Wednesday 12/01/21

Series: Thru the Bible

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:40:55 — 170.1MB)

God Judges Israel’s Enemies

Thru the Bible Jeremiah 46-50

Tonight we are covering some of the last prophetic words of Jeremiah. In this first one in Chapter 46 we see that it is a prophecy from the past that is recorded since it is in the days of Josiah who was King Zedikiah’s deceased father.

Egypt

Jeremiah 46:1-28,

“(1) The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the nations:

(2) About Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco, Egypt’s king, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim son of Josiah:

(3) Deploy small shields and large; draw near for battle!

(4) Harness the horses; mount the steeds; take your positions with helmets on! Polish the lances; put on armor!

(5) Why have I seen this? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are crushed, they flee headlong, they never look back, terror is on every side! This is the LORD’s declaration.

(6) The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape!

In the north by the bank of the Euphrates River, they stumble and fall. (7) Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters churn?

(8) Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers. He boasts:

I will go up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities with their residents. (9) Rise up, you cavalry! Race furiously, you chariots! Let the warriors go forth–Cush and Put, who are able to handle shields, and the Ludim, who are able to handle and string the bow.

(10) That day belongs to the Lord, the GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance to avenge Himself against His adversaries. The sword will devour and be satisfied; it will drink its fill of their blood, because it will be a sacrifice to the Lord, the GOD of Hosts, in the northern land by the Euphrates River.

(11) Go up to Gilead and get balm, Virgin Daughter Egypt! You have multiplied remedies in vain; there is no healing for you.

(12) The nations have heard of your dishonor, and your outcry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles against warrior and together both of them have fallen.

(13) This is the word the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to defeat the land of Egypt:

(14) Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol!

Proclaim it in Memphis and in Tahpanhes!

Say: Take positions! Prepare yourself, for the sword devours all around you.

(15) Why have your strong ones been swept away? Each has not stood, for the LORD has thrust him down. (16) He continues to stumble. Indeed, each falls over the other.

They say: Get up! Let’s return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword that oppresses.

(17) There they will cry out: Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he let the opportune moment pass.

(18) As I live–this is the King’s declaration; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.

(19) Pack your bags for exile, inhabitant of Daughter Egypt!

For Memphis will become a desolation, uninhabited ruins. (20) Egypt is a beautiful young cow, but a horsefly from the north is coming against her. (21) Even her mercenaries among her are like stall-fed calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee; they will not take their stand, for the day of their calamity is coming on them, the time of their punishment.

(22) Egypt will hiss like a slithering snake, for the enemy will come with an army; with axes they will come against her like those who cut trees. (23) They will cut down her forest–this is the LORD’s declaration–though it is dense, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.

(24) Daughter Egypt will be put to shame, handed over to a northern people. (25) The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to punish Amon, god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings–Pharaoh and those trusting in him.

(26) I will hand them over to those who want to take their lives–to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, it will be inhabited again as in ancient times.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

(27) But you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, and do not be discouraged, Israel, for without fail I will save you from far away and your descendants, from the land of their captivity!

Jacob will return and have calm and quiet with no one to frighten him. (28) And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid–this is the LORD’s declaration–for I will be with you. I will bring destruction on all the nations where I have banished you, but I will not bring destruction on you. I will discipline you with justice, but I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

Philistines

Jeremiah 47:1-7,

“(1) This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh defeated Gaza.

(2) This is what the LORD says: Look, waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing wadi. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the cities and their inhabitants. The people will cry out, and every inhabitant of the land will wail.

(3) At the sound of the stomping hooves of his stallions, the rumbling of his chariots, and the clatter of their wheels, fathers will not turn back for their sons, because they will be utterly helpless (4) on account of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally.

Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the islands of Caphtor. (5) Baldness is coming to Gaza. Ashkelon will become silent, a remnant of their valley.

How long will you gash yourself? (6) Ah, sword of the LORD! How long will you be restless? Go back to your scabbard; be still; be silent!

(7) How can it rest when the LORD has given it a command? He has assigned it against Ashkelon and the shore of the sea.”

Moabites

Jeremiah 48:1-47,

Moab was the son born to Lot from his daughters who got him drunk in order to lay with him and bear sons for him. Chemosh was their deity. Nebo and Kiriathaim are cities.

