Palestinian Terrorism Then and Now and the Real Independence of Israel
The Palestinian terrorism never ceases. It will continue unless Israel learns the lesson the forefathers learned the hard way in the time of Yehoshua (Joshua): do not give land to the terrorists, drive them out, all of them. The more land Israel gives the more Palestinian terrorism we will see in the land.
As of writing this article approximately 700 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza by the Palestinians since the violence began on Shabbat morning, 4 May 2019, going towards the 71st anniversary of the Independence of Israel. In the first two days, the death toll among the Israelis reached four and many other wounded, not to count the psychological trauma, all victims of the Palestinian terrorism.
In return of the fire, the IAF (Israeli Air-force) responded by hitting approximately 320 military targets in Gaza and soon the Palestinian terrorists announced “ceasefire” which, as in many other cases, had no gains for Israel, as it has never had.
The fact that the Israeli air-force (IAF) targeted this time the homes of the Palestinian terrorists is seen by some as a factor in Israel’s superiority, as if making the terrorists and their families homeless would change anything. They indeed will be homeless until the next money transfer for the Palestinian terrorism from Iran, Qatar and Turkey, while the Israelis will wait for the government.
But, the Palestinian terrorism did not start today; the Palestinian terrorism started long ago with a transgression of the Covenant of YHVH, namely not to make “land-for-peace covenants” with the nations.
This is how everything started.
Mosheh died 120 year old and YHVH commanded Yehoshua to pass over the Yarden to the land which YHVH gave to Israel within these borders: from the wilderness and Lebanon as far as the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun (Jos 1:2-4). These boundaries are the utmost borders of Israel: from the Desert of Arabia Petrea on the south, to Lebanon on the north, and from the Euphrates on the east, to the Mediterranean, on the west. As we will see below, the Israelites did not possess the full extent of this grant, not until the time of King David.
And as YHVH had commanded Mosheh, so Mosheh commanded Yehoshua, and so Yehoshua did the will of the Almighty. Thus Yehoshua took all that land: the mountain country, and all the South, and all the land of Goshen, and the low country, and the desert plain, and the mountains of Israel and its low lands, from Mount Chalak that goes up to Seir (Edom), and as far as Ba’al Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. (Jos 11:15-17) And Yehoshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from fighting. (Jos 11:23)
However, the taking of the whole land By the Israelites does not imply that all the towns and villages had been conquered, nor that all the Canaanites were rooted out from the land, but simply that Yehoshua took all this land described above in the campaign described in Jos_11:1-15.
After, Yehoshua had taken possession of the whole land he proceeded to dividing the land among the tribes of Israel. He had really done all that YHVH had said to Mosheh, namely that the complete extermination of the Canaanites would not be done at once, but only little by little, until Israel multiplied and took the whole land (see Exo_23:28-30, Deu_7:22). Only in this context, therefore, it could have been said that “Yehoshua took the whole land according to all that YHVH had said to Mosheh”.
However, that does not mean that there was not a large portion of the land still needed to be conquered.
Yehoshua was old and YHVH said to him, “You are old, advanced in years, and still much of the land remains to be possessed. (Jos 13:1) And then the chapter continues to describe the vast areas which had not yet been liberated and divided by lot to Israel as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Menashsheh (Jos_13:2-7).
But the children of Menashsheh were unable to drive out the inhabitants of those cities (Jos_17:12). So Yehoshua said to Israel, “Till when are you going to fail to go in and possess the land which Yehovah Elohim of your fathers has given you?” (Jos_18:3).
The command of the Almighty to divide the land on the west side the Yarden among the nine tribes and a half presupposes that the other two tribes and a half had already received their inheritance from Mosheh on the east side (see Jos_13:8), as they indeed received it.
