In the book of Zechariah, Zechariah said, “Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire. Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited”, and in chapter nine and verse six of Zechariah, Zechariah said, “a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod” where we read,
And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
The verse reads, “And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, ...” Zechariah began with the words, “and a bastard” or “and a mixed race, child of incest, foreigner or illegitimate child” “shall dwell in Ashdod” which means “will live, abide and inhabit Ashdod whose name means powerful and was a major Philistine city on the Mediterranean Sea west from Jerusalem, modern Esdud”. Zechariah shared how Jehovah God said an illegitimate mixed race of foreigners will live in the city of “Ashdod”.
The verse continues, “... and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.” Zechariah added the words, “and I will cut off” or “and I, Jehovah God, shall eliminate” “the pride of the Philistines” which means “the majesty, exaltation and excellence belonging to the Philistines whose name means immigrants and were the inhabitants of Philistia and descendants of Mizraim who immigrated from Caphtor (Crete?) to the western seacoast of Canaan”. Zechariah shared how Jehovah God said He would eliminate the majesty belonging to the inhabitants of “Philistia”.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Zechariah how Jehovah God would also destroy the cities of the “Philistines” to the point only foreigners and counterfeits would live in one of their major cities, “Ashdod”, and all the majesty they enjoyed would be gone. God is more powerful than any nation, and when they oppose His people Israel, they have Him with which to contend. God's idea is to save the world from their sins, and when He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, He provided the way for all people to be rescued. God loves us, and when we yield our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us an understanding that He rules the world and not one nation, even Philistines, is unable to resist His power when He comes against them.
Next time Zechariah shares how Jehovah God says, “I will take away his blood out of his mouth”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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