention numerous statements made on various Arab radio broadcasts in the area, all brashly and belligerently calling for Israel to be wiped off the map and the name of Israel to be remembered no more.

The fact that anti-Israel terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and a few other lesser groups are puppets that are funded, armed, and controlled by Iran and are simply operating out of other Arab nations surrounding Israel effectively squelches the notion that what we are witnessing is a round of the attack of Psalm 83—be it the third round (following 1948 and 1967), the second round (following either one of the two), or even the very first round.

It's not—this is pretty much all on Iran...at least so far.

Bottom line: I wouldn't waste my time looking for a repeat of Psalm 83. Now, it's possible a few of those countries could still attack Israel, but don't get hung up looking for a full-blown repeat of it. I look at it this way:

• If Psalm 83 really is prophetic in nature, then the attack portion of it has already been fulfilled at least once, and many would argue twice. Why would it need to be fulfilled a second or even a third time?

• If Psalm 83 is not prophetic in nature (as I am now inclined to believe), then again, there is even less reason to expect that attack to come together a third time. The psalm is simply painting a picture of the never-ending hatred and animosity of those inner-ring countries toward Israel—and the God of Israel.

• Either way, the psalmist's prayer for God's judgment will be answered during the Tribulation, not by the IDF before the Tribulation even begins.

So any way you slice it, I think we can safely dispense with Psalm 83 at this point—I think we are past a full recycling of it.

There is another reason, however, why I don't believe anything like the Salus scenario fits well into the end times. Consider: In many previous situations in which Israel was attacked by enemies, God miraculously helped His people defend themselves. But as the Tribulation draws near, things change. Now God will allow His people to reach the point where they face certain annihilation utterly alone and hopelessly overpowered. Why? Because now He wants them to turn to Him alone rather than their own strength. They will watch in awe as He miraculously and singlehandedly saves them from certain destruction and in so doing turns His face back to them after 2,000 years in order to re-establish His relationship with them. And why can He do that?

Because He has wrapped things up with the Church, if you catch my drift.

OK, now it's time to look at the big kahuna.

Should we be looking for Ezekiel 38–39?

OK, second question:

Q. Should we be looking at what is happening in the Middle East now and expecting to see the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39?

In a word, yes (although we're not there yet). In regard to Ezekiel 38–39, one of the first things to consider is what conditions must exist in Israel before the attack of Gog-Magog can be launched. As it turns out, we see three such conditions all in one verse:

These three conditions are as follows (and I have listed them in a different order than they appear in Scripture because, as we shall see, no. 3 is the key):

1. Israel must be a land of unwalled villages.
2. Israel must be dwelling safely.
3. Israel must be at rest.

Note that the second item about "dwelling safely" is also mentioned in verse 8 (same Hebrew word), so there's no need to look at that verse separately.

1. Israel must be a land of unwalled villages. Many want to interpret this verse in view of the fact that Israel does have walls today. For example, it has walls along most of the border of the West Bank. So, they say the West Bank Wall and any other walls along Israel's border must all come down before Gog-Magog can be fulfilled. But is that what is being talked about here?

The verse speaks of "unwalled villages," which refers to cities and towns not being protected by walls. In Ezekiel's day, it was common for cities to be fortified—to be protected by walls and gates, and that's clearly the picture the prophet has in mind here. In other words, this verse speaks of Israel as...

In other words, this verse doesn't have to be interpreted as Israel having no walls anywhere along its border. That's not the same thing.

What that means is that Israel today, even with walls along parts of its border, could certainly be considered a "land of unwalled villages," because its villages don't have walls. That is, it appears Israel's cities could readily be attacked by any invading army. As a result, it is entirely possible that folks who think all of Israel's border walls have to be dismantled before Gog-Magog can be fulfilled may be reading a wee bit too much into this verse.

So, in my opinion Israel could easily be considered good to go on this one.

2. Israel must be dwelling safely. When verse 11 says Israel will be "dwelling safely," the Hebrew word used is a form of betach, which conveys the idea of confidence, security, safety, etc. One common way to interpret this word, especially when used in regard to a nation, is "security based on confidence in one's own strength and ability to defend oneself." So...are the people of Israel living in a state of betach today?

Well, they sure were up until October 7, but it's safe to say that the sudden terrorist attack that occurred that day may have put a bit of a dent in their betach, at least temporarily. But having said that, consider:

Q. Ever since the dust settled from that initial attack, what have we seen coming from the Israelis?

A. A steely-eyed resolve to defend themselves through their own strength and do whatever is necessary to eliminate the threat these terrorists pose, coupled with a robust degree of confidence that they can do just that.

So, in spite of all the deluded, pro-Hamas drivel spewing forth from liberal dipsticks, it sounds like Israel got its betach back in a big hurry...assuming it ever really wavered in the first place.

So, in my opinion Israel is good to go on this one as well.

