Judean wilderness east of Jerusalem toward Jordan.
Photo by Ian W. Scott

Note: The path that sweeps across the illustration is an infamous trail. This may be the route that the people of Judea take while fleeing into the mountains (Mark 13:14).

Psalm 83 War

Hidden in a secret place!

By Craig C. White

It is very popular these days to say that the Psalm 83 war will happen soon. Well it will happen pretty soon, but not before the Rapture of the Church, and not before the Great Tribulation. It will happen during the Great Tribulation. Psalm 83 is short and simple. The key to understanding it is to recognize who “thy hidden ones” are in verse 3. They are Jews from Judea (region south of Jerusalem) who have fled into the wilderness during the second half of the Great Tribulation. The wilderness is the mountainous region of Jordan east of Jerusalem.

Mark 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

Psalm 83 is a request for God’s help. It probably represents the Judean refugee’s call for defense at the end of the Tribulation. Jesus Christ will come through Jordan defeating Israel’s enemies (read Revelation Wrath Path). In the verse below, Edom and Bozrah are in todays Jordan.

Isa 63:1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

Psalm 83 has four sections; God, be not still, Counsel Council, List of enemies, and Do unto others as you have done unto them before!

God, be not still!

Psalm 83:1 A Song or Psalm of Asaph. Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

The word not is used three times in the opening verse of Psalm 83. The Hebrew word translated not here means not!

This is a prayer that God would not allow the people of Israel to be killed by their enemies. Also that God would not fail to devise an offense against Israel’s enemies. And that God would not be idle while Israel’s enemies attack. In other words, Lord now is the time for action!

Psalm 83:2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

Israel’s enemies hate Israel. The enemies of Israel are the adversaries of God. They are making a loud sound. They are enraged. They are screaming to make war on the Judean refugees. They hate God personally. The word translated head in the verse above is the Hebrew word rosh. Rosh means chief or primary. It probably refers to a leader. Israel’s enemies have magnified their leader. They think that they can fight against God because their ruler is supreme!

Counsel Council

Psalm 83:3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

God’s enemies have assembled together in a secret meeting and have devised a cunning plan against the nation of Israel to utterly destroy them. They have deliberated together to kill God’s “hidden ones”.

In verse 3 above, the term “hidden ones” means to hide by covering over. The Judean refugees are protected in mountainous dens in Jordan. They are kept in a secret place until Jesus Christ returns!

In Isaiah 16 below, God allows the Jews escaping Judah to take refuge in Moab which is in today’s Jordan east of the Dead Sea. This verse is applied to the time just before Jesus Christ takes his place on his throne in Jerusalem.

Isa 16:3-5 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. 4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. 5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

In the middle of the Great Tribulation Jews in Judea will flee to the mountains or wilderness. Some of the people of Judea (region around Jerusalem) will flee to the mountains where God will sustain them for three and a half years (Mat 24:15-16, Luke 21:21-22). I think that this place is on the east side of the Jordan River near Jericho and Mt. Nebo, where Israel entered the land after the exodus. It is also the place where ravens fed Elijah as he hid (1Ki 17:3). It is also the place where King David and his men fled out of Jerusalem from Absalom his son when he took over the kingdom of Israel (2Sa 17:22).

Mark 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Note: In the verse above “Wings of a great eagle” refers to God’s supernatural help given to Israel in time of flight. This idiom is applied to Israel during the exodus in Exo 19:4. It is also applied to Israel’s deliverance from Jerusalem at the end of the Great Tribulation in Isa 40:31. It is applied here to the people in Judea just before Israel is overrun with its enemies during the Great Tribulation period.

Below; Zechariah tells us that Jesus will save “the tents of Judah” before he saves the city of Jerusalem!

Zec 12:7 The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.

It may be that “the tents of Judah” (above) are those of Judea who fled to the Jordanian mountains. They have been living there for 3 ½ years protected by God.

Psalm 83:4 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:

During their meeting, Israel’s enemies plan to destroy the nation of Israel. They have deliberated together and all agree. They have made a pact with themselves. This is describing a Middle Eastern conference were a contract is written that all nations agree to. They will completely eradicate the nation of Israel.

List of enemies

Psalm 83:6 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.

This list of Israel’s enemies is mostly describing the nation of Jordan. Edom is in today’s Jordan. Ishmaelites settled Saudi Arabia, but I don’t think that Saudi Arabia is represented here. Ishmaelites also settled in today’s southern Jordan. Hagarenes settled in today’s Jordan, There is a Gebal in Lebanon, but this Gebal is in today’s Jordan. Ammon settled in today’s Jordan, Amalek probably lived just west of today’s Jordan. The Philistines lived on Israel’s Mediterranean coast. I think they represent Lebanon here, along with Tyre. Assur is ancient Assyria. Today it is best represented by northern Iraq. So Lebanon and Iraq agree to help the children of Lot. Lot’s children were Moab and Ammon. Like I said before, they both settled in today’s Jordan.

Psalm 83 War Map

So Psalm 83 is describing a Jordanian conference where Lebanon and Iraq agree to help Jordan eliminate the Jewish refugees who have fled from southern Israel into the mountainous wilderness of western Jordan.

Do unto others as you have done unto them before!

Psalm 83:9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: 10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth. 11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: 12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. 13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. 14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; 15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. 16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. 17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: 18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

The verses above describe armies destroyed by Israel while led by Gideon (Judges 4 & 8). The bloodshed of these battles starts in the valley of Megiddo and ends in western Jordan.

Psalm 83 describes a treaty to eliminate the Judean refugees. Jesus Christ will personally pour out his wrath on Jordan’s armies. He will save the Jewish people who are hiding in the mountainous region of western Jordan.

[important]The Psalm 83 war is not the next prophetic event on the end time calendar. The invasion of Syria’s northwestern cities and the Destruction of Damascus by Turkey is the next event to look for. After Turkey destroys Damascus then they will lead the forces that are now fighting in Syria into Israel. Read my commentaries The nations are disquieted over Syria and Magog Made Easy.[/important]

Very interesting to read and hard to stop. – Alexandria

This commentary is in my book Israel’s Beacon of Hope

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