And What of Certain Old Testanent Prophesies Concerning Israel?

Hi Bear,

The early Church believed that : 'there is only one Israel of God””comprised of both Jews and Gentiles'

I want to recommend to you "My Beloved Israel" By Steve Yoder a recommendation of David Bercot of Scroll Publishing :

"Steve Yoder. In this well-researched book, Yoder discusses the Old and New Testament prophecies about Israel. He sets forth and defends the prophetic view held by the early Christians, the Anabaptists, the Reformers, and in fact all Christians before the 19th century. He describes the persecution of the Jewish people by "Christian” governments and their inhuman treatment by Hitler. He also explains the history of the Zionist movement that led to the creation of the modern state of Israel. He argues that there is only one Israel of God””comprised of both Jews and Gentiles who are children of Abraham through their faith in Christ.
272 pp. Hardback."

http://www.scrollpublishing.com/store/product3404.html

"Sometimes God seems not to be concerned at the unjust treatment of his people. But then we may call upon him, as the psalmist here. All wicked people are God's enemies, especially wicked persecutors. The Lord's people are his hidden one; the world knows them not. He takes them under his special protection. Do the enemies of the church act with one consent to destroy it, and shall not the friends of the church be united? Wicked men wish that there might be no religion among mankind. They would gladly see all its restraints shaken off, and all that preach, profess, or practise it, cut off. This they would bring to pass if it were in their power. The enemies of God's church have always been many: this magnifies the power of the Lord in preserving to himself a church in the world."

They have said, "Come and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the sons of Israel be remembered no more."
For they have conspired together with one mind;
Against You they have made a covenant;.

I will not get wrapped up in the national Israel debate that seems to be flooding this forum of late however there is a principle from the verse quoted above that applies to every generation of God's people.

The world hates God's people, it cannot abide their existence, the seed of Satan will ever choose to "wipe them out." But we can take much hope from that Psalm because all those nations that were conspiring against Israel are no more, yet Israel still exists!

Why do the heathen rage? He that sits in heaven shall laugh at them.

Praise the name of the Lord our God!

In Christ,

As I was trying to reason in another thread, when it comes to Old Testament prophecies, there are both physical fulfillments of them as well as spiritual fulfillments of them in Christ. In each case we must consider seriously both the literary and historical contexts.

Regarding the question proposed in the OP, we must consider the fact that the Psalms were written during the time of king David, hundreds of years before both the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities of national Israel and their return and restoration afterwards.

In this particular Psalm the Psalmist is lamenting that the enemies of national Israel and of God's people are threatening to completely wipe them out. During this time it was not God's plan for national Israel to be completely judged by Him as was the case in AD 70.

One such prophecy I think is found in Psalm 83. When one reads this Psalm it reads pretty much like today's headlines. I cannot help but think that national Israel will play a prominent part in the return of Christ.

The Psalm for an example mentions the Edomites. These are descendants of the Persians. Today Itan is considered old Persia. The Supreme Leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini, has made threatening remarks regarding Israel. To summarize these remarks would be that Iran will wipe Israel off the face of the map. Seems very similar to the Psalm on saying come let us wipe them out as a nation. I cannot help but wonder if this is being fulfilled today toward the nation of Israel.

Psalm 83 also mentions the Ishmaelites. These are descendants of the modern Arabs. Can anybody in the forum deny that the Arabs in the Middle East would love to see Israel wiped off the face of the map. Again I cannot help but think that this is being fulfilled today.

I don’t see any need for us to conclude that this refers to any of today’s Middle-Eastern nations. All these nations mentioned in this Psalm existed during the time of the penning of it. I think it’s a stretch to try to make this out to be more than a lamenting of the threats by these nations during the time the Psalmist penned these words.

That being said, spiritually we can apply it to today’s threats by the Enemy to wipe out the Church, the remnant people of God, the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29), the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). God has always had and will always have a Church, a people for the praises of His name.