But far from being a judgment against Egypt alone, this portion of the prophecy is also leveled against; Sudan, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia Morocco, Turkey and Arabia: “Cush and Put, Lydia and all Arabia, Libya and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt” (Ezekiel 30:5). Put or Phut is a reference to North Africa and includes the regions west of Egypt. Lydia was a central western region of Turkey. They will all be destroyed along with the Antichrist. These nations are in “league” or in “covenant” and allied with the Antichrist.
SYRIA, IRAQ, IRAN, AND TURKEY
“Assyria is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living” (Ezekiel 32:22–23). Assyria and “all her company” could include several Middle Eastern nations including Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey as well as Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. They will all be cast into the pit.
IRAN
“There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit” (Ezekiel 32:24). Elam encompasses the region of modern day Iran and perhaps regions of Afghanistan. Again we see that they also will, “go down to the pit” along with the Antichrist.
BUT MUSLIMS ARE CIRCUMCISED
Now, some will argue that the people who are destroyed in this passage are uncircumcised and thus they cannot be Muslim, but this reasoning is not necessarily correct. Let’s look at the use of the word circumcision. In Ezekiel 44:7, God is angry because foreigners who are “uncircumcised in the heart and uncircumcised in the flesh” are profaning His sanctuary. This and many other passages reveal that there are two aspects to circumcision; one is of the heart (arel leb) and circumcision of the flesh (arel basar). In the passage in Ezekiel 32, only the word arel is used, and so it is impossible to distinguish between the two. We know that circumcision is the mark of God’s covenant with Abraham and Isaac. (Genesis 17:19) Because all male members of the household were circumcised (Genesis 17:12–13), Ishmael was therefore circumcised—even though the covenant was not made with him.
And it may also be noted that some rabbinic interpreters also do not see this verse as ruling out Muslims. Technically Orthodox Jews do not consider Muslim circumcision to be complete circumcisions as Muslims only remove the prepuce or outer foreskin, while the Jews also remove the pariah or the inner foreskin.
TURKEY AND THE TURKIC NATIONS SOUTH OF RUSSIA
The Turkic Nations include nations such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan:
“There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living. And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.” (Ezekiel 32:26-27)
JORDAN, SAUDI ARABIA
“There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit” (Ezekiel 32:29) In the strict sense, Edom is comprised of the southern parts of Jordan but here the text states “her kings” (plural). This encompasses Arabia. In many passages, Edom has come to represent the greater portion of the enemies of Israel that live to her south and east.
TURKEY, LEBANON
“There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit” (Ezekiel 32:30). All the “princes of the North” refers to Turkey and her allies. And Sidon once again refers to Lebanon. They are both cast “down to the pit.”
CONNECTING TO REVELATION
Now that we understand the context of Ezekiel 27-32—namely the judgment of the Antichrist and the Muslim nations that follow him—we can now better understand certain portions of the Book of Revelation. Most Western interpreters would never consider Ezekiel 27-32 as the interpretive basis for understanding Revelation 19. Yet it is these passages that we just reviewed that are one of the premiere Old Testament foundations for the following passage which concludes the Biblical revelation concerning the judgment of Antichrist and the Muslim nations that follow him: “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh” (Revelation 19:20, 21).
Some might object, here the beast and the false prophets are cast alive, while the other references in Ezekiel Pharaoh is killed. How then could this Pharaoh of Egypt thus be the Antichrist?
The answer to this is simple—does God punish the dead while they are dead? Does God punish a dead carcass and forget to punish the soul? Everyone who is cast into hell is physically dead. But their soul lives. How else can they be punished? The trouble with many interpretations is when men try to over analyze God and how He manages certain affairs. This is why it’s a fruitless discussion when one enters into a debate with Muslims over the Trinity. They love to debate what mankind cannot fathom. They speak of an unknown God, yet they expect us to almost bring the Almighty so low and examine Him in a laboratory in order to dissect Him into three parts to prove them wrong?
The problem with most people is that they get hung up more on the allegory and the unknown, yet they ignore the obvious. Even scientifically we observe the world around us, we do not see the electro-magnetic waves, yet we believe they exist because we hear the radio. As the Bible states: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
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Literal References Of Christ Fighting An Islamic Alliance In The Psalms
“Arise O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance” (Psalm 82:8).
CHRIST ARISES FROM HIS THRONE
Even from the very beginning of the Psalms, the purpose of God is clearly declared: “Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their bonds in pieces, and cast away their cords from us’” (Psalm 2:1-3).
