Welcome to Day 2706 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – “The Great Reversal” – Supernatural

Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script – Day 2706

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2706 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Today, we continue with the 13^th of 16 segments of our Theology Thursday lessons. I will read through the book “Supernatural,” written by Hebrew Bible scholar, professor, and mentor Dr. Michael S. Heiser, who has since passed away. Supernatural is a condensed version of his comprehensive book, ‘The Unseen Realm.’ If these readings pique your interest, I would recommend that you read ‘The Unseen Realm.’ Today, we will read through chapter thirteen: “The Great Reversal”

Aside from stories about Jesus in the Gospels—such   as accounts of his birth, death, and Sermon on the Mount—perhaps the most familiar passage in the New Testament is Acts 2, where the Holy Spirit rushes upon the followers of Jesus at the day of Pentecost. It marks the launch of the fledgling church and the beginning of global evangelism in the name of Jesus.

As familiar as the passage is, there’s a lot more going on in it than most realize. Acts 2 is in fact designed to telegraph the campaign to reverse the post-Babel cosmic geography of the Old Testament, in which the nations other than Israel were under the dominion of lesser gods. What happened at Pentecost was a battle plan for infiltrating all the nations disinherited by God at Babel with the gospel of Jesus—an ancient strategy for spiritual war.

Pentecost

What Acts 2 describes as happening on the day of Pentecost was certainly unusual:

And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. And suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And divided tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability to speak out. Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one was hearing them speaking in his own language. And they were astounded and astonished, saying, “Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how do we hear, each one of us, in our own native language?” (Acts 2:1–8 leb)

Some of the things that take us into the supernatural worldview of the Old Testament in that remarkable passage aren’t obvious in the English translation. The “rushing wind” associated with the arrival of the Spirit is a familiar description of the presence of God in the Old Testament (2 Kings 2:1, 11; Job 38:1; 40:6). Fire is also familiar in descriptions of God (Ezek. 1:4; Isa. 6:4, 6; Dan. 7:9; Ex. 3:2; 19:18; 20:18).

It’s clear from those references that God was present at the event and behind what was going on. His intention was to launch his campaign to take back the nations from the lesser gods he assigned to the nations (Deut. 4:19–20; 32:8–9) but who became his enemies (Ps. 82).

God’s tool for doing that was the words of the disciples—hence the imagery of tongues. God enabled the Jewish followers of Jesus to speak to the rest of the Jews gathered at Pentecost—who lived in all the nations under the dominion of enemy gods. When they heard the gospel and believed, they would go back to their nations and tell others about Jesus.

Pentecost and Babel

The Tower of Babel incident was what gave rise to God’s decision to scatter the nations and put them under the authority of other gods (Deut. 4:19–20; 32:8–9). At first glance there doesn’t seem to be much connection between that event and what happened in Acts 2. But in the original languages, there are clear connections between the two.

Two key items in Acts 2 connect its events to Babel. First, the flaming tongues are described as “divided,” and second, the crowd, composed of Jews from all the nations, are said to have been “confused.” In English, that may not seem particularly convincing. Luke is writing in Greek, and the Greek words he used here translated as “divided” and “confusion” come from Genesis 11:7 and Deuteronomy 32:8, both of which describe the division of the languages and nations at Babel and the resulting confusion.

Luke, the author of Acts, was a Gentile. He could only read Greek. Consequently, he was using the Greek translation of the Old Testament known widely then (and still today) as the Septuagint. It was the Old Testament of the early church, since few people could read Hebrew. Luke was thinking of the Babel event when he wrote Acts 2.

But why make the connection? Think about what happened at Pentecost. The Spirit came as God so often had come in the Old Testament, with rushing wind and fire. The confusion of having multiple languages (which was a result of Babel) was removed when the flaming tongues enabled the disciples to speak in the languages of the Jews from all across the world gathered in Jerusalem for the celebration. Three thousand of them believed the message about Jesus (Acts 2:41).

