The Mediterranean Coastline of Israel at Tel Aviv
Zechariah 9:1-8 – “The prophecy of the word of HaShem for the land of Hadrach (Syria), with Damascus its resting place: Toward HaShem will be the eyes of mankind, and all the tribes of Israel. Also Hamath will be in its borders, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though she is very wise. Tyre built herself a fortification; she amassed silver like dirt, and fine gold like the mud of the street.
Behold, the L-rd will impoverish her, and He will strike her wealth with the sea, and it will be consume by fire. Ashkelon will see this and fear, and Gaza (will see) and tremble greatly, and Ekron, for the one to whom she looked (for protection) has been humiliated. A king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.”
According to the Jewish sage, Ibn Ezra, this prophecy was given in Hadrach, a town located near Damascus, and it would “rest”, or occur in Damascus. It appears also to be a prelude to the final destruction of the city of Damascus, called by G-d, the “city of glory” and the “city of My delight”, as spoken by Jeremiah the Prophet.
Jeremiah 49:23-27 – “Concerning Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are ashamed, for they have heard an ominous report and have melted in fear. There is trouble in the sea, it cannot be calm. Damascus is weakened; she has turned aside to flee and trembling has overpowered her; agony and pains have seized her like a woman in childbirth. How was the city of glory not spared, the city of my delight?’ Indeed, her young men will fall in her streets, and all the soldiers will fall silent on that day – the word of HaShem, Master of Legions. And I will set fire to the walls of Damascus, and it will consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad. “
In the ancient days, the city state of Tyre considered herself too wise to be conquered. It stood undefeated during the imperial realms of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Cyrus of Persia, but was destroyed by Alexander the Great. It has again risen to international prominence in the last century as the fourth largest city of Lebanon, once the banking mecca of the Middle East. Though defeated by military stratagem, Tyre has never been consumed by a tsunami coming from the Mediterranean Sea. Yet, this is what the G-d of Israel prophesied through the agency of the Prophet Zechariah.
According to the Jewish sage, Radak, the sea will inundate Tyre and carry away all her possessions and merchandise (see Ezekiel 26:3,19; 27:34) and then afterwards a fire will destroy the remaining parts of the damaged buildings (Ezekiel 28:18). This is a prophecy that has never been fulfilled in its literal intent. According to Jewish sages, Tyre will become part of the Land of Israel.
The rest of the Palestinian region of Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron will be consumed with fear as the forces of nature under the control of the Almighty One will consume the entire region. There has not been a king of Gaza since the days of the Phoenicians and the city state rulers of the five city states called the Pentapolis in the days of King David; until Hamas, the Palestinian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood took control of the region. Gaza is now under the rule of its Supreme Leader Khaled Meshal living in exile in Damascus and Ismail Haniyeh, the Prime Minister of Hamas and Senior Hamas leader living in Gaza. It appears that the future is assured for both the Supreme Leader Khaled Meshal living in Damascus and the Gaza Prime Minister Khaled Meshal.
Destination Yisra’el wrote on the modern rabbinic interpretations of this prophecy in the blog titled, “The Jewish Prophecy of the Tsunami hitting the Coastline of Gaza”.
Destination Yisra’el – “A recent Jewish prophetic blog was posted on August 5, 2005 on both the Years of Awe and the “Moshiach and Geula, End of Days Prophecies, Geula, Moshiach, Gog and Magog,” orthodox and mystical Jewish blogsite that made the following claim. The claimant for this post referenced the Hebrew site, Moriyah.org, stated:
Years of Awe and Moshiach and Geula - HaRav Baruch Shapira, ztvk"l, said ten years ago: "I am a big prophet and head of the 36 hidden tzaddikim, and my prophecy is that in the future they will drive out complete settlements from the Gaza Strip, and immediately afterwards there will be a very strong earthquake in the area of Gaza and a huge wave will come and wash away the whole area into the sea, along with all the Palestinians."