Israel’s failure to take the whole land
The complete conquest of the whole land, however, was not secured. On the contrary, the Israelites left a remnant of the Canaanites in the land that repeatedly harassed them in the fulfilment of the warning given by Mosheh,
And if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And it shall be that I do to you as I thought to do to them. (Num 33:55-56)
The command of YHVH to Israel to possess the land, drive out all its wicked inhabitants, and purge it from the idolatry, closes with the threat, that if they did not exterminate them, not only would they become pricks in their eyes and stings in their sides, i.e., inflict the most painful injuries on them, and make war on them in the land, but YHVH would also do the very same things to the Israelites that He had intended to do to the Canaanites, i.e., drive them out of the land and destroy them. That threat was repeated by Yehoshua in his last address to the nation in Jos_23:13.
On the other hand, another account states that the nation under Yehoshua had liberated and settled in every area of the Promised Land, seemingly contradicting what is previously stated in 13:1. We read thus,
Thus Yehovah gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it, and dwelt in it. And Yehovah gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them, Yehovah gave all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good word which Yehovah had spoken to the house of Israel – all came in. (Jos 21:43-45)
According to these verses, by the division of Canaan among the tribes of Israel, the promise of YHVH was fulfilled. He had given Israel the whole land which He had sworn to the fathers.
So, did the generation of Yehoshua receive and settle every piece of the land or there was still large portion of the land yet to be conquered?
In Time of Reckoning Ministry (TORM) we have the reason to believe that the key to understand these seemingly contradicting accounts lies in the interpretation of the phrase in question: all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers.
Which of the fathers are meant here in verse 43? The forefathers Avraham, Yitschak, and Ya’akov (see the promise in Gen_12:7; Gen_15:18-21) or their fathers who went out of Egypt (see the borders of the land in Exo_23:31, Num_34:2-18, Deu_1:7, and Deu_11:24 and compare them to those in Genesis)?
First, we should notice that the deed of the land in Genesis is more generally given, while that in Numbers is described in a great deal of details, i.e. segment by segment.
We should also notice that there is, nonetheless, a significant difference between the territory of the land promised to Avraham; let us recall that Avraham was promised the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates (Gen 15:18) and the territory confined in the deed of the land in Num_34:2-18.
This difference is the southern borders of the land: in Genesis that is the river of Egypt, while in Numbers, it is Kadesh Barnea. And indeed, the Nile, as a southern border of the land, had never been promised to the generation of the Exodus, but to the forefathers only.
One day, however, when the Messiah comes, all that had been promised to father Avraham will come to a full completeness, even though it may sound inconceivable today. Nevertheless, if it was promised, it will be done, but until then the land described in Numbers is the land promised to the nation of Israel.
Therefore, of all the good words which YHVH had spoken to Israel not one remained unfulfilled; all had come to pass as it relates to the promise. Despite the fact that much of the land still remained unconquered, the promise that the land of Canaan should be given to Israel for a possession had been fulfilled, because YHVH had not promised the immediate and total destruction of the Canaanites, but only their gradual extermination, as found in Exo_23:29-30 and Deu_7:22.
And the reason why a small portion of the land was given to the nation of Israel must lie in the fact that not all Israel left Egypt, but only a portion of the nation. We derive this from the outcome of the first census of Israel and even smaller number of men of war in the second census when the nation was at the threshold of the land. In other words, Israel did not have the sufficient number of men of war to conquer the whole land promised Avraham. For more insight on why the children of Israel were so small in numbers, read here.
As more land needed to be conquered, at the end of his life, Yehoshua warned the Israelites that if they would leave those nations among them and even worse intermingle with them by adopting their pagan customs, the anger of the Elohim of their fathers would burn out against them and He would no longer drive them out from the land and let them be snares to them until He would drive out the Israelites from the good land He had given them; and that was what actually took place, according to Jdg_2:3, in the very next generation. The words of Yehoshua “until you perish” resumed the threat made by Mosheh in Deu_11:17 and Deu_28:21.
