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NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



As I concluded in part six, as far as the history of the Jews is concerned, the entertainment industry -- both Hollywood and the television industry -- has produced a number of big screen movie extravaganzas -- most of which I have personally viewed -- and quite a few made-for-TV movies and mini-series. These movies and television shows explore the lives of the Patriarchs, as well as some of the Prophets, and a few of the more famous kings such as David and Solomon. Of course, Jesus is a popular subject as well. However, have you ever wondered why there is so much cinematographic silence following the lives of the early Patriarchs and the liberator Moses?

Perhaps from reading this series, you have already begun to realize that this part of Jewish history is not so pretty. In fact, depending on one's point of view, it may be considered downright distasteful, disgusting, repulsive and embarrassing; particularly if one happens to be a pro-Israel Christian who is endeavoring to explain this dark part of Jewish history to non-believers. As the previous paragraphs reveal, and as the following paragraphs will clarify even more for you, extreme violence in the form of war, murder and assassinations, ethnic cleansing, genocide, patricide, matricide and infanticide have been in the Jewish blood for literally thousands of years. Of course, there are also the child sacrifices which were offered to the false god Molech as well.

While it has become common practice for the modern mass media -- whether it is a news report, or perhaps a movie -- to very often present the Jews as the victims who are always forced by their enemies to go on the defense -- consider the ongoing feud with Iran, or how the Jewish-controlled press doggedly paints the Palestinians as the only aggressors, even though the total number of Palestinian casualties over the years far exceeds the number of Israeli deaths -- the Bible presents a very different picture of this ancient warrior race.

The truth of the matter -- as I mentioned in part six -- is that for the most part, the Israelites were the aggressors since the time of Moses and Joshua. Once God liberated them from Egyptian bondage, the descendants of Abraham embarked on a very aggressive campaign to conquer the land of Canaan and the outlying areas. Territorial conquest was on their minds for literally hundreds of years after that. Whether or not you personally accept this as being a part of God's Divine Plan for the Israelites, so that they could possess the land of Canaan, I will leave to you to determine. That is not the focus of this series.

However, if you are interested in my opinion concerning this controversial subject, I invite you to read my article "God of Peace, God of War". In addition, the following paragraphs may possibly alter your opinion concerning this issue. As you read this information, please consider this important question: Is this what God really meant when He said the following to Abraham?:

"And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?"


"And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."


"And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;"


In part five of this series, I pointed out to you how both King David and King Solomon took advantage of King Hiram and the Phoenicians in order to complete some major construction projects in Israel. This included King David's cedar house, the original Temple, and a number of other projects that used Phoenician labor for over twenty years, as well as the cedar trees from Lebanon. As I have already explained, this was not voluntary labor. It was in fact forced labor; that is, slave gangs. Furthermore, when it came time for Solomon to pay King Hiram, he gave him twenty low-quality cities in Galilee which offended and angered Hiram.

Following are some additional verses of Scripture which also reveal that upon subduing a nation, it was common practice for the Israelites to implement a system of enforced, cheap slave labor, as well as to demand tribute from the nations which they subdued. Please take note of the fact that in the verses, the words "presents" and "gifts" find their origin in the Hebrew word "minchah". Pronounced min-khaw', this word refers to some kind of tribute or offering; that is, a tax. This tribute usually took the form of gold, silver, flocks or crops. As we learned in part five, concerning King Solomon, in the verses below, the word "tribute" finds its origin in the Hebrew words "mac" and "mic". These words imply forced laborers, serfdom or enforced payment:

"And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day."


"As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel, But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day."


"And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and tribute silver; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred he goats."


"And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly."


If there is one thing that you will learn from some of these Old Testament stories, it is that the ancient Israelites were a very treacherous, violent, ruthless, bloodthirsty, vengeful and unforgiving lot. Many of you are no doubt familiar with the fact that upon learning of the birth of the Christ child, evil King Herod ordered that all male children two years and younger in age were to be killed. I discuss these events in more detail in the article entitled "Birth of Jesus and the Star of Bethlehem", if you wish to consider reading it.

