Jeremiah 49:1

The Bible says in Jeremiah 49:1-6, “Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?[2] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith 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 that were his heirs, saith the LORD.[3] Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye 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.[4] Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?[5] Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.[6] And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.” Back when the children of Israel entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, God told them to conquer all of the heathen people and to take over all of the land. The Israelites never fulfilled that command. Some of the heathen people and their heathen influence always remained around them. Christians today have the same problem. We are told to be separate from the world. It says in Second Corinthians 6:14-18, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?[15] And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?[16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.[17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,[18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

One of the main reasons that the Israelites failed so greatly is because they adopted some of the practices of the heathen. The Israelites even started worshipping at the altar of the false deities such as Baal. Why did such failures happen? They happened because the heathen were still among them. You cannot serve Jesus in this world unless you learn how to separate from unbelievers. You separate from unbelievers by teaching them the Gospel of Christ instead of letting them teach you their ways.

The Israelites failed, but God does not fail. The Israelites did not cast out the people of Ammon, but this judgment in Jeremiah chapter 49 tells us that God would cast them out. They deserved to be cast out because of their sins. The story of the human race is the story of failure. Even that which appears to be a success ends up failing because it is man doing it. Whatever man does ends in failure. The whole march of human history is heading towards one great and final failure. You can read about it in the book of Revelation. Thank God that He has come as Savior. Even large churches are often failures because human beings get the credit for what is done, or compromise is used to attract greater numbers, or they fall away in to false doctrine. Man always fails, but God will always succeed. Jesus is the Savior. He not only saves our souls, but He accomplishes every deed that we should have done. The work is of God. That is exactly the message of Jeremiah 49:2, “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith 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 that were his heirs, saith the LORD”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 49:7-14, “Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?[8] Flee ye, 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.[9] If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till 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 seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.[11] Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.[12] For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.[13] For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.[14] I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.” The first thing said about the Edomites was that they had lost all their wisdom. That is why the Lord said in Jeremiah 49:7, “Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?” What was the evidence that they had no wisdom? The fact that they had not repented and turned to the Lord proved that they had no wisdom. The most important thing for every soul is to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus for salvation. Everyone who turns to Jesus is wise indeed, and everyone who refuses to turn to Jesus is very foolish. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:[14] Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Evidently not many people have wisdom from God and therefore are in the same dangerous position that Edom was in. It says about the wisdom of the world in First Corinthians 1:18-25, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.[19] For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.[20] Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?[21] For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.[22] For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:[23] But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;[24] But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.[25] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 49:15-22, “For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men.[16] Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.[17] Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.[18] As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.[19] Behold, 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 that will stand before me?[20] Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.[21] The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.[22] Behold, he 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.” Once again the Edomites are told that they are being judged because of their pride. It speaks in Jeremiah 49:16 of “the pride of thine heart.” The wrong kind of pride will make you think that you are something that you are not. The wrong kind of pride will keep you from turning to the Lord. It says in Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” It also says in Proverbs 6:16-19, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:[17] A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,[18] An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,[19] A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

Jeremiah 49:18 starts with the phrase, “As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.” Of course, we all know that is cannot be good if God compares a culture to Sodom and Gomorrah. One of the most thorough and sudden destructions that have taken place on the earth as a result of judgment had to do with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The characteristics of Sodom and Gomorrah were: 1. It was a place of prosperity. It says in Genesis 13:10, “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.” 2. It was a place of great wickedness. It says in Genesis 13:13, “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” 3. It was a place destroyed by God’s judgment. It says in Genesis 19:24, “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;” 4. Sodom and Gomorrah now symbolize great wickedness, especially sexual perversion, followed by God’s judgment. It says in Deuteronomy 23:17, “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.” It says in First Kings 14:24, “And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.” When Israel turned away from God, they became a wicked nation that was compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. It says in Isaiah 1:9-10, “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.[10] Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.” The final destruction of Babylon is compared to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It says in Isaiah 13:19, “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” Many of the prophets referred to Sodom and Gomorrah. The following all mentioned the two infamous cities: Moses, the writer of First Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Zephaniah. Jesus referred to Sodom and Gomorrah several times and Jesus said about those who reject the Gospel of Christ in Matthew 10:14-15, “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.[15] Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.” Paul, Peter, and Jude all referred to Sodom and Gomorrah in their writings, and the Apostle John compared Jerusalem to the city of Sodom, and John wrote in Revelation 11:8, “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”

There is only one escape from a judgment similar to the one that befell Sodom and Gomorrah: repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness while there is time.

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