This is an ancient map of Israel during the times of Saul and David. The blue represents the areas under control of the United Kingdom of Israel. Do you see that little beige part in the southwest corner of Israel, the section labeled 'Philistia?" It has always been a problem for Israel, mostly troublesome, occasionally combative. Lots of well known Biblical heroes have done battle in Gaza i.e. Josiah, Samson, etc...Even the Ark had a stay there. Today we know that same little strip of land as "the Gaza Strip." Prophecies reveal Gaza's ultimate fate and who is responsible. This problem didn't start 20, 30, 50, or even 100 years ago. It started in Noah's time. Continue reading and find out how...
Noah’s Nakedness; Canaan’s Curse
Genesis 9:18-29 (NKJV)
[18] Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. [19] These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. [20] And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. [21] Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. [22] And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. [23] But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness. [24] So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. [25] Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren." [26] And he said: "Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. [27] May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant." [28] And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. [29] So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
● Ham was the father of Canaan
● Canaan was cursed due to the sin of his father Ham
● Canaan’s descendants would become idolatrous enemies of Israel
● Gaza first appears in Genesis 10:19 as an outer border of Canaan: Genesis 10:15-20 (NKJV): [15] Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; [16] the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; [17] the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; [18] the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. [19] And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. [20] These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.
- these are not only the cursed people of Canaan's curse for the scene at Noah's drunkenness, but also they are those who possessed the Promised Land which Israel as a nation needed to conquer. (MacArthur)
- the Noahic curse alone did not determine their guilt, for God said to Abram that the iniquity of the Amorites must first be complete before his descendants could occupy the Promised Land (Gen 15:16). (MacArthur)
Conflict & Gaza
Ancient Turnover
Deuteronomy 2:23 (NKJV)
[23] And the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)
● The Caphtorim destroyed those who lived in Gaza and settled there
● The Avim were ancient village dwellers of southwestern Palestine along the Mediterranean coast (MacArthur)
● Caphtor may refer to Crete and Caphtorim may refer to an early Phillistine group from that Island who invaded the coast, defeated Avim, and settled there (MacArthur)
Gaza and Joshua
Joshua 10:40-41 (NKJV)
[40] So Joshua conquered all the land: the mountain country and the South and the lowland and the wilderness slopes, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded. [41] And Joshua conquered them from Kadesh Barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even as far as Gibeon.
Joshua 11:21-22 (NKJV)
[21] And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. [22] None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.
Joshua 13:1-7 (NKJV)
[1] Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the LORD said to him: "You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed. [2] This is the land that yet remains: all the territory of the Philistines and all that of the Geshurites, [3] from Sihor, which is east of Egypt, as far as the border of Ekron northward (which is counted as Canaanite); the five lords of the Philistines—the Gazites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites; [4] from the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorites; [5] the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath; [6] all the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as the Brook Misrephoth, and all the Sidonians—them I will drive out from before the children of Israel; only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you. [7] Now therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh."
● Joshua never conquered Gaza
● Gaza was divided into the territory of Judah
Joshua 15:20 (NKJV)
[20] This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families:
Joshua 15:20 thru the end of the chapter details Judah’s inheritance including...
Joshua 15:47 (NKJV)
[47] Ashdod with its towns and villages, Gaza with its towns and villages—as far as the Brook of Egypt and the Great Sea with its coastline.
● God has promised Gaza to Judah
Gaza Takes Samson Prisoner
Judges 16:1-21 (NKJV)
[1] Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. [2] When the Gazites were told, "Samson has come here!" they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, "In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him." [3] And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. [4] Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. [5] And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver." [6] So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you." [7] And Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man." [8] So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. [9] Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. [10] Then Delilah said to Samson, "Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me what you may be bound with." [11] So he said to her, "If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man." [12] Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And men were lying in wait, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread. [13] Delilah said to Samson, "Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with." And he said to her, "If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom"— [14] So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the batten and the web from the loom. [15] Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies." [16] And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, [17] that he told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man." [18] When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart." So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. [19] Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. [20] And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. [21] Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.
● Samson laid with a Gazan prostitute
● Samson was seduced by Delilah
● Samson was entrapped by the Phillistines and taken to Gaza to be held as prisoner
● Samson later brought an entire temple down on those who held him prisoner and other guests (v23-31)
● Gaza. This would be the last town encountered in southwest Palestine as a traveler went from Jerusalem toward Egypt, near the coast. It was nearly forty miles from Samson's birthplace, Zorah. There, he was humiliated. (MacArthur)
Gaza and the Ark
1 Samuel 4:10-11 (NKJV)
[10] So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. [11] Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
1 Samuel 5:1-6 (NKJV)
[1] Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. [2] When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. [3] And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. [4] And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon's torso was left of it. [5] Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. [6] But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.
1 Samuel 5:11-12 (NKJV)
[11] So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people." For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. [12] And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
1 Samuel 6:13-18 (NKJV)
[13] Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. [14] Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. [15] The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the LORD. [16] So when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. [17] These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; [18] and the golden rats, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the LORD, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
● When the Philistines captured the Ark in battle they brought it, in turn, to Ashdod, the Dagon Temple, Gath, and Ekron
● God turned over their god Dagon and struck the people with tumors, and killed many
● Thus, they were forced to return the Ark
● The tribute was 5 golden tumors and 5 golden rats- representing the five cities and lords of Philistia
Solomon Conquers Gaza
1 Kings 4:20-25 (NKJV)
[20] Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. [21] So Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. [22] Now Solomon's provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal, [23] ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl. [24] For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over all the kings on this side of the River; and he had peace on every side all around him. [25] And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
● Tiphsah ... Gaza. Tiphsah was located on the west bank of the Euphrates River and Gaza on the southwestern Mediterranean coast. These towns represented the northeast and southwestpoints of Solomon's influence. (MacArthur)
King Hezekiah and Gaza
2 Kings 18:8 (NKJV)
[8] He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
Throughout all of this, Gaza remained Phillistine. Gaza has always been a source of constant trouble and occasional hostility. Now, lets look at the prophecies concerning Gaza.