Those new believers who embraced Jesus as messiah would carry that message back to their home countries​—the nations scattered at Babel. Back in Genesis 11, God had turned his back on the nations of humanity and, right afterward, in Genesis 12, called Abraham to establish God’s new people and nation. He was now going to gather people from all those nations he had rejected and bring them back into his believing family alongside Jewish believers descended from Abraham. In time, God’s kingdom would overspread the kingdoms of the enemy gods.

The incredible part of all this is the list of nations in Acts 2 and the order they are presented. If you looked them up on a map, you would move from the east, where the Jews had been exiled at the end of the Old Testament in Babylon and Persia, westward to the farthest point known at the time. They cover the same distance and scope as the nations listed in Genesis 10—the ones put under the lesser gods.

We Wrestle Not against Flesh and Blood

Most of the book of Acts is about Paul’s missionary journeys. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles—the person initially sent by God to start churches in the nations outside Israel. Paul’s journeys and life circumstances, such as his arrest by the Romans, took him ever westward.

In his New Testament letters, Paul often talked about the spiritual forces opposing his ministry and the spread of the gospel. His vocabulary for the evil entities whose domains he violated in the wake of Pentecost shows that he understood the Old Testament’s cosmic geography. Do you notice a common thread running through Paul’s terminology (drawn from the ESV) for the unseen forces of darkness?

• rulers/principalities (Eph. 1:20–21; 6:12; Col. 2:15)
• authorities (Eph. 1:20–21; 3:10; 6:12; Col. 2:15; 1 Cor. 2:6) • powers (Eph. 1:20–21; 3:10) • dominions (Col. 1:16)
• lords (Eph. 1:20–21; 1 Cor. 8:5)
• thrones (Col. 1:16)

All of these words denote geographical rulership. In fact, these same terms are used in the New Testament and other Greek literature of human political power holders. Paul’s language is that of domain authority. It reflects how the Old Testament depicts the spiritual world’s relationship to the human world: the nations set aside by God are under the dominion of spiritual beings hostile to him and his people.

“I Will Go to Spain”

The book of Acts ends with Paul journeying to Rome. Paul was a prisoner, and he was going to Rome for two reasons: to appeal to Caesar and to spread the gospel. But Paul knew that to reclaim the nations under the hostile gods, he had to get to the end of the known world at the time. In Old Testament times, that place had been called Tarshish. In Paul’s day, it was called Spain. Paul had to get to Spain to complete his mission. His words to the Romans before his imprisonment tell us he fully intended to go to Spain—to the westward end of the earth in his day—to reclaim every nation for Jesus:

I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.… When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. (Rom. 15:24, 28)

Paul was motivated by the realization that God’s plan to restore his kingdom had been launched in his own lifetime. He believed that when “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” then “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25–26). He thought he was to finish what Pentecost had begun.

Why This Matters

Paul had a supernatural perspective on his own life. He viewed himself as an instrument of God. And he was. But so were all the other unnamed new believers who, after Pentecost, went before him from Jerusalem to infiltrate demonic strongholds where they lived.

And so are we.

If we are instruments of God in the same way Paul was an instrument of God, then why was he so much more influential and effective? One difference is that Paul understood what his life was about. He believed the powers that had dominion over the earth were real—and that the power behind and within him was greater.

Do you believe those things? The Bible puts them forth as givens. And that’s how Paul treated them in his own life.

Paul didn’t know how big the world really was. He didn’t know about North America, South America, China, India, Norway, Australia, Iceland, and many other places. God did. God knew the task of spreading the gospel to all the world would ultimately be much greater than Paul could comprehend. God knew others would have to follow Paul’s goal for himself if the gospel was to reach every part of the earth. If we’re not actively trying to complete the task, we aren’t doing what we’re here on earth to do. If we want God only so he will come to us to meet our needs, then we’re more like the people at Babel than we are like Jesus, the Twelve, and Paul.

Another implication of the passages of Scripture we’ve examined is that the notion of demonic strongholds is biblical. We aren’t given a full description of demonic zones or turf boundaries, or even a spiritual pecking order for the dark side. We are told, however, that the unseen powers see earth as their domain. We’re told those powers resist God’s kingdom and don’t want people to become part of God’s plan to spread his good rule everywhere. That means we should expect resistance we can’t explain with logic or empirical evidence and we can’t defeat it on our own. God has given us his Spirit and unseen agents of his own to help us further his mission (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; Heb. 1:13; 1 John 4:4).

