Gaza Abandoned = Zephaniah 2:4 Fulfilled?

Often we see prophetic undertones to world events and things merely building toward the crescendo—"stage setting" as it were. Sometimes, however, we see more than just preparation; we see direct fulfillments such as Israel's national reestablishment (1948) or the Revelation 12 Sign (2017). Of late, I'm chewing on the prospect that we have just witnessed the literal fulfillment of Zephaniah 2:4. Not the whole verse, mind you, but the first part: "Gaza will be abandoned . . ." Now here it is in context:

4 Gaza will be abandoned

   and Ashkelon left in ruins.

At midday Ashdod will be emptied

   and Ekron uprooted.

5 Woe to you who live by the sea,

   you Kerethite people;

the word of the Lord is against you,

   Canaan, land of the Philistines [from where we likely get the word "Palestine"].

He says, “I will destroy you,

   and none will be left.”

6 The land by the sea will become pastures

   having wells for shepherds

   and pens for flocks.

7 That land will belong

   to the remnant of the people of Judah [i.e., the Jews];

   there they will find pasture.

In the evening they will lie down

   in the houses of Ashkelon.

The Lord their God will care for them;

   he will restore their fortunes [a promise ultimately yet future in the Millennium].

Now to the best of my understanding, historic Gaza is in the same area as modern Gaza City (in the northern half of the Gaza Strip). Could what has been transpiring in the Israel-Hamas War (a.k.a. the Sukkot War) indeed be a direct fulfillment of the first part of verse 4 right before our very eyes? Take a look at this quote from the Wikipedia article on Gaza City, straight from the introduction:

Inhabited since at least the 15th century BCE, Gaza has been dominated by different peoples and empires throughout its history . . . As of November 2023, as part of the Israel-Hamas War, the Israeli army has bombed large portions of the city and surrounding areas of the Northern Gaza Strip, destroying many buildings and infrastructure. Almost all residents have fled or been evacuated to Southern Gaza [i.e., Gaza City has been "abandoned"], or killed as a result. [Source]

Why might this be important in the timing of things? Because immediately before verse 4 is an allusion to the pre-tribulational rapture of the Church in verse 3:

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD. (ESV)

You can read more about the specific argumentation for why this verse may give a hint of the pre-trib rapture here.

Circling back to verse 4, while the fulfillment of the abandonment of Gaza is apparently happening before our very eyes, the prophecy regarding Ashkelon and Ekron is possibly yet to come. We often see prophecy fulfilled this way, where only part of a prophecy is fulfilled and there is even division midverse in its fulfillment (i.e., Lk. 4 where Jesus is quoting Isaiah 61). Similar pauses and gaps can be seen in prophecies in Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 9, as well as Revelation 12, among others. Scripture fully allows for this sort of prophetic application through punctuated progression.

But it might even be argued that the prophecies concerning Ashkelon, Ekron, and Ashdod have already been fulfilled, and in modern times (i.e., post-1948), given that Ashkelon and Ashdod, which were once mighty cities of Philistia and subsequently populated by "Palestinians," are now well within modern Israel and almost entirely populated by Jews (i.e., "the remnant of the people of Judah").

Gaza City is a bombed out shell of its former self and the entire population has been ordered to evacuate (all 1.1 million Gazans north of the Wadi Gaza). We happen to be alive at the specific point in history when the words of the Prophets pertaining to the Day of the LORD, the Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Christ are being fulfilled in real time, literally. Tick-tock.

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