I wonder if Hamaz understands the difference between the Jews of Israel and the Arab Jews of Palastine, outside of political differences?
Am I missing the mark to understand that the Bible teaches that Palastine once called Philistine, was Canaan the Promise Land, which is Israel the land God promised to the Jews? Or do I have this all wrong?...
Brothers, first let me remind you about our patriarch- Ibrahim/Abraham. He was born in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans (present day Iraq). He traveled 500 miles to Haran (now southeast Turkey) with his family and stayed there until his father's death. God told Abram to leave his native land and his father�s house for a land that God would show him, promising to make of him a great nation, bless him, make his name great, bless those who blessed him, and curse those who cursed him. (Genesis 12:1�3) So, when God called Abraham, he moved 400 miles south to the land of Canaan and lived there most of the rest of his days. (Genesis 12:4�6) Abraham settled between Kadesh and Shur in the land of the Philistines.
God appeared to Abram to tell him that God would give the land to his heirs, and Abram built an altar to God (Genesis 12:7). It was the promises of God given to Abraham. But do not forget also that originally name of Ibrahim was Abram, or "exalted father". But God changed his name to Abraham/Ibrahim as a symbol of the covenant promise to multiply his descendants into a great nation that God would call His OWN.
Brothers, NOTE: that this land, where Abraham lived with his family, was promised to him by God as en everlasting possession! It means that his sons should posses it. Who are his sons? One of the sons of Abraham was Ishmael (born by Egyptian handmaid Hagar). Later he became father of the Arab nation and another son was called Isaac.
Sarah was jealous woman and she declared that Ishmael would not share in Isaac's inheritance. Abraham was greatly distressed by his wife's words and sought the advice of his God. The Lord told Abraham not to be distressed but to do as his wife recommended i.e. to be separated with Hagar. And Hagar lived with her son Ishmael separately from Jews. And God said to Abraham, �Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.�
Thus Arabs, here is your origin! God made a nation from Hagar and her son Ishmael. Moreover God called this nation a GREAT NATION. The same way God blessed Isaac and made a GREAT NATION from him too.
Note brothers, that the land Canaan existed already and Abraham lived there! Moreover he settled in Canaan between Kadesh and Shur in the land of the Philistines!
After roaming the wilderness for some time, Ishmael and his mother Hagar settled in the Desert of Paran, where he became an expert in archery. Ishmael had twelve sons who became twelve tribal chiefs throughout the regions from Havilah to Shur (from Assyria to the border of Egypt). His children, as God said, should become 12 kings. They are listed as follows:
1.Nebaioth
2.Kedar, father of the Qedarites, (A northern Arab tribe that controlled the region between the Persian Gulf and the Sinai Peninsula). According to tradition, ancestor of Muhammad and the Quraysh tribe.
3.Adbeel, established a tribe in northwest Arabia.
4.Mibsam
5.Mishma
6.Dumah, associated with Adummatu described as "a fortress of Arabia" in Saudi Arabia.
7.Massa, father of a nomadic tribe that inhabited the Arabian desert toward Babylonia.
8.Hadad
9.Tema
10.Jetur
11.Naphish
12.Kedemah
Daughter Mahalath or Bashemath.
What happened with Ishmael and his Jewish brother Isaac? He met with Isaac at the burial of Abraham. Ishmael died at the age of 137.
Who did live in the land of Philistines? The Philistines were a people, apparently of Aegean or Cypriot origins, who occupied the southern coast of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age (c. 1175 BCE). According to the Holy Scripture, they ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with no fixed border to the east. The Holy Scripture paints them as Israel's most dangerous enemy prior to the unification of Israel. Note also brothers, that Philistine culture was almost fully integrated with that of Canaan and the Canaanites. The Philistine culture deities they worshipped were Baal, Astarte and Dagon, whose names or variations thereof appear in the Canaanite pantheon as well.
But were the Philistines Arabs?
No. Arabs are Jews because their father was Abraham/Ishmael.
But the Philistines were mixed with Arabs -descendants of Ishmael- later. Jews were forbidden by God to marry wives of other nations. That�s why Jews kept their identity. But Arabs lived separated from God of Israel. That�s why they were mixed with the Philistines and got affected by the new-founded teaching called Islam. Living without God, you can be easily deceived by false prophets and false revelations of angels.
What is this Land Canaan to be inherited by Jews/Israelites?
Canaan (meaning the area covering roughly modern Israel, the Palestinian territories, and southern Lebanon) and the western parts of Jordan. In the Late Bronze Age was a collection of city-states under the authority of the Egyptians. The southern highlands of the region were later named Judea after the kingdom of Judah, while the coastal region came to be known as Palestina, from the name of the Philistines. That name was extended to a larger area in the 2nd century. So, the Land of Canaan became the Promised Land and was occupied by Israelites/descendants of Abraham according to the words of God and His commands.