The Prophets & Gaza
Amos 1:6-8 (NKJV)
[6] Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they took captive the whole captivity To deliver them up to Edom. [7] But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, Which shall devour its palaces. [8] I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn My hand against Ekron, And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish," Says the Lord GOD.
● Amos was not of priestly or noble descent, but worked as a "sheepbreeder" (Amo 1:1; cf. 2Ki 3:4) and a "tender of sycamore fruit" (Amo 7:14); he was a contemporary of Jonah (2Ki 14:25), Hosea (Hos 1:1), and Isaiah (Isa 1:1). The date of writing is mid-eighth century B.C. (c. 755 B.C.), during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah (c. 790-739 B.C.) and Jeroboam II, king of Israel (c. 793-753 B.C.), two years before a memorable earthquake (Amo 1:1; cf. Zec 14:5). (MacArthur)
● Gaza. Philistia's most prominent merchant city, ideally situated between Egypt and Israel, here used to refer to the Philistine nation. (MacArthur)
● took captive the whole captivity. They deported an entire population (cf. Jer 13:19), possibly during the reign of Jehoram (2Ch 21:16-17; Jol 3:3), c. 853-841 B.C. (MacArthur)
Zephaniah 2:1-7 (NKJV)
[1] Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, [2] Before the decree is issued, Or the day passes like chaff, Before the LORD's fierce anger comes upon you, Before the day of the LORD's anger comes upon you! [3] Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the LORD's anger. [4] For Gaza shall be forsaken, And Ashkelon desolate; They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, And Ekron shall be uprooted. [5] Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, The nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: "I will destroy you; So there shall be no inhabitant." [6] The seacoast shall be pastures, With shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks. [7] The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; They shall feed their flocks there; In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the LORD their God will intervene for them, And return their captives.
● Zephaniah traces his genealogy back four generations to King Hezekiah (c. 715-686 B.C.), standing alone among the prophets descended from royal blood (Zep 1:1). Royal genealogy would have given him the ear of Judah's king, Josiah, during whose reign he preached. (MacArthur)
● The prophet himself dates his message during the reign of Josiah (640-609 B.C.) (MacArthur)
● Zephaniah's message on the Day of the Lord warned Judah that the final days were near, through divine judgment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, c. 605-586 B.C. (Zep 1:4-13). Yet, it also looks beyond to the far fulfillment in the judgments of Daniel's seventieth week (Zep 1:18; Zep 3:8). (MacArthur)
● The expression "Day of the Lord" is described as a day that is near (Zep 1:7), and as a day of wrath, trouble, distress, devastation, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness, trumpet, and alarm (Zep 1:15-16, Zep 1:18). (MacArthur)
● Even within these oracles of divine wrath, the prophet exhorted the people to seek the Lord, offering a shelter in the midst of judgment (Zep 2:3), and proclaiming the promise of eventual salvation for His believing remnant (Zep 2:7; Zep 3:9-20). (MacArthur)
● Cherethites. Occasionally a synonym for Philistia, this term represented a people from Crete (see note on Ezk 25:16). David's bodyguard was comprised of both Cherethites and Pelethites (2Sa 8:18; 1Ki 1:38, 1Ki 1:44). (MacArthur)
Jeremiah 25:15-20 (NKJV)
[15] For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: "Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. [16] And they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them." [17] Then I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom the LORD had sent me: [18] Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; [19] Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people; [20] all the mixed multitude, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (namely, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod);
● Jeremiah served as both a priest and a prophet (MacArthur)
● The dates of his ministry, which spanned five decades, are from the Judean king Josiah's thirteenth year, noted in Jer 1:2 (627 B.C.), to beyond the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 586 B.C. (Jer. 39; 40; 52). After 586 B.C., Jeremiah was forced to go with a fleeing remnant of Judah to Egypt (Jer. 43; 44). He was possibly still ministering in 570 B.C. (see note on Jer 44:29-30). A rabbinic note claims that when Babylon invaded Egypt in 568/67 B.C. Jeremiah was taken captive to Babylon. He could have lived even to pen the book's closing scene c. 561 B.C. in Babylon, when Judah's king Jehoiachin, captive in Babylon since 597 B.C., was allowed liberties in his last days (Jer 52:31-34). Jeremiah, if still alive at that time, was between eighty-five and ninety years old. (MacArthur)
● All shall drink from the cup of God’s fury
Zechariah 9:5 (NKJV)
[5] Ashkelon shall see it and fear; Gaza also shall be very sorrowful; And Ekron, for He dried up her expectation. The king shall perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
● Gaza would tremble in fear and be rendered bereft of its rulers.
● The cities of Philistia were terrified at the swiftness with which Alexander the Great's army was able to conquer Tyre. Then Alexander marched south, conquering all these Philistine cities and killing their national pride. (MacArthur)
Before I move on to Gaza and the New Testament I would like to include a note that each one of the prophets who spoke about Gaza also foretold of a Millenial kingdom.
● Amos 9:11-15...
● Zephaniah 3:9-20...
● Jeremiah 23: 3-8, 30-33...
● Zechariah 14...
Gaza & the New Testament
Acts 8:26 (NKJV)
[26] Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert.
- As far as I can tell, this is the only reference to Gaza in the New Testament. What follows is the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch by Philip.
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