By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher
Text: Jeremiah
49:23-39
Genesis
12:3
I
will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in
you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
(ESV)
God promises to bless those
blessing Israel and curse those cursing her (Genesis
12:3). As we live in the last days before the return of Jesus, Israel is
the center of world attention with all nations having to determine whether they
support Israel or her many enemies. When making this decision, nations should
heed the words of Genesis
12:3 and side with Israel and not against her so they experience the blessing
and not judgment and the wrath of God. Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, and Elam are
examples of peoples, cities, and nations choosing not to bless Israel, instead incurring
God’s judgment and wrath.
1)
Judgment on Damascus (Jeremiah
49:23-27) – The word of judgment against Damascus begins with Hamath and
Arpad confounded having heard bad news that causes them to melt with fear and be
troubled like a stormy sea (Jeremiah
49:23). Once famous Damascus has become feeble and full of panic when the
people turned to flee. The city is full of anguish and sorrows like a woman in
labor (Jeremiah
49:24-25). The coming judgment against Damascus will cause the young to
fall in the squares and all the city destroyed. The Lord will also kindle a
fire in the wall of the city that shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad (Jeremiah
49:26-27).
2)
Judgment on Kedar and Hazor (Jeremiah
49:28-33) – The next Word from the Lord given to Jeremiah concerns Kedar
and the kingdoms of Hazor that the king of Babylon struck down with the Lord
telling the army of Babylon to advance against Kedar (Jeremiah
49:28). The tents, flocks, curtains and all the goods of Kedar shall be
taken. Their camels will also be led away, and men shall cry to them “terror on
every side.” (Jeremiah
49:29). The inhabitants of Hazor are instructed to flee and dwell in the
depths because Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has a battle plan against
Hazor (Jeremiah
49:30). The destruction of Hazor will be complete with no man dwelling
there (Jeremiah
49:31-33).
3)
Judgment on Elam (Jeremiah
49:34-39) – During the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, a Word from the
Lord came to Jeremiah regarding judgment against Elam (Jeremiah
49:34). The Lord will break down the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their
might and scatter them to the point that there will be no nation to which those
driven out of Elam have come (Jeremiah
49:35-36). Elam will be terrified before their enemies and those seeking
their lives. The Lord will bring disaster and His fierce anger against Elam
sending the sword against them until they are consumed (Jeremiah
49:37). The Lord will set his throne in Elam, destroying their king and
officials, but in the latter days, the Lord will restore Elam’s fortunes (Jeremiah
49:38-39).
Each city or nation
listed in Jeremiah
49:23-39 has a history of mistreatment of Israel except for Elam. Damascus
was where the king of Syria brought a great number of captives taken during the
reign of Ahaz (2
Chronicles 28:1-21). Kedar does not have much mention in scripture but in Psalm
120:5-6 are mentioned among those that hate peace. Psalm
120 is one of the psalms of ascents, sung as the Jews ascended to Jerusalem
for the annual feasts to make peace with God. The mention of Kedar among those
hating peace in one of the psalms of the ascents indicates possible persecution
by those of Kedar against the Jews ascending to Jerusalem. Hazor was the
capital of Canaan at the time Joshua took Israel into the Promised Land (Joshua
11:10-11) but appears again in Judges
4:2, indicating Israel did not completely destroy them as instructed by God
(Deuteronomy
20:17). God now promises Hazor’s complete destruction (Jeremiah
49:33). While Elam has no mention in Scripture of mistreatment of Israel,
Elam is mentioned among those subjected to the cup of the Lord’s wrath (Jeremiah
25:17-26), indicating they may not have supported Israel without
mistreating them. This is possibly why God promises to restore Elam’s fortunes
since they did not mistreat them (Jeremiah
49:39). One thing these nations have in common is subjection to the wrath
of God either through mistreatment of Israel or a prophetic Word from the Lord
subjecting them to wrath.
We live in the
dispensation of grace with our salvation secured by the finished work of Jesus
on the cross and not our works (Ephesians
2:8-9). However, one must accept the gift of salvation from God and not
something one automatically receives (Romans
10:9-10). The fact that every person has sinned (Romans
3:23) means all people need salvation and are under the wrath of a death
penalty (Romans
6:23). One living his or her life without accepting God’s gift of salvation
by grace falls under condemnation (John
3:16-18) whereas one accepting God’s gift of salvation has no condemnation
(Romans
8:1). If you are reading this and have never prayed to accept Jesus as your
savior, I encourage you to do so by praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23)
and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe
you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
May God challenge and
bless everyone reading this post.
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