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By Gary Stearman

“They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (Psalm 83:4).

Of late, the term “Islamo-Fascism” has come into vogue. In the international war against terrorism, some have pointed out that we have entered into a new and

ominous phase of global warfare. Now, in addi-tion to the old twenti-eth-century model of “nation against nation,” we seem to have entered into the era of “kingdom against kingdom.” In the past, nations fielded

armies wearing recognizable uniforms, against which clear battle lines were drawn. Governments warred against governments. Germany, Italy, Japan and others waged “world war.”

Today, tribal factions have the power and wealth to field clandestine armies, posing as anything from tourists to religious clerics. They eagerly work through underground weapons markets to acquire the latest su-perweapons. Portable canisters may carry anything from nerve gas to nuclear waste … even nuclear bombs! They lie, cheat and steal to plant themselves deeply into society, awaiting the signal to strike. They have not only surrounded Israel, they have infiltrated the beloved Land.

But as Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” There is a major inci-dent in the Bible that bears a surprisingly close resemblance to Israel’s current plight. It is the story of Gideon, the fifth in a series of Judges over Israel. He literally saved Is-rael from complete destruction by defeating a coalition of tribal kingdoms – led by the Midianites – who had laid siege to Israel, even as they crept into its interior. These evil immigrants were on the verge of reduc-ing Israel to a tragic memory, and there was no force capable of resisting them.

Israel’s War With Islam:

Wanted: A Gideon To Rise Up Against Islamic Fascism

Osama bin Laden - In the past, nations fielded armies wearing recognizable uniforms, against which clear battle lines were drawn. Governments warred against governments. Today, tribal factions have the power and wealth to field clandestine armies, posing as anything from tourists to religious clerics — and they use no identifying uniforms. In addition to the old twentieth-century model of “nation against nation,” we seem to have entered into the era of “kingdom against kingdom.”

But Gideon defeated them. And his story carries a striking message for today.

When Jesus spoke of the latter-day battles that would precede the Great Tribulation, He evoked two different descriptions of

what would transpire:“For nation shall rise against nation, and

kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earth-quakes, in divers places” (Matt. 24:7).

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We commonly think of a nation as having borders, a recognizable government, with institutions and infrastructure. Today’s Iran is such a nation, seeking to make itself a world power, complete with weapons of mass destruction.

But Iran also actively sponsors legions of spies, insurgent armies outside its borders (Hamas and Hezbollah) and extra-national terrorism. Armies without borders or uni-forms are the latest development in world war. In the morning, these “soldiers” may be in the Middle East; that afternoon, they might have flown to Europe or the U.S.

Hamas and Hezbollah are not nations, but they would definitely qualify as kingdoms. Their “kings” are the mullahs, sheikhs and clerics of Islam. These men don’t separate their religion from their aspirations to power.

Caliphs and KingsIn fact, they are actively seeking to

establish new caliphates. These would be territories rigidly controlled by caliphs. This title comes from the Arabic word khalifah, meaning “representative.” In the seventh and eighth centuries, following Moham-med’s death, powerful Arabs established themselves as virtual kings. They called themselves sheikhs, sultans and emirs and had absolute authority, transferring wealth and issuing death sentences at the snap of their fingers.

The last caliphate was brought to an end by the Turkish Republic in 1924, with elimi-nation of the Ottoman Caliphate. Today, Islamic clerics boast that they are about to establish new caliphates, operated under the authority of men who stand as literal substitutes for Mohammed. Their role is to act as protectors of Islam and political ministers of the Islamic faith.

Thus, the would-be caliphs of Islam op-erate as kings, as they order revolutionary armies to do their bidding. They dream of establishing caliphate kingdoms. Various sects of Islam are currently warring inter-nally, as they decide how they will slice up the political pie after they come to power.

The point is this: When Jesus spoke of “kingdom against kingdom,” He foresaw the latter-day growth of factions that would battle for supremacy. Today, Islam is deeply divided between many sects. Everyone has heard of Shi’ites and Sunnis. Daily, they kill each other in Iraq, as they seek preeminence.

