THE PHILISTINE - PALESTINIAN CONNECTION
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Following are excerpts taken from various of my articles,
which show the historical link between the ancient
Philistines, who were the enemies of the Israelites, and the
modern-day Palestinians, who are likewise the foes of the
Jews:
From 'Nephilim: The Giants Of Genesis':
----- Begin Quotes -----
Arba, or Hebron, later became King David's headquarters who
was an ancestor of Jesus himself. Even back then, God was
preparing Israel for the arrival of their King and Saviour
of the world. In our current day, Hebron has once again
grabbed the headlines and world attention in a big way as
the Jews and Palestinians negotiate over this very town.
Since the beginning of time, Israel, and Jerusalem in
particular, has played a very important role in world
history, and in God's ultimate plan. The spiritual war
revealed in the Garden of Eden, later heightened by the
arrival of the Nephilim, has been going on ever since...and
the Bible tells us that it will end in the very area of the
world where it began!
Notice also that in Joshua 15:13 and 21:11 we are informed
that the father of Anak was Arba. It was a usual occurrence
to name a city after a personage, just as it is today. Upon
conquering Arba, they renamed it Hebron (or Hevron). I don't
have any further information on Arba, but it would be
interesting to find out how the sons of Anak, the Anakims,
came to possess it to begin with after Abraham's days. There
must be some close connection there. What is interesting is
that Arbah is very close to the name Abraham...and in
Aramaic, 'Abba' means father...and Abraham was the father of
the Hebrews. Could it be that the city was initially named
after Abraham when he sojourned there, and that Anak's
father acquired his name of Arba because he was born in the
town of that name? I really have no resources to verify this
theory.
Contrary to what one might think, in spite of this conquest
of what later became known as Hebron, this is not the last
we hear of these evil giants. Even after this victory by
Joshua, Caleb and the rest, the Anakims still had a
stronghold...and this is also very significant as it is also
a place which is currently a part of the whole
Israeli-Palestinian problem:
"There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the
children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod,
there remained." (Joshua 11:22)
.....
Whatever the case may be, this is one powerful event which
follows the destruction of the Anakim, the giants of the
Bible. As stated previously, I find it quite interesting
that two areas of Israel which were once under domination of
the Philistine giants, the Anakim, (i.e., Gaza and Hebron),
are today once again the subjects of war, violence and
international diplomacy. Could this be symbolic of the
greater spiritual war which is going on? If these Nephilim,
and Anakim, or anunnaki, are indeed related to each other in
some way, could it be that they are once again preparing for
war to try to stop the rightful heir of David from coming
back to Earth to claim His own? It is certainly a sobering
thought to consider.
----- End Quotes -----
In 'The Kings Of The North And The South: Part One', I also
mention how the Philistines were already in the land of
Israel, (before it was ever called Israel), long before
Abraham arrived. Here is an excerpt from that article:
----- Begin Quote -----
It is in this same chapter that Abraham has problems with
Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, when Abimelech's
servants steal a water well which had been dug by Abraham's
servants. They come to an agreement, and Abraham calls the
place Beersheba:
"Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they
sware both of them." (Genesis 21:31)
Some of these wells were eventually filled in with dirt by
the trouble-making Philistines until the servants of Isaac
re-discovered them:
"For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in
the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped
them, and filled them with earth...And it came to pass the
same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him
concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto
him, We have found water. And he called it Shebah: therefore
the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day."
(Genesis 26:15, 32-33)
----- End Quote -----
As we are told at the very end of the chapter, Abraham dwelt
in the land of the Philistines for many days:
"And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many
days." Genesis 21:34, KJV
In my article 'What Is Wrong With Modern America?: Part
One', I also share some verses which show how during the
Babylonian invasion, the Jews of Jerusalem also fell prey to
the daughters, probably meaning 'villages', (from the Hebrew
word 'bath'), of the Philistines. Consider this verse:
"Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee,
and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered
thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters
of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way."
Ezekiel 16:27 KJV
Remember, the Romans named Palestine after the enemies
of the Jewish people, possibly as a form of ridicule to
the people they oppressed.