By Eugene Garner

JEREMIAH - CHAPTER 49

ORACLES CONCERNING VARIOUS PEOPLES

    Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities? 2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD. 3 Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together. 4 Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me? 5 Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth. 6 And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

    1. The Ammonites are descended from the incestuous union between the drunken Lot and his youngest daughter; the son born to her was called Ben-Ammi" - "son of my kin", (Gen. 19:38).

    2. The Israelites had been commanded to deal kindly with the Ammonites (Deut. 2:19); yet, from time to time, there had been severe conflict, (I Sam. 11:1-3, 9-11; 2 Sam. 10:6-14).
      a. Now, however, the Ammonites have dispossessed Gad (possibly when he had been taken captive by Tiglath-pileser III (2 Kings 15:29) - settling in his cities, (vs. 1).
      b. Malcolm was the national deity of the Ammonites - otherwise known as Molech, (I kings 11:5).

    3. The Lord will cause a battle-cry to be raised against Rabbah-Ammon - the present capital of Jordan, the Hashemite kingdom, and located 14 miles northeast of Heshbon, on the Jabbok, (vs. 2).
      a. It will become a desolate mound - its surrounding towns and villages being burned, (comp. Num. 21:25; 32:42; Josh. 15:45).
      b. Israel will then become heir to those who formerly possessed her, (comp. Isa. 14:2).

    4. In verse 3 there is a call of the Ammonites to weeping, wailing and lamentation - not only for the ruin of their cities, but also because Milcom (her chief deity) is taken into exile, with his priest and princes, (comp. 46:25; 48:7).

    5. How utterly foolish of Ammon to glory in her valleys, and to trust in her treasures! (vs. 4; 9:21-24); all is to be overflowed by the coming flood!

    6. The Lord will bring such terror upon the land that each Ammonite will flee for his own life - thinking nothing of the stragglers who are being left behind, (vs. 5).

    7. But, this will not be a judgment of annihilation; God will ultimately restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, (vs. 6).

    7 Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished? 8 Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him. 9 If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough. 10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not. 11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. 12 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it. 13 For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. 14 I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. 15 For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men. 16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD. 17 Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. 18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. 19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? 20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. 21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea. 22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

    1. Descendants of Esau, the Edomites had been the perpetual enemies of Israel, from the time of the conflict between the twin brothers, Esau and Jacob, (Gen. 36:1; 27:41).
      a. They occupied the territory formerly known as Seir (Gen. 32:3; Num. 24:18) extending from Zered to the Gulf of Aqabah - about 100 miles.
      b. The Edomite kings who succeeded the patriarchal chieftains were hostile to Israel, (Num. 20:14-21; Judg. 11:17); however, the covenant people were forbidden to detest, abhor or abuse them, (Deut. 23:7).
    2. Teman was a grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:11), whose name was used of the tribe, living in northern Edom, but also became a synonym for the entire land, (Job 4:1; Hab. 3:3; Amos 1:12).
      a. The Temanites were anciently renowned for their wisdom.
      b. Now the Lord inquires whether that wisdom has not perished through corruption, (vs. 7).
    3. The Dedanites, traveling desert-traders of northwest Arabia (25:23), are counseled to flee to some safe refuge if they would escape the judgment that is to come upon Edom, (vs. 8; comp. Isa. 21:13).
    4. Unlike the picker who leaves a few grapes, or the thief who leaves some possessions behind, the Lord will strip Edom of all her fortresses - leaving her bare and without a hiding place, (vs. 9-10; Obad. 5-6).
    5. Yet, in justice and mercy, the Lord will preserve the widows and orphans - the innocent, (vs.11).
    6. As Israel has tasted the cup of Jehovah's anger (comp. I Pet. 4:17-19), so now, Bozrah will become a horror, reproach, waste and curse; the cities of Edom will become perpetual wastes, (vs. 12-13).
    7. A parallel prophecy to verses 14-16 is found in Obadiah 1-4.
      a. The Lord Himself calls together an army for the judgment of Edom, (vs. 14) whose stature among the nations is so diminished that Edom will be despised, (vs. 15; comp. Luke 1:51).
      b. Presuming that her fortresses were impenetrable, the Edomites were lifted up in the deceptiveness of a proud heart, (vs. 15a).
      c. But, though she dwells among the clefts of Petra (an amphitheatre of mountains accessible only through a narrow gorge); though she make her nest high, like that of the eagle; still the Lord will bring her down in humiliation! (vs. 15b; comp. Amos 9:2; Isa. 14:13-15).
    8. The coming plagues and judgment of Edom is likened to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah - wherein no man will dwell or sojourn, (vs. 17-18).
    9. Though the destroyer of Edom is not specifically named, his description, as "a lion from the dwelling of the Jordan", and "an eagle", that spreads out his wings against Bozrah, suggests that it may have been Babylon (vs. 19-22; comp. Ezek. 17:2-21).
      a. In that day the hearts of Edom's mighty men will be as the heart of a woman in her birth-pangs.
      b. Like dogs, their enemies will drag them away and treat them as they please, (comp. 50:45).

