The war that Israel now faces is unlike any in the recent past. Besides Hamas and the other para-military terror groups operating from Gaza, the Jewish state is threatened by Hezbollah with its expanded and updated military capabilities. In its last go-round with the IDF, Hezbollah had a rocket and missile arsenal that numbered around 10,000. Today it is estimated that the terror group can boast between 120,000 and 140,000. “At the same time, Hezbollah has also bolstered its fighting force from 13,000 fighters in 2006 to a current 25,000 active-duty members, in addition to 20,000 to 30,000 reserve fighters.” A recent report offered that the next round of conflict with Hezbollah “will translate into unparalleled death and destruction.” In addition, “Hezbollah has emplaced this expanded rocket and missile arsenal within and around civilian infrastructure, including apartment blocs, hospitals, schools and mosques, in the hopes of deterring and defending against IDF airstrikes, and courting civilian casualties it can hypocritically and disingenuously blame on Israel.”[iii] For some time now, the IDF has been preparing for a multi-front war. As the situation continues to develop some are suggesting that we may be seeing the preparations for the fulfillment of the Psalm 83 War.It began on November 11th. IDF special forces were involved in operations inside Gaza. An attempt to extract a senior Hamas commander failed. An Israeli Lt Colonel was killed in the firefight that ensued. Seven Hamas commandos also died. Then the barrage started. Four to five hundred missiles were fired by Hamas from Gaza, the largest count in any single day. An anti-tank missile struck an Israeli bus. Israel responded with at least 150 airstrikes, taking out a Hamas intel HQ and the Al Aqsa television studios, in the process. As I write this, Prime Minister Netanyahu is sending a large contingent of troops and tanks to the Gaza border. At the same time a cease-fire has been declared, against the wishes of Israeli Defense Minister Lieberman, who then announced his resignation. Lieberman is hoping to force an election. With the resignation – and the withdrawal of Lieberman’s party from the government, Netanyahu’s coalition holds only a one-seat majority.[i] [ii]
The Psalm 83 War is a controversial view that that particular scripture describes an End Times conflict wherein an inner-ring of Israel’s closest neighbors launches an attack against Israel in order to destroy them. In the process they are destroyed themselves. “‘Come,’ they say, ‘let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.’ With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you- the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot. Selah.” (Psalm 83:4-8) The Scripture is very specific. Edom refers to Jordan. The Ishmaelites are Saudi Arabia. Moab again is Jordan. The Hagrites lived in north-eastern Jordan. Ammon yet once more refers to Jordan, Philistia is the Palestinians, Tyre is in Lebanon, where Hezbollah reigns. Finally, Assyria takes in part of the areas of Syria, Iraq and Iran.
The theory goes that in the aftermath of that conflict, Israel expands its borders, creating the conditions for a temporary peace – and in the process opening the way for the fulfillment of the Gog / Magog invasion of Israel talked about in Ezekiel k38 & 39. In Ezekiel 38:11-12, Israel’s enemies say: “‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell [d]safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.’” There are some rabbis now that are warning that we may be on the verge of this war, the Gog-Magog conflict.
[i] Israeli strike levels headquarters of Hamas-affiliated TV station in Gaza, Times of Israel, November 12, 2018
[ii] IDF AMASSES TROOPS ALONG BORDER WITH GAZA AHEAD OF ESCALATION, Jerusalem Post, November 13, 2018
[iii] Hezbollah Firepower Exceeds 95% of World’s Conventional Armies, Report Says, United With Israel, November 9, 2018
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