What is the significance of Ashkelon in the Bible?

One of the five principal cities of the Philistines. It fell to the lot of Judah, who took Askelon and the coasts thereof, Judges 1:18, but they did not really subdue it, for it was in the hands of the Philistines when Samson, with the Spirit of the Lord upon him, slew thirty men in the city and took their spoil, Judges 14:19, and that it remained so we see from 1 Sam. 6:17, and 2 Sam. 1:20. The judgements of God were denounced against this city, Jer. 25:20; Jer. 47:5, 7; Amos 1:8; Zech. 9:5; and the remnant of Judah should dwell there. Zeph. 2:4, 7.

The city was situated on the sea coast, midway between Gaza and Ashdod: it is now called Askulan or Askalan, 31 40' N, 34 33' E. In modern times the city was held by the Crusaders, and within its walls Richard of England held his court: the walls which this king aided with his own hands to repair may, it is thought, still be traced, and masses of masonry and broken columns of granite still lie about. By the Mahometan geographers it was called the Bride of Syria.

So also as to Gaza, and in similar style as representing the Philistines, their old, unremitting, and active antagonists, if not an internal, at least a borderer, foe.They had been guilty of transgression upon transgression, and therefore Jehovah would not here too turn back. He would deal summarily with their iniquity, not carrying them off merely, but annihilating them as a people. "The remnant of the Philistines shall perish, says the Lord Jehovah."

Then we have the warning of what will take place in the day of Jehovah's anger, which no doubt has been partially accomplished, and will be yet more. "For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up." These were cities of Philistine power. "Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of Jehovah is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon;" which has clearly not been accomplished yet to the full. "In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down in the evening: for Jehovah their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity." In fact the Jews have been carried off into a longer dispersion since then. The captivity in the days of Nebuchadnezzar was nothing at all so extreme as their scattering to the ends of the earth, consequent on the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

What we have then is God's judgment upon these cities, as connected with the final deliverance of Jerusalem and Israel from their enemies. There remain two or three things to be indicated. First, the territories on which the stroke of judgment will descend. The places named, as the reader will perceive, are on the north of Israel's territory, and that tract of country on the west of Judea which is known throughout the Scripture history as the dwelling-place of the Philistines; and all alike were at some period or other — the Philistines perpetually — the enemies of the people of God, perhaps owing to the fact that they were immediately contiguous to, if not within, the borders of their territory. Hadrach, Damascus, and Hamath are situated in what was, and is, known as Syria, and these cities are only mentioned as the objects of judgment.† Tyre and Sidon (Tyrus and Zidon) are specified with more detail; and we are taught that neither wisdom (V. 2), nor strength, nor riches — the three things in which man puts his confidence and glories — can avert the sure judgments of God. (vv. 3. 4.) The language concerning Tyrus (compare Ezekiel 28) is both striking and sublime. She "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." Truly man and all his resources are but vanity in the day of the Lord's anger. (Cp. Isa. 2) Then with a few rapid touches the prophet relates the character of the judgment on Philistia. "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 a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite." (vv. 5-7. Cp. Jeremiah 47; Zephaniah 2:4-7.)

It is more than probable, as we have before pointed out, there is a twofold fulfilment in these predictions; that is, that there has already been a partial accomplishment, though not a complete one, in so far as the temporal judgments on these cities are concerned; for nothing can be more certain than that the power of Tyrus in the sea has been smitten, or that these cities of the Philistines have been visited. But the careful reader will not fail to notice that the whole prophecy has not been fulfilled, for it speaks of a spared remnant from the Philistines that shall be "for [or to] our God." This must be future, and points unmistakably to the fact when these cities shall be revived, judgment will again fall upon them; and the Lord, by His chosen instruments, will stain all the pride of their glory, while at the same time He will restore a remnant for blessing. The statement that Ekron shall be as a Jebusite is most likely a reference to the fact that as the Jebusites, not having been driven out by the children of Judah, dwelt with them at Jerusalem (see Joshua 15:63), so the spared Philistines will be found in a future day, in the time of the kingdom, mingled with Israel.*

Somewhat further south, the land of the Philistines is next considered. Four of its chief cities are mentioned (Gath being omitted). “Ashkelon shall see it and fear; Gaza also shall be very sorrowful: and Ekron, for He dried up her expectation. The king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited” (v. 5). “A mixed race shall settle in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines” (v. 6). There have been partial fulfillments of these judgments too, but the complete fulfillment will be at the time of the end. The evils that descend on these cities will serve to cut off Philistine pride. When God does this, He also says He will take away the blood from his mouth (v. 7). The word his intimates that the Philistines are looked at as one person. It is the blood of his idolatrous sacrifices that is taken from his mouth. No longer will his mouth speak falsely. “Abominations” is another word for idols, and the Philistines will be no longer ingesting the evil teachings of idolatry. So there is good accomplished by God's judgments. There will be a remnant of the Philistines who will be “for our God” and will be leaders in Judah, “and Ekron as a Jebusite.” At least some of the Jebusites (previous inhabitants of Jerusalem) were incorporated into Israel (2 Sam. 24:18-25). “Araunah the Jebusite” was one who wanted to give his property to David so that David could use it in sacrifice to God.

"At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands; because of the day that comes to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remains; for Jehovah will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor. Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley; how long wilt thou cut thyself?" (Ver. 3-5.) Thus does the Spirit energetically set forth the might of the assailants bearing down all before them, and the helpless agony of the once proud lords who formerly tyrannized over Israel, when they should look in vain for succour to Tyre and Zidon, and superstitious humiliation before their gods be as useless as the help of their old allies, themselves wasted and cut off. In truth, as the prophet tells them, it was Jehovah who would spoil the Philistines, whatever instrumentality he might be pleased to employ; and even this, to make all the more evidently of Himself, is not obscurely intimated.