There are other sects, like Wahabis, Sufis and Kahrijites. There are the Ismailis and Zaidis. Another faction is called the Nizari … the assassins.

But they all share the dream of world

domination under their coming messiah figure, the so-called “twelfth imam.” It is only a dream. It will never happen. Today we truly see both nations and kingdoms vying for power on the world stage.

What Is Fascism?Usually, when we hear the word “fas-

cist,” the fanatical movements of World War II pop into our minds. At the top of the list would be the “Fascisti” of Benito Mussolini. This party emerged as a strong national movement that promised to bring Italy into prominence as a global power. Mussolini’s braggadocio and fierce pride came to symbolize everything we think about when we envision a fascist move-ment. And of course, Adolph Hitler also fits into the same mold. His National Socialist Party perfectly defines fascism.

Today’s Islamic clerics exude the same swaggering conceit that marks fascist movements the world over. In character and operation, they closely resemble the villains of World War II. In addition to Hitler and Mussolini, Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan, Juan Peron of Argentina, Francisco Franco of Spain and many others share a bold and aggressive mindset that marks them as supernationalists.

But one cannot define fascism as purely political. It is always empowered by a strong religious or mystical overtone. Some have concluded that the ultimate fascist was Adolph Hitler, himself. Like Mussolini, and Franco, he was fiercely nationalistic. But it is not generally recognized that he was also a religious fanatic. In fact, he was brought to power by religious occultists who felt that he was the forerunner who would bring the “new man” to power, using the mystical powers of the old Nordic mythology. Fa-natical religious zeal is always somewhere to be found in fascist movements.

As defined by the Merriam-Webster New 3rd International Dictionary, fascism is: “1: … the movement or governmental regime embodying their principles. 2 a: any program for setting up a centralized autocratic national regime with severely nationalistic policies, exercising regimen-tation of industry, commerce, and finance, rigid censorship, and forcible suppression of opposition b: any tendency toward or actual exercises of severe autocratic or dictatorial control (as over others within an organization) …”

Additionally there is the commingling of religion with governmental bureaucracy. Religious terminology is often used to force adherence to state doctrine. Fascist speech is sprinkled with references to faith, purpose and identity.

Fascism is always centered upon some sense of involvement in a historic mis-sion. It is militant and nationalistic, using violence without hesitation. It is usually a cult of personality, revolving around a charismatic leader. (Think of Osama bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hezbol-lah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, or the late Yasser Arafat.)

It is not reliant upon a civil constitution or an electorate, claiming a higher calling. It makes a scapegoat of “modernism” and the decline of public morality. It offers a romantic calling to the common people, offering them a sense of historic mission. It places itself above capitalism, socialism or Western democracy.

Collectively, modern Islam meets all the criteria of fascism. It is driven by an admix-ture of political and religious fanaticism and a belief in the doctrinal superiority of Mohammed and his ordained followers. It envisions itself in possession of the whole world.

ZionismThe First Zionist Congress of 1897, sent

rumblings of future change throughout the world. Zionism, declaring the sanctity of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem and their holy land, is engraved upon the heart and soul of remnant Israel.

But Zionism is not new. For centuries, each year at the close of every annual Passover ceremony, the following words are declared:

“O Pure One, Who dwells on high, raise up the countless congregation, soon – guide the offshoots of Your plants redeemed, to Zion with glad song. Next year in Jerusa-lem!” (From Bondage to Freedom, Brook-lyn, N.Y., Shaar Press, 1995, p. 197).

Passover celebrants remember Zion as they shout in jubilation at the prospect of their return to the Holy Land. Zion and Jerusalem are central to the Passover and its fervent hope of returning to Israel. Since A.D. 135, the Zionist hope has burned in isolated Jewish communities around the world.

