Call to Commitment

 

Ammon, Edom (Moab, Philistia)

 Chapter 49

 

 Ammon, son of Lot (Verses 1 – 6)

 1. Against the Ammonites. Thus says the LORD: "Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Milcom inherit Gad, And his people dwell in its cities?

 2.      Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will cause to be heard an alarm of war In Rabbah of the Ammonites; It shall be a desolate mound, And her villages shall be burned with fire. Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance," says the LORD. 

 3.      "Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is plundered! Cry, you daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth! Lament and run to and fro by the walls; For Milcom shall go into captivity With his priests and his princes together. 

  4.      Why do you boast in the valleys, Your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? Who trusted in her treasures, saying, 'Who will come against me?' 

  5.      Behold, I will bring fear upon you," Says the Lord GOD of hosts, "From all those who are around you; You shall be driven out, everyone headlong, And no one will gather those who wander off.  

6.      But afterward I will bring back The captives of the people of Ammon," says the LORD. 

Genesis 19 tells the story of Lot, first of all, how angels rescued him from Sodom (1-22). It goes on to tell of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (23-29) and finally relates the story that concerns us in this chapter and the one before it (30-38). We remember how Lot was blessed in the Promised Land, his possessions multiplying, until there was not room in the land for both Abraham and him. Abraham advised him to choose a land for himself and Lot chose the plain of the Jordan River, but in his nomadic lifestyle, he journeyed as far east as Sodom, an extremely sinful city.

 God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot flees for his life, along with his daughters, but his wife looked back to the city, where they had left all their possessions, and she was consumed by the destruction. Again, remember that Jesus instructed us concerning the danger, which is also sin, of looking back towards our former lifestyle and fortune… “Remember Lot’s wife”.  Lot is afraid of the mountain country, where his safety lies, and begs the angels to let him reside in Zoar, at the end of the valley. However, in time, Lot’s fear of Zoar, was greater than his fear of the mountains, so the three went to live in a mountain cave, apparently stripped of all his possessions.

 This man, who had prospered so wonderfully in Canaan, now lives in a cave, destitute of flocks, herds, tents or servants. His chosen land, with its cities, has been destroyed. In the last chapter, we learned of the plot of the daughters of Lot, who persuaded their father to drink until he became totally drunken. It was this part of the sin, with which he cooperated.  Perhaps, it was not difficult for him, after he was brought to poverty. 

 

 We learned of their plan to commit incest, justifying the plan as necessary, in order that their father’s name would be preserved. Here we learn a principle… no matter how legitimate the justification may seem to be, sin continues to be sin. The sisters may have learned of this perversion from the women in Sodom, which should teach us how Christian children must be protected from the evil world that surrounds them.

 In this way, Moab was conceived in the older sister and, within 24 hours, her younger sister conceived and gave birth to Ben-Ammi, meaning ‘Son of my People’. He was the ancestor of the Ammonites, to whom Jeremiah directed this prophecy. They took advantage of Israel’s defeat, including that of the tribes, Gad. Ruben and Mannaseh, east of the Jordan River. Ammon rushed in to take possession of the land that Gad had legitimately gained.

 The Lord asks two questions, which concern the future and God’s eternal promise and care of Israel. Will God cut off these sons of Israel, which inhabited the territory near Ammon? Will they be without a future inheritance? Will they not return from Babylon to possess anew their lands? The great sin of the Ammonites was to take advantage of Israel’s weakness, dispossessing the tribes of the Lord.

 Chemosh was the chief god of the Moabites, as Milcom or Melchom was the god of the Ammonites. It was a spiritual reality that Milcom was usurping the kingdom of Jehovah. A more common name for this god was Molech, to whom his worshipers sacrificed their children. As Chemosh was accompanied by its priests and princes, so will Milcom go into captivity with priests and princes. The Lord will take back His inheritance and leave Rabbah, the royal city, a mound, and burn its villages with fire. Nebuchadnezzar first attacked Ai of Ammon and nearby Heshbon will suffer defeat next.

 The descendants of Lot’s younger daughter, have turned their backs on Lot’s Jehovah and have given their devotion to Molech. Ammon trusts in its treasure to buy deliverance from its enemies. That confidence will turn to fear, when its people will be driven from their land to wander aimlessly. However, the mercy of God manifests itself, as it did to Ammon’s brother, Moab. The Lord will bring the captives back to their land.

 

Judgment against Edom (Verses 7 – 22)

 7.      Against Edom. Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? 

 8.      Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, The time that I will punish him. 

 9.      If grape-gatherers came to you, Would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, Would they not destroy until they have enough? 

 10.  But I have made Esau bare; I have uncovered his secret places, And he shall not be able to hide himself. His descendants are plundered, His brethren and his neighbors, And he is no more. 

 11.  Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; And let your widows trust in Me." 

 12.  For thus says the LORD: "Behold, those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk. And are you the one who will altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it. 

 13.  For I have sworn by Myself," says the LORD, "that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be perpetual wastes." 

