Zephaniah 2 and the Gaza Pullout

Dig backs biblical account of Philistine city of Gath
Why the Expulsion Happened by Melekh Ben-Yaaqov

GAZA PULLOUT OF JEWISH SETTLERS: 

This from the New York Times, 8/17/05:  “Soldiers have been training for weeks for this operation, practicing on each other the forced removal of angry civilians. The exit from Gaza will take weeks, with the last soldiers due to leave in early October.

Archenemy: The Philistines By Candlelight Media Group, Inc.

   “The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has stationed troops near the settlements and called on the 1.3 million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip to refrain from violence. Hamas and other militant groups, jostling for credit for having pushed the Israelis out, have said they would not disrupt the withdrawal ‘as long as there is no aggression.’”

Although this pullout is being lamented by Jews and Christians alike, we must check Scripture to learn why Yahweh deems it necessary:

Zephaniah 2:3. Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the earth, who obey his commands. Seek uprightness, seek humility: you may perhaps find shelter on the Day of Yahweh's anger.

Those who are being dispersed out of Gaza are going to shelter.  As it is now, this entire Jewish population in Gaza would be annihilated if a full-blown war (such as is prophesied) breaks out.  These Jews simply cannot be protected by the Israeli government as long as they are in Gaza.

4. For Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon reduced to ruins; Ashdod will be driven out in broad daylight and Ekron uprooted.

Four of the five cities of the Philistines, leading off with Gaza, are here listed; the one missing is Gath.  Gaza means “goat” (as opposed to sheep in vs. 6), Ashkelon means “infamy”, Ashdod means “theft”, Ekron means “infertility.”  Of these ancient cities, Gaza yet remains.  The rest are “ruins.”

5. Disaster to the members of the coastal league, to the nation of the Cherethites!

Philistines were a mixture of Pelethites and Cherethites (from the Cretan islands) and Canaanites (idolaters).  Gaza is situated on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

This is the word of Yahweh against you: I shall subdue you, land of the Philistines (i.e. Gaza), I shall destroy you till there are no inhabitants left; 6. and the coastal league will be reduced to pasture land, to grazing grounds for shepherds and folds for sheep; 7. and the league will belong to the remnant of the House of Judah; they will pasture their flocks there, at night they will rest in the houses of Ashkelon; for, when Yahweh their Almighty One has punished them, he will restore their fortunes.

Yahweh is moving these strong adherents to his commandments out of Gaza for a time.  This land will come back to the owners in the next generation.  He must first separate the sheep (the remnant of true worshipers) from the goats.

The Intifada began in Gaza in 1987.  Intifada: an uprising by Palestinian Arabs (in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) against Israel in the late 1980s and again in 2000; the first intifada ended when Israel granted limited autonomy to the Palestine National Authority in 1993.

I take a Christian minority opinion in regards to the Gaza dispersion of Jews.  Yahweh has dispersed people since the beginning for their own good – to bring forth his ultimate plan and government.  The leadership of Israel is taking a very bold step in dispersing the Jewish remnant from Gaza, in order to 1) fulfill the will of the US and UN in regards to a Palestinian homeland, and 2) to separate and isolate factions of terror organizations like Hamas, PLO, etc. from Israel proper.  Gaza will be one great and luxurious “homeland.”  After it’s formed, Israel will be able to threaten to push the whole nation into the sea if necessary to end homicide bombing and terrorism within its borders. 

 

We are instructed to watchfully wait, and pray for peace.  Other peace plans have been tried and have failed, always due to the bloodthirstiness of terror groups who control the Palestinian Authority.  Perhaps this radical approach, an approach Yahweh has used many times throughout salvation history, will be the key to peace in the region.

 

Here’s what ben-Ya’aqov has to say about it. 

This is worth reading.

From: Melekh Ben-Yaaqov
To: melekh
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 12:55 PM
Subject: Why The Expulsion Happened
The expulsion from Gaza has happened for 3 reasons:

1. Rabbinical Judaism: The settlers expected that YHWH would come to their aid because they believe that they are loyal to him and his Torah. But, in fact, the settlers are not followers of Torah, but rather, they are the followers of a spinoff religion known as "Rabbinical Judaism". In addition, they do not pray to the creator of the universe, whose true name is Yehowah, but rather they pray to strange gods by the names of  "Adonai", "Hashem", "YKVK", and others. Yehowah does not come to the aid of Israelites who do not follow his Torah and who do not call out to him by name when they are in trouble.

2. The Dati Leumi Movement: The two main principles of the Dati Leumi (National Religious) movement are: (1) the considering of the government, its institutions and its leaders as sacred, and (2) the rejection of all forms of violent uprising against fellow Jews. Both of these principles are bankrupt, and have brought the movement's own stupidity back on its head, culminating today in the the expulsion of Jews from Gaza by other Jews. But should we have expected any different? How can Yehowah help people who are too stupid and brainwashed to help themselves?

3. The Way Israelis Treat Each Other: The people of Gush Katif went to great efforts to show that there is no difference between themslves and the rest of the nation. How true. Just as the Israeli in Tel Aviv, Haifa and elsewhere treats his fellow Jew like crap, exhibiting a lack of love, consideration and sympathy towards him, when I was in Gush Katif I did not feel a significant difference among the residents there. They too had an "Israeli" attitude. I personally know many people, including many Israelis, who have left Israel because they couldn't stand the way people treat each other in this country.

And there it is, no great mystery of God. Simple mathematics: we keep Yehowah's Torah and treat our fellow Israelite kindly - we are rewarded; we forsake his Torah and treat our fellow Israelite like crap - we are vomited out of the Land. Today, Yehowah passed judgment on his nation and vomited us out of the Land. The wise person will understand why and change his ways:

REJECT RABBINICAL JUDAISM

   * Pray to Yehowah by name
   * Throw your ridiculous tefillin in the garbage tomorrow
   * Read the Tanakh

MAKE WAR NOT LOVE

   * Love and protect your Land with the same zealousness that the filthy Arab does.
   * Reject the stupidity of the ways of the Dati Leumi camp.

LOVE YOUR FELLOW JEW AS YOURSELF

   * For your fellow (good) Jew, take the time to understand him, to help him, to treat him as your brother. (Most of the people on this list already do.)

There are two roads ahead: if we as a nation change our ways, then we will not only get Gaza back, but we will expand our borders to Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Egypt, and our enemies will flee before us in horrible fear.

However, If we do not change our ways, then next time we can expect that Yehowah will increase our punishment sevenfold. Next on the chopping block are Yehuda and Shomron, then Jerusalem, then the entire State of Israel. Each stage will surely be accompanied by exponentially more deaths than the previous. I pray to Yehowah that Israel will make the right choice.

May Yehowah Be With You,

Melekh ben Ya'aqov

Just one comment from the gallery:

Great article; however, I think the author himself is guilty of falling for a pharisaical trap in that he is using a name for Yahweh that has been corrupted by the Masoretes in order to keep the name hidden.  Check out where Yehowah came from in the 10th century; and, doesn't it mean "ruinous"?  Someone let me know about this.

Dr. Jackson Snyder  The Snyder Bible www.jacksonsnyder.com

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