“(1) About Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Woe to Nebo, because it is about to be destroyed; Kiriathaim will be put to shame; it will be taken captive.

The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed! (2) There is no longer praise for Moab; they plan harm against her in Heshbon:

Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood. You madmen will also be silenced; the sword will pursue you.

(3) A voice cries out from Horonaim: devastation and great disaster!

(4) Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out. (5) For on the ascent to Luhith they will be weeping continually, and on the descent to Horonaim will be heard cries of distress over the destruction:

(6) Flee! Save your lives! Be like a juniper bush in the wilderness. (7) Because you trust in your works and treasures, you will be captured also. Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials. (8) The destroyer will move against every town; not one town will escape. The valley will perish, and the plain will be annihilated, as the LORD has said.

(9) Make Moab a salt marsh, for she will run away; her towns will become a desolation, without inhabitant.

(10) Cursed is the one who does the LORD’s business deceitfully, and cursed is the one who withholds his sword from bloodshed.

(11) Moab has been left quiet since his youth, settled like wine on its dregs. He hasn’t been poured from one container to another or gone into exile. So his taste has remained the same, and his aroma hasn’t changed.

(12) Therefore look, the days are coming–this is the LORD’s declaration–when I will send those to him, who will pour him out. They will empty his containers and smash his jars.

(13) Moab will be put to shame because of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was put to shame because of Bethel that they trusted in.

(14) How can you say, We are warriors–mighty men ready for battle? (15) The destroyer of Moab and its towns has come up, and the best of its young men have gone down to slaughter. This is the King’s declaration; the LORD of Hosts is His name.

(16) Moab’s calamity is near at hand; his disaster is rushing swiftly. (17) Mourn for him, all you surrounding nations, everyone who knows his name. Say: How the mighty scepter is shattered, the glorious staff! (18) Come down from glory; sit on parched ground, resident of the daughter of Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.

(19) Stand by the highway and look, resident of Aroer! Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping, What happened?

(20) Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed. (21) “Judgment has come to the land of the plateau–to Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, (22) Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim, (23) Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon, (24) Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, those far and near.

(25) Moab’s horn is chopped off; his arm is shattered.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

(26) “Make him drunk, because he has exalted himself against the LORD. Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.

(27) Wasn’t Israel a laughingstock to you? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.”

(28) Abandon the towns! Live in the cliffs, residents of Moab! Be like a dove that nests inside the mouth of a cave. (29) We have heard of Moab’s pride, great pride, indeed–his insolence, arrogance, pride, and haughty heart. (30) I know his outburst. This is the LORD’s declaration.

It is empty. His boast is empty. (31) Therefore, I will wail over Moab. I will cry out for Moab, all of it; he will moan for the men of Kir-heres. (32) I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah, with more than the weeping for Jazer. Your tendrils have extended to the sea; they have reached to the sea and to Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.

(33) Joy and celebration are taken from the fertile field and from the land of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses; no one will tread with shouts of joy. The shouting is not a shout of joy. (34) “There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices as far as Jahaz–from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah–because even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate. (35) In Moab, I will stop”–this is the LORD’s declaration–“the one who offers sacrifices on the high place and burns incense to his gods. (36) Therefore, My heart moans like flutes for Moab, and My heart moans like flutes for the people of Kir-heres. And therefore, the wealth he has gained has perished.

(37) Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped; on every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist. (38) On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

(39) “How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him.” (40) For this is what the LORD says: He will swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab. (41) The towns have been captured, and the strongholds seized.

In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions. (42) Moab will be destroyed as a people because he has exalted himself against the LORD.

(43) Panic, pit, and trap await you, resident of Moab. This is the LORD’s declaration. (44) He who flees from the panic will fall in the pit, and he who climbs from the pit will be captured in the trap, for I will bring against Moab the year of their punishment. This is the LORD’s declaration.

(45) Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon’s shadow because fire has come out from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It will devour Moab’s forehead and the skull of the noisemakers.

(46) Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished because your sons have been taken captive and your daughters have gone into captivity. (47) Yet, I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the last days. This is the LORD’s declaration. The judgment on Moab ends here.”