Let us read this part of Yehoshua’s last address to the nation in which he warned the children of Israel what would happen to them if they would make “land-for-peace covenants” with the nations. The precise words YHVH used to warn Israel snares and traps, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes are nothing less than a description of the acts of the Palestinian terrorism the nation experiences today,
But if you do turn back at all, and cling to the remnant of these nations, these that remain among you, and intermarry with them, and go in to them and they to you, know for certain that Yehovah your Elohim shall no longer drive these nations out from before you. And they shall be snares and traps to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which Yehovah your Elohim has given you. (Jos 23:12-13)
And the consequences of the transgression of the Covenant,
And it shall be, that as every good word has come upon you which Yehovah your Elohim promised you, so Yehovah does bring upon you every evil word, until He has destroyed you from this good land which Yehovah your Elohim has given you, when you transgress the covenant of Yehovah your Elohim, which He commanded you, and shall go and serve other gods, and bow down to them. And the displeasure of Yehovah shall burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you. (Jos_23:15-16)
And at the end of his life, Yehoshua in his last words made the people to choose whom they were to serve: YHVH or the nations,
And now, fear Yehovah, serve Him in perfection and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve Yehovah! And if it seems evil in your eyes to serve Yehovah, choose for yourselves this day whom you are going to serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the mighty ones of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But I and my house, we serve Yehovah. (Jos 24:14-15)
Then Yehoshua made them witnesses against them, if they would transgress the Covenant of the land,
You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yehovah for yourselves, to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses! (Jos 24:22)
Therefore, the apparent discrepancy between the accounts in Joshua 13 and 21 must be explained not in the fact that Yehoshua had not completely taken and conquered the land, but simply in the fact that YHVH had withdrawn His help from His people, because they left the remnant of these nations among them.
And after the death of Yehoshua, the Israelites asked YHVH as to who of them should go up first against the Canaanites to conquer what was left unconquered (Jdg 1:1). The rest of the first chapter of Judges is an account of the ups and downs of the Israelites’ efforts to take possession of what was promised to them: Ephraim did not root out the Canaanites in Gezer so they dwelt in their midst (Jdg_1:29). So did Zevulun not root out the Canaanites in Kitron and Nahalol (Jdg_1:30). And Asher did not root out the Canaanites (Jdg_1:31-32), but what is even worse is that, it is not stated that the Canaanites dwelt among them, but that the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, to show that the Canaanites were the majority in the territory of Asher. As Naphtali did not root out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath, and they also dwelt among the Canaanites (Jdg_1:33).
The Danites were unable to drive the Canaanites out of their inheritance, either, as the Amorites forced Dan up into the mountains (Jdg_1:34-35). This pressure on the part of the Amorites even caused a portion of the Danites to emigrate and seek for a place in the north of the land (see Judge 18).
The warning of the Minister of the face of YHVH
Because of the attitude of the tribes of Israel towards the Canaanites, namely to let them remained in their inheritances, the Messenger of YHVH, who led them out of Egypt, appeared before Israel with the announcement that the punishment of Elohim was certain (see Jdg 2:1-3). That punishment was for their breach of the covenant of which they had been found guilty, because of their failure to exterminate all Canaanites.
In Time of Reckoning Ministry we have the reason to believe that that Messenger of YHVH was none other than the Minister of the Face of YHVH, Sar HaPanim, in Exodus. That Messenger might have been the same one who appeared also to Yehoshua in Jos_5:13 to announce the fall of Yericho. But for more insight on the identity of that Minister of the Face of YHVH, the reader may refer to this article.
Here, however, after the entrance of the tribes of Israel into their lands, they began to make peace with the remaining Canaanites, instead of completely rooting them out from their inheritances.
The Messenger appeared to the people, to make known to them that by such “land-for-peace covenants” with the Canaanites, they had broken the very Covenant of YHVH, whose command, let us not forget, was and still is: to take possession of the Land promised to Avraham, Yitschak, and Ya’akov. Other commandments in the same Covenant were and still are to enter into no alliance with the inhabitants of that land (see Exo_23:32-33, Exo_34:12-13, Exo_34:15-16, Deu_7:2).
But, the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of YHVH. They forsook Him, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and served the idols of the Canaanites that were around them, and thus they provoked YHVH to anger (Jdg 2:11-12).
