Ezekiel 25:15-17--Prophecy Against Philistia

Ezekiel 25:15-17
English Standard Version

Prophecy Against Philistia
15 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, 16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”

---

The Philistines always wanted to take the Promised Land from the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Whether that was at first by cultural assimilation by asking Abraham to reside with them and become one of them or later by direct military conflict during the days of the Judges and Kings.  Philistia would be utterly destroyed so that none of them would remain.  In their destruction, they would know from their place of punishment and torture that the LORD alone is God and He and His people and His prophets were right, and they were wrong.

Side note that the word Palestine and Palestinian come from a Romanized version of the name Philistia, but all of the Philistines were destroyed already.  The Palestinians have no ancient claim to Gaza or any of the other areas controlled by the Philistines because all of the Philistines were killed.   It's also interesting that this group would want to associate with this condemned and destroyed people and want to pick up where the Philistines left off.  Why not try to connect with one of the other children of Abraham that were promised land and blessings outside the Promised Land?  It is because there is a spirit still at work today that was at work within the enemies of God and God's people in the days of Ezekiel.  It is a spiritual battle that is less about land disputes than it is about covenant promises.