Ammonites

Jeremiah 49:1-39,

The ammonites are the descendants of Ben-Ammi the other son of Lot through his daughters.

“(1) About the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says: Does Israel have no sons? Is he without an heir? Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad and his people settled in their cities?

(2) Therefore look, the days are coming–this is the LORD’s declaration–when I will make the shout of battle heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a desolate mound, and its villages will be burned down. Israel will dispossess their dispossessors, says the LORD.

(3) Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated; cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and lament; run back and forth within your walls, because Milcom will go into exile together with his priests and officials.

(4) Why do you brag about your valleys, your flowing valley, you faithless daughter? You who trust in your treasures and boast: Who can attack me?

(5) Look, I am about to bring terror on you–this is the declaration of the Lord, the GOD of Hosts–from all those around you. You will be banished, each man headlong, with no one to gather up the fugitives. (6) But after that, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites. This is the LORD’s declaration.”

Edom

Now, you remember that Edom are the descendants of Esau whom God hated, who treated his birthright dismissively, making his character even far more base and ungodly than Jacob’s who though he both lied and deceived his father, he was willing to fight to hold onto any blessing from God. Esau had been nicknamed Edom most likely due to having red hair for Edom means red.

“(7) About Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom rotted away?

(8) Run! Turn back! Lie low, residents of Dedan, for I will bring Esau’s calamity on him at the time I punish him.

(9) If grape harvesters came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleanings? Were thieves to come in the night, they would destroy only what they wanted. (10) But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his secret places. He will try to hide himself, but he will be unable.

His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors. He will exist no longer.

(11) Abandon your orphans; I will preserve them; let your widows trust in Me. (12) “For this is what the LORD says: If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not remain unpunished, for you must drink it too. (13) For by Myself I have sworn”–the LORD’s declaration–“Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever.”

(14) I have heard a message from the LORD; an envoy has been sent among the nations: Assemble yourselves to come against her. Rise up for war! (15) Look, I will certainly make you insignificant among the nations, despised among humanity.

(16) As to the terror you cause, your presumptuous heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock, you who occupy the mountain summit, though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down. This is the LORD’s declaration.

(17) “Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds. (18) As when Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will live there; no human being will even stay in it as a resident alien.

(19) “Look, it will be like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan to the perennially watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Edom away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

(20) Therefore, hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman:

The flock’s little lambs will certainly be dragged away, and their grazing land will be made desolate because of them. (21) At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; the sound of her cry will be heard at the Red Sea.

(22) Look! It will be like an eagle soaring upward, then swooping down and spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.”

Obadiah

The name Obadiah means worshipper or servant of God, or more specifically of Yahweh. He is believed to have been around in the 6th century BC and this his ministry was quite possibly in 586BC.

There were many Obadiahs mentioned in scripture but only a few were candidates for this particular Obadiah…they are:

An Obadiah was an officer in King Ahab of Israel’s court and hid God’s prophets in a cave (1Kings 18:3) Though not impossible by any means this seems unlikely in that it seems too early.
An Obadiah was sent out by King Jehoshaphat of Judah to teach the law in the cities of Judah (2Chronicles 17:7)
An Obadiah was one of the overseers who helped repair the temple in the days of Josiah, King of Judah (2Chronicles 34:12)

At any rate he was used by God to foretell the destruction of Edom.

To jog your memory from WAY BACK in Numbers, following the event when Moses struck the rock twice out of frustration over the rebellious hearts of Israel, Moses sent a small delegation to Kadesh King of Edom requesting passage through their land and the Edomites denied Moses’ request for passage through their land and this is the account of it.

Numbers 20:14-21,

“(14) Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says, ‘You know all the hardships that have overtaken us. (15) Our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt many years, but the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. (16) When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice, sent an Angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the border of your territory. (17) Please let us travel through your land. We won’t travel through any field or vineyard, or drink any well water. We will travel the King’s Highway; we won’t turn to the right or the left until we have traveled through your territory.'” (18) But Edom answered him, “You must not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.” (19) “We will go on the main road,” the Israelites replied to them, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay its price. There will be no problem; only let us travel through on foot.” (20) Yet Edom insisted, “You must not travel through.” And they came out to confront them with a large force of heavily-armed people. (21) Edom refused to allow Israel to travel through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.”

