CONTINUATION OF SECTION 3. PROPHECIES AGAINST FOREIGN NATIONS (CHAPTER S 46-51). This SECTION commenced in Jeremiah 46:1 with the words, ‘The word of YHWH which came to Jeremiah the prophet --'. This phrase followed the pattern that had gone before, and there indicated a new section. It was also a r... [ Continue Reading ]
GENERAL HEADING TO THE WHOLE SECTION. Jeremiah 49:1 ‘The word of YHWH which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.' We have repeated this verse here so as to put what follows in context. Here we have an indication of what this final main section, commencing at Jeremiah 46:1, is all a... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGMENT AGAINST AMMON (JEREMIAH 49:1). Ammon were a fierce, half-civilised nation beyond the eastern borders of Israel and Moab, with their further borders connecting with the deserts of Arabia with their ferocious, wandering tribes and oasis ‘cities'. They were the chief worshippers of Molech (Me... [ Continue Reading ]
PROPHECY OF JUDGMENT ON THE NATIONS CONTINUED (JEREMIAH 49:1 TO JEREMIAH 51:64). Having learned that judgment was coming on Egypt, Philistia and Moab, we now go on to learn that it will also visit Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Arabia, Elam and then Babylon itself. None are immune from God's judgment.... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGMENT AGAINST EDOM (JEREMIAH 49:7). Edom lay to the south east of Judah stretching from the borders of Judah down to the Gulf of Aqabah, a distance of 100 miles. Its importance generally lay in the fact that it gave access to the lucrative Red Sea trade through its port at Ezion Geber. The King's... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGMENT AGAINST DAMASCUS (JEREMIAH 49:23). Damascus was the capital city of Aram, an Aramean state which was north of Israel and part of what we now call Syria. It was situated on the main trade routes and was a prosperous trading centre. The Aramean confederacy of which it was a part also included... [ Continue Reading ]
NEBUCHADREZZAR IS CALLED ON TO FULFIL YHWH'S PURPOSE (JEREMIAH 49:28). Jeremiah 49:28 “Thus says YHWH, Arise you, go up to Kedar, And destroy the children of the east. Their tents and their flocks will they take, They will carry away their curtains for themselves, And all their vessels, and t... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGMENT COMING ON KEDAR AND HAZOR AT THE HANDS OF NEBUCHADREZZAR (JEREMIAH 49:28). In this case it is made plain who the assailants are to be, Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon. It is therefore noteworthy that Nebuchadrezzar is portrayed as operating under God's instructions in smiting Kedar and Hazor. Ke... [ Continue Reading ]
YHWH GIVES ADVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF HAZOR (JEREMIAH 49:30). Jeremiah 49:30 “Flee you, wander far off, Dwell in the depths (deep caves), O you inhabitants of Hazor, The word of YHWH, For Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, And has conceived a purpose against you.” The c... [ Continue Reading ]
A RENEWED CALL TO NEBUCHADREZZAR TO CARRY OUT YHWH'S PURPOSE (JEREMIAH 49:31). Jeremiah 49:31 “Arise, get you up to a nation which is at ease, Which dwells without care, The word of YHWH, Who have neither gates nor bars, Who dwell alone. And their camels will be a booty, And the large number... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGMENT AGAINST ELAM (JEREMIAH 49:34). Elam was one of the nations in the area around Mesopotamia, situated in the plain of Khazistan and watered by the River Kerkh, which fed into the Tigris just north of the Persian Gulf. It bordered on Babylon, which lay to its west, and on Persia which lay to i... [ Continue Reading ]