The Lord responds to the protests of the Gentile nations: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to me, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession” (Psalm 2:6-8).
The Lord is speaking about His Messiah “Today I have begotten You” (v. 7) addresses the nations forming through crafty counsel a plot against the Messiah and Israel. The attack on Israel is viewed by God as an attack on the King Himself. These nations rage against “the Lord and His Anointed One” (v. 2). They blaspheme the Father and the Son” (I John 2:22).
Here we see another clear articulation of the Antichrist theology that the kings of these nations confess. One can hear them collectively declaring, “There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his messenger. And God has no Son!” To which the Lord responds, “You actually dare to stand against the Lord and against His Anointed?” And then He laughs in scorn and offers them this final warning: “You
kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (v. 10-12).
It is crucial to understand the theme of Psalm 79 to Psalm 83 is God Himself arising from his throne to judge the nations that attack Israel at the end of the age: “Arise O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance” (Psalm 82:8).
Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of the father, comes down for the final clash between the Lord and his enemies. This is no small matter and is one of the most amazing descriptions of God fighting nations that are all Muslim:
“Do not keep silent O God, do not hold Your peace, and do not be still, O God! For behold Your enemies make a tumult. And those who hate you have lifted up their heads. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against your sheltered ones. They have said ‘Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.’ For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You: the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre. Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot” (Psalm 83:1-8).
This battle cannot be historic. There are several reasons within the text that show us that this is an End-time battle with Islam:
1. God is physically present on the earth “do not be still O God” (v. 1), “Arise O God” (82:8), “Return we beseech You O God of hosts” (80:14) is the same as Israel’s prayer: “blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39).
2. This event is caused by the defiling of the Temple of God: “O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled” (79:1).
3. The Bible calls these peoples God’s enemies. This is seen in the fact that the Psalmist calls them, “Your enemies” who “form a confederacy against You.” One cannot claim to be on the side of God and against Israel. God declares that the enemies of Israel are His enemies: “Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You. And on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name” (79:6).
4. These enemies who hate God are religious and not atheists: “The haters of the Lord pretend submission to Him” (Psalm 81:15).
The word “Islam” literally means submission. To be a Muslim is to submit to the will of Allah. That these peoples think in their minds that they are in submission to God when in reality they hate and blaspheme Him is yet another clear indication as to the identity and religion of these peoples. Blasphemy is to deny God’s edicts. Here God declared that the land belongs to Israel. To deny that is blasphemy. This is how crucial Israel is when it comes to faith in God.
5. That Israel is sheltered and living in her land. This is not the persecution of Israel in the Diaspora.
6. There is simply no evidence of any attack against Israel by such a confederacy of Arabs with Lebanon, Gaza and Assyria attacking Israel in the past. Psalm 83 is a prophecy of the final showdown. Notice that this prophecy is a confederacy or coalition of nations: “They form a confederacy against you” (83:5) In the first verse, Israel’s enemies are God’s enemies, for they conspire against the Jews: “those whom God cherishes,” (83:3) then the collective objective of God’s enemies is declared: “Come… let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more” (v. 3). God being zealous for Israel’s name is being zealous for His own name.
7. Amazingly, the Bible even predicted so accurately that Philistia (Gaza) would be joined with the inhabitants of Tyre (Lebanon): “Philistia with the people of Tyre” (v. 7) we have seen these two collectively bomb Israel and carry each other’s banners and each group launching rockets against Israel in unison. As Hassan Nassrallah, the leader of Hezbollah launched his rockets from Lebanon; Hamas was backing him up by launching its own Qassam rockets over every town in Israel that they could reach.
8. This event occurs when Israel is a nation: “Revive us” (80:18) “Restore us” (80:19, 80:3) and Israel is saved: “and we shall be saved” (80:19).
9. Many Arabs will also be saved: “O my God, make them like the whirling dust. Like the chaff before the wind. As the fire burns the woods, And as a flame sets the mountains on fire, so pursue them with your tempest and frighten them with your storm. Fill their faces with shame that they may seek your name, O Lord [Jehovah]” (Psalm 83:13-16). God’s purpose for judging these nations is not some petty revenge or hatred; it is rather an appeal to these nations to reconcile with God and recognize His authority: “that men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18).
