Who Are These Philistines?

Who are these Philistines? They always bring famine to the land because they are the sort of people who live in God's things, but do not know the living experience of His Word. 

They come into Canaan by their own route and are not led, as were the children of Israel into Egypt, and Abraham from Ur. 

They have no exercises in the wilderness, know no crossing of the Jordan, but come along the coast.

They hate God's Word to be sharp...when they were in control of the children of Israel they would not allow them to sharpen their swords.

They like the truth of the ark and keep it in their temple so that they can bring it out at special times, like an Armistice Day parade.

They are the sort of people who make a lot of men, especially big men...and Goliath was one of their biggest.

The Philistines are people who handle the things of God-but God is not handling them.

That finger of the Lord is not able to spring in their life and write a story. 

What was it they dropped down the wells to keep the Spirit of God at bay? (Genesis 26:15-20) 

Again, can I suggest this? I do not think it was rubbish, nor was it dirty, but just earth -- and earth is important. 

If there is no earth there is no well, for there must be something round the hole so that the water can come up the hole, but the earth that the Philistines put into the wells was earth in the wrong place.

There must be earth in a well, and we must have the historical facts of Christianity. 

We have to have the earth of facts that happened on the earth in the earthly body of the Lord Jesus.

We must have the earth of doctrines, formulations of truth, and interpretations that come through the mind, but that, too, is the earth. It goes through a brain which is earthly. 

Now put the earth in the right place. It goes at the bottom of the well and up the sides, but not right in the middle where there has to be a hole. There is nothing earthly there! 

There is a spirit there, with our body of earth around it. There must be earth in order to have human beings; there had to be earth for the body of the Lord Jesus, and for the Prophets to be able to speak and for the Scriptures to be written; 

But there is the unseen Spirit of God who writes on our hearts and who springs up in everlasting life whenever we make room for Him in our spirits.

~Roger T. Forster~