The real question to ask ourselves is this: What would our lives be like if we woke up each day with a view of the world and its supernatural influences that matched Paul’s? What if, each day, our lives were organized around our knowledge of our status as part of God’s family, tasked with delivering siblings from darkness? What if we lived intentionally, knowing that each decision we make and each word we speak isn’t randomly purposeless? What if, instead, we believed unseen intelligences all around us use our decisions, our actions, our words to influence other people—for good or evil—whether or not we see or know them? Our jobs, our income, our talents, even our problems are of no consequence when it comes to knowing who we really are, and will be, and why we’re here. We cannot see the supernatural world—nor can we see the microscopic world—but we’re inextricably part of both.

Early believers thought this way. As we’ll see in the next chapter, they believed the world around them was enslaved to darkness that would one day yield. Despite the fact that the battle was literally them against the hostile world and its powers, they quietly produced the global thing we call Christianity, with God and his unseen agents working with them. They believed the spiritual conflict was real and that, ultimately, they couldn’t lose. We’re living proof that they didn’t.

Join us next time on Theology Thursday as we explore ‘Not of This World.’

Reflect…

If you found this podcast insightful, subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!

Welcome to Day 2705 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Day 2705 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 83:9-18 – Daily Wisdom

Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script – Day 2705

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2705 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Today’s Wisdom Nugget is titled: A Prayer for Judgment – That They May Know Your Name – Concluding Our Trek Through Psalm 83:9-18

Guthrie Chamberlain: Welcome back to Wisdom-Trek, your compass for navigating the profound landscapes of faith and life. I’m your guide, Guthrie Chamberlain, and today, we reach the powerful and climactic conclusion of our trek through Psalm 83 in the New Living Translation, encompassing its final verses, 9 through 18.

In our last conversation, we plunged into the heart of a national crisis described in Psalm 83:1-8. We heard Asaph, the psalmist, plead with a seemingly silent God: “O God, do not remain silent!” He revealed a malicious conspiracy of nations with “a single purpose: to enter into a treaty against you” and a chilling goal to “wipe out Israel as a nation.” He presented to God a coalition of Israel’s historical enemies, allied with the powerful Assyria, a threat so formidable that human intervention seemed utterly futile. It was a desperate prayer for God, the ultimate Judge, to break His silence and act.

Now, in this concluding section, Asaph moves from a description of the conspiracy to a fervent, imprecatory prayer for God to act decisively against these enemies. He appeals to God to perform a new act of salvation that is as legendary and devastating as His great victories of the past. The goal of this prayer is not just for Israel’s survival, but for God’s name to be universally known and glorified as a result of His righteous judgment.

So, let’s listen to this powerful and passionate prayer for a divine repeat of history, leading to an ultimate revelation of God’s sovereignty.

• A Prayer for History to Repeat Itself

(Reads Psalm 83:9-12 NLT)

Do to them as you did to the Midianites, or to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River. They were destroyed at Endor, and their bodies were left to fertilize the ground. Let their princes die as Oreb and Zeeb did. Let all their rulers die like Zebah and Zalmunna. For they said, “Let us seize for ourselves the pasturelands of God!”

Guthrie Chamberlain: The psalmist begins his imprecation with a specific, historical plea, asking God to act as He has in the past: “Do to them as you did to the Midianites, or to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.” This is a powerful and theologically sound strategy in prayer. When we face a new crisis, we can look to God’s past acts of faithfulness and power as a basis for our present requests. Asaph is not asking God to do something new; he’s asking Him to be the same God He has always been.

The Midianites were defeated by God through the leadership of Gideon, a victory so decisive that it became a standard for divine intervention (Judges 7). It was a miraculous victory where a small army of 300, armed with trumpets, pitchers, and torches, routed a vast Midianite army, with God causing the Midianites to turn their swords on each other.

