Is there a Psalm 83 War?
Mar 5, 2022 15:52:39 GMT -5
Post by Berean on Mar 5, 2022 15:52:39 GMT -5
This seems to be a new teaching that's popular in some prophecy circles, even among some respected Bible teachers; it was Bill Salus who came up with (or at least popularized) it.
In his new book, Middle East Burning, Dr. Mark Hitchcock writes the following about Psalm 83:
“While I like Bill Salus and appreciate the diligent work he has done in setting forth the thesis for a separate Psalm 83 war, I don’t see a separate Psalm 83 war taking place before the Tribulation occurs. While there will be wars and rumors of wars and nation rising against nation in the end times, I believe Scripture points to two major wars involving Israel during the last days- the Gog of Magog war during the first half of the Tribulation and the battle of Armageddon at the culmination of the Tribulation. The prophets never clearly delineate a war like the one Salus proposes from Psalm 83. If this war plays the central role that Salus alleges it does, one would expect the prophets to have addressed this directly, But that didn’t happen.”
I'm in the camp that believes while it is fair to say that Psalm 83 is a prophetic Psalm with application beyond its original context as an imprecatory prayer written in the 10th Century B.C., the view that it is referring to a specific war that takes place prior to other major end time wars associated with the Antichrist stands in direct conflict with Scripture. Those who teach that Psalm 83 is to be understood as a specific war, distinct from the Battle of Gog of Magog, or other wars of the Antichrist, base their view on a series of inferences and false assumptions.
You can read more about it at this PDF: A Psalm 83 War?
In his new book, Middle East Burning, Dr. Mark Hitchcock writes the following about Psalm 83:
“While I like Bill Salus and appreciate the diligent work he has done in setting forth the thesis for a separate Psalm 83 war, I don’t see a separate Psalm 83 war taking place before the Tribulation occurs. While there will be wars and rumors of wars and nation rising against nation in the end times, I believe Scripture points to two major wars involving Israel during the last days- the Gog of Magog war during the first half of the Tribulation and the battle of Armageddon at the culmination of the Tribulation. The prophets never clearly delineate a war like the one Salus proposes from Psalm 83. If this war plays the central role that Salus alleges it does, one would expect the prophets to have addressed this directly, But that didn’t happen.”
I'm in the camp that believes while it is fair to say that Psalm 83 is a prophetic Psalm with application beyond its original context as an imprecatory prayer written in the 10th Century B.C., the view that it is referring to a specific war that takes place prior to other major end time wars associated with the Antichrist stands in direct conflict with Scripture. Those who teach that Psalm 83 is to be understood as a specific war, distinct from the Battle of Gog of Magog, or other wars of the Antichrist, base their view on a series of inferences and false assumptions.
You can read more about it at this PDF: A Psalm 83 War?