And the Remnant of My people shall possess them

This is an urgent call to repent and seek righteuosness and humility before the Day of the Lord. For those who do so, the prophet suggest that they will be hidden from God's wrath. Specific places around the Promised Land are named for destruction, including Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, the Cherethites, land of the Philistines, Moab and Ammon who will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, Ethiopia, Assyria, Nineveh.

Ater judging His people, God will judge their neighbours who were arrogant against His people. He will let the Remnant of His people enjoy the spoils of destruction of their neighbours.



Zephaniah 2
A Call to Repentance

1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O undesirable[a] nation,
2 Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!
3 Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger.

Judgment on Nations

4 For Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.”
6 The seacoast shall be pastures,
With shelters[b] for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah;
They shall feed their flocks there;
In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will intervene for them,
And return their captives.
8 “I have heard the reproach of Moab,
And the insults of the people of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people,
And made arrogant threats against their borders.
9 Therefore, as I live,”
Says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Surely Moab shall be like Sodom,
And the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—
Overrun with weeds and saltpits,
And a perpetual desolation.
The residue of My people shall plunder them,
And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”
10 This they shall have for their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
People shall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
Indeed all the shores of the nations.
12 “You Ethiopians also,
You shall be slain by My sword.”
13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north,
Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation,
As dry as the wilderness.
14 The herds shall lie down in her midst,
Every beast of the nation.
Both the pelican and the bittern
Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars;
Their voice shall sing in the windows;
Desolation shall be at the threshold;
For He will lay bare the cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city
That dwelt securely,
That said in her heart,
“I am it, and there is none besides me.”
How has she become a desolation,
A place for beasts to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
Shall hiss and shake his fist.

For the Lord has a Controversy with the Nations

Jeremiah reminded the people that he had spoken the warnings from God for almost ten years. God had also raised some other prophets to give the same message about repenting and not serving or worshipping other gods. But the people continued in their wicked ways.

Now Jeremiah told them because of their unrepentance, God had decided to use Nebuchadnezzar as his servant in carrying out his judgment. The judgment will include desolation and that the people will serve the Babylonian kings for seventy years. However God also revealed that after the seventy years, God will also punish the King of Babylon because of his evil. Moreover Babylon will be made desolate forever, unlike the Promised Land which will be restored.

The judgment and punishment was not restricted to Judah and Babylon only. God also told Jeremiah to proclaim that all the surrounding nations will be punished too. They include Egypt, Uz, Philistines (namely, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod), Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, Dedan, Tema, Buz, Arabia, Zimri, Elam, Medes, Sheshach and so on.



Jeremiah 25
Seventy Years of Desolation

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: 3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the Lord has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened. 4 And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. 5 They said, ‘Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to Me,” says the Lord, “that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.

8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, 9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12 ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation. 13 So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. 14 (For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)’”

Judgment on the Nations

15 For thus says the Lord God of Israel to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. 16 And they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

17 Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom the Lord had sent me: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people; 20 all the mixed multitude, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (namely, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who are in the farthest corners; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed multitude who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. Also the king of Sheshach[a] shall drink after them.

27 “Therefore you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Drink, be drunk, and vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.”’ 28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “You shall certainly drink! 29 For behold, I begin to bring calamity on the city which is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,” says the Lord of hosts.’

30 “Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

‘The Lord will roar from on high,
And utter His voice from His holy habitation;
He will roar mightily against His fold.
He will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes,
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 A noise will come to the ends of the earth—
For the Lord has a controversy with the nations;
He will plead His case with all flesh.
He will give those who are wicked to the sword,’ says the Lord.”
32 Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Behold, disaster shall go forth
From nation to nation,
And a great whirlwind shall be raised up
From the farthest parts of the earth.
33 And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.

34 “Wail, shepherds, and cry!
Roll about in the ashes,
You leaders of the flock!
For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are fulfilled;
You shall fall like a precious vessel.
35 And the shepherds will have no way to flee,
Nor the leaders of the flock to escape.
36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds,
And a wailing of the leaders to the flock will be heard.
For the Lord has plundered their pasture,
37 And the peaceful dwellings are cut down
Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 He has left His lair like the lion;
For their land is desolate
Because of the fierceness of the Oppressor,
And because of His fierce anger.”

Samuel Judges Israel

Samuel was the last judge of Israel before Israel changed into a kingdom. At the time, the Philistines seem to have dominion over Israel. Israel had lost many battles to the Philistines up to that point. The Ark was just returned to Kirjath Jearim by the Philistines who captured it.

Unlike other judges, Samuel was not known for his physical strength nor his skills as a warrior. Instead the impression of Samuel would be more like a priest or prophet. Yet it was Samuel as a judge, like other judges, who was instrumental in delivering Israel from the Philistines, of course the full honour goes to God. Like a prophet, Samuel warned the Israelites of their sin and commanded them to turn their hearts back to the Lord and destroy all the foreign idols. When they repented, Sameul led the Israelites into fervent prayer.