And the anger of YHVH burned against Israel, and He said,
Because this nation has transgressed My covenant that I commanded their fathers, and has not obeyed My voice, I also shall no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Yehoshua left when he died, in order to try Israel by them, whether they would guard the way of Yehovah, to walk in them as their fathers guarded them, or not. So Yehovah left those nations, without driving them out at once, and did not give them into the hand of Yehoshua. (Jdg 2:20-23)
Because of this idolatry, the anger of YHVH burned so fiercely against Israel, that He declared to destroy no more of the nations that Yehoshua had left, before the people because they had broken His Covenant. And because the people transgressed YHVH’s Covenant, He would no longer keep His covenantal promise made in Exo_23:23, Exo_23:27, and Exo_34:10 to drive out the remaining Canaanites before them. The reason for this is stated very clearly in the declaration: in order to try Israel by them.
So, YHVH revoked any further extermination of these nations as long as Israel persisted in its idolatry.
However, the Almighty did not revoke the Covenant itself, but He left the provision that whenever Israel would return to Him in true repentance, to keep His Covenant, He would remember His promise and start driving out the Canaanites again.
The Palestinian terrorism then and now
Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your back, all the feeble ones in your rear, when you were tired and weary. And he did not fear Elohim. Therefore it shall be, when Yehovah your Elohim has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which Yehovah your Elohim is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens. Do not forget! (Deu 25:17-19) See also Exo_17:8-16.
The Amalekites are the descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esav through his son Eliphaz (see Gen_36:12). Esav married two wives from the Canaanites who caused a deep trouble to Yitschak and Rivka, on account of their evil Canaanitish character, which later formed the evil character of his people. Then he married the daughters of Ishmael. Those personal choices which Esav made well established the bond between the Edomites and Ishmaelites (Arabs).
Being descendants of Esav, the Amalekites were very cruel and bloody people, seeking to utterly destroy the nation of Israel to avenge their father. And they sought to destroy Israel not by attacking where the nation was very strong: the men of war, but by attacking where Israel was very weak; the women, the children, the elderly, the sick, i.e. those who could not have defended themselves, the civilians.
Sounds familiar? Indeed it does; this is a definition of the Palestinian terrorism today.
And above all, the most barbarous of all Amalekites was Haman of the posterity of Agag, the king of the Amalekites (see Est_3:1-15).
That is why YHVH commanded King Shaul (see 1Sa_15:18) to utterly destroy the Amalekites until they were completely consumed. But the king did not carry on the command of YHVH, as he had been commanded. Shaul spared some. Had King Saul utterly wiped out every Amalekite, there would have been no Haman to plot the holocaust with the Persians (see also Est_3:10, Est_9:24) to avenge the Amalekites against Israel.
Sounds familiar too? Indeed, it does.
But, who are the Amalekites today? Do they still exist and where are they?
The Amalekites resided in the area of today’s southern Jordan and in the Negev desert, i.e. the land of Edom. In the article “Palestinians—the Indigenous People in the Hashemite Kingdom“, we discussed the possibility that the Edomites and the modern-day Palestinians are actually one people.
And since the Edomites and Amalekites can be found in the end-time prophecy (read the article “The Prophetic Psalm 83“), then they must still exist exactly where the prophecy finds them—in the land of their ancestors—today’s the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
And if this hypothesis is correct, then “the Palestinians” must be related to the Biblical Amalekites, as they both lived up to the prophecy concerning their father Esav (Edom) and his posterity: And by your sword you are to live. (Gen 27:40-41). Yitschak the father of both Israelites and Edomites spoke prophetically referring the manner of living of his son Edom and his descendants that would reflect the his values and attitudes towards his brother Israel.
And indeed, the Edomites, the Amalekites, and their offshoot today, “the Palestinians” have lived up to the prophecy: their way of living is terrorism. But for more insight on this controversial issue refer to the aforementioned article.
