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Day 254: Judgement of Nations
Jeremiah 47 - 48
Chapter 47: Prophecy Against the Philistines
Jeremiah 47:1-7 ~ Jeremiah's Oracle for the Philistines
The oracles in 47:2, 48:40; 49:1, 7, 12, 28, 35; 50:18, 33; 51:1, 33, 36, and 58 all begin with the familiar oracle announcement: "Yahweh says this" (with some variations). The first oracle is dated to before the Egyptians attacked Gaza, possibly referring to Pharaoh Necho II's campaign when he came up the coast and fought King Josiah at Megiddo in 609 BC (2 Kng 23:29-30.
The Philistines were in Canaan before the Israelite conquest of the Promised Land (Gen 21:32; 26:1, 8, 14, 15, 18). However, they didn't arrive in great numbers until about the time of the conquest when catastrophic events (natural and political) forced a great migration out of the islands of the Aegean and Greece. The Philistines established the four independent city-states of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Ashdod along the coast of the Levant. These city-states were a continual threat and a "thorn in the side" of Israel. All four cities are named in Chapter 25:20 in the introduction to the prophecies against the nations (Chapter 25:1-38).
The oracle vividly describes the sounds of the cries of the people and the rumbling "thunder" of hoof-beats of the advancing chariot horses and the grinding of the chariot wheels. The people are so weak with fear that they fail to protect their children. In the pagan practice, they shave their heads and gash themselves as signs of mourning and lamentation (verse 5).
In verse 4, the "Isle of Caphtor" is the traditional place of origin for the Philistines (Amos 9:7). It is usually identified as the island of Crete and the other islands of the Aegean Sea. Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician city-states and allies of the Philistines that were trading centers on the coast to the north of Philistia.
Chapter 48: Prophecy Against Moab
Jeremiah 48:1-2 ~ Oracle of Destruction for Moab
The territory of Moab was on a high plateau on the east side of the Jordan River across from Judah and south of Ammon in what was called the Transjordan. The cities swept up in the invasion covered the entire length and breathe of the country. Nebo likely refers to Mount Nebo, the highest mountain in Moab (Dt 34:1), and its nearby city. Mount Nebo is where Moses viewed the Promised Land just before his death (Dt 32:49; 34:1). Heshbon was the nation's capital. "Madmen" is a city that deceives itself into thinking it will escape, but no one will escape. The verbs "shamed" and broken," describing the condition of the Moabites, are paired in verses 1, 20, and 39.
Question: According to Genesis, what was the origin of the Moabites? See Gen 19:31-37.
Answer: The people of Moab were descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot through his incestuous union with his elder daughter.
Jeremiah 48:3-10 ~ Moab's Cry
The slope of Luhith is thought to be the road that led from the Moabite highlands down to the Jordan River Valley near the Dead Sea (also see Is 15:5). Horonaim is a Moabite city mentioned again in verses 5 and 34, in Isaiah 15:5, and on the Moabite Stone, a stele set up by King Mesha of Moab in circa 840 BC.
The words in verse 6 are a curse on those running away when capture is inevitable. Chemosh in verse 7 was the national god of the Moabites, and the image of this false god will go into exile in Babylon with the people. The Valley and the Plain are the location of Moabite cities by the Dead Sea and the site of ancient devastation of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the Plain in Genesis 19.
10 Accursed be he who does Yahweh's work negligently! Accursed be he who deprives his sword of blood!
The curse in verse 10 identifies the destruction of Moab as Yahweh's work and recalls the covenant curses for disobedience (Dt 27:15-26 and Jer 11:3). Notice that the oracle of destruction follows a progression: first there is destruction in Moab's northern cities, then farther south, and then there is a return to the northern plateau region, and a judgment on the valley at the north end of the Dead Sea. All of Moab will come to widespread destruction.
Jeremiah 48:11-13 ~ Moab in the Past
Jeremiah builds his assessment of Moab's fortunate past history and Yahweh's promise of divine judgment by using the metaphor of wine-making. Moab was famous for its vineyards and wine (Jer 48:32-33). The basic operations of vinification included harvesting the grapes, crushing the grapes in a vat by treading the grapes, fermentation, filtration, filling and storage in bottles or jugs. Left undisturbed for a time on its lees (sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the container), the wine gains in strength and grows in flavor and fragrance. When fermentation is nearly complete, the wine is separated from its lees (sediment). Then it is filtered through linen, after which it is sealed in wineskins or jars with stoppers and stored. The wine cannot be left exposed to air or it will turn to vinegar, and it cannot be left too long in its lees or it will go bad.
Jeremiah 48:14-20 ~ The Disaster for Moab is Near
The Moabite soldiers make an empty boast, and Yahweh challenges them in verse 14 (also see 29). It is Yahweh of the heavenly host who comes against them and brings their ruin. The city of Dibon, sitting like a royal daughter above the Arnon River, is told to come down from her regal height and stand with daughters of the city of Aroer by the road like a thirsty captive. Verse 20 is the second repeat of the verbs broken and shamed (see verse 1).
