Psalm 83:18

Psalm 83:18

The Most High over all the earth!

This has been a somewhat troubling Psalm but also instructive, for it has allowed us to study the enemies of Israel and their origins. Not many people are aware that most of these warring neighbours of Israel were actually related and some of them were the product of the misdemeanours of Israel’s ancestors.

Just a few days ago I was preaching on Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” Just as Paul would boast in His Lord, so the Jews long before Him, were encouraged to do the same, “Let them know that You, whose name is the Lord – that You alone are the Most High over all the earth.”

Psalm 83 then, encourages its readers and singers to get out there and make the Lord known, to declare to an unbelieving world that He is the Lord of all, that all the pagan gods are nothing, there is only One Most High! This language is first used by the priest Melchizedek who blessed Abram with these words, “Blessed be Abram by God most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Genesis 14:19-20.

Nothing has changed, let us boast of Him, of our faith in Him. Let us tell the world that whatever and whoever they worship and serve, our God is greater than all of them. He is the Most High. Hallelujah!

 

P.S.      The War of Independence (1947-49)

Some Messianic Jews see Psalm 83 as being re-enacted in the events that took place when the nation of Israel was reborn. So let’s briefly set out what happened. 

In human terms, the War of Independence was Israel's costliest war, with over 6,000 Israelis were killed and 15,000 wounded. The war consisted of 39 separate operations, fought from the borders of Lebanon to the Sinai Peninsula and Eilat.

  

In December 1946 - at the first post-war Zionist Congress in Basle - David Ben Gurion assumed the defence portfolio, including responsibility for the Haganah, (paramilitary Zionist organisation in Israel – there was no regular armed force) which at the time concentrated on the struggle against the British. 

Although British restrictions, searches and detentions made the building of a clandestine force - with armour and artillery, air and sea power - well-nigh impossible, Ben-Gurion decided early on that this was the decisive task: to build up a force in preparation for an assault by the regular armies of the Arab countries, which the yishuv (the Jewish community) would have to face alone, without outside help. 

 

He found the Haganah woefully ill prepared for such an eventuality and set about energetically to rectify this. Since import and deployment of heavy weapons were not practicable as long as the British held sway over Palestine, it was decided that manpower should be readied in the country and equipment purchased abroad - to be "married" in time to throw back an Arab assault, if not to prevent it; in time for 15 May 1948, the day envisaged for the termination of the British Mandate and the day after Israel would declare its independence. 

The war was fought along the entire, long border of Israel: against Lebanon and Syria in the north; Iraq and Transjordan - renamed Jordan during the war - in the east; Egypt, assisted by contingents from the Sudan - in the south; and Palestinians and volunteers from Arab countries in the interior of the country. 

It was the bloodiest of Israel's wars. It cost 6,373 killed in action (from pre-state days until 20 July 1949) almost 1% of the yishuv - although that figure includes quite a number of new immigrants and some foreign volunteers. 

In the First Phase (29 November 1947 - 1 April 1948), it was the Palestinian Arabs who took the offensive, with the help of volunteers from neighbouring countries; the yishuv had little success in limiting the war - it suffered severe casualties and disruption of passage along most of the major highways. 

In the Second Phase (1 April - 15 May) the Haganah took the initiative, and in six weeks was able to turn the tables - capturing, inter alia, the Arab sections of Tiberias, Haifa and later also Safed and Acre, temporarily opening the road to Jerusalem and gaining control of much of the territory allotted to the Jewish State under the UN Resolution.

The Third Phase (15 May - 19 July), considered the critical one, opened with the simultaneous, coordinated assault on the fledgling state by five regular Arab armies from neighbouring countries, with an overwhelming superiority of heavy equipment - armour, artillery and airforce. 
On 31 May the Haganah was renamed the "Israel Defence Forces". The IDF suffered initial setbacks, including the loss of the Etzion Bloc in Judea, the area of Mishmar Hayarden in the north and Yad Mordehai in the south, but after three weeks was able to halt the offensive, to stabilize the front and even initiate some local offensive operations. 

The Fourth Phase (19 July 1948 - 20 July, 1949) was characterized by Israeli initiatives: Operation Yoav, in October, cleared the road to the Negev, culminating in the capture of Be'er Sheva; Operation Hiram, at the end of October, resulted in the capture of the Upper Galilee; Operation Horev in December 1948 and Operation Uvda in March 1949, completed the capture of the Negev, which had been allotted to the Jewish State by the United Nations. 

Simultaneously, the Arab countries signed Armistice Agreements: first came Egypt - 24 February 1949; followed by Lebanon - 23 March; Jordan - 3 April; and Syria - 20 July. Only Iraq did not sign an armistice agreement with Israel. It preferred to withdraw its troops and hand over its sector to the Arab Legion of Jordan. 

In the end Israel not only ejected the invading Arab forces - it also captured and held some 5,000 km2 over and above the areas allocated to it by the United Nations.