Welcome to this podcast featuring Amir Sarfati, founder and president of Behold Israel.

Behold Israel provides biblical teachings through its tours, speaking events and social media.

It's also a reliable and accurate source for developments in Israel and the region.

Amir's live updates and teachings are based on God's written word.

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Welcome to Tel Azeca.

Tel Azeca is one of the two major towns from the tribe of Judah that were towering right above the valley of Ella.

Ella is the terabind.

This is the tree. We're sitting under right now.

The terabind tree.

And the valley of Ella, the valley of the terabind, is an interesting valley, a valley that comes all the way from the south.

East goes to the west, north, west, north, and eventually continues to the Philistine city of Gath.

And that, of course, brings us to our story of the Philistines coming to the land of Israel.

And how about David and Goliath?

And the entire nation of Israel was engaged in an ongoing battle with the Philistines.

What I want to start with is the actual name Philistine.

We first hear about them in Judges, chapter three, the five lords of the Philistines who were also probably the five kings of the five cities that the Philistines took as they entered the land.

We're talking about Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron.

And it's interesting because the Philistines never, ever called themselves the original inhabitants of the land.

They actually came from the Greek Isles.

For them, coming over here is just as a conquest, as Alexander the Great Conquest were, or the Roman Empire later on was, they came to conquer land for the sake of food and for the sake of trade.

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