The Psalm 83 Payback

Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. (Deuteronomy 7:9-10, nkjv)

Did you know that there are those who hate the Lord? It seems unfathomable and unimaginable! I’m not alluding to the arrogant atheist that denies the existence of the Lord. Or the Hindu that believes the Lord shares his throne with a multiplicity of pagan deities. Rather, I’m referring to a sizeable block of Arab Muslim populations that want to discredit the Lord’s covenant making character altogether by destroying the Jews.

These Deuteronomy verses clearly state that the Lord repays those who hate Him. But how does one demonstrate a genuine hatred on earth of a God that resides in heaven? One primary method is to attack covenants made between God and man. The specific covenant alluded to in the above verses is the Abrahamic covenant. We recognize this from Deuteronomy 7:12 two verses later.

Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you [Israelis] the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. [Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]

Prefacing all the above, Deuteronomy 7:6-8 reminds us that the Lord elected the Jews as a chosen people making them the benefactors of this oath.

“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

We can surmise that the Abrahamic covenant must still be in effect because Deuteronomy 7:9 declares that the Lord keeps his (Abrahamic) covenant for a thousand generations, which would be 40,000, 70,000, or 100,000 years depending on which biblical generation model you select.

Actually, Genesis 17:7-8, 13, and 19 inform that the Abrahamic Covenant is everlasting, and Genesis 13:15 and Jeremiah 31:35-36 promises that the Jewish race will survive forever. However, for the purposes of this article a thousand generations sufficiently makes the point that the Jews are going to be around for a very long time. Especially when you consider that the Abrahamic covenant has only been operational for approximately 4,000 years.

Interestingly, about 3,000 years ago the Hebrew seer Asaph said the following.[i]

For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head…They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:2, 4 nkjv).

Who possesses the gumption to hate the Lord and desires to eradicate Israel? According to Asaph’s above verses the Lord has both enemies, and haters! The enemies make a tumult, but the haters have lifted their head against the Lord, rather than bowed it before Him. The New American Standard Version of the Bible says the haters have “exalted themselves.”

Interestingly 1 Peter 5:5-6 preaches that people should resist pride and be humble, therefore allowing the Lord to exalt the meek in due time. But, apparently patience and humility are not virtues possessed by these haters. Asaph rightly labels them as haters because they want to destroy Israel to defame the Lord.

The attached table identifies and delineates between the enemies and haters listed in Psalm 83:6-8. The probable haters are those boldly italicized within the image. Moreover, the image identifies their modern day equivalents alongside their ancient titles. Coincidentally, the haters all have familial ties with the Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Edomites descended from Jacob’s twin brother Esau. They are listed first among the Psalm 83 confederates. This identifies them as the lead participant of the prophecy. Moreover, they are dwelling in tents when the Psalm prophecy occurs. This suggests that they are refugees at the time. Interestingly, residing within today’s Palestinian refugees is an ethnic contingency of Edomites. Genesis 27:41 declares that Esau hated Jacob and desired his death. This hatred is still evident today exemplified by the facts that the Palestinians don’t recognize Israel as the Jewish state, or include maps of Israel in their children’s educational text books.

The Ishmaelites descended from Isaac’s half-brother Ishmael. Ishmael is highly venerated over Isaac in the religion of Islam. Ishmael is commonly called the “father of the Arabs.” Ishmael severely mocked Isaac when he was weaned according to Genesis 21:9. Isaac’s weaning identified him as the rightful heir to the Abrahamic covenant. Ishmael’s scoffing displayed his covetous disposition. This disdain toward the Israelis is evident in Ishmael’s Saudi descendants today. Saudi Arabia forbids the building of synagogues and churches along with the worship of the God of the Bible.

The Hagarenes primarily descended through Ishmael, the son of Hagar the Egyptian, concubine of Abraham. Hagar had her share of jealous bouts with Abraham’s wife Sarah.

The Moabites and Ammonites descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot, making them the cousins of the Hebrews. Their history was shrouded with conflicts and territorial disputes over the Promised Land with their Hebrew cousins.

The Amalekites were descendants of Esau’s grandson Amalek, (Genesis 36:12) thus making Abraham Amalek’s great-grandfather. The Amalekites were the first to attack the Hebrews after their exodus from Egypt.

Thus, there were mothers, sons, brothers, cousins, and great grandkids that spawned an ancient hatred of the Jews. This perpetual enmity is acknowledged in Ezekiel 25:15 and 35:5. These haters coveted the rich contents of the covenant the Lord made with the Jewish patriarchs. The patriarchs were promised;

1. 1. A great name and nation (Genesis 12:2),
2. 2. A comprehensive and binding international foreign policy (Genesis 12:3),
3. 3. Eternal descendants (Genesis 13;15),
4. 4. A Promised Land (Genesis 15:18),
5. 5. An eternal throne (kingdom) (2 Samuel 7:12-15)
6. 6. An everlasting law (Jeremiah 31:31-34),
7. 7. A Messianic seed to bless all the families of the earth (Genesis 26:4, 28:14).

The additional attached image displays the biblical accounts of the family feuds between the benefactors of the Abrahamic covenant and those who coveted its rich contents.

The opening verses of this article state that the Lord repays those who hate Him to their face. Unlike the coward that shoots a man when his back is turned, the Lord assures the haters that they will recognize the hand that repays them for their hatred of Israel.

Psalm 83 predicts the formation of an Arab confederacy that will someday attempt the annihilation of the Jews. This futile attempt will fail because the Lord keeps His covenant and mercy for a thousand generations. The Israel Defense Forces appear to exist today as the Lord’s tool to repay those who hate Him to their face. The scriptures concerning this Arab verses IDF face-off are identified in my book Revelation Road, Hope Beyond the Horizon.

God is love according to 1 John 4:16, and yet Malachi 1:3 points out that the Lord has hated Esau. The connection to be made is that long ago through Abraham and Isaac that God covenanted with Jacob, Esau’s twin brother. This covenant is in place for at least 1000 generations, meaning that it is still effective today. Similar to the hatred Esau exhibited toward Jacob nearly 3900 years ago, his Edomite descendants demonstrate today against Jacob’s descendants, the Israelis.

Ultimately Esau’s Edomite descendants, representing today’s Palestinians, make a covenant of their own that is contrary to the longstanding one between the Lord and Israel.

For they [the Arabs] have consulted together with one consent; Against thee [the Lord] do they make a covenant: (Psalm 83:5, asv).

The Hebrew word used here for covenant is berith and it is the same word used for the Lord’s covenant with Abraham regarding the Promised Land in Genesis 15:18. Therefore, in the climactic clash of the covenants, which Psalm 83:12 informs concerns the Promised Land, only one covenant can prevail. The Lord’s will win out!

In conclusion, God is love. He proved this by sending His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to die for man’s sins on the cross of Calvary approximately 2000-years ago. If the Lord had His druthers, He would obviously prefer that the Arabs respected His unconditional covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, since they don’t, they leave Him no choice but to prevent them from destroying the Jews.

Events stage-setting in the Middle East today suggest that Psalm 83 is an imminent event. The Arabs are about to face off with the Jews, but, in so doing they will demonstrate their disdain toward the Lord. Before they pull the trigger and bullets begin to fly they should read Deuteronomy 7:9-10, because once the battle begins it’s too late, and the Lord will repay them to their face for their hatred.