The Philistines play a large role in the Bible as one of the longest-standing and most bitter rivals of the people of Israel, clashing with them in repeated wars. The Philistines were a remnant of the Ancient Church, or church of Noah, but had turned the deep wisdom of that church into a worship that focused solely on knowledge of religious ideas and the details of ritual, with no concept of putting religious ideas to work in living a good life. People would be esteemed for their knowledge, no matter how evil they might be in their lives. This was a particularly attractive trap for the people of Israel, who lived in a state of obedience to a long list of spiritually meaningful rules. It was easy for them to forget about the “obedience” part and focus instead on the “rules” part, which made them akin to the Philistines. This is also a threat to us in our own lives. We need to remember that simply knowing a lot and believing the right things will not make us good people -- we have to use that knowledge to treat other people in a loving, caring way.

In 1 Samuel 5,6, this signifies people in faith separated from charity. (Divine Providence 326[12])

In Jeremiah 47:2, 3, this represents people who hold false ideas, and reason about spiritual things from them. (Arcana Coelestia 705) Philistia signifies this religion. (Arcana Coelestia 727)

Keeping" in the Bible generally concerns the actions of life, though in some cases it can mean holding something away from the activities of life to safeguard it. By far the most common use of "keep" is connected with keeping the Lord's commandments or keeping feast days or rituals. These all mean putting true ideas from the Lord into action in life; simply knowing them or remembering them is not enough. In a deeper sense, it means worshiping the Lord, since living life according to His leading is the ultimate act of worship. When its not possible to act from the Lord's commandments, "keeping" represents remembering and safeguarding those true ideas so that they can be put into practice eventually.