Prophecy Center
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Can anyone break down the Gaza Prophecy from the book of Zephaniah for me?

I am extremely interested in this, especially now that all this stuff is happening in the middle east. Can you tell me about Ariel Sharom and how it ties back to the prophecy, and anything else I need to know?

Public Comments

1. Destroyed. The prophet Zephaniah, a contemporary of Jeremiah, sounded a like judgment from Jehovah for Gaza: “An abandoned city is what she will become.” (Zep 2:4) And Zechariah’s prophecy, recorded after Babylon’s fall, pointed to future calamities: “[Gaza] will also feel very severe pains.” (Zec 9:5) History confirms the fulfillment of the foretold calamities. In the latter half of the fourth century B.C.E., Alexander the Great, after a five-month siege (two months, according to Jewish Antiquities, XI, 325 [viii, 4]), took Gaza. Many of its inhabitants were slain and the survivors were sold into slavery. Over 200 years later, the Jew Alexander Jannaeus, after a year’s siege, completely devastated the city.—Jewish Antiquities, XIII, 364 (xiii, 3).
Although the Roman governor of Syria, Gabinius, ordered the rebuilding of Gaza, this was likely done on a new site. (Jewish Antiquities, XIV, 87, 88 [v, 3]) Some scholars think that at Acts 8:26 the Greek word e?re?mos (desolate [place]) refers to the old, abandoned Gaza (AT, for example, reads: “The town is now deserted”). Others understand e?re?mos to refer to the road leading to the city, hence the rendering “this is a desert road.”—NW; compare JB, NE, RS.

Fulfillment of Prophecy. The fulfillment of prophecies recorded in the book of Zechariah testifies to its authenticity. What is known about Alexander the Great’s campaign in Syria, Phoenicia, and Philistia, including the conquest of Tyre and Gaza, fits the words of Zechariah 9:1-8 and, therefore, can be understood as a fulfillment of this prophecy. Numerous other prophecies contained in the book of Zechariah find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus—his entry into Jerusalem as king, “humble, and riding upon an ass” (Zec 9:9; Mt 21:5; Joh 12:15), his betrayal for “thirty silver pieces” (Zec 11:12, 13; Mt 26:15; 27:9), the subsequent scattering of his disciples (Zec 13:7; Mt 26:31; Mr 14:27), Jesus’ being pierced with a spear while on the stake (Zec 12:10; Joh 19:34, 37), and his role as King-Priest (Zec 6:12, 13; Heb 6:20; 8:1; 10:21).