You see, from the Jewish perspective, Herod was not really doing anything out of the ordinary. Since the times of the Old Testament period, it was common practice for a king or queen to slay all potential adversaries, even in their own courts and in their own homes. There are stories in the Old Testament where kings or queens killed their own children in order to protect their position of power. In other cases, they would kill the entire family of the previous king, in order to prevent that king's family from challenging their position. This is the true history of the Jew, and it is really sick and disgusting.

I'm reminded in particular of one very evil woman by the name of Athaliah, who was wife and queen to wicked King Jehoram, and the mother of Ahaziah. Ahaziah only ruled from Jerusalem for one year. Following Ahaziah's execution -- which was a judgment from the Lord due to his wickedness -- we read the following regarding Athaliah's wicked and bloody deeds:

"But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land . . . Then they brought out the king's son [Joash], and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king. Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD: And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason. Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD. So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there . . . And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword."


In case you didn't quite understand the previous verses, let me clarify a few points for you. Jehoram and Athaliah were married, and were king and queen over Jerusalem and Judah. Two of their children were Ahaziah -- a son -- and a sister named Jehoshabeath, who also happened to be married to the high priest, Jehoiada. Athaliah apparently favored her son Ahaziah. However, upon his brief reign and death, she went on a killing spree and arranged to have all of the remaining royal offspring murdered, so that she alone could sit upon the throne in Jerusalem. However, wise Jehoshabeath took it upon herself to hide her brother's young son -- Joash -- in the Temple for a period of six years. During that time, the high priest Jehoiada secretly worked against evil Athaliah, until Joash was finally declared the new king. In the end, Athaliah -- and anyone who was loyal to her -- were finally executed. Such was ancient Jewish politics. Murder was in their blood.

Obviously, many hundreds of years later, wicked King Herod was no different. Murder was in his blood as well. In fact, the historical record states that by his orders, his wife Mariamne was executed, as were two of his sons. Furthermore, he had his previous wife, Doris, and her young son Antipater banished, so that he could marry Mariamne, win favor with the Jews -- he was actually an Idumaean, or Edomite -- and also manipulate his way to the Jewish throne.

As detestable as the previous stories are, the way in which the ancient Israelites treated their enemies was even worse. As I amply explain in the series "God of Peace, God of War", the fact of the matter is that the Old Testament makes it very clear that in addition to enslaving their enemies, and forcing them to pay tribute, the Israelites often engaged in the wholesale slaughter of men, women and children. On some occasions, however, they were permitted to keep the younger girls for themselves. These horrendous acts are evidenced by verses such as the following:

"Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain: Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took."


"So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many. And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city. But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves."


"And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts . . . Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."


"And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom. For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom; [For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:]"


In our modern times, if one country were to attack another nation, and murder all of its men, women and children, and likewise destroy all of its cities -- as the Israelites did -- there would no doubt be a global uproar and international condemnation. Such a barbarous country would be accused of ethnic cleansing and genocide within the blink of an eye. The United Nations Security Council, NATO and other world bodies would be forced to take action sooner or later, just as they are currently doing with the Arab country of Syria, and its rogue president, Bashar al-Assad, who has been slaughtering his own countrymen who are opposed to his repressive regime.

The previous Biblical examples prove once again that despite how modern Christians may view the conquest of the Promised Land -- then known as Canaan -- the countries which formed an alliance and conspired against Israel in Psalm 83 obviously had very legitimate complaints. Their men, women and children were being murdered in cold blood so that their races were in effect being wiped out. Those who remained were enslaved, or else they were forced to pay tribute to Israel. Young girls who were not outright killed were given to the Israelite men. Thus, through their own violent actions and oppression, the Israelites were in fact responsible for creating the hostile environment which surrounded them, as described in Psalm 83.