In 1948, the replanted shoots of the fig tree began to bear their fruit. The United Nations had declared the sovereign right of national Israel to exist once again. But only a few years later, under the fierce opposition of Islamic zealots, the same body issued a poisonous document.

United Nations General Assembly Reso-lution 3379 concludes with the following words:

“TAKING NOTE ALSO of the Political Declaration and Strategy to Strengthen International Peace and Security and to

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Intensify Solidarity and Mutual Assistance among Non-Aligned Countries, adopted at the Conference of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non-Aligned Countries held at Lima from 25 to 30 August 1975, which most severely condemned Zionism as a threat to world peace and security and called upon all countries to oppose this racist and imperialist ideolog.

“DETERMINES that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.

“2400th plenary meeting - 10 November 1975” ...

On that dark date, Zionism was officially cursed by the nations. Since then, Israel has borne the weight of increasing hatred, even as its enemies received carte blanche authority to follow the lead of the U.N.

Not only has Zionism been declared “racism,” but also the very name of Israel has been blotted out by an Islamic epithet. (They call it “the Zionist entity,” refusing to use the word “Israel.”) Furthermore, they call Jerusalem “Al Quds.”

An Israeli source called GlobalSecurity.org quotes an ancient Moslem parable:

“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, ‘O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’ Only the Gharked tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.”

Throughout the twentieth century, Jews planted trees in Israel, replacing those ripped up over the centuries by the Arabs. The Arabs fantasize that even their beloved trees will one day turn against them. Their passionate public declarations continually reveal a fascistic compulsion.

In December of 2000, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini said, “Iran’s stance has always been clear on this ugly phenomenon (Is-rael). We have repeatedly said that his can-cerous tumor of a state should be removed from the region.”

Also in 2000, Iran’s purportedly moder-ate President Mohammad Khatami called Israel an “illegal state.”

On October 26, 2005, President Mah-moud Ahmadinejad spoke at a meeting called “A world Without Zionism. He said, “God willing with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world with-out the United States and Zionism.” Long before Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had said, “As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map.”

These quotes are from Iranian leaders, who are the chief supporters of tribal fac-tions around the globe. We could mention a

thousand more quotes like the ones above, but they all say the same thing: “Death to Israel … death to America.”

An Ancient FascismWhile it does not mention Islam by

name as a religious movement, the Bible is nonetheless open and detailed about the philosophy and motivation of those who follow Islam. It mentions the ancient Mid-dle Eastern Tribes, which have coalesced into today’s Islamic aggressors. And it does this in the context of an ancient battle that destroyed a coalition of forces that sought to destroy Israel.

As mentioned earlier, that battle was led by Gideon. Its essence and its consequences are captured in a prophetic psalm that was penned by Asaph. It expressed the passion of a coalition that desires a world without Israel – without Zionism.

In the past, we have discussed portions of it, with specific reference to the tribes it mentions. In its essence, this psalm is a prayer for the destruction of those who would destroy Israel. But it opens with an indictment against these antagonists. Its first eight verses follow:

“Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

“For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

“They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hid-den ones.

“They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remem-brance.

“For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

“The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

“Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

“Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. (Psalm 83:1-8).

Here, we are given the names of eleven groups of people. Some of them are the specific names of characters in the Bible. Others are place names or tribal names. Taken together, they present us with a rogue’s gallery of factions who have tried to eradicate Israel over the past three thousand years. Their descendants are still trying to this day.

We shall comment upon them in the order that they are mentioned. The first is “Edom,” the nation originated by Esau, the proud hunter who thought so little of his

birthright that he sold it to his twin brother Jacob for a bowl of stew. Perennial adver-saries, Jacob and Esau began their feud in the womb. Today, it continues in their offspring. Jacob, the patriarch of Israel, fathered the twelve tribes.

Esau (the federal head of Edom), raised up a household that included many chief-tains who later opposed Israel. The most infamous of these was Amalek, the king who was such a reprobate that God ordered King Saul to eliminate his tribe forever.

