World attention was again focused recently upon a very small State in the entire world called “ISRAEL” and is still sustained to a degree. That itself is rather surprising when you consider the fact that, many uprisings or wars in bigger countries in Africa, Asia, Europe or in any other continent do NOT become the ‘major story’ in ALL the leading News Channels for such a long time. For example, before the covid situation arose, there was an issue regarding Kashmir and India. True NOT a single rocket was FIRED into ANY Indian city FROM Kashmir. No one needs to be a genius to figure out WHAT India’s RESPONSE would have been, IF that HAD HAPPENED. And ‘HOW?’ the world media would have ‘covered’ it is another matter. Anyhow, that was also regarding a ‘Territorial Super Power’ being ‘heavy handed’ against a minority in a disputed geographical area and WITHOUT ANY provocation. Yet THAT did NOT become the No 1 ‘News Story’ of all the leading media channels, the way the recent situation with Israel and Gaza became.
So WHAT could be the ANSWER to the question posed as the ‘Title’ of this article?
Ancient Akkadian and Egyptian and later on Aramean writings refer to this Land only to state that their respective rulers at the time invaded and conquered it.
Hence we HAVE to do WHAT archeologists who carry out “Excavation Work” in the Middle East generally DO, when they DISCOVER a New Site. Though most of them are NOT Christians, they TURN TO THE BIBLE, in order to IDENTIFY the brand NEW SITE.
THAT is substantial enough PROOF about the authenticity of the Biblical Narrative. Similarly we also are compelled to “Look into the BIBLE” to get a DETAILED HISTORY about THIS LAND, as there are NO other detailed HISTORICAL records available.
[A] PROMISES made By GOD TO Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In the very First Book of the Bible called Genesis, Chapter 10 records descendants of Ham, one of the sons of Noah, migrating towards what we call the Middle East and settling down there and even further down in modern Ethiopia and Somalia. Another factor we have to bear in mind is that the NAMES of various countries and geographical localities have CHANGED over the years. In recent times, some reverted back to their original names, from the ‘colonial ones’. A few examples would be ‘Rhodesia’ back to Zimbabwe and ‘Bombay’ back to Mumbai. Even ‘Ceylon’ back to Lanka and Sri Lanka, though it was also called by other names like Serendib.
In ancient times the geographical areas were originally identified by the NAMES of the ‘Heads of the Ruling Families’, about which there are many examples in the Bible. Hence we read in Genesis 10:6 the names Kush (Ethiopia\Somalia), Mitzraim (Egypt), Put (Libya) and “CANAAN”, the LAND under reference, which was NOT called ‘Palestine’ then.
The PERSON who became the Patriarch of 3 major ‘Religions’ called “Abram” [Exalted Father], WAS “Called OUT” by GOD, to GO TO a LAND that GOD would SHOW him, LEAVING his father’s house, family and LAND, when he was 75 years old, as per Genesis 12 : 1 – 4. Verse 7 there records GOD PROMISING TO GIVE THAT ‘LAND’ TO HIS DESCENDANTS. GOD Repeats the Promise in Genesis 13:14 – 17. BUT in 15:13-16 HE makes a rather alarming statement Saying, “Your descendants will SUFFER for 400 years in a foreign land (another one)”. And then REASSURES that “they WILL BE BROUGHT BACK” to where Abraham lived at the time, meaning THIS LAND which is the ‘Hot Topic’, in the present times.
Genesis Chapter 17 records that GOD changed his name to “ABRAHAM” [Father of Many – “Abrahim” in Hebrew, though in modern times pronounced as ‘AVrahim’], Making a Covenant [Agreement] with him, through circumcision.
GOD Made the SAME PROMISE to his son Isaac in Genesis 26:1-4 and ALSO to Abraham’s grandson Jacob in Genesis 28:13-15.
[B] Let us look at the LAND TRANSACTIONS, which is a serious point of contention.
When Abraham’s wife Sarah died Abraham had NO place to BURY her. Therefore he HAD TO PURCHASE a piece of LAND from Ephron, the leader of Hittites, the natives who lived there at the time. The entire Episode is recorded in Genesis Chapter 23 and Verses15-20 there state that Abraham PURCHASED the field and a cave in Machpelah from Ephron for 400 shekels [Also the name of modern currency in Israel] of silver.