THE NATIONS OF PSALM 83
On May 26, 1967, as a multi-national Arab coalition was poised to attack Israel, Egyptian President Nasser almost seemed to have been quoting directly from this Psalm when he declared, “Our basic goal is the destruction of Israel.”5 Azaam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League announced, “This will be a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and Crusades.” And to this day, we hear the repeated declarations made by numerous Muslim leaders who call for the destruction of Israel. But what makes this Psalm so important is that after recording the shared plans of the Last-Days enemies of God, it actually lists exactly who these nations are. “With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you” (v. 5). The nations of this coalition or alliance are the following:
Edom—which extends from Jordan to Saudi Arabia (see Ezekiel 25) Edom is described as extending from Teman to Dedan (Arabia).
Moab, Ammon, children of Lot—Jordan
Gebal—According to the Unger’s bible dictionary, this is in Lebanon, 25 miles north of Beirut
Tyre—Again in Lebanon, today center for Hezbollah
Philistia—Gaza, today the center for Hamas
Ishmaelites and Hagarites—Arabs in general
Assyria—these are Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. At it’s height it included Egypt and Iran as well.
Amalek—Jordan, southwest of the Dead Sea (Genesis 14:7)
And so we have a coalition of Muslim nations consisting of at least Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine all bent on destroying Israel. This is nearly a perfect prediction of the nations whose battle cry we have heard over the past fifty years, since the establishment of the Jewish state. Just recently, even the Iranian President’s chants of “death to Israel” and statements to the effect that Iran would “wipe Israel off the map” almost mirror this verse perfectly. The similarity of this prophecy to what we are seeing in the modern day Middle East is undeniable.
And indeed in modern times, we have witnessed at least a partial fulfillment of this Scripture in both the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the 1967 Six Day War. In both of these wars, against tremendous odds, Israel triumphed—a reflection indeed of Israel’s first birth when Joshua triumphed on the seventh day of a six-day battle. When Menachem Begin visited the Western Wall for the first time following its liberation in 1967, this was his prayer: “God of our Fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Lord of Hosts, be Thou our help. Our enemies encompassed us about; yea they encompassed us about and arose to destroy us as a people. Yet has their counsel been destroyed and their schemes will not be accomplished.”
But apart from prophesying thousands of years into the future regarding Israel’s enemies, what other important information does this Psalm convey?
One must keep in mind, that God sees Israel’s sufferings as His. Even in the very prophecies about the Messiah, they all parallel Israel’s sufferings: “Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me” (Psalm 22:12). This is definitely a prophecy about the Messiah, yet it also speaks of the strong enemies of Israel that surround her. Specifically, Bashan points to Syria. But despite all of their w
icked plans, in the end, they will be destroyed by Israel: “The nations surrounded me but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them” (Psalm 117:10).
ARMAGEDDON AND LEBANON (PSALM 29)
In Psalm 29 we find a clear connection between the Battle of Armageddon and the nation of Lebanon: “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon” (Psalms 29:5) Muslim Lebanon will be destroyed. But this passage is speaking about the Battle of Armageddon: “The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.” (Psalm 29:8) Kadesh is the valley of Megiddo “Har-Megiddo”—Armageddon: “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (Revelation 16:16). This is an End-Times event: “And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!” (v. 9) “And the Lord sits as King forever.” (v. 10) Jesus is clearly pictured here as the Warrior Messiah: “Gird Your sword upon Your thigh. O Mighty One” (Psalm 45:3). This Mighty One is also the Immanuel, the God with us: “The Lord of hosts is with us” (Psalm 46:11).
MY OWN EXPERIENCE
When I was a young boy in Jericho, the American Consulate sent representatives from Jerusalem when they heard that a major war was about to erupt. They started evacuating all Americans in the area; and because my mother was an American, they came to rescue her. My father, however, refused the offer to leave because of his love for his religion and country and because he did not want his children growing up in America to become soldiers in the war with Vietnam.
The Six Day War began, and the Jews captured old Jerusalem and the rest of Judea. The Israeli victory was a great disappointment to Arabs and Muslims worldwide. I remember the thunder of the bombs and clatter of machine guns that continued for six days and nights. As the Arabs ran in fear from the Israelis and crossed the Jordan River, many of their fellow citizens and neighbors in Jericho began looting the stores and houses. The Israeli soldiers announced that everyone should post a white flag on their gate. Israel won the war in six days, and on the seventh day, Rabbi Goren blew the ram’s horn on the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, declaring victory.
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