Among the Edom’s offspring were the Idumeans – the infamous Herodians of the first century. Herod the Great and his sons were the enemies of Jesus and the infant Apostolic church. As we have pointed out many times, this evil generation intermar-ried with the Caesars, becoming part the bloodline that will give birth to the Anti-christ. In the last days, he will make one final, Herculean effort to destroy the Jews. Like those before him, he will not succeed. Jewish teaching in this matter is simple. Without evasion or hesitation, it declares simply, “Edom is Rome!” No wonder this name stands at the top of the list of the eleven conspirators.

Next, we find “the tabernacles of Edom and the Ishmaelites.”

In this psalm, Edom and Ishmael are seen together in tents. These tents are commonly thought to symbolize first, a military campaign, and second, a mobile, transient existence. Indeed, the peoples of the desert are known for their transitory existence. The migrations of the Bedouins are legendary, roaming the deserts from the Dead Sea to the Persian Gulf and northward to the Euphrates and the ancient trade routes that run from Rome to India. The sons of Ishmael were the twelve sons who became the patriarchs of the Arab tribes.

Next, we find “Moab and the Hagarenes.” Moab’s dishonorable origin came when Lot’s eldest daughter plied him with wine. In his drunken state, she achieved an in-cestuous union that resulted in the birth of a son. His name – Moab – means “from my father,” forever stamping him and his nation with the stigma of illegitimacy. The Moabites worshiped Astarte, the mother goddess, and Chemosh, the god who de-manded infant sacrifice.

Their territory lay on the east side of the Dead Sea. Among their most infamous acts was the attempt by their king, Balak, to procure the services of Balaam, the Mesopotamian prophet for hire. He paid Balaam to curse Israel as Moses led the tribes northward on their way to enter the Promised Land. Balaam was unable to ef-fect a curse, but he advised King Balak to

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corrupt Israel by seducing them with a flood of young Moabite and Midianite women. For all this, Moses was instructed by the Lord to place a curse upon Moab.

The “Hagarenes” are the descendants of Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid of Abra-ham. Jewish history says that she married another man after leaving his household. From their union came other Arabian tribes. Some Jewish historians have suggested that Abraham’s concubine, Keturah (“perfumed one”) might be Hagar under another name. In this case, Midian, Sheba and Dedan would be the tribes referenced here.

Next, we find “Gebal, Ammon and Amalek.” Gebal (meaning “boundary”) is a city of ancient Phoenicia. It is mentioned in the Amarna Letters, where the king of Gebal pledged allegiance with Ramses II, against the Hebrews. Gebal was considered a border fortress.

Ammon was brother to Moab, conceived when Lot’s second daughter repeated the sinful incestuous act of her older sister. In this way, the drunken Lot fathered another illegitimate son:

“And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day” (Genesis 19:38)

Together, these two patriarchs launched a corrupt progeny that became the scourge of Israel. The territory of Ammon was situated adjacent to Moab, on the east side of the Jordan at the north end of the Dead Sea. Present-day Amman, capital of Jor-dan, would lie at the center of this ancient territory. In the days of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, these two forces came against the Jews:

“It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Am-mon, and with them other beside the Ammo-nites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

“Then there came some that told Je-hoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi.

“And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” (II Chron. 20:1-3).

As a result of their appeal to the Lord, the Jews defeated these forces, but their descendants have lived on to this day, and are still possessed by the idea of forever defeating Israel.

Next in the list is “Philistia.” The Phi-listines were called “sea people.” Their territory was situated on the Mediterranean shore. Their continual battles with the Jews occupy much Scripture. In the days of David and Solomon, they were finally

defeated, and faded into obscurity. A thou-sand years after that, the Romans conquered the Jews in 135 A.D. As a final insult, the Romans used the Latin form of Philistine – Palestina – to brand the land of Israel with the name of the ancient interloper. To this day, the arch foes of Israel still regard Palestine as the proper name of the land.