 14.  I have heard a message from the LORD, And an ambassador has been sent to the nations: "Gather together, come against her, And rise up to battle! 

 15.  "For indeed, I will make you small among nations, Despised among men. 

 16.  Your fierceness has deceived you, The pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Who hold the height of the hill! Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there," says the LORD. 

 17.  "Edom also shall be an astonishment; Everyone who goes by it will be astonished And will hiss at all its plagues. 

 18.  As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah And their neighbors," says the LORD, "No one shall remain there, Nor shall a son of man dwell in it. 

 19.  "Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan Against the dwelling place 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? Who will arraign Me? And who is that shepherd Who will withstand Me?" 

 20.  Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that He has taken against Edom, And His purposes that He has proposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; Surely He shall make their dwelling places desolate with them. 

 21.  The earth shakes at the noise of their fall; At the cry its noise is heard at the Red Sea. 

 22.  Behold, He shall come up and fly like the eagle, And spread His wings over Bozrah; The heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall be Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs. 

 These countries are all descendants of Abraham and his nephew, Lot. The next nation, Edom, is the land of the sons of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. They are all coming under judgment. Whatever wisdom that Edom obtained from his father, Isaac, or his mother, Rebekah, is decaying into pagan insanity. Teman is one of Edom’s chief cities. Dedan is a tribe, which will resort to deep caves, which abound in their land. Dedan descended from Abraham and his second wife, Keturah, after Sarah’s death. Edom’s judgment will reach Dedan, as well, for the sin of Esau has continued until the end of their history.

 God’s judgment goes beyond that of thieves, which take what they want and leave the rest, but not so with the Lord. His punishment is infinite and it will leave the country barren. Vegetation disappears and destroys all hiding places. Notice again how the sin of Esau persists in his descendants and extends to his brothers and neighbors, such as Dedan, until there is no sign of the patriarch, Esau.

 Notice the principle of God’s oath or vow: Men, who swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, do so in the name of a higher power. He must speak above the lies and deceit of fallen men. The practice is absolutely unnecessary in God’s case, because He cannot lie or deceive. There is nothing in His nature, which would cause Him to do so, but still, He insists on confirmation of His word. It is provided for the unbelieving nature of man, which is slow to receive His truth. However, since there is no one higher than He, to whom He can swear, He swears by Himself. This is an amazing mystery, giving wonderful assurance to His promises!  

 In this case He speaks and confirms that Bozrah, a principal city in Edom, will be desolate, a reproach, a waste and a curse, becoming forever a useless wasteland. In these days, I hear of rejoicing in the slaughter of Jewish babies, in the rape of Jewish women, in decapitation and unbelievable cruelty, and thereby I can understand the cruelty of Edom, which rejoiced in the suffering of Israel. Now there is also joy in the church, thinking that she has taken the place of Israel in the heart of God. How deep is the devilish hatred of God’s chosen people of promise!

 Verses 14 – 17 remain fixed in my memory from earlier studies; the heights of Edom will know judgment and defeat. God has sent a spiritual ambassador to gather the nations against her in battle. Edom will become small and despised, although deceiving themselves in an egotistical delusion of grandeur. Does any bird build higher nests than the eagle? The Lord uses their high places to illustrate Edom’s heights and the higher elevations of their proud heart. The nations will be astounded at their humiliation. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has a part in the beginning of this chapter, because they were cities, in which Lot lived. Imagine the contrast between the heights of Edom and the extreme lowlands of Sodom and Gomorrah… the lowest place on the planet. The lowlands and the heights fall equally before the judgment of God and in both places, no one remains.

 Imagine the fall, with such intensity, of a nation, so that the news shakes the earth, as far as the Red Sea. The consciousness of a bird, who is prey to the eagle, describes the heart of the Edomite in that day. Or it is like the birth pangs of a woman, who cannot escape or detain them. Or, as in verse 19, it is like a lion come upon a flock of sheep without a shepherd. The heart of the mightiest men of Edom will know fear under God’s judgment. 

 

Judgment against Damascus (verses 23 – 27)

 24.  Damascus has grown feeble; She turns to flee, And fear has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor. 

 25.  Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy? 

26.  Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day," says the LORD of hosts. 

 27.  "I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad." 

Damascus

Damascus is one of the most ancient capital cities of the world, which survives today as the capital of Syria. It appears in the book of Genesis (14:15) and continues throughout the books of the history of the kings of Israel. We see it in the major and the minor prophets and then we read in the New Testament that Saul of Tarsis went to Damascus to continue his persecution of Christians. He wanted to stir up opposition against them there. Saul was not satisfied to extinguish Christianity in Israel, but went outside to this Gentile, pagan city, hoping to imprison them, or better yet, to persecute them to the death. It was on his way to Damascus that the Lord Jesus Christ arrested him and turned him into His ambassador.

 Hamath and Arpad are cities in Syria, as well. Their destruction took place about five years after the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, at the same time as Moab also was attacked. Many years later, Alexander the Great attacked Damascus, where Darius the Persian had stored many treasures and then he went 150 miles north to attack Hamath. The smaller city of Hamath is fainthearted because of the trouble of its much larger neighbor, Damascus. There is an upheaval, like a storm on the sea, that cannot be quieted. Damascus, within Syria, is bordered on the west by the narrow country of Jordan, and is only about 50 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. 