Hence the bold appeal of the closing verses: "O thou sword of Jehovah, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. How can it be quiet, seeing Jehovah has given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there has he appointed it." (Ver. 6, 7.) It is a tremendous thought that Jehovah's sword should have no rest; but so it was. Little did Nebuchadnezzar think that Jehovah arranged the campaign of that bitter and hasty nation whose judgment and dignity proceeded of themselves. Little did Ashkelon on the sea shore see in those swift and fiery horsemen a charge appointed of Jehovah against them.

The land of Hadrach against which the first burden in chapter 9 commences cannot be correctly located. Its closer connection with Damascus and Hamath shows that the land of Hadrach must have been a province of the Syrian kingdom then in existence. The Phoenician Cities Tyre and Sidon are next, and then mention is made of four Philistine cities. Against these, Syria, Phoenicia and the cities of the Philistines a great calamity and overthrow is prophesied by Zechariah. They are conquered by the hosts of an enemy, and the rich treasures of Tyre are heaped together in the streets--silver as the dust and gold as the mire--the bulwarks are smitten, and she herself consumed by fire. From there the conquest goes on rapidly to the Philistinian cities, and the King of Gaza perishes. The question arises, What conquest and calamity is this? Is it accomplished or is it still future? History records one great conqueror who rapidly overthrew the countries and cities mentioned in this burden. Alexander the Great and his expedition so successfully carried on is undoubtedly meant here. All students of the prophetic Scriptures know how prominently he likewise stands out in the book of Daniel. The young monarch, after the battle of Issus, besieged and quickly captured Damascus. Sidon was easily taken, but Tyre resisted him some seven months and was burned to the ground. Gaza and the other cities came next. Thus the burden of the word of Jehovah as uttered here by Zechariah was literally fulfilled in the Syrian conquest of Alexander the Great. However, history tells us that the armies of the youthful monarch passed by Jerusalem a number of times without doing harm to the city. This is remarkable, and in accord with the prophecy of Zechariah, for we read in the eighth verse, "And I will encamp against mine house, against the army, against him that passes through and returns, and no oppressor shall come over them any more, for now I have seen it with mine eyes."

As to the early verses of the chapter there seems no reason to question that they distinctly apply to the march of Alexander's army and the heavy blows struck north and south of Judea after the battle of Issus (as well as certain successes of Jews long afterwards over Greeks), and above all to Jehovah's then protection of His house when the conqueror of the east passed by on his return westward to secure the coasts of the Mediterranean before pushing into the interior of Asia (ver. 8). Even rationalists admit the exact parallel between the list of his captures and the places which gave him especial trouble in besieging them, as Tyre and Gaza; as well as the long subsequent Maccabean victories. But plain as this is and in its measure important, how much more so is it to see that as a whole the prophecy like others is of no isolated interpretation? It joins all the rest in converging on the great events of the last days when the King shall make good the sure mercies of David, now established in His resurrection, by coming to them, not as before in humiliation but in power and glory (though that be the pledge of this), and sounding the trumpet as He defends themselves visibly (not His house as erst invisibly in His providence), and saving them in that day as the flock of His people, when they shall be more conspicuous for strength against all adversaries than they have ever been for weakness and fear, and they shall walk up and down in His name, says Jehovah.

Judgment is to come in that day upon Gaza and Ashkelon, upon Ashdod and Ekron, the chief cities of Philistia. The inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Cherethites, and all the land of the Philistines, will undergo judgment. The seventh verse gives the connection with the opening message of the chapter, the call to repentance. "And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon; in the house of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening; for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity." Because the remnant is to possess this territory when Philistia is judged they ought to repent and seek the Lord. That this is still unaccomplished hardly needs to be pointed out. It was not fulfilled in the remnant which returned from the Babylonian captivity. Since the day of their rejection, when they rejected Christ, they have been out of the land. Here is a prophecy of ultimate blessing to the remnant in the day of the Lord, when they will be regathered.

Again, in all his sufferings at the hand of Saul we discern nothing but the same spirit of submission, that never sought its own rights or avenged its own wrongs. He yields to the enmity of the king. He retires from court, and dwells in dens and caves of the earth. He willingly loses sight of himself altogether, doing service if called on as the soldier of Israel and the king, but leaving all the profit and honour of his service to them. He would not dare to harbour the thought of avenging himself upon his persecutor. Rather than touch the Lord's anointed, he would be "a partridge in the mountains" all his days. Though conscious that he had been appointed to the throne of Israel, he would make what promises, enter into what covenants, the rival house of his enemy pleased, careless how this might tend to exalt them, and abase himself. (See 1 Sam. 20:17; 1 Sam. 23:18; 1 Sam. 24:22.) And when his enemy fell, and his own sorrows were thus to end, and the way to the throne was made plain before him, he had no heart to rejoice in those his own advantages — he looked not on his own things, and knew nothing but grief at the fall and dishonour of the Lord's anointed. "Tell it not in Gath," says he, "publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph." (2 Sam. 1:20.) The messenger of the tidings did not understand David. He judged that he brought joy to David, and that he should have received a reward for his pains; but David is filled only with the sad vision of Israel's dishonour, and the sin of this Amalekite in lifting his hand against the anointed of the Lord. "The world knoweth us not," says one, speaking as the elect of God; and this was now illustrated in David and this Amalekite; their griefs are not our griefs, nor their joys our joys.