3. Israel must be at rest. As I have discussed in a previous article, the Hebrew word translated "at rest" is shaqat, which generally means to be quiet, undisturbed, calm, etc. When the word is used in reference to a nation, however, the common meaning associated with it is simply to not be in a state of war with anyone (Josh. 11:23; 14:15).

Some can't resist the temptation to interpret this to mean that life in Israel must be like the opening scene from The Sound Of Music, with absolute peace and harmony on every street corner and no disturbances or violence of any kind. But since when is life like that in any country, anytime? That's extremely unrealistic, and it's not what the verse is saying.

Up until the recent terrorist attack, the word shaqat certainly applied to Israel: They were not at war with anyone. But since October 8, the day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an official declaration of war, it no longer does.

The first obvious possibility this suggests to me is that before the attack described in Ezekiel 38–39 can be launched, Israel must stand down from its declaration of war. It may be that Israel has to deal with the terrorist groups that threaten it to the point where it feels it can return to a state of shaqat, which at the time of this writing hasn't happened yet.

So, this one is still pending.

In other words, it's go for launch on (1.) Israel being a land of unwalled villages and (2.) being securely confident in their own strength and ability to defend themselves, so the focus is on point no. 3 concerning shaqat. Scripturally speaking, a nation simply cannot be considered to be in a state of shaqat or "at rest" when they are officially in a state of war. No can do.

So the first possibility is that all that remains to green-light the attack of Gog-Magog is for Israel to stand down from its declaration of war against Hamas, which I assume would occur as soon as they get these demon-oppressed creatures in a headlock and neutralize the threat they pose to a Jewish nation that seeks only to live in peace.

This possibility seems most in line with a plain text reading of Ezekiel 38. Before Russia and friends descend on Israel to "take a spoil," there is only one item that remains to be dealt with and ticked off the list:

Israel must be satisfied that it has dealt
with the immediate terrorist threat, and
stand down from its declaration of war.

Then, at some point after that, an evil thought will arise in Gog's mind, and the Gog-Magog coalition will gather and move in to destroy Israel in order to help themselves to its vast deposits of natural gas.

But there is another possibility that appears to be lurking in the shadows that warrants being mentioned. Israel would not have to stand down from its current declaration of war and return to a state of shaqat if in fact that evil thought already entered Gog's mind, prior to the attack by Hamas on October 7 and while Israel was still in a state of shaqat. In other words:

What if the wheels of Gog-Magog have already begun turning, but instead of kicking off with the main players of Russia, Iran, Turkey, and several Northern African countries all descending on Israel, things get off the ground and start getting warmed up with some preliminary hostilities from Iran's puppets rather than from Iran directly, just to get Israel riled up and fighting back in order to justify a greater onslaught against the Jewish nation? Then at some point after these preliminaries, when Israel has responded with force and done some damage of its own, things break out bad with Ezekiel's listed players just as he describes in chapter 38.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that this could legitimately be considered a somewhat "stretchy" interpretation of Ezekiel 38, however, primarily because the prophet makes no mention of any such "preliminary hostilities" that lead up to the main attack—Ezekiel jumps right into it with the main players. I mention this possibility mainly for the sake of being thorough, and because I honestly can't rule it out completely. Just because Ezekiel doesn't specifically describe it that way doesn't necessarily mean it can't happen that way.

Not only that, but more Russian fingerprints are being found on this Hamas terror attack with each passing day...so much so that it is looking very much as if Russia and Iran were in cahoots with each other on this from the very start, so maybe this idea isn't quite as crazy as it sounds.

The point is that if Israel doesn't have to stand down from its declaration of war to green-light Gog-Magog, I pray you understand what that means:

It means we could be a lot closer to
the Rapture than any of us realize.

But either way, the LORD decimates Gog's forces before they can lay a hand on God's people, and He will do it in a manner that will make both Israel and the nations of the world recognize that He is the LORD. And I've said it before and I have no plans to stop saying it:

Before Gog-Magog goes down,
the body of Christ must go up.

In the aftermath of this decimation of Israel's enemies (not to mention the sudden disappearance of several hundred million people in the Rapture), the world will briefly stagger in the general direction of peace. Before you can say "the man of sin," a charismatic, up-and-coming global peacemaker will step up to help negotiate and ultimately confirm or enforce a peace treaty between a newly emboldened Israel and its now humbled enemies that will pave the way for the Jews to finally rebuild the temple they have been dreaming of for 2,000 years, and a weakened Arab bloc won't have the wherewithal to do anything to stop the "desecration" of what they fancy as their holy place.

And Daniel's 70th Week will be off and running.

Now, no one can say for certain what events may contribute to the shaping and molding of this scenario, but that appears to be the fundamental outline given to us in God's Word.

A ruinous heap? Many believe the run-up to the Tribulation will also include the destruction of Damascus, since they are convinced this is another end-time prophecy that remains to be fulfilled (Isa. 17:1). I decided to forgo the inclusion of Isaiah 17 in this discussion, however, because there certainly isn't universal agreement in the prophecy community on this one. I long believed its fulfillment was pending in the end times, but I have recently discovered that a surprising number of respected prophecy commentators see Isaiah 17 as already being fulfilled in its totality in the eighth century BC by the Assyrians, and see no requirement for an end-time version of its fulfillment.