The defeat of Sisera and Jabin, mentioned in the very next line, was another famous, divinely-orchestrated victory (Judges 4). It was a battle where God sent a flash flood at the Kishon River, bogging down Sisera’s iron chariots and allowing Israel to defeat his formidable army. The psalmist wants God to perform a new act of salvation that is just as miraculous and decisive as these.

The aftermath of that victory is grimly recalled: “They were destroyed at Endor, and their bodies were left to fertilize the ground.” Endor was a town near where the battle with Sisera and Jabin took place. The psalmist recalls that their defeat was so utter and complete that their bodies were not even given a proper burial, an ultimate act of dishonor in the ancient world, but were left “to fertilize the ground.” This is the fate the psalmist desires for the current enemies—a total and dishonorable defeat.

The prayer then becomes even more specific, naming the leaders of the Midianites: “Let their princes die as Oreb and Zeeb did. Let all their rulers die like Zebah and Zalmunna.” Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah, and Zalmunna were the kings and princes of the Midianites who were all captured and killed by Gideon and his men. By naming these specific leaders, the psalmist is asking God to not just defeat the armies, but to bring about the complete downfall of the current leaders who have conspired against Israel. He is asking for a comprehensive divine judgment that starts at the very top.

The justification for this prayer is then given in the malicious ambition of the enemies: “For they said, ‘Let us seize for ourselves the pasturelands of God!'” This is the ultimate affront. The enemies’ goal is not just territorial expansion, but the seizure of “the pasturelands of God,” which refers to the Promised Land, Israel’s inheritance. This land belonged to God (Leviticus 25:23), and the enemies’ desire to seize it was a direct challenge to God’s ownership and sovereignty. The psalmist is essentially saying, “They are coming to steal what is Yours, Lord. You must act to defend Your own property.” This again ties the national struggle to God’s own honor and cause.

This section models a fervent prayer for God to act in the present by remembering His past acts of salvation, a profound expression of faith that God is an unchanging God who is able to perform new wonders just as He did in the past.

• The Finality of Judgment and the Purpose of Shame

(Reads Psalm 83:13-18 NLT)

O my God, make them like tumbleweeds, like chaff blown by the wind. As a fire burns a forest and a flame blazes through the mountains, pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm. Fill their faces with shame so they will seek your name, O Lord. May they always be humiliated and filled with terror. May they die in shame. Then they will learn that you alone are the Lord, the Most High over all the earth.

Guthrie Chamberlain: The psalmist now uses vivid, devastating imagery from the natural world to describe the judgment he prays for: “O my God, make them like tumbleweeds, like chaff blown by the wind.” Tumbleweeds and chaff are dry, light, and completely at the mercy of the wind. They are utterly without substance, without purpose, and they are easily scattered. This is a prayer for the enemies, for all their pride and power, to be rendered so insignificant and insubstantial that they are simply swept away by God’s power, leaving no trace behind. This stands in stark contrast to their goal of wiping out the memory of Israel (v. 4).

The prayer for judgment continues with even more destructive imagery: “As a fire burns a forest and a flame blazes through the mountains, pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.” Fire in a dry forest is uncontrollable and consumes everything in its path. A “tempest” (supha) is a hurricane-force wind, and a “storm” (se’ara) is a terrifying whirlwind. The psalmist is asking for God, the master of all these natural forces, to unleash them upon the enemy. He wants the enemies to be consumed by a divine fire, to be scattered and pursued by God’s own storms, filled with terror. This is a prayer for an overwhelming, apocalyptic judgment that leaves no doubt about the source of their destruction.

And what is the ultimate goal of this terrifying judgment? The psalmist’s prayer becomes profoundly theological: “Fill their faces with shame so they will seek your name, O Lord.” This is a crucial turning point. The ultimate purpose of the judgment is not just their annihilation, but their conversion. The “shame” that fills their faces is meant to be a holy shame, a recognition of their utter foolishness in opposing God, leading them to “seek your name, O Lord.” This is a prayer for their humiliation to lead to their salvation, for the very people who had been conspiring to destroy God’s people to be so humbled that they would finally turn to Him.