Back to the Palestinian terrorism
As in the cases of other “ceasefires” with the Palestinian terrorists, this most recent “ceasefire” will be used by “the Palestinians” for re-grouping under the umbrella of negotiations until the next round of violence erupts.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian propaganda will keep on selling the usual “news” to the western media, between each round of violent attacks against Israel, that the Palestinians are the victim and the real victim, Israel, is the perpetrator of violence.
As always, the Palestinians want to fire rockets to Israel but do not want Israel to return the fire; they want to kill but not be killed. This is their idea of “peace” in the Middle East.
On Sunday, Hamas demanded a ceasefire for a full 24 hours, as if terrorists can have a right to demand anything. And Israel, as in many other cases of violence agreed hoping that the Palestinians this time will keep the “ceasefire”. And they indeed will until the next round of rocket salvo.
The media will again blame Israel for the violence of the entire Middle East, and the Palestinians will receive the next round of “humanitarian aid” from Europe to build more underground tunnels into Israel and resume the fire against the Israeli civilians with the rockets delivered by Iran: duplicity only the left-wingers do not see.
The political and military establishment in Israel, however, seems to be in the delusion that this time the Palestinians will learn the lesson and well remember it. Their objective in this round of air-strikes against Gaza is to reinstate Israel’s deterrence in the eyes of Hamas and the other terrorist factions. The Israeli establishment believes that this time this objective will be achieved.
However, what is apparent to everyone is that Hamas needed a ceasefire in place before the start of Ramadan. Arrogantly, Hamas demanded a ceasefire for Ramadan but started the violence on Shabbat with the goal to darken the 71st celebration of Israel’s independence.
Note: speaking of peace in the Middle east, here is the place to note that there is no such a word in Arabic for “peace”. Whenever the westerners hear “peace”, they think peace is meant, but whenever the Arabs speak of “peace”, the actual Arabic word means “a temporary truce for re-grouping until the next attack”. The Arabs never think of peace but of conquest until all lands of the “infidels” are taken.
The Israeli political establishment believes that the mighty IDF is in control of the escalation of fighting by having the upper hand in dictating the events. Israel does believe that the Iranian backed terrorist groups payed a heavy price by sending a clear message to the leaders that no one is immune from targeted assassinations. But, what is the message that the Messenger of YHVH will deliver to the Almighty? And, where is the Almighty in their rhetoric?
There had been criticism in Israel of the IDF for bombing empty buildings and military bases to avoid fatalities, but these humanitarian efforts were at the expense of the Israeli fatalities; the terrorists do not drop leaflets before the rocket barrage, as the IAF pilots do. They just fire the Iranian made rockets indiscriminately against the civilian population in order to accuse Israel when IDF fires back.
But unlike the Israeli PM Netanyahu, Yehoshua understood immediately, when he faced the Messenger of the Face, that the power of Israel to drive out the Canaanites would come from Elohim, not from Israel. It was and will always be Him who will fight for Israel.
It was Him who was driving out the Canaanites from the presence of Israel; Israel was given the role to chase them. And, it was Him who ceased to drive them out, and the Canaanites chased Israel.
But, will Netanyahu learn this time that the power of Israel comes from the Almighty, not from the mighty IDF, not from Trump and America, much less from Putin and Russia.
By now, we should have noticed clear similarities between the generation that returned to the land from the Arabian exile and the generation that returned from the Roman exile.
The real Independence of Israel from the Palestinian terrorism
Seventy-one years ago, a nation was born in one day to fulfill what was prophesied long ago. The people of YHVH returned home from the longest exile ever and in 1948 declared the independence. On the very next day, the armies of the neighboring Arab countries invaded the Jewish enclaves with one common goal: to totally annihilate the new State of Israel.
The Arabs were so certain of the annihilation of the Jews that they even told the Arabs living with the Jews to cross the Jordan and return back after the destruction of Israel. The Jews, as an act of good will, offered the local Arabs to stay Israel as some indeed stayed. The Arab-Israeli are descendants of these Arabs. Israel fought back and against all odds not only survived but enlarged its homeland.
