Prophesies to the nation continues.
Ammon
In verse 1, the Lord asks the sons of Ammon a rhetorical question. Does Israel have no sons left? No heirs? In context it reads like the Ammonites have decided that Israel's land is up for grabs and they moved it. He even references their god, Malcam as taking possession.
I think a lot of parents would understand this. You're disciplining your child and some neighborhood kids try to profit off of it. Dad's not going to be happy about that.
Verse 2 is the prophesies that they'll soon hear the trumpet blast of war and will end ina heap of desolation, with her cities on fire and Israel back in possession.
He then tells them to cry out for their cities and lament. And then He uses the same phrase about this god as He did about the god Chemosh of Moab—he'll go into exile with his princes and priests. When I read it for Chemosh, I think my mind pictured a fictional god and the humans who build their lives around it. But now, I think this might be the princes and priests (demons) around either a bigger demon or satan. In the end times, before his final sentence, he will be exiled into a bottomless pit for a 1000 years.
Verse 4 calls out Ammon for boasting about their land and strength, which the Lord declares will all flow away. Verse 5 promises to bring terror from all sides and they will all be driven out.
Just like for Moab, a terrifying prophesy ends in hope:
“But afterward I will restore
The fortunes of the sons of Ammon,”
Declares the Lord. Jeremiah 49: 6
I suspect both Moab and Ammon are given this undeserved and unearned favor as they are ancient relatives to the chosen people.
Edom
Concerning Edom.
Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?
Has good counsel been lost to the prudent?
Has their wisdom decayed? Jeremiah 49:7
Edom is the nation born of Esau, Jacob's hapless brother. This troubled brother relationship carried all the way through to the time of Jesus. Edom wouldn't let Moses and the Israelites pass through on their journey from Egypt to the Promise Land; they attacked the people of Israel; and cheered when Israel/Judah fell. Now the Lord has had enough. He says that even the grape growers and thieves leave something behind; but He will not.
He does assure them that they can trust Him with their orphans and widows; but they will drink from the cup of His wrath. This imagine of the cup being filled with His well-earned wrath is a common symbol throughout the Bible. We see Jesus refer to it in the Garden of Gethsemane when He asks that the cup be removed from Him and then accepts it as the Father's will. He drank from the wrath earned by all of us.
For I have sworn by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.” Jeremiah 49:13
Brutal.
He sent an envoy to rally multiple nations to come against Edom. They became arrogant living in the crags of a valley—hard to attack. But God vows to bring them down from there, to become an object of horror. He says they'll end up like Sodom and Gomorrah, with no son of man living there.
A note in the Ryrie Study Bible notes that Herod the Great was an Edomite. It sounds like this disaster isn't complete until the fourth century AD.
Damascus
According to the study bible footnote, Damascus fell to Assyria in 732 BC; so this prophesy is related to Nebuchadnezzar's rule over this region, already defeated by Assyria.
Starting with verse 23, they are hearing bad news and becoming disheartened.
- She knows she is helpless and is waiting in fear and pain like a woman in childbirth.
- She knows she'll need to flee.
- They don't leave. So they fall in her streets.
“I will set fire to the wall of Damascus,
And it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.” Jeremiah 49:27
Kedar and Hazor
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor. From the context in this section, this is different from the previous nations because this people seems to be nomadic- no city walls for protection; but still safe and secure. They are probably either hard to get to or remote. They were living calm and secure.
This is what the Lord had to say about it:
- The lord is sending someone to devastate them.
- They will take their tents, and flocks, and camel.
- And leave them terror.
- They should flee to love in the deeps.
- Nebuchadnezzar has a plan for them.
- The Lord is going to scattered them and bring disaster.
- He notes that they are identified by how they cut the corners of their hair.
- No one is going to live in this land going forward except jackals.
Elam
This word of the Lord came to Jeremiah at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, so while Judah was still functioning as a nation, but the end was near:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts,
‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
The finest of their might. Jeremiah 49:35
It never bodes well for anyone when the Lord starts His message with His name, Lord of hosts. As i've mentioned many times, this is a military title and the "hosts" are His angel army. If one angel with a sword can wipe out hundreds of thousands of humans...what does an angel army denote...not good possibilities.
Oh my goodness, the prophesy is beyond bleak. It is one of utter and complete decimation:
‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds
From the four ends of heaven,
And will scatter them to all these winds;
And there will be no nation
To which the outcasts of Elam will not go. Jeremiah 49:36
He goes on to explain:
- shattered before their enemies
- calamity on those who try and save their own lives
- sending out His sword in anger to consume them
The last two paragraph are very interesting.
First what will happen when the current Elam is consumed and emptied out:
Then I will set My throne in Elam
And destroy out of it king and princes,’
Declares the Lord. Jeremiah 49:38
For God to set His throne somewhere is very special. Elam is modern-day Iran, right up against the Persian Gulf. It is not near Israel, with Iraq, Jordan, and part of Saudi Arabia between them. Although Iraq is where people place the garden of Eden...I'm curious why His throne is there. I'll look into that.
It's even more interesting in light of the last verse:
‘But it will come about in the last days
That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’”
Declares the Lord. Jeremiah 49:39