Pharaoh Necho had defeated Judah and killed King Josiah at Megiddo in 609 (2 Chron. 35:20–27), but then Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at the famous Battle of Carchemish in 605, the fourth year of Jehoiakim. That defeat broke the power of Egypt and made Babylon supreme in the Near East. Jeremiah described the battle from Egypt’s viewpoint (Jer. 46:3–12); then he described Babylon’s invasion of Egypt (vv. 13–26), concluding with an application to the people of Israel (vv. 27–28).
Egypt’s shameful defeat (vv. 3–12). Jeremiah wrote a graphic description of the famous Battle of Carchemish. He described the officers confidently preparing their troops (vv. 3–4) and then watching the soldiers flee in terror before the Babylonian army (vv. 5–6). Jeremiah doesn’t even describe the battle! The phrase “fear was round about” is the familiar “terror on every side” that we’ve met before (6:25; 20:3) and will meet again (49:29).
When the Egyptian army approached the battlefield, they looked like the Nile in flood season (46:8a). The military leaders were sure of victory (v. 8b), and their mercenaries were eager to fight (v. 9), but the Lord had determined that Egypt would lose the battle. “That day belongs to the Lord, the Lord Almighty” (v. 10 niv). It was a “holy war” in that God offered Egypt as a sacrifice (v. 10). Egypt’s wounds were incurable and her shame was inevitable (vv. 11–12).
Babylon’s triumphant invasion (vv. 13–26). Historians tell us that this occurred in 568–567 BC and fulfilled not only this prophecy but also the “action sermon” Jeremiah had described earlier (43:8–13). Once again, the Egyptian army stood fast as the Babylonians swept down on them. Before long, however, the men not only fell over but also fell upon one another in their haste to escape (46:13–15). Their mercenaries cried, “Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity” (v. 16), and they deserted their posts.
The Babylonian soldiers called Pharaoh Necho a “big noise.” We today would probably call him a “loudmouth” or “big mouth,” because he was nothing but talk and hot air. While Necho may have been only hot air, Nebuchadnezzar filled the horizon like a huge mountain when he appeared on the scene (v. 18).
Look at the graphic images Jeremiah used. Egypt Jeremiah’s messages to the nations was like a heifer (v. 20). The mercenaries in Pharaoh’s army were like fatted calves that stampeded (v. 21), and the Egyptian soldiers fled like hissing serpents (v. 22) and fell before the Babylonians like trees before woodcutters (v. 23). The invading army was like a swarm of locusts that couldn’t be avoided (v. 23). Alas, Egypt was like a young woman being violated and unable to escape (v. 24).
The defeat of Egypt was the defeat of Egypt’s gods (v. 25). This didn’t mean that the gods of Babylon were stronger than the gods of Egypt, for all of their gods were nothing. It meant that Jehovah had proved Himself stronger than the many gods of Egypt and Babylon by being in control of the entire battle. Nebuchadnezzar won and Pharaoh Necho lost because God decreed it. But God also decreed that Egypt would be restored (v. 26), a promise He also gave to Moab (48:47), Ammon (49:6), and Elam (v. 39).
Israel’s assured future (vv. 27–28). They shouldn’t have been there, but a band of Jews was in Egypt, and this invasion would affect them terribly. The remnant in Judah and the exiles in Babylon would hear of this victory and wonder whether anything on earth could stop Nebuchadnezzar. God had promised that the exiles would be released from Babylon in seventy years, but Babylon looked stronger than ever.
God’s Word will stand no matter what the newspapers report! “I will save you,” God promised. “I will wipe out the nations, but I won’t wipe you out.” Twice the Lord said, “Don’t be afraid.” No matter how dark the day, God always gives His people the bright light of His promises (2 Peter 1:19–21).