CHAPTER 49

(600 B.C.)

PROPHECY CONCERNING THE AMMONITES

¹Concerning the Ammonites, thus says the LORD; Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? why then does their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities? (The Ammonites are the descendants of Ben-ammi, Lots younger son by his daughter [an incestuous union], born in a cave near Zoar [Gen. 19:38]. They were regarded as relatives of the Israelites, who were commanded to treat them kindly [Deut. 2:19]. This country was on the east side of the Jordan River, and bordered Moab on the south.

The Ammonites worshipped Molech [I Ki. 11:1, 5, 7, 33]. This worship was associated with the sacrifice of children in the fire [II Ki. 17:31; 23:10; Jer. 32:35].

The question, Has Israel no sons?, refers to a part of Israel which the Ammonites were occupying, but which actually was owned by the Tribe of Gad.

The question, Has he no heir?, concerns the following generation of Gadites, who should have inherited the land, but instead it was taken by the Ammonites.)

²Therefore, behold, the days come, sa ys the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them who were his heirs, says the LORD. (The chief city of Ammon was Rabbah, which the Babylonians would make a desolate heap.)

³Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, you daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together. (For their king shall go into captivity, refers to their idol god, Molech.

Howl, O Heshbon, refers to the same city, Heshbon, mentioned in the previous Chapter, which was on the Moabite and Ammonite border, and whose ownership was constantly contested between the two countries.)

⁴Wherefore gloriest you in the valleys, your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? who trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me? (The question, Who shall come unto me?, is now answered by the Prophet. The Ammonites will not escape the approaching Babylonian horde.)

⁵Behold, I will bring a fear upon you, says the Lord GOD of Hosts, from all those who be about you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him who wanders. (When Jeremiah gave this Prophecy, which was approximately 20 years before its fulfillment, the Ammonites had only that long to exist as a cohesive country. But still, just as the Moabites, they refused to repent!)

⁶And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the Children of Ammon, says the LORD. (This statement is very similar to the prediction concerning the Moabites, which, in effect, states that Ammon will also be restored in the coming Kingdom Age. Perhaps it will be because of righteous Lot [II Pet. 2:7-8].)

PROPHECY AGAINST EDOM: DESOLATION

⁷Concerning Edom, thus says the LORD of Hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished? (This Prophecy concerning Edom, which began with Esau and his country Idumea, should be read in the light of Heb. 12:16, where the Holy Spirit speaks of him as a profane person. Hence his judgment as a nation will be as final as that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Edom was situated south of Moab, with its northern extremity touching the southern end of the Dead Sea.

The idea of this Verse is that for all the vaunted wisdom of the Edomites, they could not halt the coming Babylonians.)

⁸Flee you, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him. (Edom had long been a bitter enemy of Israel, and would rejoice over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. They also showed great cruelty to the Jews who fled to them for refuge during that time. The Prophet is telling them that their rejoicing will be short-lived, because shortly after the fall of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar will take out the countries east of the Jordan River, as well!)

⁹If grapegatherers come to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough. (The argument of Verses 9 and 10 is that a grape-gatherer might leave a few grapes, or a house-breaker some pieces of property; but God, in His just severity, would absolutely extinguish Edom.)

¹⁰But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not. (His secret places referred to Petra and other mountain strongholds. And he is not, means that Edom shall cease to exist as a nation, even as Isaiah had also prophesied!)

¹¹Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in Me. (There is a promise here that the Lord will somewhat protect the women and children of Edom, a promise that was not given to Moab.)

¹²For thus says the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? you shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it. (The Lord did not plan for Israel to have to drink of the cup of judgment. However, due to their forsaking Him and going into idol worship, they have assuredly drunken.

The Lord then asks the question, If I have punished My Own, shall you go unpunished? He then answers His Own question by saying, but you shall surely drink of it!)

¹³For I have sworn by Myself, says the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. (Bozrah, a hill city, seems to have been the capital of Edom at one time.)

INVASION BY BABYLON; JUDGMENT AND FUTURE DESOLATION

¹⁴I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather you together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. (The result of these Prophecies will be the coming Babylonian horde.)

¹⁵For lo, I will make you small among the heathen, and despised among men. (Edom, for all her boasts, will be humbled, and even extinguished.)

¹⁶Your terribleness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you who dwells in the clefts of the rock, who holds the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from thence, says the LORD. (Your terribleness has deceived you, refers to the worship of her idol god, Molech. O thou who dwells in the clefts of the rock, refers to Petra, which was a secure place for Edom for many centuries, and in fact was impregnable until the Babylonians came!)

¹⁷Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one who goes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. (The astonishment is the reversal of this once flourishing kingdom.)

¹⁸As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, says the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. (The sense of this Verse does not mean that fire and brimstone will be the agents of destruction for Edom, but that the desolate appearance of Edom will remind one of the area around the Dead Sea [Isa. 13:19; Amos 4:11].)

¹⁹Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like Me? and who will appoint Me the time? and who is that shepherd who will stand before Me? (The he in the first phrase is Nebuchadnezzar. But I will suddenly make him [Nebuchadnezzar] run away from her, does not imply this Monarch being defeated; instead it actually means that he will conquer Edom speedily and then go on to other conquests.

The questions of this Verse are meant to point to the total inadequacy of the heathenistic god, Molech, while calling attention to the total supremacy of Jehovah.)

²⁰Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that He has taken against Edom; and His purposes, that He (the Lord) has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he (Nebuchadnezzar) shall make their habitations desolate with them. (The counsel of the LORD, is meant to imply that such is framed from eternity [Isa. 22:11; 37:26]; therefore, the statement does not imply a hastily called meeting, which would be incongruous to Deity.)

²¹The Earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red Sea. (The Earth is moved, refers to the extinction of Edom as a nation, with no chance of restoration.)

²²Behold, he (Nebuchadnezzar) shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. (Therefore, the last Scripture of the Prophecy concerning Edom does not close with a promised Restoration, as with Moab and Ammon, but with pain and suffering.)

PROPHECY AGAINST DAMASCUS

²³Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet. (Damascus is the capital city of Syria, one of the oldest cities in the world [Isa. 7:8]. The evil tidings, which produce the fainthearted spirit, are caused by the coming Babylonians. Syria will not escape. There is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet, probably refers to the Mediterranean, which Syria then bordered on the west.)

²⁴Damascus is waxed feeble, and turns herself to flee, and fear has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. (The picture drawn by the Holy Spirit is one of extreme anxiety, which reached from border to border.)

²⁵How is the city of praise not left, the city of My joy! (The helplessness of Damascus is the subject of the lamentation.)

²⁶Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, sa ys the LORD of Hosts. (And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, says the LORD of Hosts, refers not only to the Babylonian invasion, but to the coming Antichrist, as well. Every indication, according to Daniels Prophecies, is that the Antichrist will be a Syrian Jew [Dan. 7:24-25; 8:9; 11:40-45].)

²⁷And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad. (The name Ben-hadad was the official title of the kings of Syria [I Ki. 15:18; II Ki. 13:3].)

PROPHECY CONCERNING KEDAR AND HAZOR

²⁸Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus says the LORD; Arise you, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east. (The implication of this Verse is that the idea in the mind of Nebuchadnezzar regarding the destruction of both Kedar and Hazor was placed there by the Lord, though unknown to the monarch.)

²⁹Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their cur tains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side. (Everything will be taken by the Babylonians, including their tents and their flocks.)

³⁰Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O you inhabitants of Hazor, says the LORD; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you. (The purpose against you refers to the Will of God placed, unknown to him, in the mind of Nebuchadnezzar. His plans were no doubt different from the Lords, but Gods purposes were carried out!)

³¹Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwells without care, sa ys the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. (It was unusual in those days for cities to not have walls, but Kedar had none. They thought their peaceful intentions would preserve them from all harm. They were to be greatly disappointed!)

³²And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them who are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, says the LORD. (Repentance could have greatly lessened the blow, with Babylon even possibly granting these people a degree of autonomy. However, Repentance was not forthcoming. Therefore, judgment came, because thus says the LORD.)

³³And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation forever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it. (Nothing is said of the future of Kedar, while Hazor is consigned to desolation forever.)

PROPHECY CONCERNING ELAM: DESTRUCTION AND DISPERSION BY BABYLON

³⁴The Word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the Prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying (Elam was the name of the country originally possessed by the Persians, named after Elam, son of Shem [Gen. 10:22], which is present-day Iran. As this Prophecy predicted, it was subjected by Nebuchadnezzar, along with all other countries round about Babylon [Dan. 2:37-38].

In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, tells us that this Prophecy was given about 11 years before Jerusalem was destroyed. In fact, Elam probably fell before the destruction of Jerusalem),

³⁵Thus says the LORD of Hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. (The archers of Elam were famous for their accuracy with the bow; however, this would not help them! They would be defeated by Nebuchadnezzar.)

³⁶And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of Heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. (Upon her defeat, the phrase says, And there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. Elam will be defeated by the Babylonians, with her people fleeing to all the surrounding nations, just as many in Judah attempted to do.)

DISMAY AS JUDGMENT COMES

³⁷For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them who seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even My fierce anger, says the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them (the word evil means judgment because of the fierce anger of the Lord, caused by their sins, which were no doubt the same as the others, i.e., idol worship, etc.):

³⁸And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, says the LORD. (And I will set My throne in Elam, refers to the throne of Nebuchadnezzar, because it was God Who was giving the kingdom to the Babylonian monarch. As a result, the leadership of Elam will be no more!)

FUTURE RESTORATION OF ELAM

³⁹But if shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, says the LORD. (Elam is another of several nations God has promised to restore in the latter days, which will be the time of the Kingdom Age.)