WHO ARE THE ENEMIES AND HATERS OF GOD? (Psalm 83:3)
on Saturday, January 3, 2026 by Bill SalusIdentifying the Two People Groups in the Psalm 83 Confederacy
Psalm 83, written about three thousand years ago, foretells of a future war between an Arab confederacy and Israel. Their goal is the destruction of the Jewish state and the takeover of the Promised Land.
“For behold, Your (God) ENEMIES make a tumult; And those who HATE You (God) have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. THEY have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” For they (collectively) have consulted together with one consent; THEY form a CONFEDERACY against You:…” (Psalm 83:2-5, NKJV; emphasis added)
Verses 6–8 identifies the people groups participating in this confederacy via the vocabulary of the time by their ancient names. The image displays the likely modern-day equivalents of the Arab confederacy.
“The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites (or Hagarenes); Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah” (Psalm 83:6-8, NKJV; emphasis added)
In Psalm 83:9-11, the Psalmist petitions God to empower Israel to defeat this confederacy in the like manner of the successful historical Israelite military campaigns found in Judges 4-8. This article will focus on the two-member groups enjoined together within this confederacy.
Psalm 83:2 identifies these two groups as, “Your enemies” and “those who hate You.” They will also be referred to in this article as “enemies” and “haters.” Geographically, these peoples throughout time have most closely bordered the nation of Israel. Furthermore, they are the ones who have historically contested the Jewish claims of being the “Chosen People,” the blessed heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant.
Asaph, the presumed author, would not necessarily have known the timing destined for the occurrence of this prophecy, which in my view yet awaits its final fulfillment, however he should have been well aware of the disposition of hatred that already plagued the region.
Long before his time the confederate members listed above, had become infected by the enmity established by Hagar between herself and Sarah, by Ishmael between himself and Isaac, by Esau between himself and Jacob, and by the children of Lot (Moab and Ammon) between themselves and the children of Israel.
The individuals classified within the group of “those who hate You” are likely the following; Hagar representing the “Hagarenes,” Ishmael father of the “Ishmaelites,” Esau who represents “Edom,” “Moab,” and “Ammon” who are the “children of Lot, and lastly “Amalek” the grandson of Esau.”
These six people groups all had familial blood relations to Abraham and his Jewish descendants and they coveted the contents of the Abrahamic Covenant. They felt in some way cheated or in the case of “Moab,” and “Ammon” threatened by Abraham’s covenant. This covetous attitude resulted in a hatred of the Jews, which has since been perpetuated down through the ages by their descendants. The image reveals the family rivalries that resulted from this hatred.
This adversarial disposition spread throughout the entire Middle East region and eventually overtook the populations residing in “Gebal, Philistia, Tyre, and Assyria.” These remaining four confederate members comprise the “Your enemies” group.
Unlike Hagar, Ishmael, Esau, Moab, Ammon and Amalek of the “Haters” group, the “Enemies” group, had only an indirect association to the contents of the Abrahamic Covenant. Although these enemies were not relatives of Abraham, the contents of the covenant threatened their own territorial claims as well. Thus, they found it favorable over time to embrace this historic hatred. The map locates the enemies and haters at the time Psalm 83 was written.
In Genesis 15:18, we are told that all of the land between the river of Egypt, and the river Euphrates, was to be deeded to the Jewish heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant. This “Promised Land” put the surrounding Arab peoples dwelling within those confines on official notice that they were technically trespassing on Jewish land. According to Genesis 12:3 the Arab neighbors, would be blessed if they cooperated with the Jewish claims to this covenant land, but cursed if they rebelled.
As you can imagine, these affected Arab populations considered the ancient hatred attitude, which had been well established within the “those who hate You” group, worthy of adopting for their own territorial purposes. As such, the “Your enemies” group was formed.
Throughout history, each individual member within these two groups evidenced their enmity in one way or another toward the Jewish people. Collectively these two groups embraced a common concern over the contents of the Jewish claims to the Abrahamic Covenant.
As the map shows, this Arab confederacy of enemies and haters surround Israel and they formed into this confederacy in the Arab-Israeli War of Independence in 1948. Some suggest that war, which Israel won, fulfilled the Psalm 83 prophecy.
For various reasons, I think that war only partially fulfilled the prophecy. It provided a precursory look at the future fulfillment. In my articles below, available to read online at www.prophecydepot.com, I provide the reasons why I disagree with a 1948 fulfillment of Psalm 83.
ARTICLES
Zechariah 12: The War Before Armageddon
The primary purpose of this in-depth Bible prophecy study is to show that Zechariah 12:1-9 IS NOT dealing with ARMAGEDDON, but IS dealing with the conclusion of the ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT.
Psalm 83:The Final Arab–Israeli War
This article is chapter 9 in my book entitled, The FUTURE WAR Prophecies. The chapter explains Psalm 83 and addresses some objections to it being an unfulfilled FUTURE WAR prophecy.
Why Psalm 83 is a Prayer and a Future War Prophecy
