Read Jeremiah
49 & Hebrews
5
To discover:
As you read consider why
each oracle might be included.
To ponder:
Against the
Ammonites, God asks whether Israel
has no heirs (ie. people of its own) for them to take possession of the
Israelite region of Gad in the name of the Ammonite god Molech. However, God
predicts a day Israel
will drive out of the Ammonite region of Rabbah the Ammonites who drove her
out. The people of the area are therefore called to mourn and panic as Molech
will go into exile with his priests and officials. God asks why the Ammonites
boast of their fruitful valleys and trust their riches in false confidence that
they won’t be attacked, promising instead to bring terror from the nations
around them, so they will all be driven away. But, again, he also promises that
afterwards the Ammonite’s fortunes would be restored (49v1-6). It is unclear
how Israel ever
drove the Ammonites out. 49v2 may refer to them being so weakened by Babylon ,
that Israel
could do this. Whatever the case, the oracle again shows God calls nations to
account for their wickedness, as a foretaste of the final accounting. And then,
whatever humanity may boast or trust in will be proved nothing.
Regarding Edom ,
Israel ’s
ancient enemy, God asks if wisdom has disappeared as the people are not
fleeing. So he urges them to run and hide from the disaster he is bringing as
punishment on these descendents of Esau. He stresses he will strip the land bare,
so that none can hide and all perish – except for the widows and orphans, who
God is always concerned for. Next he acknowledges that the general judgements
Jeremiah deals with inevitably impact those who don’t deserve that punishment
alongside those who do. But his point is that if those who don’t deserve it
have to drink the cup of God’s wrath (here, probably, the devastation
throughout the known world wrought by Babylon ),
then why should Edom ,
who is particularly guilty, go unpunished. And so God declares that the Bozrah
region will become a ruin and reproach. Jeremiah describes this as an envoy
from God going to the nations telling them to assemble and attack Edom .
And God declares that the terror Edom
inspires together with her pride have deceived her into thinking herself
secure. Yet, despite having strongholds in mountain passes like eagle’s nests,
he will bring her down like Sodom
and Gomorrah , and those who pass by
will be appalled at her wounds. The enemy (probably Nebuchadnezzar) is here
described like a lion and eagle chasing and swooping down on Edom .
As before, he is the one God has appointed for this, and no shepherd (ie.
ruler) can stand against God in what he is doing. So the young of the flock of Edom
will be dragged away, their pasture destroyed, and the earth tremble on hearing
how devastating it will be. Moreover, as before Edom ’s
warriors’ will like those of a woman in labour (49v7-22).
About Damascus ,
we read that two of its regions are similarly dismayed, panicking and in
anguish. And God asks why the city has not been abandoned because of what is
coming, noting her young men will fall, soldiers be silent, and the walls burned
down (49v23-27). Next is an oracle concerning two Arab tribes which
Nebuchadnezzar attacked. It seems to precede this event. God calls
Nebuchadnezzar to arise and attack this confident nation that doesn’t live in
cities with gates. He declares that their tents, livestock and goods will be
taken as people cry terror, and they will be scattered with disaster on every
side, leaving the land desolate. So Jeremiah urges them to flee and stay in
caves, as Nebuchadnezzar has plotted against them (49v28-33). The chapter ends
with God’s word about Elam ,
east of Babylon . God declares he
will break their military might, metaphorically bringing against them the four
winds, and scattering them to the four winds in exile. The winds here are a
picture of God’s power and universal rule. So he will shatter Elam
before her enemies in his fierce anger, setting his own throne in Elam
(a sign that he reigns), and promising to restore them in days to come
(49v34-39). The point of this oracle may have been to make clear when Zedekiah
reigned in Jerusalem that the
Babylonian threat wouldn’t be removed by this rival power. Rather God would
remove it, leaving Babylon in power
to do his bidding. It reminds us that when we can’t see why an evil remains,
God has some purpose in not removing it.
Comparing the various oracles, it is
striking that God doesn’t promise each will be restored again. This reveals
that he deals with nations individually as he sees fit, removing some for good,
whilst causing others to fall only for a time.
Praying it
home:
Praise God that he
governs all nations working out his righteous purposes. Pray that you would
boast and be confident only in him and his salvation.
Thinking
further:
None
today.
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