It was reported that HaRav Baruch Shapira, ztvk”l lived in an old house in Maale Edomim. The timing of the incident ten years prior was when a group of Jews from Hebron went to visit this 90 year old rabbi, later known to be Mekubal Rabbi, one of the chief and learned of the rabbabim. He was buried on the Mount of Olives and during his funeral the present HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu spoke at his funeral. On that occasion, he made the claim that Rabbi Shapiro was the “Head” of the 36 hidden Tzaddikim (Righteous One)” in the world, and the greatest of them."
One of the most interesting studies on this prophecy slated to herald the final end of days before the coming of the Messiah was written in 1999 by the late archeologist Ernest Martin in the article titled, “The Damascus Phase of End Time Prophecy”
Ernest Martin – “This prophecy to all those who live in "The Fertile Crescent" begins with a time when Israel and Judah are reckoned to be in exile for their sins and when the Temple is not functioning properly. The prophecy is for the End-Time because it is a prediction of how God will in a step-by-step way again set up His domicile in Jerusalem. He gives events leading up to the seismic disturbances of Zechariah 14 that accompany the return of God to His residence in Jerusalem.
The prophecy begins with a great destruction of the whole seacoast of the Levant (the area from Hamath on the Euphrates in the far north) and then reaching southward to include all the Philistine (Palestinian) cities up to and including Gaza (Zechariah 9:2-8). It is God (not man or the armies of man) who does this prophesied destruction. It is no doubt an earthquake in the Mediterranean and its consequent tsunami (a large destructive ocean wave often called, wrongly, a "tidal wave") that the prophecy is describing. It could also be the results of an asteroid with its consequent ocean waves of destruction. Note that only the coastal cities of the eastern Mediterranean are judged. Though such things have happened in history, this tsunami will be gigantic and almost beyond compare.
So, the first event ushering in the "Time of the End" will be a massive tsunami with a wave of ocean water hitting the eastern Mediterranean seacoast with probably a height of 100 to 200 feet (maybe even higher). Massive destruction on the seacoast will result. Since no elevated inland areas are mentioned in the judgment (such as Jerusalem at 2600 feet above sea level), a tsunami is most likely the means that will introduce the End-Time prophecy of Zechariah 9 to 14. This seems to be what God is talking about. The truth depends on the proper interpretation of Zechariah 9:2-8. I do not claim to be a modern day prophet, but I am an interpreter of the Scriptures who understands (and believes) many of the traumatic historical events of the past that are found in the documents (including those of the Bible). So, in my view the judgment appears to me to be a tsunami.
This tsunami will be of great magnitude. It will hit the eastern Mediterranean coastline (giving widespread devastation for 10 to 20 miles inland depending where the "level land" is exposed to the coast). Tel Aviv (Israel’s largest city) will certainly have widespread ruins along with all regions from the Turkish border in the north down to Gaza in the south. Though the judgment is for the "Land of Hadrach" (the Promised Land), such a tsunami would also include Egypt and its near sea level land mass from its Delta to Upper Egypt. Ezekiel 29:1-12 may be referring to this "destruction."
When people of the world see on television and the Internet this particular devastation in this area of the world, they will then be told of this very prophecy in Zechariah 9 to 14 that God is now entering into world affairs. People all over the world will begin to repent almost wholesale and they will start to throw their idols away (Zechariah 10:2) just like the Byzantine emperors did in the 700’s A.D. when a similar catastrophe occurred. This happened when a major volcano erupted with a consequent earthquake at the island of Santorini in 726 A.D. This very eruption brought great social and religious changes in the eastern Mediterranean (and they are all recorded in history). But, for the past 500 years, the earth has been relatively quiet without any of its past bursting forth of natural catastrophes. Our "disasters" have been mild in comparison.
However, the time is soon coming when the earth will start (abruptly and out of the blue) its belching forth of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, extreme weather conditions the like of which modern mankind has never seen before. This is all prophesied in the Book of Revelation, and it is shown in this introductory judgment by a massive tsunami to hit the eastern Mediterranean as recorded in the "Damascus Phase" prophecy of Zechariah 9 to 14.”
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