This is the FIRST Record of ANY LAND TRANSACTION in the ENTIRE human history. Since there were NO written DEEDS those days, ALL matters were ‘Decided and Sanctioned’ AT the “City Gates”. That is why Verses 17 & 18 state, “Was DEEDED TO Abraham as ‘HIS PROPERTY’, in the presence of ALL the Hittites at the City Gate”. As Verse 19 there states, that piece of land had another name “Hebron”, which is another place of dispute in the modern Land of Israel. Also ‘HOW’ a totally different matter was similarly settled ‘at the gates’ of another city is recorded in the Book of Ruth 4:1-11.
When Abraham’s grandson Jacob, whose NAME was Changed to “Israel” by GOD HIMSELF [Genesis 32:28] came BACK to the LAND he was BORN IN, after being in his mother’s country for 20 years, the ‘Land’ was STILL called CANAAN. And he also PURCHASED a plot of LAND from the ‘Children of Hamor, Shechem’s father’ for 100 Kesitah, for him and his family to DWELL IN [Genesis 33:18 & 19], which is the SECOND recorded ‘LAND TRANSCTION’.
As GOD told Abraham before-hand, the Entire Family of Jacob went to Egypt (foreign land), because his 11th Son Joseph had become the Viceroy there. As recorded with their respective names, there were 70 of them in Egypt and for the first 30 years, they lived normal lives.
As per world history, there have been 32 dynasties of Pharaohs and after the death of Joseph a different dynasty having come into power, began to mistreat the descendants of Jacob. Exactly “To the Day” [Exodus 12:40 & 41] as GOD told Abraham, they came OUT of Egypt, under the Leadership of Moses, who was from the tribe of Levi [3rd son of Jacob].
GOD Assigned Moses that “Specific TASK”, when he was looking after his father-in-law’s sheep, somewhere in the region of modern Saudi Arabia [Exodus 3:1]. BUT that whole generation (those above 20), including Moses and his brother Aaron who was the High Priest, died in the Sinai desert [Moses at the border on Mount Nebo in modern Jordon], due to disobediences to GOD’S various Commands, except for Joshua and Caleb, who were found to be absolutely Faithful and hence considered worthy enough to go into “The Promised Land”.
STILL that “Subsequent Generation” ALSO HAD TO fight under the Leadership of Joshua and Caleb, for every inch\mm of it. It was still called ‘Canaan’ at the time and according to various ancient writings there were 7 “ethnic groups” of people living there THEN.
The First Jewish Leader to have confrontations with ancient Philistines was the “Strongman” Samson, as per Chapters 14 to 16 of the Book of Judges in the Bible. The story about “Samson and Delilah” is quite well known, though initially Samson had ‘confrontations with them’, because of the conduct of his Philistine wife’s (not Delilah’s) family – Judges 15:1-3.
Wars between Israel and the ancient Philistines got intensified, after the first King of Israel, Saul began to reign. Even when King David began his reign, initially there were confrontations, but ultimately they were subdued. What REALLY HAPPENED to them will be looked at later, with quotes from Wikipedia also.
After David became King, he reigned for 7 ½ years in Hebron [II Samuel 5:5] that was purchased by Abraham as stated earlier. Jerusalem belonged to a group of people called Jebusites at the time. They were confident that David would not be able to capture their city, as it was situated at a higher elevation and hence thought to be impregnable. But David KNEW about a “water shaft” that led into the CITY [II Samuel 5:8] and hence was able to CAPTURE JERUSALEM. That ‘water shaft’ was discovered by the British General Charles Warren, who was sent there by Queen Victoria, in 1867 and today is called “Warren’s Shaft”. As General Warren found the water shaft outside the ‘Old City’, which is surrounded by the wall that is prominently seen even in the photographs of Jerusalem, he claimed David’s CITY WAS OUTSIDE that ‘wall’. He was laughed at then by most. That ‘wall’ was built from 1537-41 by Suleiman the Magnificent, who also had the ‘Golden Dome’, placed on ‘Dome of the Rock’.
After capturing JERUSALEM, the Greatest King in Israel’s history DAVID MADE IT HIS CAPITAL and named it the “CITY OF DAVID”, as per II Samuel 5:7-9 and I Chronicles 11:4-7. As per those Verses, that CITY was also called “TZION”. According to the Gregorian calendar followed by most in the world today, King David MADE JERUSALEM his CAPITAL in 1003 BC. That means 3024 years BACK.