May be it will be interesting for you to read more about the following list of battles recorded in the Bible between Israel and the Philistines:
� The Battle of Shephelah
� Israel defeated at the Battle of Aphek, Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 4:1-10)
� Philistines defeated at the Battle of Eben-Ezer (1 Samuel 7:3-14)
� Misery Skirmish at Michmash, Philistines routed by Jonathan and his men (1 Samuel 14)
� Near the Valley of Elah, David defeats Goliath in single combat (1 Samuel 17)
Look again what God of Israel said giving Israel the land of Canaan as their everlasting and cherished possession:
"The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God." Genesis 17:8
"So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey � the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites� And I have promised to bring you up out of your in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites � a land flowing with milk and honey." Exodus 3:8, 17
So, brothers, the Land of Canaan is a geographical name, and Israel the spiritual name of the land: This is the Promised Land which faces the entrance of the spiritual world. Because God Himself who is the Spirit dwelt among His people in Israel. The existence of this HOLY God lies beyond the physical world known to us through our senses but we are able to KNOW Him by reading His HOLY WORDS captured on the pages of His Holy Scripture which we are studying. This Land Israel has a unique status with regard to the prophecies of God and His promises to COME BACK to His Land and PUT HIS FEET there on Zion.
Summary: During the Byzantine period, almost the entire region of the Promised Land occupied by Israelites (Syria Palestine, Samaria, and the Galilee) was named Palaestina. The use of the name "Palestine" in English became more common after the European renaissance. But there is no matter what was the name of the Promised Land Israel or Palestine, we know that this LAND was given by God to the descendants of Abraham ISRAELITES. However, you Arabs are also descendants of our father Abraham. And you can reign with your brothers Jews there in peace and love. Just remember to reign there you need to get RID of your idols, false gods and submit your will and hearts to the God of Israel who is going to come back to Israel and put His feet there. If you will not do it, then your reign will be the defeat. Then you will be among those who will be judged by God Jesus upon His return (we will read about them today). Because He is the ONE who should be worshipped by you. And Islam and Indian cows should be left, abandoned by you NOW and FOREVER to LIVE ETERNALLY in the Kingdom of God of Israel. Here He explains how He is going to defeat His enemies and reign in His Israel/Palestine/The Promised Land where He is going to return SOON during the coming war of the Muslim states under the anti-christ against God�s people called Israel:
Zechariah 14 (New King James Version)
Zechariah 14
The Day of the LORD
1 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
And your spoil will be divided in your midst.
2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
The city shall be taken,
The houses rifled,
And the women ravished.
Half of the city shall go into captivity,
But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then the LORD will go forth
And fight against those nations,
As He fights in the day of battle.
4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.
5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,
For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.
Yes, you shall flee
As you fled from the earthquake
In the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
Thus the LORD my God will come,
And all the saints with You.
6 It shall come to pass in that day
That there will be no light;
The lights will diminish.
7 It shall be one day
Which is known to the LORD�
Neither day nor night.
But at evening time it shall happen
That it will be light.
8 And in that day it shall be
That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem,
Half of them toward the eastern sea
And half of them toward the western sea;
In both summer and winter it shall occur.
9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth.
In that day it shall be�
� The LORD is one,�
And His name one.
10 All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem[c] shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin�s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king�s winepresses.
11 The people shall dwell in it;
And no longer shall there be utter destruction,
But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12 And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem:
Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet,
Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets,
And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
13 It shall come to pass in that day
That a great panic from the LORD will be among them.
Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor,
And raise his hand against his neighbor�s hand;
14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem.
And the wealth of all the surrounding nations
Shall be gathered together:
Gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance.
15 Such also shall be the plague
On the horse and the mule,
On the camel and the donkey,
And on all the cattle that will be in those camps.
So shall this plague be.
The Nations Worship the King
16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. 18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
20 In that day �HOLINESS TO THE LORD� shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the LORD�s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the LORD of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
we should search with lamp and light after errors and contradictions in science to align it in accordance with the Holy Scripture.
We have science to help us to explain how God created everything and how it works. But it is written in the Scripture.
That's why it is better to study the Scripture and then do scientific researches because in this case we will see everything in details....
For example: In Islam Muslims believe that Beer Lahai Roi well is Zamzam well in Mecca. Is it really so?
Look what happened:
When Hagar thought that Ishmael will die God showed her a well.
Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. Genesis 21:19
But there is another story also which reads (read the context also below):
Genesis 16
�go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.� And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. 3 Then Sarai, Abram�s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. 4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, �My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me.�
6 So Abram said to Sarai, �Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.� And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
7 Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And He said, �Hagar, Sarai�s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?�
She said, �I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.�
9 The Angel of the LORD said to her, �Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.� 10 Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, �I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.� 11 And the Angel of the LORD said to her:
� Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the LORD has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man�s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.�
13 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, �Have I also here seen Him who sees me?� 14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi;[observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Genesis 16:7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.
Genesis 16:14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered
So, location of Beer Lahai Roi well: a well west of Kadesh, south of Israel. The location is stated to be on the road to Shur between Kadesh and Bered.
Here you can read great commentary why Islamic Zamzam cannt be this place:
