Jer 46:1-2
Judgments to the Nations
Outline:
I. \\#Jer 1:1-19\\ Jeremiah’s Calling
II. \\#2:1-37\\ God’s Case Against Judah
III. \\#3:1-25\\ Israel’s Three Time Zones
IV. \\#4:1-6:30\\ Sins and Judgments
V. \\#7:1-\\ Some Specific Messages
A. \\#Jer 7:1-34\\ A Message to the Religious
B. \\#Jer 8:1-22\\ A Message to the Continuous Backslider
C. \\#Jer 9:1-10:25\\ A Message to the Believer
D. \\#Jer 11:1-12:6\\ A Message About Jeremiah
E. \\#Jer 12:7-17\\ A Message to the Pastors
1. \\#Jer 12:7-9\\ An Astonishing Statement
2. \\#Jer 12:10-13\\ A Horrendous Failure
3. \\#Jer 12:14-17\\ A Strange Invitation
F. \\#Jer 13:1-7\\ A Message of Ruin
G. \\#Jer 15:15-21\\ Message to Self - Feet of Clay
H. \\#Jer 21:1-7\\ A Message to Zedekiah - The News
I. \\#Jer 22:1-2, Jer 24:1-3\\ A Message to the People -
Don’t Miss the Ride Out
J. \\#Jeremiah 25:1-3\\ A Message about Nebuchadnezzer -
The King Is Coming
H. \\#Jer 27:1-7\\ A Message to the Nations - Bad to Worse
I. \\#Jer 29:1-7\\ A Message of the Future - God's Not
Finished
J. \\#Jer 32:1-15\\ A Message of Hope - The End for the Jews
K. \\#Jer 35:1-8\\ A Message of Example - The Extent of
Disobedience
L. \\#Jer 38:1-6\\ Message with A Price - When There Is
Nothing You Can Do
M. \\#Jer 39:1-10\\ Message of Death - The Death of A Nation
N. \\#Jer 39:1-10\\ Message of Death - And It Continues
O. \\#Jer 46:1-2\\ Message to the Nations - Judgment
Tonight we look at the last section of the book of Jeremiah.
Judgments to the Nations. There have been five major sections in
this book:
I. Chapters 1-19 - Messages to Judah, No dates are given so we do
not know the chronological order.
II. Chapters 20-38 - Messages mostly associated with various kings
but still not in chronological order.
III. Chapter 39 & 52 - Details of the fall of Jerusalem
IV. Chapter 40-44 - The aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem
V. Chapter 45 - A short word regarding Baruch
VI. Chapters 46-51 - Messages to the Gentile nations. These again
cover the full length of Jeremiah’s ministry with some
prophecies having been fulfilled and some not yet fulfilled.
In this last section, Jeremiah addressed six nations (Egypt,
Philistia, Moab, Edom, Elam, and Babylon), one city (Damascus) and
one tribe of people (Kedar), a son if Ishmael who seemed to be
Bedouins who dwelt in the deserts of Saudi Arabia.
Most of the prophecies pronounced on these nations were fulfilled by
Nebuchadnezzar but some not. As is the case many times in prophecy,
it is sometimes difficult to discern which are which.
As for the time when these prophecies are given. it seems likely that
they were all given before the siege of Jerusalem began and some of
them much earlier.
1. \\#Jeremiah 46:1-2\\ was dated before the fourth year of
Jehoiakim.
2. \\#Jeremiah 49:34\\ was dated as the first year of Zedekiah.
3. \\#Jeremiah 51:59\\ was dated the fourth year of Zedekiah.
While this section could be a book within itself, I will summarize
them.
I. \\#Jer 46:1-28\\ Egypt
A. Two prophecies against Egypt.
1. \\#Jer 46:1-12\\ - Jeremiah described the defeat of
Egypt in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign.
a. That was the year Nebuchadnezzar ascended to the
Babylonian throne (605 BC). \\#Jer 25:1\\
b. It was also the year that Egypt was banging on
Babylon’s door.
c. Nebuchadnezzar ascended to the throne, defeated
Egypt, and began a conquest that took him through
Judah in 586 BC.
d. This defeat is called a "day of the Lord."
Jer 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of
hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him
of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour,
and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their
blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice
in the north country by the river Euphrates.
(1) That means that it was a day of God’s
appointed judgment.
(2) Why? For hurting Israel. In fact, Jehoiakim
had been appointed by Egypt in 608 BC.
(3) Israel may have been wicked but you still
don’t turn on Israel unless God tells you
to do so!
2. \\#Jer 46:13-28\\ Describe Egypt’s defeat when
Babylon attacked Egypt in Egypt.
a. This is the third defeat of Egypt that Jeremiah
recorded:
(1) In the 4th year of Jehoiakim in Babylon.
(2) When Egypt temporarily stopped the siege of
Jerusalem \\#Jer 37:7-8\\.
(3) And the defeat of Egypt in their land.
b. This prophecy had most likely already been given
when Johanan and the remainder of the survivors
went down into Egypt after Gedaliah was
murdered (Chapters 40-44).
B. Notice some verses:
1. The end of the battle was clearly foretold:
Jer 46:18 As I live, saith the King, whose name
is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among
the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall
he come.
19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish
thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be
waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
2. Notice God’s statement of sovereignty:
Jer 46:17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of
Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time
appointed.
a. Pharaoh and the whole nation had passed the
time God appointed for them to be a world power.
b. We remember, God sets up nations, kings, and
people, but He also takes them down!
c. While God has never said evil will not reign over
people, He has promised the evil a hard fall when
the days of their ruling are over.
3. God not only told us that Egypt would fall but that it
would survive.
Jer 46:26 And I will deliver them into the hand
of those that seek their lives, and into the
hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into
the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall
be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the
LORD.
II. Philistia \\#Jer 47:1-7\\
A. There is not much real meat given in this section. Mostly
just a general statement that God would destroy the land.
Jer 47:4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil
all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus
and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the
LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of
the country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut
off with the remnant of their valley: how long
wilt thou cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be
ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy
scabbard, rest, and be still.
1. This generic type of prophecy is what makes up the
majority of these chapters.
2. They are picturesque prophecies hinting at the
magnitude of destruction more than giving details of
it.
B. However, in doing some research on it, I found an article
by a archeologist who worked in one of the five major
cities of Philistia, Ekron.
I learned the Bible stories as a youth, but it
was not until the summer of 1990 that the
devastation caused by Nebuchadnezzar became very
real to me. One of the areas that I supervised at
Ekron that summer was in field INW, the upper
city. Due to the steep slope of this area, the
Ekronites built huge terrace walls and then
constructed their buildings against the walls in
a stepped-down fashion. We began excavating a
room built against one of these terrace walls….
…the effects of the fire that destroyed this
room made at least as lasting an impression on us
as the abundance of good pottery specimens. The
fire next to this terrace wall had been hotter
than the fire in the middle of the room, and as
the flames shot up against the wall the soil on
the other side of it was blackened. We found
shreds of limestone everywhere in the room, and
we wondered where they had come from. It took a
few days to figure out that the fire had been so
intense and the limestone the walls were made of
had become so hot that shreds of it began to pop
off the boulders and shoot across the room until
eventually its side walls collapsed. We also
recovered a large quantity of animal bones there,
many of them distinguished by their hardness and
grey color, which are additional signs of an
extremely hot fire.
The huge city of Ekron and its olive oil industry
had been completely destroyed, and the evidence
of this destruction could be seen wherever we
excavated. Ekron has not been occupied again as a
city or even as a village in the twenty-six
hundred years since, and for this reason the
olive industry vats and basins, the four-horned
altars, the thousands of ceramic vessels, and
other seventh-century artifacts lie close to the
surface or are even poking through the surface.
Philistia disappeared as a nation after the
destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, its people taken
into captivity. It never recovered its glory of
the previous six hundred years.
Whereas some of the Jews returned to Jerusalem,
there is no record of Philistines returning home.
http://www.phoenixdatasystems.com/
III. \\#Jer 48:1-47\\ Moab
A. God gave a particularly long prophecy on Moab’s
destruction; yet, like the remainder of this section,
there are not a lot of specific prophecies.
B. It is interesting to note that a lot of cities are
mentioned in this chapter as being destroyed, leaving no
doubt that Moab was totally and thoroughly destroyed.
C. Some of the prophecies:
Jer 48:2 There shall be no more praise of
Moab….
Jer 48:4 Moab is destroyed….
Her 48:42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being
a people, because he hath magnified himself
against the LORD.
1. Notice that the reason for Moab’s destruction is given.
a. They were destroyed because of the pride against
the Lord.
b. That is also stated in vs. 26.
Jer 48:26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified
himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow
in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
2. Moab was not destroyed because of what it did to
Israel, but because it set himself against Jehovah.
3. Can any nation stand for long…
a. Who denies the existence of God?
b. Who blasphemies God?
c. Who disobeys His commands and persecutes His
people?
D. There is one very interesting prophecy which is end time.
Jer 48:47 Yet will I bring again the captivity
of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus
far is the judgment of Moab.
1. The phrase "bring back the captivity" means release
from captivity.
2. The time period that God was speaking of is given in
the text, "the latter days."
3. Today, the land of Moab is part of Jordan and there are
no Moabites. While there are excavations going on in
the land, I could not find anything that related to
the Bible.
4. Yet. some of those people still exist and are among
those calling for a Palestinian state.
5. At some point, they will either get their state or one
like it for the people of Moab still have a destiny
to fulfill.
IV. Ammon \\#Jer 49:1-6\\
A. Ammon is also part of present day Jordan.
B. One major prophecy for the future.
Jer 49:6 And afterward I will bring again the
captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the
LORD.
C. The phrase "in the latter days" is not used of this nation
so God may have been speaking of them returning to the
land after the Babylonian captivity.
D. Ammon was mentioned historically though the inter-
testament period of the Maccabees so they did survive the
Babylonian conquest.
V. Edom \\#Jer 49:7-22\\
A. Edom is the last nation that makes up Jordan.
B. Edom and its major cities were to be desolate
\\#Jer 49:13, 17\\.
C. Yet, he was to survive in some form.
Jer 49:15 For, lo, I will make thee small among
the heathen, and despised among men.
D. To be small and despised is to exist.
V. Damascus, a city \\#Jer 49:23-27\\
A. Damascus was the capital of the northern kingdom, Israel.
B. That means it was a wicked city filled with false worship
for that is all the northern kingdom ever did.
C. Today it is the capital of Syria, a nation which still
hates Israel.
D. God spoke of destroying it and as far as we know, those
prophecies have all been fulfilled.
VI. Kedar \\#Jer 49:28-33\\
A. The best I can tell these were Bedouins who inhabited
Saudi Arabia.
B. I do not know of any particular sin these committed
although they may have been marauders.
C. By giving them to Nebuchadnezzar, God was giving Saudi
Arabia to him.
VII. Elam (Persia, Iran) \\#Jer 49:34-35\\ Two major prophecies
are given:
A. \\#Jer 49:34-38\\ God will destroy and scatter Elam.
1. Included in this prophecy are some powerful
statements:
a. \\#Jer 49:35\\ He will break their bow.
b. \\#Jer 49:36\\ He will scatter them to the four
winds.
c. \\#Jer 49:37\\ God will set His throne up in
their land to destroy them.
2. While we do not know for certain, it would appear that
these prophecies could have all been fulfilled.
B. God will use Elam (Iran) yet again in the future.
Jer 49:39 But it shall come to pass in the
latter days, that I will bring again the
captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
1. Here again, we have the time reference "in the
latter days."
2. We do not know for certain when God means to
fulfill this but if it is anytime soon, it
will likely be as a religious nation.
3. Iran is Muslim today.
VIII. Babylon, Chapters 50-51
A. Jeremiah gave his longest and strongest condemnation to
the nation of Babylon.
1. So far, every prophecy that can I recall relating to
Babylon by Jeremiah is one that gave Babylon the
victory.
Jer 51:7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the
LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the
nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the
nations are mad.
2. These two chapters tell us the rest of the story.
B. Jeremiah already told us that Babylon would hold Israel
for 70 years \\#Jer 25:11-12, 29:10\\, but what about
after that?
C. In a summary, God had plans:
1. A force from the north would destroy them.
Jer 50:3 For out of the north there cometh up a
nation against her, which shall make her land
desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they
shall remove, they shall depart, both man and
beast.
a. That direction is key for it is mentioned three
more times \\#Jer 50:9, 41, 51:48\\.
b. Persia, Babylon’s conquerors, were from the north.
2. Jeremiah even gave the nation of people that would
come against Babylon.
Jer 51:11 Make bright the arrows; gather the
shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of
the kings of the Medes: for his device is
against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is
the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of
his temple.
3. And Jeremiah gave the reason why God would so judge
Babylon.
a. In part is was because of the evil that they had
done to Jerusalem. \\#Jer 51:49\\
Jer 51:24 And I will render unto Babylon and to
all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil
that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith
the LORD.
b. And it was because of their pride against God.
Jer 50:29 …for she hath been proud against the
LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
4. Daniel does not give us the details of Babylon’s fall,
but if these prophecies were fulfilled at that time,
which we know they were in part, then it was a
bloodily battle.
Jer 50:29 Call together the archers against
Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against
it round about; let none thereof escape:
recompense her according to her work; according
to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she
hath been proud against the LORD, against the
Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the
streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off
in that day, saith the LORD.
Jer 51:4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land
of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust
through in her streets.
Jer 51:8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and
destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain,
if so be she may be healed.
D. Not all of the prophecies of Babylon have been fulfilled.
1. A major prophecy concerning Babylon has never been
fulfilled.
Jer 50:13 Because of the wrath of the LORD it
shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly
desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall
be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
Jer 50:40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD;
so shall no man abide there, neither shall any
son of man dwell therein.
Jer 51:29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow:
for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed
against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a
desolation without an inhabitant.
2. That being the case, at least some of the death and
destruction pronounced upon Babylon MAY not have been
fulfilled by Persia.
3. However, it is more likely that much of it was.
There is one more nation mentioned in this section but it is not
Gentile. Israel is mentioned as being restored and returned to the
land and forgiven for their sin \\#Jer 46:27-28, 50:19-20\\.
IX. What does all of this teach us?
A. It teaches us that God is sovereign.
1. That is it teaches us that God is in control.
2. Some people believe that the sovereignity of God means
that God makes all of the decisions.
3. I don’t think that is the case. I think it means that
no matter what decision we make, God is still in
control.
4. No matter what Israel did, no matter what the
Philistines, the Edomites, the Moabites, the
Ammonites. Persia, Babylon or anyone else did, God
was in control!
5. He was going to bring Israel to Himself, punish sin,
and exalt Himself and it did not matter what else
happened.
B. It teaches us that while God may use a nation to judge
Israel, that nation is still responsible for how it
treats Israel.
1. God called and created Babylon to scourge Israel.
2. That did not allow them to be excessive in what they
did to Israel and it certainly did not allow them to
be arrogant against God.
3. God has had an end time plan for a long time!
a. We know God has always intended to bring Israel to
Himself.
b. Once Jesus died, we also know He set Israel aside
and turned to the church.
c. What we may not have realized is that God also set
aside the judgment He had reserved for the
nations who had afflicted Israel!
d. Just as God has brought the nation of Israel back
into existence, so He will bring some form of
those nations back into existence so that He can
execute His justice upon them!
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