His kingdom covered the geographical area from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, the Mediterranean Sea in the west to beyond river Jordon in the east up to modern Jordanian capital, Amman.
YET when he wanted to build an Altar to GOD, in order to stop a plague that came upon the People because of a wrong decision he made, he did NOT just build it in the place he wanted, though the owner was WILLING to ‘GIFT it to the King’.
The incident is recorded in 1st Chronicles 21 : 21 – 26 and Verse 25 states, “So David PAID Ornan 600 shekels of gold (about 7 kilograms), FOR THE SITE”. That is the THIRD recorded LAND TRANSACTION, with regard to THIS ‘Piece of Real Estate’.
Even though GOD had Promised THIS LAND to Abraham and his seed [descendants], 3 sites had been PURCHASED by him, his grandson and his greatest descendant, [as per popular Jewish reckoning], for 3 BASIC requirements, i) Burial site; ii) Dwelling place and iii) For a Place of Worship. The OWNERS of the first and third places were WILLING to GIVE THEM FREE of charge as per the narratives, YET they have become places of ‘high contention’ today and the second, which is also mentioned in the Gospel of John 4:5 & 6, is ‘within the territory’ HANDED OVER, WITHOUT ANY CHARGE or FEE to the Palestinian Authority by the Israeli PM Yitzak Rabin, in accordance with the ‘Oslo Accord’ he signed with Yasser Arafat in 1993.
[C] KINGDOMS:-
After the death of King Solomon, the Kingdom got divided into TWO. The “Northern Kingdom”, also called “Israel” extended from the area of the city Dan in the north, to the area bordering Jericho in the south and it occupied the geographical area from the Mediterranean coast in the west, inclusive of the fertile Jezreel Valley, to areas east of river Jordon. Its first king was Jeroboam, who was a former official of Solomon and he selected the city Samaria (modern Nablus) as his capital. The “Southern Kingdom” was governed by Solomon’s son Rehoboam and extended from the border south of Jericho in the north to Kadesh Barnea in the south. In the east his territory bordered the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) and in the west it extended only as far as the territory governed by the Philistines. It was smaller area wise to the Northern Kingdom and as Rehoboam and all his successors were descendants of King David, who was from the “Tribe of Judah”, that Kingdom was also known as “JUDAH” and the Capital CONTINUED to be JERUSALEM.
In 722 BC the Assyrian emperor Shalmaneser conquered the Northern Kingdom that was then ruled by Hoshea. Whenever Assyrians conquered a territory, they used to take most of the natives of the area and disperse them within the other countries they had captured, in order to prevent any of their subjects starting a rebellion later on. Hence most of the Israeli People of the Northern Kingdom were dispersed within the Assyrian empire and got assimilated.
Sargon II who succeeded Shalmaneser and other rulers that followed brought People from other areas and settled them in the territory that belonged to the Northern Kingdom. ‘Their descendants’ are the ONES called “Samaritans”, as their capital had been Samaria.
Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar invaded the Southern Kingdom thrice in 605, 597 and 586 BC and the third time destroyed the Temple built by King Solomon. Each time they took various Jewish People to Babylon. First time the ‘Cream of the Society’ that included Daniel and his 3 famous friends were taken. Second time the next best group was taken which included Prophet Ezekiel and finally the balance, leaving the very poor behind.
However with regard to the People of the Southern Kingdom called JUDEA, there was a difference to what happened to the Northern Kingdom. They did NOT get assimilated.
In fact all about the Babylonian conquest and their subsequent RETURN giving the EXACT “number of years of captivity” were Predicted by their Prophet Jeremiah [29:1 & 10], though the last king Zedekiah and his officials did NOT want to listen. As per Jeremiah Chapter 38:1-4, four of Zedekiah’s Officials wanted him killed. Those Verses would be touched upon in a later article, with some very interesting recent archeological findings.
Seventy years later THEY CAME BACK under the Leadership of Zerubbabel. That return and the subsequent events are recoded in 2nd Chronicles 36:22, 23 and also in the Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah. The names of the Leaders who succeeded Zerubbabel are given in the Gospel of Matthew from 1:13-16 too.