Another attempt of the Arabs to destroy the chosen people was plotted, and again against all odds Israel counter attacked and in only six days conquered all the land given from the Nile to Lebanon. This war will be known as The Six-Day War, of 5-10 June 1967, or Third Arab–Israeli War. Israel not only fulfilled in six days what Yehoshua could not in his life, but also unified the City of David, Jerusalem.
However, this is where the real troubles of Israel began. On the next day of the unification of Jerusalem, the war hero Moshe Dayan gave the Temple Mount to the Jordanians, again as an act of good will, to remain their property even until today. Israel did not have the will to drive out the Arabs from their inheritance and those that remain in the land are what will be known later as “the Palestinians”. And what was even worse, Israel began to boast with the mighty IDF, not with the Almighty who gave the victory.
That boasting resulted in blindness to see the next war: The Yom Kippur War, of October 6 to 25, 1973 aka Ramadan War, the fourth Arab–Israeli War. Israel suffered painful losses of 3,000 soldiers in the first days of the war, and if it was not the Almighty to fight for Israel, the people would have perished. Again, Israel fought back and the IDF soldiers were ready to march in Cairo and Damascus, if the world powers had not intervened in the war. And once again, Israel did not praise the Almighty.
The Yom Kippur war the missed opportunity to expel the Arabs from the Promised Land as retaliation of all Arab-Israeli wars; these Arabs soon will become “Palestinians” and their fight against the chosen people will be known as the Palestinian terrorism.
And the Palestinian terrorism never ceased since then and will continue unless Israel learns the lesson of Yehoshua: the more land Israel gives the more Palestinian terrorism we will see in the land. The tragic example of this is the lesson the war hero the former PM Ariel Sharon learned: he gave Gaza, the breeding ground of the Palestinian terrorism. Read more.
Therefore, from the birth of the State of Israel, the people of Elohim failed again to fulfill the command to drive out “the Canaanites” from their land and thus they became snares and traps, a whip on the sides and thorns in the eyes, i.e. terrorists.
Tragically, there are Israelis today who, as their brothers Asherites and the Naphtalites, did not root out “the Canaanites” but dwell among them. These Israelis who have the full right to live in their homes, the world calls “settlers”.
YHVH has opened the gates to the land of Israel. Yet, so many Jews in the Roman exile, including their rabbis, choose not to come home and help build a strong Israel. They prefer the complacent life in New York and Miami than the life of “settlers” in the home land. They are waiting for the Mashiach to come and lift them up together with their possessions and bring them to the land their brothers have already rebuilt.
They think that by sitting in their synagogues in America, Europe and elsewhere, they are safe from the Palestinian terrorism in Israel. Sadly, the message they are sending to the terrorists in Israel and to all enemies of Israel around the world is that YHVH has not given that little piece of land to the Jews. Because if He had given it, why then are the Jews are still living in exile and not in Israel? Again sadly, the terrorism is reaching them in their synagogues, too.
In conclusion of the controversial topic of the giving land for peace to the Palestinian terrorism, we should recall what Mosheh did with the terrorists.
Mosheh did not negotiate with the terrorists in his time in attempt to achieve a compromise solution or trade land for peace, as his descendants are doing today. But, by standing up for the command of YHVH to wipe out the evil Amalekites, Mosheh demonstrated firmness before Israel that carried him through the battle against them for the survival of his people, because only when one stands up for the land of Israel can true peace be achieved.
“Ceasefire” is not an option for Israel. “Ceasefire”, a Palestinian style, means more Palestinian terrorism today. And if Mosheh did not negotiate with the terrorists then, why are his descendants negotiate today under the pressure of the Palestinian terrorism?
When a man’s ways please Yehovah, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. (Pro 16:7)
The lesson today concerning the Palestinian terrorism is this: when Israel’s ways please YHVH, He will make even its worst enemies to come to true peace, but will Israel’s ways please Him?
For more insight refer to the articles “Dividing of the land, the covenant of death, and the judgment” and “Who are the Arabs and Pan-Arab unity?“.
Navah
May we merit seeing the coming of our Mashiach speedily in our days.