……..So the Philistines were subdued,       

                  and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel.                                       

And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.     

  Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel,   

       from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines.    

(Samuel 7:1:14)

  

Philistines is the ancient name of the Palestinians. The Palestinians first appear in the table of nations (Genesis 10:13-14). We read: Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).

Mizraim is the first son of Ham son of Noah. Mizraim is the Hebrew word that is translated as “Egypt,” thus the Philistines descend from the Egyptian people.

The story of the Philistines is a very long one, beginning in the days of Abraham. In (Genesis 21:34), we read “Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days," referring to the area around the town of Gerar, where Abimelech was king (Genesis 20:1-17). This means that by the early Bible history a city of Philistines were already living in the land of Canaan (Israel). Later, we learn that they owned five cities: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron (Joshua 13:3).                         

The Philistines figure prominently in the Old Testament, above all as one of Israel's worst enemies. The land grabbing and slaughter of people conflict between Philistines and Israelis is the longest in the history of the world.                          

God was very specific about the boundaries of the land that He promised to Abraham and His descendants through Isaac and Jacob (Israel) Genesis 15:18-20. This land is known as the Promised Land, which extends from the wilderness to the river Euphrates. Later, God confirmed these boundaries to Moses after Israel had left Egypt and were on their way to the Promised Land (Joshua 1:4).  By the will of God, Israel occupied 7 nations, including that of the Philistines (the land of others).        

Unfortunately, the first generation of Israelites that came out of Egypt under Moses did not enter the Promised Land, "because of their unbelief (disobedience)" (Hebrews 3:19; 4:6,11). However, God raised up a new generation under Joshua and reaffirms the Promised Land that they and their descendants eventually inhabited (Deuteronomy 11:24).       

Although the Promised Land stretches all the way to the Euphrates River, God limited Israel's initial possession under Joshua and the Judges to the Promised Land of Canaan, which lies within the Promised Land given to Abraham in (Genesis 15). When God separated the nations (Genesis 10), He identified the land of Canaan as the "land of the Canaanites" which had specific boundaries as follows: 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 (Genesis 10:19). The boundaries included the Palestinian territories. 

God clearly limited the first wave of Israel's inheritance to the Promised Land of Canaan, which He outlines in detail to Moses: Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries.  Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea;  your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon; the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea. ‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border. ‘And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to Mount Hor;  from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad;  the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border. ‘You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham;  the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth;  the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries’ (Number 34:1-15).

The Promised Land of Canaan was portioned out to the twelve tribes of Israel under Joshua after they took possess of it (Josh 13 - 22). As you can see, the boundaries of the twelve tribes fit exactly within the Scriptural boundaries of Canaan (Genesis 10:19).

For being wicked, the Lord commanded Israel to dispossess the Philistines (Palestinians) and occupy their land.   Although God gave Israel the Promised Land of Canaan, their possession of the Promised Land was yet to come gradually through their descendants for a purpose: Now these are the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), namely, five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.  And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses (Judges 3:1-4).

Thus, under the old covenant, Israel would know war and victory over the Philistines (Palestinians) and other of their enemies only and exclusively under the leading power of the Lord God Almighty (I Samuel 7:1-14), (2 Chronicles 26:1-23), if obeying God's will, even without weapons Israel would defeat the Philistines or else Israel will be defeated (I Samuel 13:1-23 - 14:1-23).

Israel would struggle in the plan of the Lord. It was not until King David and his son Solomon came to power that Israel finally possessed the entire land which God promised Abraham in Genesis 15. King David led the way by conquering Israel's enemies from Gaza, to East Jordan, to the River Euphrates: Now after this it came about that David defeated the Philistines [Gaza] and subdued them; and David took control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines. And he defeated Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute. Then David defeated Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah [Northeast Syria], as he went to restore his rule at the River [Euphrates] (2 Samuel 8:1-18).

In particular, by the power of God, the Israelites defeated the Philistines and Possession of their land was also inherited and maintained by David's son, King Solomon: 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 (I King 4:21). But after the northern kingdom of Israel went to exile, they lost the land and the Philistines took possession of their land again. The superior quality of their weapons to those of Israel, has been the dominating force against Israel (I Samuel 13:19-22).      

According to the Bible, it has been that when the commander in chief of Israel (the king or president of the nation) did not obey the word of God and did not lead the nation under His laws and statutes, but lead them astray, that the Lord stir up the spirits of other nations, including the Palestinians to fight against them (2 Chronicles 21:4-20), (I Kings 8:16-24).  

The Palestinians will never surrender their land to Israel. They fight for the land they believe is theirs. Many years have passed since the possession of Promised Land took place. Some Palestinians may not know their own history, which is recorded in the bible.

The bodies of four children from the al-Dallu family lay in a hospital after an Israeli missile struck a family home killing at least seven members of the same family in Gaza City on November 18, 2012 (photo electronicintifada.net)

It is seen that the story of the Philistines have not fundamentally changed in the course of time. At the present time, by its wicked leaders, disobedient Israel continues to fight and kill the Palestinians, ignoring the will of the Lord in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

The world have been witnessing that the US, UN and the ICC, are blind and deaf to the criminal acts of Israel against the Palestnians. And the West continues its arms supply to the Israel instead of stopping such brutal insanity, which is wrong. No matter how many world leaders back Israel to slaughter the Palestinian people to recover the land once the Lord gave them, without obeying Him under the new covenant that is in His Son Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Israel will never fully recover its land by might. It is by the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus, Whom Israel rejects that the Israelis are to have the desired victory.

Due to both, Israel's irrationality (spiritual blindness) in rejecting Jesus Christ and ignorance, the world will continue to witness Israel military assault on Palestinian people. At this time we witnessed that the brothers of the Palestinians, Egyp-mediated a truce agreement, which took effect on Wednesday November 21, 2012, ended the Israeli attacks, which started on November 14, killing more than 160 Palestinians and injuring about 1,200 others. Israel used different types of deadly weapons against the oppressed people of Gaza.  And like always, we will continue to see the West, UN and ICC as “Israel’s temporary accomplices” in those crimes.

Prior to the ceasefire, Palestinian resistance fighters incessantly fired retaliatory rockets and missiles towards the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which resulted in killing many Israelis.

The Israeli’s defeat in the eight-day war on Gaza is the fourth defeat of the Israelis against Palestinians fighters. Israel was defeated by Hezbollah for the first time in 2000 during the liberation of the occupied lands of southern Lebanon; the second time, it was defeated in the 33-day war with Hezbollah (in 2006), and the third time in the 22-day war on Gaza (in 2008). PT

God's prophetic biblical revelation, confirms that incessant Israel will continue violating ceasefire agreements, and will continue attacking the Palestinians when not trying to divert the prophecy, however, Israel will continue to be defeated by the Palestinians. So far, the recent cease fire agreement made has been violated by Israel.  As expected, the Russians have unsuccessfully called on the Arab League and the Middle East Quartet comprising Russia, the European Union (EU), UN, and US, to work togethe to end frequent Israeli aggressions against the Palestinians.

On November 29, 2012, the United Nations General Assembly has voted to on the long sought upgrade Palestine’s status at the UN from “observer entity” to “observer non-member state” despite strong opposition by Israel and the US.

The 193-member assembly voted 138-9 with 41 abstentions at the UN headquarters in New York for a resolution approving the upgrade. Nine countries, including Canada, Israel, and the United States, voted against it. The vote is seen as a long-sought victory for the Palestinians, but an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the US breast feeding Israel. 

Having earned the observer non-member status, Palestinians enjoy access to UN agencies and the International Criminal Court (ICC) where they could file complaints against Israel. The upgrade also allows the Palestinians to participate in debates at the UN and improve their chances of joining UN agencies. PT

However, no matter how many agreements are made by the rulers of the nations to stop Israeli aggressions against Palestinians; the fight between them will sporadically continue to happen. No matter how much Israelis fight the Palestinians to recover its land, it will never be successful. Again, it is revealed on the Bible, that for as long as Israel doesn't surrender itself to the Lord Jesus Christ, Palestine will continue to be a nation of her own. In the past, it was that by the power of the Lord, Israel occupied the Palestinians' land, and it will be that only by the power of the Lord Himself, the land of the Palestinians will be restored to Israel. In other words, in this biblical times that we are living in, Israel will always be a loser in any war without God on her side.

As much as Israel disobey the Lord, it will always be defeated by its enemies. Anyone could prophecy about it.  From any corner, the Palestinians will temporarily win any battle against Israel. After each war defeat by any of its enemies, there always come a period of rest. It will be until the king (president) of Israel surrender itself to obey the law of the Lord in its entirety (Galatians 3:10-12) and lead the nation in the path of the Lord; or surrender to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Son of God to obey Him (John 14:6) that Yahweh (Jehova God) will intervene to let His servants the prophets know about His plans to give Israel  temporary peace between Israel and the Palestinians (Amos 3:7), until He puts an end to the situation in His own time. In the meantime, Israelis and Palestinians as all of the nations of the earth are still welcomed to accept the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Saviour to start changing their own lives. 

We will know how the Lord will go about fulfilling His will upon Israelis and the Palestinians. We will even know about the consequences upon those who take the liberty to manipulate the Israelis and Palestinians' future when it has already been written down by God as prophetic. In addition, we will see the suffering consequences of those who occupy other nations, and install puppet governments with lies without  His ordinance. For in our times, only the Lord can lead His chosen people to occupy the land of His will.

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