“Then they put his armor in the temple for the ‘ashtarot and fastened his body to the wall of Beit-Sh’an.”-1 Samuel 31:10
The Philistines must have possessed a tremendous hatred and disrespect for Saul and his northern tribal alliance.
Why do I say that?
Because of what they did after they beheaded him and his sons.
We’re told that Saul’s head and armor were presented to the goddess Astarte.
But his body was taken to the city of Beth Shan and hung on the city wall.
Beth Sh’an was a famous fortress built by the Canaanites a long time ago.
It had been fought over many times because it was in a very strategic location.
Even the Egyptians controlled it for about 200 years, not long before the Exodus.
The city was at the crossroads of two important highways: one that connected the Jezreel Valley with Gilead, and another that linked the north and south of Canaan.
These roads had been used by merchants, armies, and kings for the longest time because they were so valuable.
So we know the Philistines controlled the Beth Sh’an fortress when Saul died.
Israel’s arch-enemies wanted to show the world Israel was finished and they were the ones now in control.
So, they hung the headless bodies of Saul and his sons on the city walls where the wild animals could get at them.
Again, this demonstrates just how much the Philistines despised Israel.
I’ll leave you with these two takeaways.
Takeaway One is that this spirit of hate towards Israel is alive and well today in the form of Hamas, the Islamic government of Iran, and those Palestinians who desire in their hearts to see all Israelis killed and their dead bodies pushed into the ocean where the sea scavengers can get at them.
In fact, “Palestinian” is nothing less than the Greek word for Philistine.
I tell you, nothing has changed folks.
Takeaway Two is to notice the name of the goddess to whom the Philistines presented Saul’s head and his armor.
The name of this female deity was Astarte.
Wanna know what the modern-day equivalent of this term is in modern-day English?
It’s Easter.
Kinda makes you think twice about whether celebrating Easter is something God would find pleasing or not, doesn’t it?
You might wanna reconsider participating in this pagan celebration when its very name is the goddess of Israel’s arch-enemy.
And you wonder wanna the Jewish people are so turned off by Christianity.
Later homies.
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