However, the psalmist immediately follows this with a request for their continued humiliation and terror, a kind of conditional prayer: “May they always be humiliated and filled with terror. May they die in shame.” This can be interpreted as a prayer for the unrepentant. If their humiliation does not lead them to seek God’s name, then let their humiliation be permanent. Let them “die in shame,” suffering the ultimate ignominy of a life lived in rebellion against God. The psalm holds these two possibilities in tension: the possibility of repentance born from shame, and the certainty of continued shame and death for the unrepentant.

The psalm concludes with the powerful and glorious reason for this entire prayer for judgment: “Then they will learn that you alone are the Lord, the Most High over all the earth.” This is the climax of the entire psalm, the ultimate purpose for God’s intervention. Asaph doesn’t ask God to do this for Israel’s glory, but for God’s own glory. The world, the enemies, the nations that conspired against Israel—they will “learn” (yada, to know intimately) that God is the one true sovereign. The titles used are significant: “the Lord” (Yahweh), the covenant name of God, and “the Most High” (Elyon), a name signifying His supreme authority over all creation. It’s a prayer for the universal recognition of God’s unmatched authority.

Psalm 83, in its entirety, is a fervent plea for God’s justice against a specific conspiracy of nations. It moves from a desperate cry to a silent God to a confident prayer for God to repeat His ancient wonders, culminating in the hope that His righteous judgment will lead to the universal recognition of His supreme name and glory.

What profound wisdom can we draw from these concluding verses for our Wisdom-Trek today?

Firstly, this psalm teaches us to pray with confidence, anchoring our present pleas in the undeniable reality of God’s past faithfulness and power. Our God is not a God who is powerless; He is the same God who defeated Midian and the chariots of Sisera.

Secondly, the psalm reminds us that God’s judgment is not always just about punishment; it can also be redemptive. The hope that the enemies’ shame might lead them to seek God’s name is a powerful testament to God’s ultimate desire for all to know Him.

Thirdly, this psalm gives a profound purpose to our prayers for justice. We are to pray that God will act so decisively against wickedness that His power and His glory are so manifest that all the world, even His enemies, will be forced to acknowledge that “you alone are the Lord.”

Finally, this psalm gives us a powerful framework for trusting in God’s universal sovereignty. We know that He is “the Most High over all the earth.” No matter what nations conspire, or what threats we face, we can rest secure in the knowledge that God’s righteous judgment is certain, and His name will ultimately be glorified over all.

Let us, like Asaph, bring our prayers for justice to the God who is both the righteous Judge and the ultimate Redeemer, trusting that He will act for His name’s sake and lead the nations to a knowledge of His supreme glory.

Guthrie Chamberlain: If you found this podcast insightful, subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal. As we take this Trek together, let us always: Live Abundantly (Fully) Love Unconditionally Listen Intentionally Learn Continuously Lend to others Generously Lead with Integrity Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ‘Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!

Welcome to Day 2704 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Day 2704 – Ecclesiastes 3 – “Life isn’t Just One Thing – It’s Everything”

Welcome to Day 2703 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Day 2704 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 83:1-8 – Daily Wisdom

Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script – Day 2703

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2703 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Today’s Wisdom Nugget is titled: A Conspiracy of Silence – When Nations Conspire – A Trek Through Psalm 83:1-8

Guthrie Chamberlain: Welcome to Wisdom-Trek, your compass for navigating the profound landscapes of faith and life. I’m your guide, Guthrie Chamberlain, and today, we open a new and urgent chapter in our journey through the Psalms. We’re embarking on a trek through Psalm 83 in the New Living Translation, encompassing its opening verses, 1 through 8.

Psalm 83, another psalm of Asaph, is a fervent communal lament and an imprecatory prayer, a desperate cry for God’s intervention against a specific and imminent threat. After the divine judgment scene of Psalm 82, where God condemned unjust human rulers in a heavenly court, this psalm brings us back to earth, to a very real and present danger: a grand conspiracy of nations with a single, malevolent goal.

