Jeremiah 47

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. Benjamin Franklin

Jeremiah had spoken to his people for over forty years, but they wouldn’t listen; now he spoke to the nations related in some way to the Jewish people. As God’s spokesman, Jeremiah was “handing the cup” to these nations (25:15ff.) and declaring what God had planned for them. He was called to be “a prophet unto the nations” (1:5), and he was fulfilling his ministry.

While these names, places, and events are ancient history to most of us, the lessons behind these events reveal to us the hand of God in the rise and fall of rulers and nations. One of the repeated phrases in these chapters is God’s “I will,” for “history is His story,” as A. T. Pierson used to say. You will also note that God judged the gods of these nations, just as He had judged the gods of Egypt before Israel’s Exodus (Ex. 12:12).

The Philistine people probably came from Crete (Caphtor, v. 4). They built a wealthy nation by developing a merchant marine that sailed the Mediterranean and acquired goods from many lands. But their destiny was destruction. Tyre and Sidon had been confederate with Judah in an attempt to stop Nebuchadnezzar (27:3).

This time Jeremiah used the image of the rising river to describe the Babylonian army as it flooded over the land (47:2). So terrible was the invasion that parents would flee for their lives and leave their children behind (v. 3; see 49:11). The people would act like mourners at a funeral (47:5) and ask the Lord when He would put up the terrible sword of His judgment (v. 6). But this sword would continue to devour the land until God’s work of judgment was finished.

Judgment on Moab (Jer. 48:1–47) The Moabites were descendants of Lot (Gen. 19:20–38) and, along with the Ammonites, the enemies of the Jews. During the Babylonian crisis, however, both Moab and Ammon allied themselves with Judah in an ill-fated attempt to defeat Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 27:3). Over twenty different places are named in this chapter, some of which we can’t identify with certainty, but the list shows how detailed God can be when He wants to predict future events.

In 582, Nebuchadnezzar’s army invaded Moab, destroyed the people and the cities, and left desolation behind. The reason for this judgment was Moab’s pride (48:7, 29–30) and complacency (v. 11). The Moabites were certain that their god Chemosh would protect them (vv. 7, 13, 35, 46) and that no army could scale the heights to reach them on their secure plateau (v. 8).

The image in verses 11–13 pictures Moab as a selfsatisfied nation, feeling very secure, like wine aging in a jar and becoming tastier. Because the nation had been comfortable and self-sufficient, they were unprepared for what happened. The Babylonians emptied the wine from jar to jar and then broke the jars! (See v. 38 for another broken jar image.) Instead of sitting on their mountainous throne, the nation had to come down and grovel on the parched earth (vv. 17–18). The horn and the arm are both symbols of strength (v. 25), but Moab’s horn was cut off and her arm broken. She had no strength.

The wine image is picked up again in verses 26–27. The nation was drunk from the cup that God gave her (25:15–16, 27–29), and like someone at a drunken party, she was vomiting and wallowing in her own vomit. It isn’t a pretty picture. The image then changes to that of a dove hiding in a cave, wondering what will happen next (48:28). The Babylonians are pictured as an eagle swooping down on its prey (v. 40; see Deut. 28:49; Ezek. 17:3); a dove is no match for an eagle.

The remarkable thing is that Jeremiah wept over the fall of Moab (Jer. 48:31) and lamented like a flutist at a funeral (vv. 36–38). Certainly his grief is evidence of the compassion God has for people who are destroyed because of their sins against the Lord. God has “no pleasure in the death of [the wicked]” (Ezek. 18:32; see 18:23; 33:11) and does all He can to call them to repentance before judgment falls.

There is no escape (Jer. 48:44–46; see Amos 5:19). Flee from the army, and you’ll fall into a pit. Climb out of the pit, and you’ll be caught in a trap. Escape from the trap, and you’ll be engulfed by a fire. Escape from the fire, and you’ll be captured and taken away to Babylon. Sinners need to face the fact that there is no place to hide when God begins to judge (Rev. 20:11–15). For lost sinners today, their only hope is faith in Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the world. They need to flee for refuge to Christ (Heb. 6:18)—the only refuge for their souls.

After writing a long chapter on judgment, Jeremiah ended with a promise: “Yet will I bring again the captivity [restore the fortunes] of Moab in the latter days” (Jer. 48:47). This statement refers to the future Kingdom Age when Jesus Christ will reign.