    23 Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet. 24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. 25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy! 26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts. 27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.

    1. Hamath was located about 110 miles north of Damascus; Arpad 95 miles north of Hamath, (vs. 23).
      a. The two are mentioned together in other places, (Isa. 10:9; 36:19; 37:13).
      b. At the news of what is about to befall them, both are rendered powerless by fear, (comp. Ex. 15:15; Josh. 2:9, 24; Psa. 75:3; Nahum 2:10).
      c. They are like the troubled sea for which there is no rest, (Isa. 57:20).

    2. Once a city of renown, Damascus, the capital of Syria, is now pictured as being so weakened that she is seized by panic - overwhelmed by anguish and sorrow like that of a woman in travail, (vs. 24: comp. 6:24).

    3. It is a citizen of Damascus that bemoans the wholesale desertion of the once-joyful city in verse 25.

    4. Her young men are slain in her midst; her mighty warriors silenced! (vs. 26; comp. 50:30; Amos 4:10-11).

    5. The city is pictured as a smoldering ruin - the palaces of Benhadad (the son of Hazael, who maintained his palace in Damascus) devoured by fire, (vs. 27; comp. Amos 1:3-5; Jer. 43:12).

    28 Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east. 29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side. 30 Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you. 31 Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. 32 And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD. 33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.

    1. "Kedar" was a wealthy, nomadic, sheep-breeding tribe of Arabs (Isa. 60:7) renowned for their skill with the bow (Isa. 21:17), who lived in desert villages (Isa. 42:11) to the east, or southeast, of Palestine (Isa. 21:16; Jer. 2:10), and were recognizable by the way they clipped the corners of their hair, (vs. 32; comp. 9:26; 25:23).
    2. "Hazor" refers, NOT to the celebrated city of northern Palestine, but to those Arab tribes who lived in more permanent village settlements; the word rendered "the kingdom" may be better understood as "village chiefs".
    3. The Lord commanded Nebuchadnezzar to march against these people of the East - so utterly routing them, and plundering their possessions (tents, flock, vessels, camels, cattle, etc.) as to make their dwelling-place a perpetual desolation, (vs. 29, 33).
    4. Their only hope to escape the terror that will surround their village is to flee - to wander afar and hide themselves away in the uninhabited desert-land, (vs. 30).
      a. By way of contrast, how wonderful is our privilege, as Christians, to flee to Christ and find our security in Him!
      b. This should motivate us to lives of whole-hearted loyalty and joyful service! (I Cor. 6:20; 7:23; 1:9; 15:58).
      5. Though living carelessly, in self-sufficient ease and seclusion; having no defenses - because they considered their very LOCATION sufficient safeguard against the liability of attack - they, nevertheless, did not escape the judgment of Jehovah, (Num. 32:23; Psa. 139:7-12; Heb. 4:13; Eccl. 12:14).
      6. This prophecy was fulfilled when (according to the Babylonian Chronicle) Nebuchadnezzar marched against them in 599 B.C.

    34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. 36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. 37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: 38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD. 39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

    1. This oracle concerning Elam is said to have come to Jeremiah in the beginning of Zedekiah's reign over Judah, (vs. 34).
    2. An ancient center of civilization, Elam lay east of Babylon, in the plain of Khuzistan.
    3. The main element of her power has been in her archers, who will be broken before the Lord, (vs. 35; comp. Psa. 46:9; Isa. 22:6; Jer. 25:25; Ezek. 32:24), and scattered among the nations, (vs. 36).
    4.With fierce indignation, the Lord will set the throne of His judgment in Elam - terrifying her inhabitants before their enemies, (comp. 8:9; 30:24), and destroying their king and princes, (vs. 37-38).
    5. In the latter days, however, He will restore the fortunes of Elam, (vs. 39: comp. 48:47).
    6. It s noteworthy that there were Elamites in Jerusalem to worship, when the Spirit descended upon the early church on the Day of Pentecost, (Acts 2:9).