However, the
conventional view still leaves a number of puzzling
inconsistencies and contradictions. Ezekiel 38
indicates that Israel is dwelling safely and
“without walls.” Yet, when we visit there we are
confronted with a 430-mile-long wall 25 feet high.
And being shelled continually with hundreds of
missiles from both the Hamas and Hezbollah is hardly
dwelling “safely. ”
It is also significant to
notice that the motivation of the invasion attempt
by Magog and its allies is to take spoil: gold,
silver, cattle and goods.(1)
The Ezekiel account also includes participants from
distant lands.
This leaves us with a puzzling anomaly: the players
listed in Ezekiel seem to exclude any of the
bordering nations: Where are the Palestinians?
The Lebanese? The Syrians? The Iraqis? The
Jordanians? The Egyptians? The Saudi Arabians?
(Sheba and Dedan only appear as spectators rather
than as participants!)
It is extremely provocative to contrast the
attackers of Ezekiel 38 with the participants
described in Psalm 83, which details immediate
neighboring combatants. Furthermore, they also have
a distinctively different agenda than the parties in
the Ezekiel account:
Psalm 83
Keep not thou silence, O God:
hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they
that hate thee have lifted up the head. They
have taken crafty counsel against thy people,
and consulted against thy hidden ones. 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. For they have
consulted together with one consent: they are
confederate against thee:
Psalm 83:1-5
This appears to be a significant difference from
the motivation of Magog and his allies, which is
to take spoil. These combatants are the immediate
neighbors, which continue to harass and torment
Israel today and are unabashedly committed to
wiping Israel off the map!
Furthermore, the specific players
highlighted here are nearby, and not the ones
included in the Ezekiel account:
The tabernacles
of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the
Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the
Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur
also is joined with them: they have holpen the
children of Lot. Selah.
Psalm 83:6-8
Many may be surprised that the identity of the
“Tents of Edom” includes the “Palestinians” of
today. This is a topic which will be treated in a
separate follow-up article, tracing the origin of
the "olam ebah"—the “Everlasting
Hatred”—from the womb of Esau and Jacob, and Esau’s
contempt of the covenant birthright, to Esau’s
spiteful intermarriage with the Ishmaelites,
continuing the “everlasting hatred” to this very
day.(2) As the Babylonians
took Judah into captivity, the Edomites
(“Idumeans” in Greek), under pressure from the
Nabateans in the east, moved west and
established their own “Idumea” encompassing Hebron
and environs.
The other members of the Confederation can be
easily identified with any good concordance or
Bible Handbook. (They are also explored in detail
in our featured briefing pack, see page 8 of April
2010 Newsletter from www.khouse.org.)
Do unto them as unto the
Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the
brook of Kison: Which perished at Endor: they
became as dung for the earth. Make their
nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all
their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: Who
said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of
God in possession. Psalm 83:9-12
In pleading for the destruction of their
current enemies, the Psalmist appeals to the God of
Israel to do just as He did in their historical
victories of the past.
O my God, make them like a
wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the
fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth
the mountain on fire; So persecute them with thy
tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek
thy name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and
troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to
shame, and perish: Psalm 83:13-17
The Judgment against Edom is mentioned in more Old
Testament books than it is against any other foreign
nation: (3)
(Again, the origin, identity, and destiny of “Edom”
will be subject of subsequent articles.)
All the members of the Confederacy detailed in Psalm
83 are Muslims. Each of them is the subject of
specific judgments which are detailed in Ezekiel 25
through 32. However, the principal issue of the
entire episode is to make a specific point:
That men may know that
thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most
high over all the earth. Psalm 83:18
His name alone is Jehovah, not Allah, the moon-god.
And the Abrahamic Covenant has not been repealed! If
this view is correct, it suggests a very dramatic
prelude to the events of Ezekiel 38.