Amos 1:7-8

Fire (destruction) would overtake the cities of the Philistines and affect everyone from the ordinary citizens to the rulers. Ancient Near Eastern armies commonly used fire to burn and weaken a city wall. [Note: Niehaus, p. 345.] Amos mentioned four of the five major cities of Philistia, all except Gath, probably because it had already fallen to enemies (cf. Amos 6:2; 2 Kings 12:17; 2 Chronicles 26:6). Another writer argued that Gath had become more of a Canaanite city by this time than a Philistine city, and that is the reason Amos did not mention it. [Note: H. Kassis, "Gath and the Structure of ’Philistine’ Society," Journal of Biblical Literature 84 (1965):259-71.] Still another possibility is that Amos simply chose to refer to some but not all of the Philistine cities. Sovereign Yahweh promised to cut off even the remnant of Philistines that remained in Amos’ day. This title for God occurs 19 times in Amos but only five times in the other Minor Prophets. It stresses both His lordship and His covenant relationship with people. Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) captured Ekron and killed its officials because of their disloyalty. [Note: Daniel D. Luckenbill, The Annals of Sennacherib, pp. 31-32.]

This prophecy was initially fulfilled when the Judean kings Uzziah and Hezekiah invaded Philistia (2 Chronicles 26:6-7; 2 Kings 18:8) and when a succession of Assyrian conquerors captured these towns. [Note: See James B. Pritchard, ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, pp. 282-88; and King, pp. 52-54.] It was completely fulfilled during the Maccabean period (169-134 B.C.) when the Philistines passed out of existence.