Posted on 11/20/2012 12:07:14 PM PST by Jan_Sobieski
Zephaniah 2: 1 Gather yourselves together… O nation not desired ; 2 Before the decree bring forth , before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you... 4 For Gaza shall be forsaken... 5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
God’s word is clear. There will not be a Palestinian State side by side with Israel. Before a final decree is issued (presumably by the United Nations), the judgment of God will come upon Gaza and they will be destroyed.
Historically, Gaza was the homeland of the Philistines (also known as the Cherethites). The Philistines were a sea faring people who left the Island of Crete (presumably driven out by natural disaster, Mycenaean Greeks, or other) and settled in Lower Egypt. The Philistines were promptly defeated out of Lower Egypt and driven into Canaan (Gaza). By the time they reached Gaza, they were ready to stand and fight. So fearsome were the polytheistic Philistines, God would not allow the Israelites departing Egypt to take the shortest path to the Promised Land by crossing through Gaza. The Philistines would go on to become the mortal enemies of Israel and would persist until they lost their independence and were absorbed into the Babylonian and succeeding Persian, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic empires.
A few recent events have occurred making Gaza, and its inhabitants, relevant again on the world stage.
1. In 1948 Israel became a nation again. After the immediate 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Gaza Strip was carved out and acquired its current boundaries (under Egyptian administration) at the cessation of fighting.
2. In 1993, the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, gave the Palestinian Authority administrative governance over the area with Israel maintaining control of the airspace, territorial waters and border crossings apart from the land border with Egypt.
3. Lastly, and perhaps most significant, was the Israeli unilateral disengagement from Gaza in 2005 giving the native population control of Gaza, which promptly elected (democratically) the Radical Islamic terrorist organization, Hamas, to its leadership.
Hamas's Charter calls for the destruction of Israel. It is to be replaced by a single Islamic Palestinian State. Since 2005, Hamas has launched thousands of rockets and missiles at settlements, towns, and cities in southern Israel. Hamas backed terrorists in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have fired approximately 900 rockets and missile shells into Israel this year alone (as of November 2012). Additionally, the range and accuracy of the rockets has increased with support from Iran and others, putting large numbers of Israelis in danger.
The respected Israeli diplomat, politician, and author Abba Eban said in previous negotiations with the Palestinians, “They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity”. Hamas, like its Palestinian Authority predecessor, views Israel’s desire for peace negotiations as weakness; a sign that Allah is blessing their cause, bringing them closer to victory in their armed conflict over the Jews. Hamas is not interested in peace, unless it is a Mohammedan peace (Hudna).
The God of Israel will not sit back idley and allow Islamic Terrorists, or any other nation to destroy His heritage. He brought them back to Israel after two thousand years. He has established Jerusalem. Perhaps it will be the IDF, a natural disaster, or something else, but Gods word is clear; Gaza will be forsaken, destroyed, and without inhabitant.
May it be so, Lord Jesus!
Amen....
Amen and Hallelujah.
God is not mocked
And Israel is His firstborn
Neat how you put an elipses over all the other lands! That way no-one will see that the passage basically predicts the destruction of the Philistines, and has nothing to do with anything happening now!
Gaza will be abandoned
and Ashkelon left in ruins.
At midday Ashdod will be emptied
and Ekron uprooted.
5 Woe to you who live by the sea,
you Kerethite people;
the word of the Lord is against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines.
The trigger of the great tribulation:
The Sabbath is celebrated on three straight days in the Temple (Islam Friday, Jewish Saturday and Christian Sunday?)
After which, the Great Abomination is in the Temple.
Thanks for the response. I also think that it is possible that there could be a Palestinian state in the West Bank (Judea). However from the Zephaniah passage, there will not be one in Gaza.
Thanks for the response. Here is a good question: Has there every been a time in the last 3000 years when Gaza was completely destroyed and void of inhabitants? Hasn’t there always been a remnant of assimilated Philistines living in this region?
First, you realize that the Arab inhabitants of Gaza are no more closely related to Phillistines than the Jews are, right? (As long as we capitalize “Phillistines” ;^) ) And the best guess anyone has as to what a Kerethite is is a Cretan? I hesitate to say that the Philistines were completely removed from the land, but given the histories of conquests, dominances and tragedies, I’d find it unlikely that by 1800, a single resident could trace their lineage to the Philistines.
Philistines were European, not Semitic. Certainly no identifiable groups of them were around after the Assyrian conquest. I’ve never seen mention of significant DNA presence among Semites.
Presumably Bible prophecies about them in ‘end times’ apply to Europeans.
AMEN!
The current narrative is that they were European, however if you read Genesis 10, it states that he Philistines and Caphtorim descended from Ham (Father of the African and Canaanite nations).
Interesting. The modern Gazans would certainly be Semites (Shemites), not Hamites.
The Hamitic Pelishtim of Genesis 10 had Semitic kinds of names and lived in the desert. The Pelishtim of David and Solomon had Greek-type names and lived on the coast. Not likely these were the same peoples.
In any case, there is no evidence of Hamitic cultural settlement (except Egyptian) or significant DNA either, although it’s clearly not something known for sure.
‘Spiritual descendents’ is how these are traditionally understand in Judaism.
Islam represents the spirit of Ishmael and Christianity represents the spirit of Esau.
Certainly the ‘Palestinians’ are spiritually Pelishtim, who were known for their extreme cruelty, even to their own children.
You ignored four out of five cities mentioned in the passage, putting an elipses to replace them. Why would Gaza be forsaken sometime in the near future, but not any of the other Cherethite cities? Or are you also predicting the desolation of Ashkelon, Ashdad, Gath and Ekron, which are now Israelite cities? Because the passage isn’t about just Gaza, as I pointed out yet you ignored, but about all five of the Philistine Pentapolis cities.
And in what way are today’s Gazans any more the Spiritual Descendants of the Philistines than anyone else who has ruled in Gaza. Aren’t you really just saying, “I know they probably AREn’t the descendents, but I’d like to refer to them as if they were, so I’ll add the word ‘spiritual’ to muddy the waters a little?” Why would the passage refer more to the Arabs that live there now than the pagans who lived there when Maiuma was granted its independence from Gaza? Or the Rashidun Moslems? Or the Ayyubid Persians (who WERE laid desolate by Hulagu Khan? Or Halugu Khan’s Mongols? Or the Mamluk Egyptians (Mamluk specifically means non-Arab, includentally)? Or the Ottoman Turks? Or the Egyptians?
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