Jeremiah 48:21-27 ~ The Strength of Moab is Cut Off
Verses 21-24 are in prose, 25 is poetry, and 26-27 return to prose. Archaeologists have not identified many of the towns named in verses 21-24. "Horn" and "arm" in verse 25 are common Biblical metaphors for strength and power.
"The Plain" refers to the northern plateau region of Moab from the Arnon River nearly to the capital of Heshbon. However, the point is the total devastation of Moab and her people. The Moabites laughed at the Judaeans in their misery, and now they will experience the same humiliations of defeat, captivity, and exile.
Jeremiah 48:28-33 ~ Moab's Arrogance Her Downfall
The Moabites attempt to escape their enemy by hiding in the caves, probably near the Dead Sea. The people's arrogance and pride has not saved them. Yahweh mourns for what they will suffer, but He takes full responsibility for their destruction at the hands of the enemy He sent against them, again using the wine making imagery as in 48:11-13. In verse 32, Kir-Heres, which means "wall of potsherds, is a name the oracle uses for the Moabite capital Kir-Moab that will be smashed like broken pots. Sibah is between Heshbon and Nebo. The sea to which the vineyard extended is probably the Dead Sea on the west.
Jeremiah 48:34-39 ~ The End of Moab's False Worship
This passage is in prose. The cries of the people of Moab are heard in the south at Zoar near the Dead Sea and through all the cities of Moab up to the north at Heshbon and Elealeh (only these cities have been identified). The Waters of Nimrim are probably Wadi Numeria to the south east of the Dead Sea.
Jeremiah 48:40-47 ~ The Final Oracle for Moab
This final oracle is in the poetic form. The people who escape will be hunted down like animals. They will be snared in traps and captured. All that the two oracles have foretold will happen at the time of God's choosing (44b). Sihon, in verse 45, was an Amorite king who had seized territory in a war with the Moabites just before the Israelites entered the Transjordan before the conquest of Canaan. He established a kingdom from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and from the Arabian Desert to the Jordan River. Heshbon was his capital.
King Sihon went to war against the children of Israel when they came out of the wilderness to prepare for the invasion of Canaan, and he was defeated (Num 21:27-28; Dt 2:26-37). After defeating Sihon, Moses gave the city and the land of King Sihon to the tribe of Reuben. At the end of the conquest led by Joshua, Heshbon became a Levitical city and a city of refuge (Josh 13:17, 26; 21:37; 1 Chr 6:66). Later, the Moabites took over the Reubenite territory and made Heshbon their capital (Is 15:4; 16:8-9; Jer 48:2). This probably happened when the Reubenites and Gadites were deported by the Assyrians in 734 and 721 BC. The message in verse 45 is that Moabites who seek refuge in Heshbon will not escape just as the Amorites did not escape in the past.
Question: What is Yahweh's promise of mercy at the conclusion of the oracle?
Answer: After they receive His judgment, God will allow Moabites to return from their captivity "in the final days."
DAY 254 “A Virgin Shall Conceive”
CHALLENGE: "Isaiah’s prophecy of Immanuel (Isa. 7:14) doesn’t apply to Jesus. It doesn’t say ‘a virgin shall conceive.’ The Hebrew word ‘almāh doesn’t mean ‘virgin,’ but ‘young woman.’”
DEFENSE ; Actually, ‘almāh can mean either.
Its basic meaning is a young woman of marriageable age. In Hebrew society, such women were expected to be and normally were virgins. The term thus was sometimes used to indicate virginity, though not always. After reviewing how the term is used in the Old Testament, John Watts concludes: “It is difficult to find a word in English that is capable of the same range of meaning. ‘Virgin’ is too narrow, while ‘young woman’ is too broad (Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 24: Isaiah 1–33 (rev. ed.), 136).
Translators therefore have to choose how to render it in particular cases. Watts points out (ibid.) that the translators of the Greek Septuagint rendered it parthenos (“virgin”), while other Greek translators used neanis (“young woman”).
We elsewhere discuss the fact that, on the primary, literal level, the Immanuel prophecy was fulfilled in the time of King Ahaz (732–716 B.C.) and that the child was, perhaps, his son Hezekiah (see Day 253). If so, the ’almāh in question would have been Hezekiah’s mother, Abijah (2 Chron. 29:1). Either way, some young woman known to Ahaz conceived the child.
This young woman may still have been a virgin at the time the prophecy was given, in which case the Greek translation parthenos would have applied to her in a precise way. Even if she was not a virgin, prophetic texts operate on more than one level, and this one had a greater fulfillment that occurred long after Ahaz’s time.
When that fulfillment occurred, God chose a woman—Mary—who was not only a virgin but who conceived while remaining a virgin (Matt. 1:18–25; Luke 1:26–35). Also, the child she bore was not simply called “Immanuel” (as Hezekiah may have been called early in life, as a second name; cf. 2 Sam. 12:24–25). Instead, the child was literally “God with us.”
In view of this, the first Christians looked back on Isaiah’s prophecy and naturally saw it fulfilled in Jesus. The connection would have been obvious from the Hebrew text alone, and the fact that, by divine providence, the Septuagint translators had used the term parthenos only underscored the point.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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