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Bible Teacher
Foreign.
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Host
Welcome to episode five of the Understanding Psalm 83 video series. In this installment we're going to take a look at the end of the Mideast conflict, how it's going to end and when it's going to end, which would be before the tribulation period. The now in episode four we discussed the Israeli Defense Forces, the idf, their role in combating the several of the participants in the coalition of Psalm 83 we had the IDF versus Syria, the IDF versus the Palestinians versus the Gaza with the Hamas are versus Jordan versus Egypt and versus Saudi Arabia. And in this installment we're going to talk about the IDF versus Lebanon where Hezbollah hail and the IDF versus Arab neighbors. The final conclusion, whether the IDF goes against the Arab neighbors that surround them. Okay, let's turn our attention to Lebanon, where Hezbollah are.
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Co-Host
You have four coastal cities as a
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Host
subject of unfulfilled Bible prophecies. Osava tires which is 12 miles north of the border of Israel and still exists as a modern day city. We'll go north a little bit further and we see Sidon, which is modern day saida, which is 27 miles south of Beirut. Now in the Old Testament Tyre and Sidon were listed together in 17 verses as sister cities. And we go up north and there's Cabal which is 24 miles north of
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Co-Host
Beirut, modern day Biblios.
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Host
And then Zarephath will get established in between side and tire. Now Cabal entire are the Subjects of Psalm 83, part of the Arab confederacy. But I also believe we can connect Zarephath and sidon to Psalm 83 and I'll show you why in this next segment. Now Cabal and Tires show up in Psalm 83 verses 6 through 8 alongside the tens of Edomites and the Hagerines. There you see Gabal, which is modern day Biblos, Hajaman, Amalek, Felicia and the inhabitants of Tyre. In an earlier episode I showed that could be a reference to Hezbollah as Assyria is joined with them. They've helped the children of Lot, which would be Jordan. Now how Gabal, Phiblos and Tyre meet their demise.
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Dr. David Reagan
I'll show you as we talk about
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Host
the Sidon prophecy and more specifically the Arab Israeli conclusion prophecy in Zechariah 12 verse 6. Now Israel is destined to become a safe dwelling, home building, vineyard planting nation. And that Israel shows up in Ezekiel 38 as a peaceful people, dwelling securely, tranquilly, without walls, bars nor gates. That Israel does not exist today. It has enemies all around them.
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Co-Host
I've written about this in an article
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Host
entitled Shocking prophetic revelation, Ezekiel 28 precedes Ezekiel 38. Ezekiel 28 talks about the Sidon prophecy, which we'll be getting into here in just a moment. You can view this Read this article on our website@procyment Depot.com
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Co-Host
we find out
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Host
in Ezekiel 28, verses 26 when exactly Israel will dwell securely. And it reads as follows, and they will dwell safely there, build houses and plant vineyards. Yes, they will dwell securely. When I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God. It turns out that as we say the sighting prophecy, we're going to find that there's a group of evil neighbors around them who despise them. They form a pricking briar and a painful thorn, Ezekiel says, and you see them listed there. They got Lebanon is around them or Hezbollah are Syria, Iraq, Jordan, the Palestinians, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the gods where the Hamas are. They are all participants in the Psalm 83 Confederacy. So let's take a look at the sign prophecy in ezekiel. So chapter 28. Now it's time to look at the
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Bible Teacher
burden against Sidon in Lebanon by Ezekiel. We will be looking at Ezekiel 28, verses 20 through 22, which states that then another message came to me from the Lord, Son of man, turn and face the city of Sidon and prophesy against it. Give the people of Sidon this message from the Sovereign Lord, I am your enemy, O Sidon, and I will reveal my glory by what I do to you. When I bring judgment against you and reveal my holiness among you, everyone watching will know that I am the Lord. So in this opening passage, Ezekiel informs us that the Lord God is against Sidon. He actually calls Sidon his enemy, and as a result he will execute judgments upon this historic city. Now these judgments will serve to glorify
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Host
God in a manner that onlookers will
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Bible Teacher
realize that he is the Holy God. Next we're going to find out from Ezekiel. He's going to provide us with the manner and extent of these judgments. We're going to look at Ezekiel 28, verse 23. He says, I will send a plague against you, and blood will be spilled in your streets. The attack will come from every direction and your people will lie slaughtered within your walls. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. The new King James Version says it this way, For I will send pestilence upon her and blood in her streets. The wounded shall be judged in her midst by the sword against her on every side. So it turns out that Sidon will be involved in a devastating conflict by the sword which fills her streets with the blood of the slaughtered and the wounded. Now the sword is often used as a biblical typology of war. So this verse now concludes again by repeating the detail that the defeated Cydonians
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Host
will know that the Lord is the holy God.
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Bible Teacher
And in the ensuing verse we're going to find out why the Lord is against Sidon.
