#1107 Jeremiah 47 To Gaza

 

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.

2 “Thus says the Lord:

Behold, waters are rising out of the north,

and shall become an overflowing torrent;

they shall overflow the land and all that fills it,

the city and those who dwell in it.

Men shall cry out,

and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.

3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,

at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,

the fathers look not back to their children,

so feeble are their hands,

4 because of the day that is coming to destroy

all the Philistines,

to cut off from Tyre and Sidon

every helper that remains.

For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,

the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.

5 Baldness has come upon Gaza;

Ashkelon has perished.

O remnant of their valley,

how long will you gash yourselves?

6 Ah, sword of the Lord!

How long till you are quiet?

Put yourself into your scabbard;

rest and be still!

7 How can it be quiet

when the Lord has given it a charge?

Against Ashkelon and against the seashore

he has appointed it.” Jeremiah 47 ESV

Jeremiah 47 Concerning the Philistines

Before Pharaoh struck down Gaza - The Philistines were ancient enemies of Israel.

Philistines and David

“In verse 1 the reference is to Pharaoh Neco’s campaign of 609 bc, which had a twofold purpose: to prop up a tottering Assyria against a powerful Babylonia, thus maintaining the balance of power; to extend his own empire in a time of international chaos.” (Cundall)

iii. “The Greek historian Herodotus records a tradition that after the battle at Megiddo, Neco overthrew Kadytis, which is usually identified with the Philistine city of Gaza.” (Cundall)

Waters are rising out of the north - The Nile to the south would be representative of Egypt, and the waters from the north, the great Euphrates would represent Babylon. The Babylonian force would be so large as to seem like flood upon the land, one of the greatest symbols of massive destruction.

The fathers look not back to their children - The terror is so great that the protectors will not even think to go back for their children. Wherever they are, from there they will flee, and that paternal instinct will be so dampened as to have no natural affection left. You see such now with the tide of popular thought, social justice, fear of losing one's job for saying what is true. Men shut their mouths and leave their children defenseless. We tremble at the sight of so little and so temporary, but are not moved by the thought of He Who is eternal and Holy.

Baldness has come upon Gaza - A sign of mourning.

“They have cut off their hair in token of deep sorrow and distress.” (Clarke)

 

How can it be quiet - We want the sword to stop, to be put back in it's place of rest, not to see it drawn, but it is under command of the Creator, so it must finish out it's appointed time.

The sword of the Lord did its work in history. “A Babylonian prism, now in Istanbul, mentions the presence – presumably with little choice in the matter – of the kings of Tyre and Sidon, of Gaza, and of Ashdod, at the court of Nebuchadnezzar, while a prison list now in Berlin records the rations for the king of Ashkelon, among other noted prisoners (including Jehoiachin of Judah).” (Kidner)