Bible Discussion Thread

What is interesting to me is that the LORD had the Israelites enter Canaan from the east and destroying the eastern strongholds of the giants first. There must have been a reason for this in the mind of God. Perhaps these two kings were so very powerful and maybe held sway over many of the peoples on the west side of the Jordan. Maybe there was more intense wickedness in this part than across the Jordan. Maybe God wanted to eliminate the threats to Ammon, Moab and Edom to show them that He is the strong God and worthy of their worship so that they may turn back to Him. But it is true that in the times ensuing that these peoples did not turn to YHWH, but instead continued to dig in their heels into the idolatry they had chosen and became hostile to Israel in the centuries following the conquest.

This area of the promised land is now held by Jordan mostly. And Gaza held by Hamas. Most of these "Palestinians" are of Arab descent that entered the lands from the Islamic conquest of the Levant. The Philistines were pretty much eliminated by Babylon at the time of the captivity of Judah and Assyrian captivity of Israel. From the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. it seems that the land of the Levant was inhabited by Jews, Samaritans, Christians, and other ethnicities forming a mixture of peoples until the Islamic conquests in the 7th century. The Arabs moved into the area. But the crusades retook the area for a time only to lose it again to the Moslems. Egypt took over the area for a time, and then the Ottomon Empire held control. eventually the British and French took over the whole land of Palestine. At the turn of the 10th century the Balfour agreement sought to establish a Jewish Homeland. And this was accomplished in 1948.

At first, in the negotiations with the Arabs and Jews, a two state proposal was suggested. The jews agreed, but Arabs repeatedly refused. So here we are almost a century later. The Arabs in Palestine are not original to the area.