Gaza is first mentioned in Genesis 10:19, as a town on the outer border of Canaan. From the first book of the Bible, Gaza was geographically included as part of the Holy Land, – in the book of Joshua later listed Gaza among Judah’s promised territories.
In the days of the Patriarchs Canaan was inhabited by the Philistines, a seafaring people who came from the Aegean Isles. During the Israelite conquest of Canaan under Joshua, Gaza is specifically mentioned as a city that remained unconquered. It became a Philistine stronghold.
Perhaps the most well-known Bible story involving Gaza is the story of Samson, the Judge of Israel, found in the Book of Judges. Samson slept with a prostitute in Gaza as the Gazans (unsuccessfully) plotted his assassination and, in one of the most tragic parallels to today’s current situation, once the Philistines discovered the source of Samson’s strength, they took him as a captive into Gaza.
The greatest and longest era of peace for the Israelites came during Solomon’s reign when he controlled “the whole region west of the Euphrates”, including Gaza (I Kings 5:4-5). Even under Solomon, however, Gaza remained Philistinian.
Over a period of about 4000 years Gaza was ruled, destroyed and repopulated by various dynasties, empires, and peoples.
Since Jews began returning to the land of Israel in the late 19th century, they have faced no shortage of enemies. Yet somehow, Israel has managed to hold its own against these enemies, except the one in Gaza.
After the Romans defeated a Judean uprising in 135 CE, they started to use the term “Palestine” for Israel and its surrounding area. That way, the Romans sought to erase the association between the Land of Israel and the Jewish people. The word “Palestine” is a Latin word, from the Greek word Philistieim, the ancient name for the Philistines.
However, the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians today, have nothing to do with the Philistines. The creation of a Palestinian state was only a means for continuing the struggle against the state of Israel for the Arabs. Historically, the Palestinian “desire for statehood” and “need for liberation” was invented in large part by the Soviet Union. It is no coincidence that the blueprint for the PLO Charter was drafted in Moscow in 1964 and was approved by 422 Palestinian representative hand selected by the KGB. The PLO’s first leader, Yasser Arafat, came from Egypt. The Palestinian people never existed.
Hamas was founded in 1987 and organized in part by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Its 1988 charter states that Palestine is an Islamic homeland that can never be surrendered to non-Muslims and that waging holy war to take control of Palestine from Israel is a religious duty for Palestinian Muslims. As long as these people are allowed to stay there, they will continue to attack Israel.
This week President Trump came up with an excellent idea. He proposed to send the Palestinians home to the countries they came from, like Egypt, Jordan and others. That would end the continued attacks from Gaza. He said that it isn’t safe for them to live there anyway because the whole area is a demolition zone.
In the Bible, four prophets (Amos, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah) warned Gaza of impending doom and that it would be deserted. It looks like God is using President Trump to fulfill these prophecies.
Standing with Israel 