First, I want to apologize that the “comments” section at this site has been inadvertently disabled. From now on you should be able to click on “comments” below each article and leave any comments or have discussions with other readers. I hope you will. At any rate, I think you will find the following little known fact to be fascinating. I sure did.

        Benjamin Netenyahu of Israel met with President Obama this week and although he wanted help with the Iranian nuclear proliferation problem, all Obama had on his mind, like Bush before him, was Israel giving up more land for a Palestinian state. Obama wanted Israel to build no more settlements in the Golan Heights so that the Palestinians could have that area like they currently have the Gaza Strip, a great place from which they can launch their rockets into Israel. Since that is so much in the news all the time, I thought you might find a short Biblical history lesson intriguing.

        We read, “Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. For it was the Lord Himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that He might destroy them totally, exterminating them, without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.” Joshua 11:18-20.

        Notice that it was God who wanted all of these groups destroyed totally. I won’t go into all the reasons for this, but take my word for it, these were bad dudes who should have been destroyed. And General Joshua was God’s man to do it. One of the groups God wanted completely wiped out was the Anakites, so we read further, “Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive.” Joshua 11:21-22.

        The other group God wanted destroyed were the Rephaites, and we read in Joshua 13:12-13, “Moses had defeated them and taken over the land. But the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.”

        If you haven’t guessed by now, Gaza, Gath and Ashdod is the land we now call the Gaza Strip. Geshur and Maacah is today the Golan heights. How different things might be today if only Joshua had done 3,400 years ago what God wanted. The only two places in the entire land that Joshua did not do what he was told to do are the very two places that are the thorns in Israel’s side today. Coincidence?