The irony of this situation is that today, thousands of years later, a very similar situation exists in the Middle East. As I briefly mentioned in part six, following the Third Diaspora which occurred as a result of the Romans' destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD by Titus and his legions, the Jews were dispersed from Israel for many centuries. Very few Jews -- who numbered in the low thousands -- remained in Palestine after that period. Then, just as the Israelites seemed to come out of nowhere after their liberation from Egypt millennia before, a new Jewish nation was forcefully created in 1948 in Palestine, on land which at that time had been occupied by the Arabs for many centuries.

It is an established, historical fact that with the creation of the modern state of Israel in 1948, the Arabs were either forced off of their lands -- as were the Canaanite nations millennia before -- or else they and their descendants were eventually forced to become second class citizens in Israel, who have fewer rights and privileges than the Jews. This is what has created the current bitterness between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It was instigated by Jewish aggression, even if the Arabs ultimately did choose to respond with war, as well as with violent acts of terrorism. Their response was to the aggression which had been initiated by the Jews, and it is just the latest episode in a feud which has endured for millennia, ever since Isaac became the seed of promise.

As I mentioned earlier in this series, one of the reasons why we know that Psalm 83 is not a prophecy concerning the future is because futuristic words such as "shall" and "will" are to be found nowhere in it. Asaph writes completely in the present and past tenses. After identifying the nations and peoples who have formed a confederacy against Judean King Jehoshaphat, he petitions the Lord to destroy the enemies of Israel. He says "Do unto them as . . .", and then Asaph proceeds to refer to some of Israel's former enemies who were defeated in the past.

One example which Asaph mentions are Zebah and Zalmunna. Who were these people? Earlier, I mentioned how Gideon defeated the Midianites, thus bringing the Midianite threat to an end. As we discover in the same narrative that I shared with you earlier, Zebah and Zalmunna were in fact the kings of the Midianites who were killed by Gideon, as we can determine by the following verses:

"Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was secure. And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host. And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up, And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men. And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary? And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth. 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."


So once again we see that Asaph was obviously writing about and praying about specific events which occurred during his own time, or which occurred prior to his time. To reiterate a point which I have made throughout this series, contrary to the misguided claims of modern, pro-Israel Christians, he was not prophesying about some far future event -- three thousand years into his own future -- in which Israel would once again face off against her hated enemies. This is a blatantly false doctrine, in my view. It is in fact a politically-motivated Zionist doctrine, which some foolish, naive Christians in the United States -- and I assume elsewhere as well -- have been manipulated into supporting and promoting by their misguided and pro-Israel Christian leaders, who only seem to know how to parrot the will of Israel.

You will recall that in part one I mentioned how some of our Christian brethren will sometimes share certain information, and false doctrines -- such as this Psalm 83 War doctrine -- out of ignorance, or simply because they have not taken the time to really study the Scriptures in order to validate the truthfulness and accuracy of what they have read or heard. We all get excited when we learn something new from God's Word, and we want to shout it out to all of our online friends; but this can be both damaging to the Body of Christ -- as well as quite embarrassing to the conveyor of the message -- when it turns out that the information or doctrine is false. If such people are guilty of anything, it is probably that they don't take heed to the wisdom that is found in the following verse:

"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;"


With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Accusations of Antisemitism: My Personal Response
Arab Spring and the Birth of the Beast and the Islamic Empire
Backsliding, Divine Chastisement and the Divine Agreement
Beholding the Evil and the Good
Do You Want Love and Light, or Rod and Wrath?
From Armageddon to the New Earth
God of Peace, God of War
Job and the Land of Uz
Nephilim: The Giants of Genesis
One From Beyond: Hebrew of Hebrews
Satan: King of Tyrus, King of Empires
The Book of Enoch: Truth or Heresy?
The Children of God and Politics
The Fruits of Disobedience
The International Jew and the Protocols of Zion

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