Ashkelon will see it and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted. – Zechariah 9:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 24, 2014): Zechariah 9

Ashkelon was a very important ancient seaport.  The area shows almost constant human inhabitation from sometime in the pre-historical era. It is the oldest and largest seaport in Canaan (on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea). It was also one of the five cities of the Philistines. But possibly because Ashkelon was an important seaport, it has also at times been a city under siege. The city itself is located just north of the Gaza Strip and is currently located inside of the nation of Israel. But it for most of its history Ashkelon has not been under the control of the children of God.

What is significant about Zechariah’s prophecy is actually the timing of it. Less than a hundred years before Zechariah, Ashkelon was destroyed. Ashkelon was the last of the Philistine cities to hold out against Nebuchadnezzar, but in 604 B.C.E the city fell to the Babylonian forces who promptly burned the city and carried all of the inhabitants of the city into exile. With the defeat of Ashkelon, the era of the Philistines was brought to a close.

But Ashkelon was not left destroyed for long. Soon after the destruction of Ashkelon, the rebuilding of the city and the important seaport began. It is quite likely that Zechariah was witnessing part of the rebirth of Ashkelon. And yet deep down he realized that this rebirth was not permanent. The rebuilt city was heavily influenced by Persian culture until it fell once again – this time to the Greeks and Alexander the Great. The Greeks held the city until it fell for the first time to Israel during the revolt of the Maccabees. After that, the city seemed to have stayed in control of Israel for an extended period of time. It was possibly the birthplace of Herod the Great, and during the First Jewish-Roman war the city escaped destruction by remaining loyal to Rome.

If there is a mystery to the prophecy of Zechariah, it is in his comment that Ashkelon would be deserted. The only time that Ashkelon seems to have been deserted was a time before Zechariah made the prophecy. But by the time of Zechariah, Ashkelon was already recovering from her time left deserted.

One of the possible answers to the mystery is that Zechariah was actually speaking of the time after the Maccabees when Israel would finally take possession of the city – because in that day the traditional inhabitants of the city would be banished. In that day the city would finally come into possession of the people of God. And in that day the traditional god’s of Ashkelon would be finally thrown out and they were the ones that would desert the city – so that God could inhabit it.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Zechariah 10