“Then Sh’mu’el left Gilgal and went up to Giv‘at-Binyamin. Sha’ul counted how many were still there with him, about 600 men.Sha’ul, Y’honatan his son and the men with him took up quarters at Giv‘at-Binyamin, while the P’lishtim remained in camp at Mikhmas. Then raiding parties began coming out from the camp of the P’lishtim, three of them: one group turned toward the road leading to ‘Ofrah in the territory of Shu‘al; another group took the road toward Beit-Horon; and another company took the road toward the desert through the territory overlooking Vadi Tzvo‘im.”-1 Samuel 13:15-18
According to the Complete Jewish Bible, we’re told that Saul took his 600 men and went up to a place called GIV’AT-BINYAMIN which was where Samuel had gone ahead of him.
Now some Bible translations will say Saul went up to GIBEAH (pronounced Gee-Bah), and others will say he went up to GEBA (pronounced Geh-Bah).
I already told you that GEBA is correct.
If you wanna read a full breakdown as to why, click HERE.
The bottom line is that GEBA was only about a mile from where the Philistines had set up camp.
This was where the battle was gonna take place.
By contrast, Gibeah was a whopping five miles away.
So both common sense and events we’ll be examining soon show that Saul was very close to where the Philistine camp was located.
Onward.
Next, we’re told the Philistines sent out 3 raiding parties.
The goal was to quickly gain control of the area so they could move around freely.
This would also enable them to stop any troublemakers before they got too rowdy.
One group headed north toward the Jordan River area, another went west along the road to the coast, and the third group traveled south into the wilderness to check if there might be a threat from that direction.
So what’s the takeaway for today?
It’s actually quite pertinent to the war happening in Israel right now (today is Friday, October 13th, 2023).
We’ve been reading how Israel led by Saul is about to battle against the Philistines.
Well, here’s an interesting fact for you.
“Palestine” is just the Greek word for “Philistia”.
Ain’t that interesting?
Just as it was in ancient days, so it is today.
Israel is again at war with their arch-enemy following this recent terrorist attack by Hamas.
For the Palestinians are nothing more than modern-day Philistines.
If you wanna understand what’s behind the “Free Palestine” movement, read this article titled…
“Six Politically Incorrect But Indisputable Facts About ‘The Palestinian Situation’.
P.S. Here’s another little interesting fact.
When we go back to the story of the flood in the book of Genesis, we’re told the reason God destroyed the world was because “the earth was filled with violence.”
Wanna know what the word for violence here is?
In Hebrew it’s חָמָס…
In English that’s HAMAS.
I tell you, folks, there’s nothing new under the sun.
Even more interesting is that it is commonly believed the land called Judea was renamed Palestina (later Philistia, then Palestine) by the Romans after their victory in the Bar Kokhba rebellion in 132 C.E.
It seems it wasn’t enough to totally defeat the Jews (this was the third, and last Jewish-Roman battle), but to add insult to injury Rome renamed the Jewish homeland after their ancient enemies, the Philistines.
I love this and couldn’t agree more!
There was a study done and Philistia and Palestine are 2 different people groups . I wish I could find the information I have on it.
Sounds interesting. If you’re able to find that info, please share.