Edom opposed Israel many times over the years…

2Chron. 20:1-27, record the infamous battle that was led with praise, during the administration of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. Edom had joined with Moab and Ammon to attack Judah in this battle.
2Kings 8:16-22 records when the Edomites rebelled against Jehoram King of Judah.
2Chron. 28:17 In the days of King Ahaz, the Edomites again attacked Judah.

So theirs was more than a passing dislike for Israel, they aggressively worked against them throughout their history.

In a forward to the book of Obadiah, F.B. Myers captured the obvious focus of this book and its primary surface lesson it teaches us by saying…

A vision was granted to Obadiah of the penalty to be meted out to Edom for his cruelty to his brother Israel. Instead of showing sympathy, the Edomites had feasted their eyes on the misery of their kinsfolk, eagerly watching for their destruction. See Numbers 20:14-21 and Psa. 137:7. But the very calamities which had befallen Jacob would visit them.

Since we know not how soon we may be called upon to suffer, we should feel compassion for rather than exultation in, the sufferings of others. Malice harbored in any form contains the seed of future suffering. The great day of God is at hand, Oba_1:15, which shall bring retribution to all who have set themselves against the kingdom of God. “When our Lord returns He will bring redemption to His saints, and His people shall possess their possessions. This suggests the solemn inquiry whether as the heirs of God, we have yet entered upon our inheritance. O happy day, when the kingdom shall be the Lord’s and we shall reign with Him!

Obadiah 1:1-21,

“(1) The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord GOD has said about Edom: We have heard a message from the LORD; an envoy has been sent among the nations: Rise up, and let us go to war against her. (2) Look, I will make you insignificant among the nations; you will be deeply despised. (3) Your presumptuous heart has deceived you, you who live in clefts of the rock in your home on the heights, who say to yourself: Who can bring me down to the ground? (4) Though you seem to soar like an eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down. This is the LORD’s declaration. (5) If thieves came to you, if marauders by night–how ravaged you will be!–wouldn’t they steal only what they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some grapes? (6) How Esau will be pillaged, his hidden treasures searched out! (7) Everyone who has a treaty with you will drive you to the border; everyone at peace with you will deceive and conquer you. Those who eat your bread will set a trap for you. He will be unaware of it. (8) In that day–the LORD’s declaration–will I not eliminate the wise ones of Edom and those who understand from the hill country of Esau? (9) Teman, your warriors will be terrified so that everyone from the hill country of Esau will be destroyed by slaughter. (10) You will be covered with shame and destroyed forever because of violence done to your brother Jacob. (11) On the day you stood aloof, on the day strangers captured his wealth, while foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them. (12) Do not gloat over your brother in the day of his calamity; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction; do not boastfully mock in the day of distress. (13) Do not enter the gate of My people in the day of their disaster. Yes, you–do not gloat over their misery in the day of their disaster and do not appropriate their possessions in the day of their disaster. (14) Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off their fugitives, and do not hand over their survivors in the day of distress. (15) For the Day of the LORD is near, against all the nations. As you have done, so it will be done to you; what you deserve will return on your own head. (16) For as you have drunk on My holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and gulp down and be as though they had never been. (17) But there will be a deliverance on Mount Zion, and it will be holy; the house of Jacob will dispossess those who dispossessed them. (18) Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame, but the house of Esau will be stubble; they will set them on fire and consume them. Therefore no survivor will remain of the house of Esau, for the LORD has spoken. (19) People from the Negev will possess the hill country of Esau; those from the Judean foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will possess the territories of Ephraim and Samaria, while Benjamin will possess Gilead. (20) The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev. (21) Saviors will ascend Mount Zion to rule over the hill country of Esau, but the kingdom will be the LORD’s.”

A few centuries after these events during the time of the Roman Empire, King Herod the Great is recorded in Luke 1:5 as an Edomite.

During the life of Paul they fought side by side with the Jews the rebellion against Rome in 66-70 A.D. Rome destroyed Edom and they have never been heard of as a people again proving the predictions of Obadiah 1:10 & 18 true.

Blessings!

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