Philistia is listed “with the inhabitants of Tyre.” These, too, were people of the sea … the ancient Phoenician traders. They were worshipers of Baal and experts in managing the commerce of the ancient world. Their collective warehouses were the riches of the ancients. They typify Gentile world trade.

Assyria, the ancient land of Nimrod, is called “Assur,” in verse 8 of this psalm. Its greatness in the centuries following the great Flood of Noah is shown in the fol-lowing Scripture:

“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

“He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

“And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

“Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

“And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city” (Gen. 10:8-12).

Assyria remained great even to the time of King David, when its trade brought wealth to the northern tribes of Israel. In 722 B.C., the Assyrians wiped out the ten northern tribes, dispersing them throughout the Gentile world. Later, in the days of king Hezekiah, Assyria laid siege to Judah. Their forces – 185,000 soldiers – were annihilated by the angel of the Lord.

In this Psalm 83, Assyria is said to have joined with the sons of Lot – Moab and Ammon – to wage war against Israel.

An Open ConspiracyAt this point, it is important to note

that the eleven powers of this psalm are shown to be acting in concert (“They have taken crafty counsel against thy people…”). There was never a time in the ancient world when such a thing happened. Indeed it could not have happened in those days, since these nations and tribes individually rose to the heights of their power at different times and in different places.

The psalm presents them as rioting to-gether with a single purpose toward Israel, to “…cut them off from being a nation.” They are described as being “confederate.” But there was never a time in the world of the Old Testament when all eleven of these

powers acted together to wipe out Israel.Today, however, it is a different story. It

is important to keep in mind that offspring of all eleven live on to the present moment. Only the Lord knows exactly who they are, but they must, of necessity, be those who have lived in the area since the days of Abraham, and before. Today’s Arabians, Jordanians, Syrians, Iraqis, Persians, Turks, Afghanis and Pakistanis are descended from the ancient patriarchs. They have a single goal, namely, “A World Without Zionism.”

Here, it is appropriate to return to the orig-inal idea of fascism, as being the correct de-scriptive term for what is happening among Islamic factions in the contemporary Middle East. Fascism as a descriptive term comes from the Latin fascio, meaning “to bundle together and fasten as a single unit.”

In ancient Rome, it was symbolized by a battle-axe with many handles, each rep-resenting a faction of the Roman empire. Interlaced and tied together with a single ribbon, they were bound tight as a unit. Such fasces, as they were called, became the traditional symbol of Roman unity, carried by magistrates and rulers before the august gatherings of ancient Rome.

Today, the binding force of Islam has brought together Arab tribes in a way simi-lar to the gathering of disparate forces in the ancient Roman Empire. Formerly warring factions are now bound together under the banner of Islam. Like the fascists under Mussolini and Hitler, they are violently committed to a totalitarian form of political and social dominion. They pledge to give their very lives for the cause.

Tiny Israel, lost in the throes of political corruption, and constrained by international diplomacy, is militarily paralyzed. They want peace, but are pressed on all sides.

Once, in the days of Gideon, there was a similar threat to Israel. Superior numbers of their deepest enemies gathered at their bor-ders. More than that, they penetrated into Israel in such numbers that they threatened to completely obliterate the tiny country.

The Strategy of GideonThis brings us to the second half of Psalm

83, and verses nine through eighteen. Here, we find a significant incident in the life of ancient Israel that takes place under condi-tions that closely resemble the current status of Israel. The Jews were forced into battle against overwhelming forces.

In this psalm, Asaph recalls Israel’s miraculous victory in a series of emotional images. Acting through Gideon and his men, the Lord acted to save Israel from the onslaught of these forces.

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The psalm is a mighty plea, a prayer that summons up this remarkable historical vic-tory and implores the Lord to judge its pres-ent enemies, just as He did in the past:

“Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

“Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

“Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

“Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

“O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

“As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

“So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

“Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

“Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

“That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth” (Psalm 83:9-18).

