Jeremiah 49

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).

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 BC. The Ammonites took Gad and other cities, as though the Jews would never return. The phrase “their king” in Jeremiah 49: and 3 can be translated Molech, which is the name of the chief god of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:5, 7, 33). They boasted that their god was stronger than the God of Israel, but one day Israel will “drive” the Ammonites out of the land (Jer. 49: niv).

The Ammonites boasted that their fruitful valley was secure because mountains protected it on three sides (v. 4), but that 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).

The Edomites had descended from Jacob’s elder brother Esau, whom God bypassed for the blessing, giving it to Jacob (Gen. 25:19–34; see Gen. 36). The Edomites weren’t friendly to the Jews, but their common enemy, Babylon, caused Edom to join the “Jerusalem summit” in the days of Zedekiah (Jer. 27:3).

You will want to read the prophecy of Obadiah and see how the two prophets agree. Since we don’t know when the book of Obadiah was written, we aren’t sure whether Jeremiah borrowed from Obadiah or vice versa. The prophets occasionally quoted one another, an evidence that the same God was the author of their messages. Furthermore, there are a number of parallels between Isaiah and Jeremiah.

Edom’s judgment would be like a harvest where nothing would be left for the gleaners (49:9–10; Lev. 19:10; Deut. 24:21). God would do a thorough job the first time. Like the other nations, Edom would have to drink of the cup (Jer. 49:12) because of her pride and rebellion against the Lord (v. 16). With their cities in the rocks, such as Petra, they thought they were impregnable (vv. 16–18), but they would be destroyed like the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19).

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 (Jer. 49:19–21). He would come like an eagle and so frighten the Edomites that they would agonize like women in travail (v. 22; see 48:40–41). The people of Edom were noted for their great wisdom (49:7; Job 2:11), but they wouldn’t be able to devise any plan that would save them from the invasion of the Babylonian army.

In the midst of wrath, the Lord remembers mercy (Hab. 3:2) and shows compassion for the widows and orphans (Jer. 49:11; see Ex. 22:21–24; 23:9; Lev. 19:33; Deut. 10:18; 27:19). But Edom’s pride would bring her low, as pride always does.

The prophet Isaiah condemned Damascus, the capital of Syria (Isa. 17). Amos accused the Syrians of treating the people of Gilead like grain on a threshing floor (Amos 1:3–5). God would judge them for their inhumanity and brutality to His people.

According to Jeremiah, hearing the news of the approaching Babylonian army, the people of Damascus would become as troubled as the restless sea, as weak and shaky as a sick patient, and as full of pain as a woman in travail (Jer. 49:23–24). They would abandon their ancient cities and try to escape, but their best young men would be killed in the streets and their fortress would be burned to the ground.

This message is brief, but it carries power. How much does God have to say to convince people that His wrath is about to fall?

These are two desert peoples. Kedar was related to Ishmael (Gen. 25:13). We aren’t sure of the origin of Hazor, which is not to be confused with the city of that name in northern Palestine (Josh. 11).

These two nomadic Arab nations lived by raising sheep and camels. When Nebuchadnezzar attacked them in 599–598 BC, however, they lost everything. Once again, we meet the phrase “fear is on every side” (Jer. 49:29; see 20:3). These two Arab nations were guilty of living at ease, isolating themselves from others, and manifesting pride and arrogant self-confidence (49:31). They didn’t need God, and they didn’t need the help of any other people! When Nebuchadnezzar arrived on the scene, they learned how foolish they had been.

The Elamites were a Semitic people who were neighbors of the Babylonians. (Along with this paragraph, they are mentioned in Gen. 14:1; Isa. 11:11; 21:2; 22:6; Jer. 25:25; Ezek. 32:24; Dan. 8:2.) Their country was located beyond the Tigris River across from Babylon, and it eventually became part of the MedoPersian Empire. God gave Jeremiah this prophecy about 597 BC, during the reign of Zedekiah.

Since the Elamite soldiers were known for their archery, God promised to break their bows (Jer. 49:35). He compared the Babylonian army to a storm that would not only blow from all directions but also scatter the people in all directions (v. 36). Whenever a nation was defeated, the victors would set up their king’s throne in the city gate (1:15; 39:3; 43:8–13), and that’s what God promised to do in Elam (49:38). He would let them know that He was King.

The Lord ended this description of judgment with a promise of mercy. Why He chose to restore Egypt, Moab, Ammon, and Elam is not explained, but they will share in the kingdom because of God’s grace.

As you studied these chapters, perhaps you became weary of reading the same message: Judgment is coming and there’s no escape. There’s a sameness about what God said about these nine nations, and if we aren’t careful, that sameness can produce “tameness” and cause us to lose a heart sensitive to the Lord’s message.

Keep in mind, however, that these prophecies were written about real men, women, and children, and that what Jeremiah wrote actually came true. Whole civilizations were wiped out because of their sins, and eventually Babylon itself was destroyed. This means that multitudes of people died and went into an eternity of darkness.

God sees what the nations do, and He rewards them justly. What King Hezekiah said about the Lord needs to be emphasized today: “O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth” (Isa. 37: niv). Joshua called Him “the Lord of all the earth” (Josh. 3:11), and both Jesus and Paul called Him “Lord of heaven and earth” (Luke 10:21; Acts 17:24).

God never gave the law of Moses to any of the nations that Jeremiah addressed, but He still held them accountable for the sins they committed against Him and against humanity. Because of the witness of creation around them and conscience within them, they were without excuse (Rom. 1:17–32, especially v. 20) and guilty before God.

In recent history, the nations haven’t acted any better than the ones recorded in Jeremiah 46—49. Innocent blood is shed legally as millions of babies are aborted in their mothers’ wombs. International terrorism, genocide, exploitation of people and material resources, war, crime, the abuse of children, and a host of other sins have stained the hands of nations with blood. What will they do when the Judge becomes angry and starts to avenge the innocent?

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).