This psalm is a powerful expression of a people facing a severe existential threat. The psalmist pleads with God, the ultimate Judge and ruler of the nations, not to remain silent in the face of this malicious plot. It reminds us that there are times when the threats are so great, so overwhelming, that the only hope is for a silent God to speak and a hidden God to act.

So, let’s immerse ourselves in this prayer of national desperation and listen to the psalmist’s earnest plea for God’s intervention against this formidable conspiracy.

• The Plea for a Silent God to Act

(Reads Psalm 83:1-4 NLT)

O God, do not remain silent! Do not turn a deaf ear. Do not stand aloof, O God. Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies? Don’t you see the arrogance of those who hate you? They devise crafty schemes against your people, and they conspire against your treasured ones. “Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the memory of its existence.”

Guthrie Chamberlain: The psalm begins with an immediate, urgent, and almost confrontational plea for God to break His silence: “O God, do not remain silent! Do not turn a deaf ear. Do not stand aloof, O God.” This triple appeal highlights the profound distress of the people. God’s silence in the face of a terrifying threat is unbearable. “Remain silent” (charash) implies inactivity. “Turn a deaf ear” (al-al) implies a refusal to listen. “Stand aloof” (shalaq) suggests a deliberate distance, an indifference to their suffering. The psalmist is begging God to do the opposite of all these things: to speak, to listen, and to draw near and intervene. This lament stands in stark contrast to the divine pronouncements of judgment in the previous Psalm 82, where God’s voice was loud and clear. Here, that same mighty voice seems to be silent.

The reason for this plea is the escalating arrogance of their enemies: “Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies? Don’t you see the arrogance of those who hate you?” This is a direct appeal to God’s senses, a desperate attempt to grab His attention. “Uproar” (hamon) suggests a loud, noisy, and chaotic clamor, likely a war cry or a unified, threatening sound. “Arrogance” (sha’on) implies a proud and disdainful attitude, a boastful display of power. These enemies are not just hostile; they “hate” God Himself. The psalmist is presenting a case to God: “Your enemies are making a great racket and acting with proud disdain toward You. Surely, You must hear and see this!”

The core of their plea is based on the enemies’ sinister and malicious conspiracy: “They devise crafty schemes against your people, and they conspire against your treasured ones.” This is not an open, honest battle but a secret, underhanded plot. “Crafty schemes” (sod) refers to a secret plan, a closed-door conspiracy. They have “conspired” (yā’ats) together, a coalition of nations united against a common foe. The target of this conspiracy is not just a nation; it’s “your people” and “your treasured ones” (tṣāphun). “Treasured ones” is a term of endearment, signifying God’s ownership and love for Israel, echoing the idea of them being God’s special possession (Deuteronomy 7:6). The psalmist is reminding God of His intimate relationship with Israel, arguing that an attack on them is an attack on Him.

The ultimate, horrifying goal of this conspiracy is then revealed: “Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the memory of its existence.” This is the chilling climax of their malicious plot. Their goal is not just conquest, or even tribute; it is total annihilation. “Wipe out Israel as a nation” (kārath) means to completely cut off their national identity, their political structure, and their very existence. The secondary goal is even more sinister: “We will destroy the memory of its existence.” This is an attempt at historical erasure, as if Israel never existed. This kind of conspiracy was the ultimate threat to the ancient Israelite people, whose identity was so intertwined with their covenant, their land, and their history. This psalm is giving voice to a people facing a clear and present danger of being completely erased from the face of the earth.

This opening section powerfully conveys the depth of the threat and the desperation of the psalmist’s plea for God to break His silence and act on behalf of His people.

• A Coalition of Malice and a Shared Purpose

(Reads Psalm 83:5-8 NLT)

Yes, they have a single purpose: to enter into a treaty against you. It is the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, of Philistia, with people from Tyre. Assyria has also joined them, and is the strongest ally of the descendants of Lot.

