Messages to a variety of nations pt. 1 (Jeremiah 49:1–22)

Chapter 49 contains several shorter oracles against foreign nations, mostly poetic in format.

I. Message to Ammon (49:1–6)

1 Against the Ammonites. Thus says the LORD: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir?Why then does Milcom inherit Gad, And his people dwell in its cities? 2 Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will cause to be heard an alarm of war In Rabbah of the Ammonites; It shall be a desolate mound, And her villages shall be burned with fire.Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance,” says the LORD. 3 “Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is plundered! Cry, you daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth! Lament and run to and fro by the walls; For Milcom shall go into captivity With his priests and his princes together. 4 Why do you boast in the valleys, Your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter?Who trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come against me?’ 5 Behold, I will bring fear upon you,” Says the Lord GOD of hosts, “From all those who are around you; You shall be driven out, everyone headlong, And no one will gather those who wander off. 6 But afterward I will bring back The captives of the people of Ammon,” says the LORD.

A. Jeremiah rebuked Ammon for occupying Gad after its inhabitants were exiled.

Like the Moabites, the Ammonites were the product of Lot’s incestuous union with one of his daughters (Gen. 19:20–38) and the enemies of the Jews. Jeremiah’s first accusation is that the Ammonites moved into Israel’s territory when Assyria took the Northern Kingdom captive in 722 B.C. The Ammonites took Gad and other cities, as though the Jews would never return.

Molech, which is the name of the chief god of the Ammonites. They boasted that their god was stronger than the God of Israel. For its crime, God warned that an unnamed enemy would come against Rabbah and make it a mound of ruins and destroy its “surrounding villages” (lit. “her daughters”). Rabbah, located on the Jabbok, fourteen miles northeast of Heshbon, was the chief city in Ammon. It is the present Amman, capital of Jordan. Heshbon and Ai would also be destroyed. Heshbon was a Moabite city, apparently controlled by Ammon at that time.

B. The Ammonites boasted of their “valleys so fruitful” that they felt gave them protection from enemies.

Their fruitful valley couldn’t stop the invasion. God had decreed judgment for proud Ammon, and nothing they trusted could prevent the invasion.

Once again, however, we see the goodness and mercy of the Lord in promising to restore the fortunes of the Ammonites when He restores the fortunes of Israel and Judah in the future kingdom. God restores them, not because of their own merits, but because they share in the glories that Israel will experience when King Jesus sits on David’s throne. “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).

II. Message to brother Edom (49:7–22)

7 Against Edom. Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? 8 Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, The time that I will punish him. 9 If grape-gatherers came to you, Would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, Would they not destroy until 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 descendants are plundered, His brethren and his neighbors, And he is no more. 11 Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; And let your widows trust in Me.” 12 For thus says the LORD: “Behold, those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk. And are you the one who will altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it. 13 For I have sworn by Myself,” says the LORD, “that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.” 14 I have heard a message from the LORD, And an ambassador has been sent to the nations: “Gather together, come against her, And rise up to battle! 15 “For indeed, I will make you small among nations, Despised among men. 16 Your fierceness has deceived you, The pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Who hold the height of the hill! Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,” says the LORD. 17 “Edom also shall be an astonishment; Everyone who goes by it will be astonished And will hiss at all its plagues. 18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah And their neighbors,” says the LORD, “No one shall remain there, Nor shall a son of man dwell in it. 19 “Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan Against the dwelling place 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?Who will arraign Me? And who is that shepherd Who will withstand Me?” 20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that He has taken against Edom, And His purposes that He has proposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; Surely He shall make their dwelling places desolate with them. 21 The earth shakes at the noise of their fall; At the cry its noise is heard at the Red Sea. 22 Behold, He shall come up and fly like the eagle, And spread His wings over Bozrah; The heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall be Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.

A. The Edomites had descended from Jacob’s elder brother Esau.

Edomites rulers were hostile to Israel. The rivalry and ill feelings between the brothers Jacob and Esau continued through their descendants. David brought Edom under his control, but the Edomites revolted in the days of Joram and finally became independent of Judah. Like other smaller nations, Edom paid tribute to Assyria but transferred its loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar in 605. Edom joined Judah in the revolt against Babylon in 594 B.C. (27:3), but when Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar in 589, Edom joined the Babylonians.

Edom was noted for its wisdom, but now that wisdom had “decayed”. The people of Dedan, a city in northwest Arabia, not part of Edom, were advised to flee the invader and hide in caves. They were warned to disassociate themselves from Edom as quickly as possible lest they be caught up in Edom’s coming disaster.

B. Edom’s judgment would be like a harvest where nothing would be left for the gleaners.

The law required that grape pickers leave gleanings on the vine for widows and orphans. Jeremiah reminded his listeners of this law and added that thieves would only take as much as they wanted. But God was going to strip Esau bare. There would be no place of hiding.

The nation would be destroyed completely. The threat is softened by an expression of God’s compassionate care for widows and orphans (49:11). They would be protected in the midst of the judgment that would engulf Edom.

C. Nebuchadnezzar would come upon Edom like a lion bounding out of the thick growth around the Jordan River, and he wouldn’t spare the flock.

God compared himself to a hungry lion emerging from Jordan’s thickets in search of a victim for food. The identity of the instrument of judgment on Edom is not answered by the question “who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her?”

Shepherds were expected to protect their sheep from wild beasts even at the risk of their lives. No “shepherd” (i.e., ruler) would be able to thwart God’s judgment on Edom. Like the lion dragging away its victim while the shepherd watches helplessly, so the Lord would destroy the Edomites, even their pasture.

D. Though Edom seemed to be a relatively insignificant nation, the earth would tremble at its fall.

Its cry of agony would be heard throughout its land. Edom’s nemesis is not named, but the metaphor of an eagle swooping down over Bozrah makes it likely that Babylon was intended.

When that day of judgment comes, the hearts of Edom’s brave warriors would become like the heart of a woman in labor. Edom’s pride would bring her low, as pride always does.