 Damascus is captivated by fear of the oncoming Babylonian army, and is powerless to defend itself; instead, it turns to flee. The Bible commonly uses the phrase, “like a woman in labor”. It is a state, in which, once it has begun, there is no escape from the anguish and sorrow, so the person can only yield to it. It is a city of self-praise and it is supposed to be a citizen of the city or perhaps the king of Syria, who speaks of “the city of my joy.” Because the city is not evacuated, her young men fall in the streets and the lives of the men of war are lost.

 Ben-hadad was a title in Syria, something like the Pharaoh in Egypt. As Pharaoh was considered the choice of the gods, it is probable that Hadad also represents deity. In any case, Hadad represents the line of Syrian kings, and Ben is a Hebrew word meaning Son. Therefore, Ben-hadad implies a son of the royal line, which had his palaces in Damascus. These palaces were the places, where the kings of Syria planned their attacks against Israel, and God is going to destroy it by fire.

  

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor (verses 28 – 33)

 28. Against Kedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shallstrike. Thus says the LORD: "Arise, go up to Kedar, And devastate the men of the East!

29. Their tents and their flocks they shall take away. They shall take for themselves their curtains, all their vessels and their camels; And they shall cry out to them, 'Fear is on every side!'

 30.  "Flee, get far away! Dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Hazor!" says the LORD. "For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, And has conceived a plan against you. 

 31.  "Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely," says the LORD, "Which has neither gates nor bars, Dwelling alone. 

 32.  Their camels shall be for booty, And the multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will scatter to all winds those in the farthest corners, And I will bring their calamity from all its sides," says the LORD. 

33.  "Hazor shall be a dwelling for jackals, a desolation forever; No one shall reside there, Nor son of man dwell in it." 

Kedar & Elam

We continue to see that the Lord holds all the nations, and not only the Jews, responsible for their sins. “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law” (Ro.2:12). We take two other nations into account, which Nebuchadnezzar has in his sights: Kedar and Hazor.

 Kedar is a son of Ishmael and his descendants form a nation after his name, so once again, we observe a people that is related to Abraham. Kedar was a nomadic people, who wandered in the territory southeast of Israel, later a province of Rome, called Arabia Petraea. The Scripture gives a few characteristics of them in Psalm 120:5… “Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!” and Song of Solomon 1:5… “I am dark, but lovely, o daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar.”

 Hazor is from the same region with similar habits. They also did not reside in cities, but were a combination of clans, each under its own sheik. The Chaldeans came, ordered by the Lord, because these nations are also guilty before Him: “Arise, go up to Kedar, and devastate the men of the East!” They are not attacking them for their treasures of money, gold or silver. They had none, but they were wealthy as shepherds, having amassed livestock, such as camels, herds and flocks. Apparently, their tents, covered with curtains, are of valuable material, and their pottery is also valuable.  

 Nebuchadnezzar saw their wealth and will soon surround their tents. Kedar and Hazor lived apart from other people, isolated, and they were not envied; in this circumstance, they lived securely, satisfied with the prosperity of their livestock. Now, however, the emperor is on his way to invade these, who are unprotected by bars, gates or city walls.

 There is always a psychological part of warfare and the Chaldeans have learned to use it. Fear is a weapon and they cry to Kedar and Hazor to fear them and flee far away, deep into the desert.  For this reason, they do not resist and we do not read of the sword, but only the loss of their possessions.  They also lose their lifestyle and are cast into the far corners of the world, living among the rest of the nations, from that time on. Their former, open area of the world, in their absence, became desolate, a lair for wild animals, without human inhabitants.

 

Judgment on Elam (verses 34 – 39)

34. The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

 35.  "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, The foremost of their might. 

 36.  Against Elam I will bring the four winds From the four quarters of heaven, And scatter them toward all those winds; There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go. 

 37.  For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies And before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, My fierce anger,' says the LORD; 'And I will send the sword after them Until I have consumed them. 

 38.  I will set My throne in Elam, And will destroy from there the king and the princes,' says the LORD. 

 39.  'But it shall come to pass in the latter days: I will bring back the captives of Elam,' says the LORD."

 

It was part of the culture of Elam to produce archers in the mountains, I would imagine for the purpose of hunting. However, under its government, they became expert in archery warfare, and the bow became their national weapon.   God is going to attack them at the place, in which their strength lies, “I will break the bow of Elam, the foremost of their might.”

The fate, prophesied against them is very similar to that of Kedar and Hazon: “I will… scatter them toward all those winds; there shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go,” in the 127 provinces of Babylon. The enemy is the same, made up of soldiers from every nation and every direction. Elam is against a foe that they have not faced before and they are dismayed. The Chaldeans are soldiers, who mean to take lives without mercy, and disaster is about to fall on Elam. The Babylonian sword will consume them.