The Psalm 83 War

What is going on with Iran today is not the only thing in view regarding wars in the Middle East. Even when this war is settled in favor of Israel, whatever way it occurs, there is more to come.

There ultimately will come a time that will deceive many when it seems ‘peace and safety’ have come to Israel and the Mideast. But Paul writes this, warning of the end times “day of the Lord”;

“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. ³ For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)

We today are witnessing what I believe is ‘the Psalm 83 war’ as introduced in the text below.

Psalm 83:1-8 (KJV) “¹Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. ² For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifteth the head.  ³ They have taken crafty counsel against thy people [Israel], and consulted against thy hidden ones. ⁴ They have said, Come, and let us cut them [Israel] off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. ⁵ For they [Israel’s enemies] have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee [against The Lord]:
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 [strengthened] the children of Lot [the Ammonites and Moabites; i.e., in Jordan]. Selah.”

Modern Equivalents for the Nations named in Psalm 83

The nations mentioned in Psalm 83 correspond to various modern groups and regions. Below is a table summarizing these Biblical named countries or peoples and their current equivalent names.

Contextual Understanding

Israel is Abraham’s ‘son of Promise’ whose believing offspring ae to inhabit all “the Land” of Israel. The Bible describes in detail how “the Land” was given to the Nation Israel thousands of years ago, in accord with Gen. 12:1-3. In fact, King David purchased the specific land at Mt Zion, a threshing floor, where the 1^st Temple was later built by Solomon. Yet, the Muslim nations listed all claim the land via their lineage through “Ishmael,” who was Abraham’s son of his wife’s handmaiden. God told him Ishmael ‘is not the son of promise.’ Israel’s conflict with these Psalm 83 nations existed throughout The Old Testament. Their hatred of Israel will continue setting the stage for the end prophecies until the conclusion. Today, in 2026, we note that many of these listed nations are proxies of Iran. But Israel will defeat Iran and others of these nations or tribes shall be neutered through diplomacy that involves the President Trump and the USA... for a time, until the next wars.

• Edom is often associated with the Palestinians, reflecting historical conflicts and territorial claims.
• Ishmaelites refers broadly to Arab peoples, descendants of Ishmael, who are spread across the Middle East and North Africa.
• Moab and Ammon are linked to modern Jordan, as these ancient territories correspond to regions within the current Jordanian state.
• Hagrites are identified with various Arab tribes, indicating a more generalized representation of the descendants of Hagar.
• Gebal is specifically the ancient city of Byblos, located in present-day Lebanon.
• Amalek is often viewed as a reference to Edomite Palestinians, emphasizing their historical enmity with Israel.
• Philistia corresponds to the Gaza Strip, which was historically inhabited by the Philistines.
• Assyria is associated with modern Iraq and parts of Syria, reflecting the ancient empire’s geographical reach.

The Psalm 83 War is a war between Israel and Iran and the inner circle of 10 Muslim States that have common boundaries that lead to Israel.

This understanding of the nations in Psalm 83 provides insight into the ongoing geopolitical dynamics in the region, which affect the whole world by virtue of the oil [energy] reserves as found throughout the region and needed for world economic stability. Those nations who were neutered in the Psalm 83 war may will rise again against Israel in the later wars of Ezekiel 38 and 39.

I believe today’s ‘Psalm 83 War’ in Iran is the first war of ‘end times of Bible prophecy.’ It is focused on Iran and Israel but if you read from this short Psalm (excerpt above), you will see that it talks about certain of the Muslim states getting together in the end times. They essentially say, “Now is the time for us to annihilate the State of Israel.”

Something interesting about Psalm 83 is that it does not state who wins the war, but we know who wins it, because Zechariah 12 says in the end times one of the miracles that God is going to perform is seeing that Israel will have one of the greatest military forces in the world. As you know, Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world, but it is always ranked in the top tier in terms of military power. Many experts rank Israel’s IDF as number one in the effective use of its power. The Zechariah 12 war appears to be the Psalm 83 war. It occurs when the Arab nations sharing common borders with Israel besiege Jerusalem and Judah. These invaders are soundly defeated by Israel’s military with the Lord’s help.

Conversely, the war of Armageddon in Zechariah 14 is a totally separate war that takes place subsequently when all the nations of the earth with their armies attack only the city of Jerusalem. In this siege, they successfully capture half the city, which leaves Israel in a completely defenseless situation. Thus, the Lord steps in, and He personally defeats all the world armies in Revelation 19:15-21.

The primary purpose here is to show that Zechariah 12:1-9 IS NOT dealing with ARMAGEDDON but IS dealing with the conclusion of the ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT.

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:2 (KJV)
“In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.” Zechariah 12:4 (KJV)
“In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:6 (KJV)

There is coming a time when Damascus, Syria will become “a heap pf ruin” as prophesied. Two times in the Old Testament we are told that Damascus will cease to exist in the end times (Jer. 49:23-27; Isa. 17:1-14). Syria has all kinds of chemical weapons as Bashar Hafez al-Assad already used on His own people before being deposed. If they were to attack Tel Aviv with chemical weapons, probably the only way the Israelis would be able to defend themselves would be to use one of their tactical nuclear weapons to destroy the city of Damascus.

After an unspecified period of “peace and safety” following the Psalm 83 war, it could very well be that the following war of the end times is the one in which Damascus will cease to exist. It appears that he second notable war of the end times will be the one described in Ezekiel 38 and 39, when Russia comes down with certain specified Muslim allies against Israel. Those countries again form an outer ring around Israel.

I believe with the Psalm 83 war Israel will have conquer or neutered all the states around her and will finally have peace for a time. But sometime afterward the Muslim world will turn to its natural ally, Russia. The Russians will come smiling from ear to ear because they’ve always wanted to dominate the Middle East and control the oil markets. What the Russians really want is not so much the annihilation of Israel as much as they want to control all the Arab oil fields.

The Arabs will invite the Russians in, and surely, they’ll come. But, the great horde of invaders will all be destroyed supernaturally upon the hills of Israel. They won’t be destroyed by the Israeli Defense Force like in the first war of Psalm 83. This time God will personally provide the victory, and He’ll do it in such a way that even the people of Israel will realize that God did it.

The result of Gods victory is that many of the Jewish people will begin to believe in Him. They will suddenly see God intervene and deliver the nation of Israel.

To summarize, the first prophetic end times war is going to be the Psalm 83 War and the next will be the Ezekiel 38 and 39 War. There’s lots of debate among prophecy scholars as to when the War of Ezekiel 38 & 39 will occur. Some think it’s going to occur in the middle of the Tribulation, while some at the beginning of the Tribulation. Some think it will start before the Tribulation.

I have long thought the Eze. 38 & 39 War will also begin before the Tribulation, because Ezekiel talks about the fact that when the war is over, the Israelis are going to spend seven years cleaning up the battlefield (Eze. 39:12). We know that in the middle of the Tribulation the appearing of Antichrist will drive the Jews out of the country. In that case, they would not be there to do the 7 years clean up the battlefield. That’s why I think most likely the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 will occur before the Tribulation begins. Israel therefore will be finishing cleaning up the battlefields by the middle of the Tribulation.

So there are multiple prophesied wars to come before Armageddon and Psalm 83 war appears to be the first of the end time wars.

• By Arthur J Licursi with some portions of the foregoing adapted from Bill Salus.