Hence the Jewish Kingdoms – Saul, David, Solomon onwards upto Zedekiah lasted from 1050 BC to 586 BC- 464 years. That may not look as a ‘long time’. Yet consider the fact that USA has been in existence for only 245 years, from 1776-2021, so far.
Since the NAME ‘Palestinians’ is used very much at present and it is also ASSUMED the current ‘People Group’ called by THAT name are the ‘Descendants’ of an ancient ‘People Group’ called “Philistines”, first let us look at the following quotes from the opening Paragraph on ‘Philistines’, from Wikipedia.
“The Philistines were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when their polity, after having already been subjugated for centuries by Assyria, was finally destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia. After becoming part of his empire and its successor, the Persian Empire, they LOST their DISTINCT ETHNIC IDENTITY and DISAPPEARED from the HISTORICAL and archaeological record BY the late 5th century BC. The Philistines are known for their biblical conflict with the Israelites.
Though the primary source of information about the Philistines is the Hebrew Bible, they are first attested to in reliefs at the Temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, in which they are called Peleset (accepted as cognate with Hebrew Peleshet); the parallel Assyrian term is Palastu, Pilišti or Pilistu.
Several theories are given about the origins of the Philistines. The Hebrew Bible mentions in TWO places that they originate from Caphtor (possibly Crete/Minoa)”. [End quote, all highlighting (making bold, putting in capitals and italics is mine].
Since it is CLEARLY STATED at the beginning of the second paragraph above, “The primary source of Information about the ‘Philistines’ IS THE HEBREW BIBLE”, it would be prudent to look at a couple of relevant Verses from the BIBLE.
Genesis Chapters 10 & 11 records the fiasco at the ‘Tower of Babel’ and the subsequent dispersion of mankind in detail. Genesis 10:14 States, “Pathrusim, Casluhim (out of whom came Philistines) and Caphtorim” (KJV) and Verses 6 & 13 there show that Mizraim, one of the sons of Ham, was the father of all these people stated in Verse 14.
According to some historians, Caphtor or Crete (an island in the Mediterranean) was the dwelling place of the ‘ANCIENT Philistines’ originally. In the Book of the Jewish Prophet Amos 9:7 also they are identified as such and the other place referred to in the quote above is Deuteronomy 2:23. Then in early 12th century BC, they had invaded Upper Egypt and had been driven out, which is what the 3rd paragraph of the above quote refers to. Then they had settled in the South Western area of Canaan, along the Mediterranean coast.
Therefore the ‘claim’ that ‘modern Palestinians’ make saying “they are ‘descendants’ of ancient Philistines” is found to be FALSE as per HISTORICAL records. And even if somehow it happens to be proven ‘to be true’ in the future, that STILL makes them also ‘INVADERS’, who had come to Canaan FROM ANOTHER PLACE, just like the Jewish People, they accuse of doing. Moreover there is NO historical proof to say that the ‘ancient Philistines’ ever occupied JERUSALEM at any time.
Subsequently the ancient Philistines had proceeded to invade further into the land and their 5 main cities recorded in the Bible were Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gerar, Gaza and Gath, from where their famous warrior Goliath came and was defeated by young David, who subsequently became King of Israel. The names of those cities are STILL being used today, but Ashdod and Ashkelon are in Southern Israel inhabited by Jewish People and instead of a CITY, the ENTIRE STRIP OF LAND is called ‘Gaza’.
[D] ‘LAST DISPERSION’ OF JEWISH PEOPLE WAS PREDICTED BY CHRIST
About 2000 years back, the most famous JEWISH PERSON Ever Began HIS Ministry, though majority of HIS followers down the centuries seemed to have been oblivious about HIS JEWISH IDENTITY. One of the contributory factors towards that most probably would have been, the Hellenization of HIS NAME that led to many other formats of that NAME emerging. Strangely that kind of thing has NOT happened with regard to other leading or famous People in history. The ‘Titles’ such as King, President, Prime Minister definitely get translated as they ought to into various languages. But the sad thing is even HIS “Title” is assumed to be ‘Part of HIS NAME’ by many, and sadly even by some of HIS modern day “Followers”.
I know because I have met many of them personally and some of whom were even under the impression that ‘Christ’ was HIS ‘Surname’.
HIS REAL NAME IS YAHSHUA, meaning YAH “Turns” – Leads to REPENTANCE – [Matthew 1 : 21].