Hearing that the Israelites were repenting and unifying in their prayers, the Philistines deceided to attack. Samuel encouraged the Israelites not to stop praying and when he made a burnt offering to the Lord, the Philistines attacked. The LORD intervened and caused such confusion for the Philistines with thunder, that the Israelites were able to defeat the Philistines easily.

From then on the Philistines were ejected from Israel and the Israelites reclaimed all their land including Gath and Ekron. For as long as Samuel was the judge of Israel, the LORD ensured that the Philistines was not able to come against Israel, and there was peace in Israel. As a judge, Samuel went from city to city around Israel.


1 Samuel 7

 1 Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

Samuel Judges Israel
  
2 So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths[a] from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths,[b] and served the LORD only.
5 And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.” 6 So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the LORD. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.
7 Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 So the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. Then Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. 10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer,[c] saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. 17 But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the LORD.

Ark Returned to Israel

Having captured the Ark of God, the Philistines found that they had great misfortunes including many men struck with tumors and boils. The Philistines were knowledgeable enough to suspect that it is the God of Israel who was displeased with them having the Ark. So they tried to get rid of them.

Very interesting that even when they had decided to get rid of the Ark, they had enough fear and honour of the Ark of God, that they did not just discard by the countryside. Instead they sought for the correct way to return or at least send the Ark way in a respectful way. Very funny and ironic that the sworn enemy of Israel had so much respect and fear of the Ark.

So the Philistines asked their pagan priests of how to send the Ark away. Again surprisingly, the pagan Philistine priest knew a thing or two about trespass offering. Although the priests did not get the content of the trespass offerings correct, (in Israel, offerings usually consist of rams, bulls, lamb, grain, etc, while the Philistine priests suggested five golden tumors and five golden rats), nevertheless perhaps God would not be too angered by their ignorance, since they were putting an effort.

The Philistines also knew the Exodus story as the priest warned the Philistines not to go against the will of God, and should return the Ark instead. The final plan was to send the Ark along with the offerings on a cart to be led by two cows. The test was to led the cows take the cart down the road and if they turned to Beth Shemesh, then they would know that God was responsible for the misfortunes to the Philistines but if the cows turned the other way, then it wasn't God after all. As it turned out, the cows and the cart when to Beth Shemesh, thus confirming for the Philistines that God was responsible.

The city of Beth Shemesh appeared to belong to Israel because the people were happy to see the Ark, and they had Levites there to take the Ark down. However, perhaps because the Ark was not meant to reside there permanently, so even the Israelites had done wrong in wanting to keep it. Consequently, God struck over fifty thousand males there. Finally, they called for people from Kirjath Jearim to take possession of the Ark, perhaps they knew that that was the rightful place.


1 Samuel 6

The Ark Returned to Israel

 1 Now the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it to its place.”
3 So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”
4 Then they said, “What is the trespass offering which we shall return to Him?”
They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, from your gods, and from your land. 6 Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart? 7 Now therefore, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them. 8 Then take the ark of the LORD and set it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away, and let it go. 9 And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.”
10 Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they set the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. 12 Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14 Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth ShemeshEkron the same day.
17 These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; 18 and the golden rats, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the LORD, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
19 Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men[a] of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.

The Ark at Kirjath Jearim
  
20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall it go up from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up with you.”

Philistines and the Ark

If the villains in the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones) have read 1 Samuel 4 and 5 carefully, they may decide not to pursue the Ark of God. In the previous chapter we saw how even the enemies of Israel, such as the Philistines, learned from history that when the Ark of God was with the Israelites, they were victorious. Like the Israelites, the Philistines may incorrectly believe that it was the sacredness of the object that brought victory, rather than the reality that it was God behind the victories.

In the latest battle, the Philistines defeated Israel and captured the Ark of God. The Philistines first brought the Ark back to Ashdod, a city with their god Dagon. Miraculously the idol of Dagon was broken and the people began to fear the Ark. They moved the Ark to Gath and then to Ekron. Wherever the Ark went in the Philistines territory, the people were afflicted by tumors (emerods).

It seemed that the Philistines perhaps had more fear of the God of Israel than the Israelites themselves. For here we see that the Philistines knew the power of the God of Israel and fear Him. They also knew that their god Dagon was powerless against the God of Israel. Perhaps we will never know but there must be some Philistines who may even fear the God of Israel to the point of submitting to Him?



1 Samuel 5

The Philistines and the Ark

 1 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon[a] and set it by Dagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. 4 And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso[b] was left of it. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors,[c]both Ashdod and its territory. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” 8 Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?”
And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. 9 So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them.
10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!” 11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.