Guthrie Chamberlain: The psalmist now confirms that this is not a random collection of enemies, but a unified, deliberate conspiracy: “Yes, they have a single purpose: to enter into a treaty against you.” The phrase “a single purpose” (lebab echad) means “with one heart.” They are united in their malice. The treaty (berit) they have made is not just against Israel, but “against you”—against God Himself. This is a profound and direct accusation. The psalm argues that the enemy’s hatred for Israel is inseparable from their hatred for God. The conspiracy is not just a political matter; it is a theological one, a direct challenge to God’s sovereignty. This is why God must act.

The psalmist then provides a terrifying list of the nations involved in this conspiracy: “It is the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, of Philistia, with people from Tyre.” This list would have sent chills down the spine of an ancient Israelite. It’s a comprehensive coalition of their traditional, historical enemies.

• Edom and Moab and Ammon were neighboring peoples, descended from Abraham and Lot, making their enmity a kind of family betrayal.
• The Ishmaelites and Hagrites were nomadic peoples, often in conflict with Israel.
• Gebal was a city-state known for its naval power and influence.
• Amalek was a people with a long history of animosity toward Israel, going back to their ambush in the wilderness (Exodus 17:8).
• Philistia was a powerful, long-standing enemy on the coast.
• Tyre was a Phoenician city-state known for its immense wealth and naval power.

This list is a who’s who of hostile, surrounding nations, all united against Israel. It’s a comprehensive geographical and political threat, a coalition so formidable that it would seem impossible for Israel to overcome on its own.

And to make matters worse, the psalmist adds a final, terrifying name to the list: “Assyria has also joined them, and is the strongest ally of the descendants of Lot.” Assyria was the regional superpower, a brutal and feared empire known for its military might and its policy of exile and subjugation. Their inclusion in this conspiracy would have sealed Israel’s fate in any human calculation. “Descendants of Lot” refers to Moab and Ammon, underscoring the deep family betrayal and the formidable military support they received from the greatest power in the region.

This list is not just for information; it’s a profound, emotional argument for God. The psalmist is presenting a clear, detailed, and dire situation to the heavenly court. “Look, O God, at the conspiracy! Look at the enemies! They are united in their hatred for you and for your people. They are a coalition of our traditional foes, and even the world’s superpower has joined them. There is no hope for us unless you act.” This is a desperate appeal for God, the ultimate Judge from Psalm 82, to rise up and pronounce a verdict against these earthly conspirators.

Psalm 83:1-8 is a powerful and heart-wrenching psalm that gives voice to a people facing a clear and existential threat. It’s a plea for a silent God to act, a profound lament over a malicious conspiracy, and a reminder that when human forces conspire against God’s people, their ultimate target is God Himself.

What profound wisdom can we draw from these opening verses for our Wisdom-Trek today?

Firstly, this psalm validates the experience of feeling threatened and overwhelmed by forces that seem to have a “single purpose” to do us harm. It shows that it’s permissible to bring these fears and threats directly to God in prayer.

Secondly, it reminds us that our primary appeal for God’s intervention should be based on His honor and His cause. The conspiracy is not just against us, but “against you.” When we face threats, we can plead with God to act not just for our sake, but for the glory of His name.

Thirdly, the psalm highlights the dangers of a conspiracy and a unified purpose rooted in malice and hatred. It stands as a warning against such plots and a reminder that their ultimate end is an affront to God.

Finally, in a world where forces conspire against the faithful, this psalm provides hope. It reminds us that we are not alone. Our identity is rooted in being God’s “people” and His “treasured ones.” And the God we serve, the ultimate Judge, hears the uproar of His enemies and will ultimately rise up to act.

Let us learn from Asaph’s plea, bringing our fears and the threats we face to God, trusting that He will not remain silent forever but will rise up and act on behalf of His name.

Guthrie Chamberlain: Thank you for joining me on this profound trek through the opening verses of Psalm 83. I trust that this exploration of conspiracy, prayer, and God’s intervention has resonated with your own journey today. Join me again next time as we continue to seek and apply the timeless truths of God’s Word. Until then, keep moving forward, enjoy the journey, and create a great day! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, reminding you to Live Abundantly, Love Unconditionally, Listen Intentionally, Learn Continuously, Lend to others Generously, Lead with Integrity, and Leave a Living Legacy each day.