Enemies and ungodliness at Gaza

In October 2023 Hamas terrorists from Gaza attacked Israel killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage, including babies, children, women and the elderly. Since then in an attempt to destroy Hamas, Israel has attacked Gaza and killed thousands of people. So there is war between Israel and Hamas at Gaza.

After the exodus from Egypt, God predicted that the Israelites would invade Canaan and settle there – “Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west” (Dt. 11:24; Josh. 1:4). Gaza was one of the areas that they were meant to occupy – it was a south-west city of Canaan (Gen. 10:19; 15:47). The southern boundary of Judah was to be the Wadi of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish), which was south of Gaza (Josh. 15:4).

Joshua led the conquest of Canaan in the central campaign, the southern campaign and the northern campaign. At the end of the life of Joshua, the land still to be taken by the Hebrews included the South-west of Canaan from Gaza to Ekron that was occupied by the Philistines, which also included Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gath (Josh. 13:1-5). The Philistines were enemies of Israel – they “sought to destroy Judea” and Goliath was from Gath (1 Sam. 17:4; Ezek. 25:15). Their monopoly on smithing iron would have helped their military dominance (1 Sam. 13:19-22). These Philistine cities were centres of commerce near the coastal highway and the Mediterranean Sea. Gaza was also the end destination of the Incense Trade Route across the Arabian peninsula. The reasons for not capturing all of Cannan are given in the Appendix.

At one stage the Philistine control of Canaan was so extensive that the land was eventually named after them. The word “Palestine” comes from the Hebrew word Pelesheth, meaning “Philistia, land of the Philistines”.

The Israelites eventually captured Gaza, Askelon and Ekron, but because of their sin the Philistines soon recovered them (Jud. 1:18; 3:3; 13:1). Later Solomon and Hezekiah ruled over Gaza (1 Ki. 4:24; 2 Ki. 18:8).

Enemy opposition

After Joshua died, the Israelites were living in the promised land, but they were still opposed by enemies: Aram and Canaan to the north, Ammon to the east, Moab to the south-east, Midian to the south and Philistia to the south-west (Judges). This is much like today where Israel has enemies all around it, such as Syria and Hezbollah (in Lebanon) to the north, Iran to the east, and Hamas (in Gaza) to the south-west. These Arabic peoples have the destruction of Israel as their common objective. That’s amazing – about 3,300 years later, Israel is once again surrounded by enemies!

In the book of Judges the Israelites are in danger of losing the promised land because of their sinfulness. But they are delivered again and again by God through leaders known as judges. The last judge, Samson, delivers them from oppression by the Philistines. But Philistine women were Samson’s weakness.

Great strength

God gave Samson great strength. When Samson went to Gaza to see a prostitute, the Philistines thought they could kill him (Jud. 16:1-3). But he took the city gates and the two posts and carried them to the top of a hill! He wanted to humiliate and scare them.

But what a bad move! Samson led Israel for 20 years (Jud. 15:20). He travelled 40 km (25 miles) to the Philistine city of Gaza. It was reckless and dangerous. And the only women we know that Samson ever got involved with were ungodly Philistine women.

Great weakness

In his next relationship with a Philistine woman she betrays him. Samson broke his promises to God! He told his girlfriend, Delilah, the secret of his strength.

After the Delilah found the secret of Samson’s strength she had his hair cut off and “his strength left him” (Jud. 15:4-19). “But he did not know that the Lord had left him”. What a sad statement. His strength was due to his relationship with God, which was symbolized by his long hair. His relationship with God had been destroyed. His pattern of sinful behavior had caught up with him. He hadn’t turned away from his sins. He hadn’t included God in his decision-making process.

“Then the Philistines seized him, gouging out his eyes and took him down to Gaza”. Blinded, bound and bald, he was taken to the scene of his last great victory to be humiliated “grinding grain in a prison”. He had lost everything — his strength, family, confidence, and sight.

Great strength again

But Samson’s hair grew back and when he was put on display in the temple of the god Dagon, in vengeance he pushed on the pillars holding the roof and thousands of people died (Jud. 16:23-30). He offered up his life in the battle against God’s enemies.

False gods

During this time the Israelites forsook God and followed the false gods of Canaan, Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia (Jud. 2:1-3; 10:6).  Dagan was the national god of the Philistines, with temples at Ashdod, Gaza and Beth-Shean (Jud. 16:23; 1 Sam. 5:1-7; 1 Chr. 10:10).

Judgment

The Old Testament prophets predicted God’s judgement of the Philistines (Jer. 25:20; 47:1-7; Ezek. 25:15-17; Amos 1:6-8; Zeph. 2:4-7; Zech. 9:5-8). In 638BC, Zephaniah prophesised that “Gaza will be abandoned”, and this was fulfilled. From 715 BC to 604 BC, they were controlled by the Assyrians and in about 604 BC they were destroyed by the Babylonians.

The road to Gaza

On the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, Philip met the Ethiopian official who decided to trust in Jesus and to show this by being baptized (Acts 8:26-39). So the good news about Jesus spread to Ethiopia via Gaza.

Lessons for us

Worshipping false God’s at Gaza led to God’s judgment on the Philistines. This is a warning to the ungodly today.

God used the Philistines to punish the Israelites because they turned away from Him and followed false gods. In the same way, God often uses people in our lives to get us back on track with the Lord when we stray.

God made Samson strong, but Samson made some bad decisions. He was guilty of lust and he lacked self-control and commitment. Christians have great strength though the Holy Spirit, but they also have Satan as a powerful enemy. Success can lull them into self-confidence.

Jesus is better than Samson – He was sinless and He sacrificed His life so His enemies could become His friends.

Appendix:

The Israelites failed to drive the Canaanites from their land as commanded by God (Dt. 7:1-6; 20:16-18). The reasons given for this failure included:
– The Canaanites had superior weapons (Jud. 1:19).
– The Israelites disobeyed God by making treaties with the Canaanites (Jud. 2:1-3).
– The Israelites disobeyed God by worshipping the gods of the Canaanites (Jud. 2:10-15; 20-21).
– God was testing the Israelites faithfulness to obey His commands (Jud. 2:22-23; 3:4).
– God was giving the Israelites the opportunity to develop their skills in warfare (Jud. 3:1-2).

Reference

Wright P H, 2012, “Rose then and now Bible map atlas”, Rose Publishing, Torrance CA

Written, November 2023

Also see other articles on places in the Bible:
Bethlehem, God’s solution to our crises
Gehenna – Where’s hell?
Where’s Zion?
Babylon, center of humanism and materialism
Lessons from Egypt
Lessons from Sodom
Massacres and miracles in Jericho
Rebellion and deception at Samaria
Worshipping God and idols at Bethel
Many battles at Megiddo
Outsiders became insiders at Damascus
Tyre reminds us that God keeps His promises
Nineveh experienced God’s mercy and justice
Jesus put Nazareth on the map
Good times and bad times at Shechem
Godliness and wickedness at Beersheba