Jewish Prophets from Moses onwards [Deuteronomy 18:18] have Predicted the “ARRIVAL of a PROPHET cum MESSIAH”, WHO was to be from the “Lineage of DAVID”, which resulted in the Messianic Phrase “Son of DAVID”.
According to the Prophecies, HE WILL “SIT upon the Throne of DAVID and RULE over the ‘Whole House’ of ISRAEL”. Even Angel Gabriel told THAT to the Lady, who was to become HIS Mother, as per Luke 1:32 & 33.
The English word ‘Messiah’ comes from the Hebrew word “Mashiach”, the Greek translation of which is “Christus”.
It is a TITLE meaning “The Anointed One”, which means a ‘KING’. Scriptures show that Saul, David, Solomon were Anointed as ‘Kings’. The first 2 by Prophet Samuel and Solomon by Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet [2nd Kings 1:34]. The normal custom is to state the ‘Title’ BEFORE the NAME, like King so and so or President, PM, Chairman so and so.
YET with regard to YAHSHUA, the ‘TITLE’ is stated afterwards in ALL the languages it has been translated into and in English it became ‘Jesus Christ’.
Since in Hebrew it happens to be “YAHSHUA HA MASHIACH”, wonder whether that contributed towards the ‘Title’ being stated after the NAME, which happens to be a JEWISH Format.
All the same, 2000 years back during HIS Ministry, which was ONLY within the LAND OF ISRAEL, there were many who thought HIM to be the “Prophet” and “Messiah” [Christ], as the Gospels clearly state. Since the Jewish People then were under the Roman rule, most of them assumed, that the Expected Messiah would Come and deliver them from the ‘Roman yoke’.
None of us Gentile Believers can even begin to imagine the ‘horror’ HIS hearers would have felt when HE Said, “They [Jewish People] will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to ALL the nations and JERUSALEM will be trampled on by the Gentiles, UNTIL the ‘Times of the Gentiles’ are fulfilled” [Luke 21:24 – NIV].
Wonder whether even the present day Jewish People would be able to fully grasp the disappointment their Brothers back then would have felt.
At least Jeremiah gave a DEFINITE period of 70 years.
BUT this PERSON, Whom many thought WAS “The ONE” Prophesied in their Scriptures ONLY gave an indication as, “Times of the Gentiles” and that was also regarding their Beloved City Jerusalem, but apparently nothing about “Coming Back?”
Before that, when HIS Disciples commented how magnificent the Temple looked, which it indeed was and also the surrounding buildings, HIS comment had been “I tell you the truth, NOT one stone here will be left ON another, everyone will be thrown down” – Matthew 24:2 [NIV].
History records HOW those Predictions were FULFILLED TO THE LETTER.
First under the Roman General Titus, the Temple and the surrounding buildings were destroyed in AD 70. The ‘Second Jewish Revolt’, which is also called “Bar Kokhba Revolt” took place from AD 132-135, which ended with all the menfolk and most women too, committing suicide on the Rocky Fortress Masada.
Afterwards the then Roman emperor Hadrian, who seemed to have hated the Jewish People very much, issued certain decrees. “ALL Jews were to be expelled from the Land” that Romans referred to as “Judea” THEN. They were allowed to come only on the 9th of Av, the Fifth month in the Jewish Calendar, to mourn the “Destruction of their Temples”. Both Temples were destroyed ON that ‘Identical Day’, First One by the Babylonians in 586 BC and the Second One by the Romans in AD 70. He also came to know that a group of people called ‘Philistines’ HAD BEEN ‘mortal enemies’ of Israel in the PAST.
So most probably in order to ‘make it worst’ for the Jewish People, he changed the NAME of the LAND that was called “JUDEA”, to ‘Syrio\Philistia’ in Latin and changed the Name of JERUSALEM to Aelia Capitolina. ‘Aelia’ being his family name and Capitolina means Capital, ‘capital of his family’, in other words.
That name did not survive, BUT ‘Philistia’ DID and the Land came to be known under its English derivate ‘Palestine’, until the present State of Israel came into existence in 1948.
Given above succinctly, though the article seems to be long, is the past history of the LAND.
“What happened?” from roughly 1850 to the present times, with very interesting recent Archeological Findings and ALSO the ‘Background to the present Status’ will be covered in the sequel, which will be published at the earliest.