Is Psalm 83 Really Prophesying a War?

Some years ago I got my hands on Bill Salus' book called ISREALESTINE.   The premise of the book is looking at Psalm 83 and then reading today's headlines.  When you see the tribes surrounding Israel 3000 years ago...and then look and see what nations are currently bordering Israel...it's pretty darn interesting.

Now, here is the rub that has divided the prophecy watchers;  One school of thought says that Psalm 83 IS NOT a prophecy but is a prayer written by Asaph begging the Lord to come and wipe out the enemies of Israel that were taunting Asaph...BUT...the Lord never spoke...so it is NOT a prophecy and DOES NOT have to happen.

Here is author, Tommy Ice, defending this position.

Tommy Ice's Response to a Psalm 83 War

My problem with the Psalm 83 theory by Bill Salus is that Psalm 83 first of all does not contain a prophecy. It's an individual lament psalm, or a national lament, written by Asaph.

Asaph was complaining 3,000 years ago about the enemies that surround Israel. I'll admit that when you read it you'd think you are reading about the modern situation in Israel, which shows that in 3,000 years things really haven't changed. It's basic Anti-Semitism.

In some of the lament psalms, like Psalm 79 for example, you have the Lord answering a request. He will then give a prophecy about what He is going to do in response. In Psalm 83, you don't have the Lord answering it. Therefore, there's just an assumption that there's going to be a battle behind Asaph's request. There may or may not be.

Psalm 83 does not contain a prophecy. It just contains the lament or the complaint that Asaph is giving.

Secondly, when you look at the parallel passages (well, they are not really parallel), but those that mention the 10 nations or people groups that wish to destroy Israel that are mentioned in Psalm 83, these are also mentioned by the prophets later on. If you want to look at the development of Old Testament prophecy in any detail relating to Israel, you have to start with the book of Deuteronomy. It has an outline of prophecy. You really don't have much prophecy being given until the prophets come in after the Psalms and they start fleshing out this problem with Israel's enemies.

For example, you have Psalm 2. That is the psalm where it says, "kiss the son less he be angry... why are the nations in an uproar?" Later on in the prophetic books, when we learn the outline of Israel's prophecy, you realize that Psalm 2 which was given 3,000 years ago fits into the idea of the Tribulation. These nations are going up against God and He is going to judge them in the Tribulation.

The context of the judgment of the nations is going to be at Armageddon basically, in other words in conjunction with the Tribulation. If there's going to be an actual fulfillment of Psalm 83, these other prophetic books talk about the judgment of those people groups in conjunction with the Second Coming, when Jesus is going to judge the nations. That is the very purpose of the Tribulation. In fact, Isaiah 24-26 talks about the judgments of the nations for their rejection of God.

Therefore, I think the idea that there's got to be a Psalm 83 War to set up the peace for the Gog & Magog War described in Ezekiel 38 & 39 is built on speculation... 

And now here is Bill Salus defending the position that Psalm 83 IS A PROPHESIED WAR and IT IS SOMETHING WE CAN EXPECT may happen in the near future.

Bill Salus' Defense of a Psalm 83 War

I do also agree with him that Psalm 83 is a prayer of lament, also called an imprecatory prayer. Asaph is calling upon the Lord to intervene and he is beseeching God to deal with His adversaries.

But, where I think Thomas Ice falls short is seeing the prophetic aspects within Psalm 83. He thinks it's just a prayer of lament and not a real prophecy.

Let's start with 2 Chronicles 29:30. Hezekiah says he commends the Levites to sing the praises of King David and Asaph who is the author of the psalm and he calls him — a seer. The Hebrew word is clearly talking about a beholder of visions, or in other words, a prophet. Asaph wrote 12 psalms, and Psalm 83 is one of the most prophetic of his psalms. Asaph was a prophet.

King Hezekiah would have been very interested in and would have known that Asaph was a prophet, because among the confederacy that Asaph talks about in Psalm 83 is a member called Assyria. At the time that Asaph wrote, Assyria wasn't even in the picture. They weren't even really one of Israel's enemies until many decades later.

Asaph listed the very specific group of ten groups, though of course Israel has many more than ten enemies in today's point in time. But, he listed a specific ten, and two of them weren't even in the fray at 1,000 BC. Asaph was talking about a future scenario.

Asaph calls the very first member the "tents of Edom." Now, biblically speaking, that would even be military encampments or refugee conditions. The Edomites the descendants of Esau have ethnical representation in the Palestinians today. I do believe what Asaph was trying to tell us which became a reality in 1948 would be a Palestinian refugee crisis and they would play a part in this overall confederacy. I think the Palestinians find their face in prophecy today.

Now I want to talk a little bit about the Psalm. Asaph is petitioning God about a concern — a genocidal attempt on the Jewish people. He's saying these nations surrounding Israel are going to form a confederacy and they are going to form a plan. These are a contemporary confederacy of Arab states. These Arab states share common borders with Israel. They are going to form a contemporary confederacy. They are going to make a plan to destroy the nation of Israel so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more.

If Psalm 83 is a prophecy for our time, that means they don't want peace with the Jews today. The Arab and the Palestinians do not want peace with the Jews. They don't want a two state solution. They want one more state where they can fly the flag of Palestine over it. And, I think this threat against Israel is a very real concern. It certainly is with Israel, and it should be a concern for you as supporters of Israel... 

So there you have it....one smart Bible expert says it's not prophecy and one smart Bible expert says it is.  So what do you think?

I plucked all of this discussion off of David Reagan's email today.  He is the dude many have heard speak at Jan Markell's conference and is the founder of Lamb and Lion Ministries.

Remember friends, this discussion and what you believe about it ARE NOT SALVATION ISSUES!  In other words, don't go and get in a huge fight and break fellowship with someone at your church because they loved Salus' book and you thought it was stupid.  These are all just more interesting things to watch.  So take this conversation and put in in your brain and let the Holy Spirit use whatever parts of it that He wants to as He directs your paths and makes them straight.