For example, Mark Hitchcock writes:

So, forgive me if I cool my tool just a tad on the idea of Damascus going up in a mushroom cloud sometime in the next few months, because Isaiah 17:1 simply doesn't have to be interpreted the way many prophecy folks are interpreting it these days (and as I did for years). But at the same time, of course, no one can totally rule out the possibility.

For example, it startled me when I read that in the early hours of the current conflict, Israeli leaders were meeting and feverishly tossing around ideas, and the possibility of nuking of Damascus actually came up! Yikes! I'd like to think somebody just had a little too much coffee and got carried away in the heat of the moment, but still...the way things are going these days, who knows?

How close are we?

I believe what I have described in this article is a generally valid scenario based on a literal, straightforward reading of Scripture, although in the final analysis the bits that are based on my personal opinions are worth precisely the same as anyone else's opinions, and that would be zilch point nada.

I believe the answer to the title question "Where is this going?" is scripturally clear and becoming clearer with each passing day:

It is absolutely leading to the
fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39.

It's just a matter of how long it will take to get there, and what other events and geopolitical gyrations will transpire along the way. That said, however, I am inclined to believe it will bypass another full-blown round of Psalm 83. I'm not going to bother looking for that because I think we are headed straight for a date with the Gog-Magog crew.

The unspoken question lurking behind the title, however, relates to timing:

How close are we?

Of course, no one (especially yours truly) can answer that. But there is one additional item I neglected to mention earlier about the conditions that must exist in Israel before Gog-Magog can be launched. There is actually a fourth condition that must be true before the attack of Ezekiel 38–39 can go down, but it doesn't apply to Israel:

It applies to the United States.

As I have discussed in a previous article, Ezekiel 38:13 says that "the merchants of Tarshish, and all the young lions thereof" sit idly by and do nothing but meekly complain when the Gog-Magog gang attacks Israel, and those "young lions" absolutely include the United States—long Israel's most reliable friend and supporter.

That is, Ezekiel makes it clear that Israel's most reliable friend and supporter sees the countries of the Gog-Magog coalition descending on Israel to wipe it out in order to take control of its huge deposits of natural gas, and sits by and does nothing but spout whiny, whimpering rhetoric instead of doing anything to help them. So, there's no. 4:

4. America's support for Israel must completely end.

So clearly the U.S. doesn't come to Israel's aid when they are threatened in Gog-Magog. The next question that leaps to mind is...

Why not?!

Even now, in spite of a laundry list of noteworthy exceptions, American leaders are still showing at least some outward support for Israel, and we are still sending them some aid. For Pete's sake, we're sending carrier strike groups to the Mediterranean (including my old ship the Ike). But that is simply not true when Gog-Magog goes down—our country will see the launching of an existential attack on Israel, and we will sit on our hands and do nothing but whimper and whine about why those big bullies are attacking poor little Israel.

There are really only two possibilities:

1. We are unwilling to come to Israel's aid.
2. We are unable to come to Israel's aid.

If not both. What strikes me, however, is how difficult it is for me to imagine the United States reaching the point where we have no political will whatsoever to help Israel in any way, even when its very existence is at stake. Really??

Now, we've certainly had no shortage of spats and squabbles with the Jewish state over the years, and our relationship has survived some rocky times. My point is that if America's relationship with Israel can survive two terms under the likes of Barack Hussein Obama, and now a third term with the help of his personal marionette Joe Biden (who just handed Israel's archenemy Iran six billion dollars to help them fund groups like, say, Hamas and Hezbollah), plus all the anti-Israel rhetoric spewing from the mouths of clueless left-wing liberals who apparently actually miss Obama (oh, do be careful what you wish for, you foolish, foolish people), I'd be tempted to say it can survive anything. But the simple fact remains—Ezekiel is crystal clear:

Our relationship with Israel doesn't survive.

Come the attack of Gog-Magog, it's finito. But considering what America's relationship with Israel has endured at various times over the last 75 years, it's extremely difficult for me to imagine any geopolitical event that could so absolutely terminate it.

And that makes me suspect that perhaps it's not a geopolitical event.

As I have discussed on various occasions, I believe the Rapture will cut the legs out from under America and plunge it into chaos from which it will probably not emerge until Christ returns to establish His kingdom. And not to put too fine a point on it, but it will also remove every single born-again, Israel-supporting believer from our Congress (and there are some).

So as to the question of what could bring America to the point where it is unwilling or unable to do anything but watch helplessly as the Gog-Magog coalition descends on Israel to destroy it, no geopolitical event I can think of would cut the mustard. But I know an event that would:

And that's a "twinkling of an eye" event.

And I suppose that's a fitting place to end this discussion, because the most important question certainly isn't...

Where is this going?

The most important question is...

Where are you going when that
"twinkling of an eye" event occurs?

Greg Lauer — OCT '23

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