25:15-16 The Philistines to Judah's west had also scorned the Israelites and had sought to destroy them (cf. Judg. 13-16; 1 Sam. 4; 13; 31; 2 Sam. 5; 2 Kings 18:8; 2 Chron. 21:16-17; 28:18). Therefore the Lord would stretch out His strong hand in judgment against them and cut off the Cherethites, a group of Philistines who originated in Crete (ancient Caphtor; cf. 1 Sam. 30:14; Zeph. 2:5), and the rest of the Philistines who lived by the Mediterranean seacoast.350
25:17 He would take vengeance on them for their treatment of His chosen people by these rebukes executed in His wrath (cf. Isa. 11:14; Jer. 25:20; 47:1-7; Joel 3:1-4; Obad. 19; Zeph. 2:4-7). There is no record of the Philistines after the second century B.C., though the name of their cities remained. They would know that Yahweh was God when they experienced His judgment.
These judgments should be a warning to any nation that spitefully treats the Chosen People of God (i.e., Israel, the physical descendants of Jacob) and that sins against the sovereign God in other ways. He will punish sin and those who abuse His people.
