Did you ever wonder why the Land of Israel is referred to as Palestine?
Exodus 15:14 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
Isaiah 14:29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Isaiah 14:31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
Joel 3:4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? …
Land of the Philistines.
Psalm 60:8 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.
Psalm 87:4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.
Psalm 108:9 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.
The name Palestine is derived from the Philistines. The Biblical names for the land promised to Abraham and his descendants as their inheritance are Canaan and Israel. The name Palestine is found 4 times in the Bible in references to the coastal strip to the southeast of Israel that was occupied by the Philistines. It was roughly the same area known as the Gaza Strip today. The Romans referred to the southern part of Israel as Provincia Judea but this name was changed to Provincial Syria Palestine by the Emperor Hadrian in the early second century AD. Eventually the name Palestine came to be used by all of the land that was ever occupied by the Jewish people. It is no coincidence that the land promised to Abraham (Israel) by covenant is now know by the name of her most persistent and troublesome enemy. It is another part of Satan’s never-ending attack on God’s chosen people. It was David who finally subdued the Philistines and brought peace to ancient Israel. With an even greater victory, David’s greatest descendent, the Lord Jesus Christ will one day once again subdue Israel’s enemies.
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