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Host
So we're going to turn our attention
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Bible Teacher
now to Ezekiel 28, verse 24 no longer will Israel's scornful neighbors prick and tear at her like briars and thorns, for then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord, new King James says, and there shall no longer be a pricking briar or a painful thorn for the house of Israel among all those who are around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am
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Host
the Lord their God.
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Bible Teacher
So it turns out that Sidon is a part of a group of surrounding Arab states that despise Israel. These surrounding Arabs are a painful thorn on Israel's side. Their hatred of Israel manifests into hostilities that Ezekiel likens to a pricking briar that hedges Israel in on all sides. These surrounding people share common borders with Israel appear to be the pricking briar, evil neighbors of Psalm 83. Now, according to Ezekiel 28, verses 25 through 26, the judgment upon Sidon seems to be the first in a series of successive judgments against the pricking brier nations surrounding Israel. Now, Ezekiel 28, verses 25 and 26 says the following Thus says the Lord God, when I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and I'm hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob, and they will dwell safely there. They'll build houses and plant vineyards. Yes, they will dwell securely. But when when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them, then they shall know that I am
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Host
the Lord their God.
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Bible Teacher
The above passage informs that the Lord will reshape the landscape of the Mideast by eliminating the entire breaking briar surrounding Israel, starting with Sidon, additional judgments come upon all those around them who despise them, alluding to Israel. Now only when the pricking briar is removed can Israel truly dwell safe and secure as a peaceful people with and continue without obstruction to build houses and find vineyards.
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Host
I remember Tire and Sidon, our sister cities, identified 17 times together in the Old Testament. So we'll look at Biblios God gabal in Psalm 83, the inhabitants of Tyre and the likely connection of Sidon. As we just looked at that prophecy,
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Bible Teacher
Gabal and Tyre, and they're found together in the prophecy of Psalm 83. Now, tyre is still known by its historical name, but as stated earlier, Gabal is believed to be the modern day city of Biblios. It is located approximately 50 miles north of Sidon. Like Tyre and Sidon, it is also a coastal city. Poseidon prophecy seemingly segues into the Psalm 83 war prophecy. Sidon gets judged first in Ezekiel 28, verses 20 through 23. Then all those other countries around Israel are likewise judged. As for Ezekiel 28, verses 24 through 26, Sidon is not included in the Arab Confederacy of Psalm 83, which is probably because Sidon is likely destroyed just prior.
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Host
So we've looked at the Sidon prophecy and how its fulfillment likely kicks off a sequence of catastrophic events for the Psalm 83 confederates, which includes Tyre and Gabal. So now we'll turn our attention to the fourth coastal city in Lebanon, also a subject of unfulfilled Bible prophecy. It's called Zarephath, represented today by the Arab village called Seraphan. We turn our attention to Obadiah to find out more about Zarephath. Now I'm going to read verse 18 of Obadiah. I've shown it earlier in an earlier episode, but this segues into the Zarephath prophecy. So we'll read it again. House of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame. We talked about that being the Israeli Defense Forces. The house of Esau, the that be the Palestinians shall be stubble, and those survivors shall remain in the house of Esau. The Lord has spoken. Now again we caveat that not all Palestinians are from the house of Esau, which would be the Edomites, but a majority of them probably are today represented from the Palestinians. So it shows us that the Israeli Defense Forces are going to soundly defeat the Palestinians. And then it goes on to say in the aftermath, the prophecy regarding Zarephath and Novaziah, verses 1, verses 19, chapter 1, verses 19 and 20, which states, and my people living in the Negev will occupy the mountains of Edom. Those living in the foothills of Judah will possess the Philistine plains and take over the fields of Ephraim and Samaria. And the people of Benjamin will occupy the land of Gilead. The exiles of Israel will return to their land and occupy the Phoenician coast as far as north as Zarephath is where we find Zarephath. The cast is from Jerusalem, exiled in the north, return home and resettle the towns of the Negev. So we break that down on a modern day map. Here's what we're talking about here. After the Israeli defeat of the Palestinians, these annexed more territory in the southern Jordan, the Gaza, the west bank, the Golan Heights and Zarephath, southern Lebanon. So we've looked at the prophecies regarding the IDF versus Lebanon in those four coastal cities of Tyre, Sidon, Zarephath and Gaval. Let's turn our attention to the grand finale, how the Arab Israeli conflict concludes. And to do that we turn our attention to Zechariah, chapter 12, verses 1 through 9, primarily verses 2 through 6. Now most of your Bible prophecy teachers will tell you that Zechariah 12 happens as the Armageddon campaign. But that's just not the case. It's a war before Armageddon. I've written an article that shows why called Zechariah 12 the war before Armageddon. It's available on my website prophecy depot.com so let's look at this prophecy and study it and show how the conflict concludes. So the Arab Israeli conflict climaxes with a final siege made by the Arabs of Judah and Jerusalem. So in Zechariah 12:2 that the people's roundabout will make this final seas. Let's take a look at what happens when that happens.
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Co-Host
So let's turn our attention to a couple key verses in Zechariah 12 to find out when and why Jerusalem becomes a cup of trembling and to whom it becomes a cup of trembling too. We start with Zechariah 12 verse 2.
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Host
Let's read it together.
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Co-Host
Behold I. I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling. And in some translations that would be dizziness, drunkenness or intoxication. A cup of intoxication Unto whom? Unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. Now notice right off the bat that the Lord is the one who's making Jerusalem a cup of trembling to the surrounding peoples roundabout. Now they are predominantly Muslim countries, the Arab countries sharing common borders with Israel who Muslim countries who hold believe that Jerusalem is the third holy city in Islam behind Mecca and Medina. This is probably what's motivating them to come and they siege against you in Jerusalem.
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Host
It's considered their holy city.
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Co-Host
It's interesting that when you look in the Bible, Jerusalem shows up under 70 different Bible names listed over a thousand times.
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Host
You see a list of Jerusalem 778
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Co-Host
times in the Bible referring to the
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Host
city of peace, the holy city. You see, Ariel is a poetic name for Jerusalem. You see the list, our city of David, Zion, Jebus, Mariah. But yet how many times is it mentioned in the holy book of Islam, the Quran? Zilch.
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Co-Host
Zero times. But it's clearly a holy city in the Bible. So we find out that at some future point in time, the surrounding Arab nations bordering Israel are going to make an attempt to lay siege on Judah and Jerusalem. And the Lord's going to intervene. He's going to turn it into a cup of trembling. But how is he going to do that? We turn our attention now to Zechariah 12, verse 4 to find out how the Lord will turn Jerusalem into a cup of trembling.
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Host
And here's what it says.
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Co-Host
Zechariah tells us in that day, in that day, the same day that Jerusalem becomes a cup of trembling, they're laying siege on Judah and Jerusalem. In that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with confusion, and it's Friday with madness. And I'll open my eyes on the house of Judah, and I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. So we're going to unpack these three things here. This is how the Lord's going to divinely intervene at that time and turn Jerusalem into a cup of trembling. Now, when Zechariah wrote, the methods of warfare was primarily horseback and riders. But of course, this is a future event. I don't believe that we're going to see horses, horseback riders from Egypt and Jordan and Syria and coming in on horseback. I think we need to look at the modern methods of warfare and see what the Lord might be doing here to turn Jerusalem in a cup of trembling. So let's look at these one segment at a time. First, he's going to strike every horse with confusion. Now let's what could that mean today in today's method of warfare? First, it appears that the Lord causes the air of artilleries, tanks and armored vehicles to malfunction. It says, I will strike every horse with confusion. Now, there's biblical and historical precedent for the Lord doing such a thing like this. We turn our attention back to Exodus, chapter 14, verses 24 through 25. This is the time when the Hebrews had their back to the Red Sea. Moses was leading them in the Exodus out of Egypt and Pharaoh was trying to destroy them with his armies. The Egyptians had their back to the Red Sea. And of course there's a pillar of cloud separating the Egyptian armies and Pharaoh from the Hebrews. And we find out here's what what happened In Exodus chapter 14, the Lord intervened, says now came to pass in the morning. Watch that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians, the pillar of fire and cloud. And he troubled the army of the Egyptians. And here's how he took off the chariot wheel so that they drove them with great difficulty. And the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel. The Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. So the Lord intervened. He went in and took out the lug nuts of the chariots so that the Egyptian army would travel with great would come against them with great difficulty. And it concerned many of the Egyptians who said, let's flee. We know the story. The Egyptians didn't flee. They went into the Red Sea after they divided and the Hebrews went through Pharaoh's armies were destroyed and drowned in the Red Sea. We see there's biblical precedent for the Lord divinely intervening and causing malfunctions in their equipment. Now the Egyptian chariots at that time were world renowned, state of the art. But the Lord had no problem causing the malfunctions. So that's precedent for that. Let's see part two. He says, and I will strike every rider with madness. So the second thing he's going to do after the malfunctions, apparently he's going to create hysteria among the enemy soldiers like he did to the Egyptians. And he will strike every writer with madness. We see the result of the malfunctions will create hysteria in the troops that are coming against the Jewish people and Judah and Jerusalem. Then the third part. We're told that he will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. So here's what we've got coming there. Third, the Lord will turn his favor toward the IDF and somehow the guidance radar capabilities of the enemy's tanks, jets, rockets, etc become disabled. And he will strike every enemy horse of the peoples with blindness. Now when this happens, it's going to we go in the next verse, Zechariah 12:5. We're going to find that that emboldens the Israeli Defense Forces. Here's what we told them said and the governors of Judah read it as the idf, the captains the IDF the shall say in their heart, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength, and the
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Host
Lord of hosts their God.
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Co-Host
So forth. The IDF will become emboldened. The battle as they wouldn't say enemies mal equivalent malfunctions. And the armies panic. They will gain courage as they focus on their fight to regain soul sovereignty over Jerusalem. We find out as they're emboldened, here's what then happens and here's how this concludes.
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Host
It's an unsuccessful siege.
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Co-Host
We find out the Israeli Defense Forces stop this siege. And here's what we're told in Zechariah 12, verse 6, a very key verse in Understanding Zechariah, chapter 12, the war before Armageddon says in that day, again, we're still talking about the same day that Jerusalem comes a couple of trembling and the Lord divinely intervenes. And that day I'll make the governors read that as the captains or the chieftains or the Israeli Defense forces of Judah. Like a fire pan in the wood pile, like a fiery torch in the sheaves, and they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in their own place. Jerusalem. So we see that the Israeli Defense Forces, not a politically brokered peace deal, but militarily, the Israeli Defense Forces are going to end the Arab Israeli conflict in a final attempt of siege that will be unsuccessful by the Arab countries against Judah and Jerusalem. So who are these people on the right hand and on the left, the Arab states assured common borders with Israel that have warred against Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973.
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Host
You see, there's Lebanon or Hezbollah, hail
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Co-Host
from Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestinians in the West Bank, Saudi Arabia, Hamas, Egypt, the Gaza area where the Hamas are.
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Host
When it comes to making the connection between Psalm 83 and Zechariah 12, my
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Co-Host
good friend Dr. David Reagan writes the
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Dr. David Reagan
following in his article called the wars of the End Times Part two. Here's what David says.
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Host
He says the first war of Israeli
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Dr. David Reagan
extermination described in Psalm 83. Psalm 83 states that the immediate neighbors of Israel will launch a war for the purpose of wiping out Israel as a nation. The outcome of the war is not specifically stated in Psalm 83, but we know from other scriptures that Israel will be victorious. For example, Zechariah 12:6 says that in the end times Israel will be like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among cheese, so that they will consume on the right hand and on the left hand all these surrounding peoples. Again, all the peoples round about, not the nations at large with the surrounding peoples. So he makes a connection as well.
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Host
So we find out in Zechariah 12:6 how the Arab Israeli conflict concludes. God uses the IDF as a tool to defeat their Arab foes, those around them who despise them. And in so doing, thus ends the pricking Brian painful thorn all about Israel. And Israel can then become a home building, safe dwelling, pinion planning nation as is intended. So now let's take a look at why the IDF wars are pre tribulation events.
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Co-Host
We can logically deduce this by understanding
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Prophecy Expert
the tribulation period and how it is compartmentalized into the first and the second half, each one comprising three and a half years. In the first half, Israeli Defense Forces are living at peace because the Covenant of Daniel 9:27 has awarded them that possibility. It's a pseudo peace because in the
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Co-Host
middle of it the Antichrist isn't going
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Prophecy Expert
to the temple and desecrate it.
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Host
And then we get into the second
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Co-Host
half of the tribulation.
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Prophecy Expert
We'll talk about what's going on there in just a moment. In the first half they're not fighting anybody because due to this condition of peace they're living in, I'm fighting off the arabs of Psalm 83. Therefore that would have to be done some other time. They're not fighting in the second half the Tribulation because they're fleeing for the Antichrist because he's going to start a genocidal campaign against the Jewish people. Final, final genocidal attempt. We're told in Zechariah 13:8 the 2/3 of the Jews in the land will be cut off. With Zechariah 13:9 we find out the 1:30 faithful remnant will survive. So they're fighting in the first half and fighting in the second half.
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Host
So it seems safe to conclude that the IDF defeating their Arab foes of Psalm 83 and elsewhere is a pre tribulation event. They're not involved in Ezekiel 38 because we know God stops the Magog invaders. Supernaturally, we know that Jesus Christ stops the Antichrist at Armageddon and we know there's no wars in the millennium. So therefore the only time frame open for the fulfillment of Psalm 83 is pre tribulation. So in the first five episodes we have come so far as to introduce and explore Psalm 83, explain why it's both a prayer and a future war prophecy. We've connected the correlating or peripheral prophecies to Psalm 83. We've identified the pre tribulation timing. Now in the upcoming episodes we'll cover the God's Mid east peace plan. What his plan really is for the Middle East. He had a compassionate Mideast peace plan in Jeremiah chapter 12. We'll go over that. We'll reveal the various phases of Psalm 83 and locate which phase we're presently in. And then we'll address the objections as we conclude the series.