These verses, the concluding ten verses of Asaph’s prophetic psalm recall one of the greatest moments in Israel’s history. Together, they call for a repeat of that great event. The psalmist reasons that, just as the Lord miraculously saved them in the past, they can be saved at the present moment. In a series of rhetorical supplications, he asks the Lord repeat an event that literally saved ancient Israel from destruction.

Referring to a historical event that took place in the thirteenth century B.C., he recalls an amazing story that took place during the life of Gideon, a humble man who rose to become the fifth judge of Israel in approximately 1233 B.C. His story is given to us in the sixth, seventh and eighth chapters of the book of Judges.

Israel was plagued by the Midianites and other mixed tribes from the east. They had come in great numbers and looted the Israelites’ crops and herds. Finally, as they began to settle throughout the land, it became clear that their ultimate goal was to dispossess Israel entirely. Without some act of incredible bravery and leadership, the twelve tribes were doomed.

Enter Gideon, a common man who lived in the village of Ophrah in central Israel. When he is first introduced to us, it is as a fearful and defeated man. His timidity is illustrated when he is shown threshing grain in secret lest the enemy discover him and steal it. Then he is visited by an angel of the Lord, and everything changes:

remains dry. His petition is granted. Then, on the second night, he asks that it remain dry while the ground is wet with dew. Again, his request is granted. He is now ready to pull together a force for battle.

Note that the scene of the battle is to be the valley of Jezreel, scene of Israel’s end-time encounter with the nations. The Midianites mass for battle in the place that is both the symbol and the actual location of the final great battle in Israel’s future. As the prophet Hosea wrote, “… for great shall be the day of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:11).

Gideon realized that this would be no small feat, since the invading hoards greatly outnumbered Israel:

“And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude” (Judges 7:12).

In response to his call for assistance, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali responded with over thirty thousand men. Those who were fearful, he allowed to go home. Ten thousand remained. But for the Lord’s work, there were still too many. After an-other test, his army was pared down to only three hundred men.

Using an ingenious strategy, Gideon’s men attacked the huge force at night, concealing torches in clay pitchers. At midnight, upon his command, they broke the pitchers, revealing flaming torches throughout the enemy camp. At the same time, each of the three hundred blew sounds of alarm on ram’s-horn trumpets. Awakened from slumber, the Midianites were tricked into believing that they had been attacked by a huge Israelite force.

“And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.

“And the three hundred blew the trum-pets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abel-me-holah, unto Tabbath.

“And the men of Israel gathered them-selves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites” (Judges 7:21-23).

The strategy worked when the warriors of the enemy camp, roused from slumber, were confused into attacking each other. In their dazed condition, and filled with a mixture of blood lust and fear, they destroyed their own troops. In the darkness, they could not tell friend from foe. In all, a hundred and twenty thousand of them fell.

Their leaders – two Midianite princes

“And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

“And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles, which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

“And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

“And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

“And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man” (Judges 6:11-16).

Remarkably, the angel sees Gideon as already having won an impossibly difficult battle against the Midianite hoards. He is called a “mighty man of valor.” Though far from convinced, Gideon (whose name means “one who hews, or cuts down”) prepared an offering for the Lord and calls the place, “Jehovah Shalom,” or, the Lord is peace.

With that, Gideon was called to a daunt-ing work. The Lord knew that he possessed the qualities of a dynamic leader. He had no personal desire for power, nor did he think of himself as a man with military ability. And military ability was exactly what was required. The militant Midianites were the ringleaders of the assault against Israel, and they had been joined by others:

“Then all the Midianites and the Amale-kites and the children of the east were gath-ered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

“But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered after him.

“And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them” (Judges 6:33-35).

Gideon does the logical thing. He calls for help. For the reasons mentioned above, Gideon sought proof that his calling was genuine. He tested the Lord’s promise by laying out a fleece of lamb’s wool on two different nights. On the first night, he asks that it be filled with dew while the ground

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names Oreb and Zeeb were slain. Then Gideon pursued two Midianite kings across the Jordan:

“ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks” (Judges 8:21).

AftermathThe momentous battle of Gideon and his

three hundred soldiers took place about 32 centuries ago. Now, at this moment in his-tory, we find ourselves looking at a similar situation in the Middle East. Tiny Israel has once again been surrounded and infiltrated by hoards from the east who have pledged to destroy the hated nation.

For the reasons discussed earlier in this article, we have come to call this ragtag collection of tribes and kingdoms Islamo-fascists. But the current situation is really no different from the incident that developed during the life of Gideon.

For this reason, Asaph’s psalm 83 is a prophecy. First, it describes an enemy force that has come to full maturity in the twenty-first century. It is an alliance of men bound together in the fascist manner. Their operating principle is destruction … destruction of Israel, America and the Western nations

Ultimately, their alliance will grow to include a huge force that includes Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, the Germanic nations and the nations of southeastern Europe. Students of the Bible have evoked the imagery of the battle of Gog more times than can be recalled. The bottom line: The entire invading force will not only be slain, but allowed to rot in the sun. Israel will require seven months to bury them all. Dismantling the weapons of war will taken seven years! Gog’s dishonorable defeat will be monumental.

The same was true of the Midianite and Amalakite forces. The hundred and twenty thousand were strewn about the Israelite battlefield and left to decay in the bright light of day. After Gideon and his men dispatched their leaders, they returned to take the spoils of battle:

“Then the men of Israel said unto Gide-on, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.

“And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

“And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For

they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

“And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.

“And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks.

“And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

“Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon” (Judges 8:22-28).

Note the recurring prophetic pattern:First, there is the obsessive desire to

eliminate Israel. The enemy coalesces with militant passion and a historic sense of reli-gious mission. (We call it fascism.)

Next, there is a gradual increase in the number and proximity of the enemy, to the point that they seem overwhelming. The en-emy masses until a critical point is reached.

Finally, the inevitable war breaks out, and Israel miraculously defeats an overwhelm-ing foe. The assets of the enemy force are taken by Israel. The people are ecstatic.

Gideon refused to rule as king, even though the people begged him. Throughout the entire experience, He never desired au-tocratic power, even though it could have been his.

There is, however, a dark footnote to this event. It is both historic and prophetic. Gideon took the Midianites’ gold and

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precious stones. With these, he formed a golden ephod, which is, of course, the outer garment of the high priest. The ephod is the sleeveless tunic that went from the high priest’s shoulders to his knees. Upon it, rested the breastplate with the twelve pre-cious stones and the Urim and Thummim.

Somehow, Gideon melted down the gold and used it to construct the form of a golden ephod. One thousand, seven hun-dred shekels of gold would weigh at least eighty-five pounds! That’s quite enough to make a life-sized ephod, perhaps mounted upon a human form of some sort. The result was an idol, formed to look like Israel’s high priest.

It became an idolatrous emblem of the true Aaronic priesthood. Israel used it to worship a false symbol, instead of the living God. This adds the final prophetic note to Gideon’s experience. It seems to foreshadow the outcome that Scripture tells us looms in Israel’s future. Following the massive and miraculous defeat of the overwhelming enemy, Israel will believe that it has achieved peace at last. Sadly, it will then accept the rule of one who presents himself as their messiah. The antichrist will inhabit a temple, but it will not be the true Millennial Temple. Rather, it will be the infamous Tribulation Temple, so often seen in prophecy.

The acts of Gideon foreshadow the great battle that is still in Israel’s future. Round one of that battle is currently being fielded by the Islamo-fascists and their allies. Scripture tells us that a tiny Israeli force will use the help of the Lord and superior tactics to smash a numerically greater power. Like the Midianite army, its bodies will rot in the sun to be marked for later burial.

Sadly, following that victory, Israel will fall into a period of hideous idolatry. u