The nations
Jeremiah 46
28 verses≈ 6 minBSB
Images are artistic interpretations.
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Where we are
- 1The callJosiah’s thirteenth year (about 627 BC): a prophet to the nations
- 2–6Return to MeBroken cisterns, faithless Judah, disaster from the north
- 7–10The temple gateThe temple sermon, a weeping prophet, the living God
- 11–20Covenant and complaintThe broken covenant, the potter, Jeremiah’s confessions
- 21–29Shepherds and prophetsKings judged, the Branch, seventy years, the yoke, the letter
- 30–33The Book of ComfortRestoration, the new covenant, a field bought in a siege
- 34–39The last days of JudahThe scroll burned, the cistern, Jerusalem falls (586 BC)
- 40–45After the fallGedaliah at Mizpah, the flight to Egypt, a word for Baruch
- 46–51The nationsEgypt to Babylon: the LORD is Judge of all the earthChapter 46
- 52Jerusalem fallsThe record of 586 BC, and a king released
Judgment on Egypt
This is the word of the LORD about the nations—the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet
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concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:
Stylised map · locations approximate
On the map
Carchemish to the Nile
Carchemish guarded the great crossing of the Euphrates, about 400 miles north of Jerusalem. After 605 BC Babylon held the lands from there to Egypt’s border. Migdol’s site is uncertain.
Why am I seeing this?
They are terrified,
they are retreating;
their warriors are defeated,
they flee in haste without looking back;
terror is on every side!”
declares the LORD.
“The swift cannot flee,
and the warrior cannot escape!
In the north by the River Euphrates
they stumble and fall.
God
Who is this, rising like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters churn?
Egypt rises like the Nile,
and its waters churn like rivers,
boasting, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;
I will destroy the cities and their people.’
God
Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots!
Let the warriors come forth—
Cush and Put carrying their shields,
men of Lydia drawing the bow.
For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts,
a day of vengeance against His foes.
The sword will devour until it is satisfied,
until it is quenched with their blood.
For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice
in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
Question
Quick question
The chapter’s heading names the battle that decided who would rule the lands around Judah.
Where was Pharaoh Neco’s army defeated (46:2)?
This is the word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
“Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes:
‘Take your positions and prepare yourself,
for the sword devours those around you.’
Why have your warriors been laid low?
They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.
They continue to stumble;
indeed, they have fallen over one another.
They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our people
and to the land of our birth,
away from the sword of the oppressor.’
There they will cry out: ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he has let the appointed time pass him by.’
God
As surely as I live, declares the King,
whose name is the LORD of Hosts,
there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains
and like Carmel by the sea.
Pack your bags for exile,
O daughter dwelling in Egypt!
For Memphis will be laid waste,
destroyed and uninhabited.
God
Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.
Even the mercenaries among her
are like fattened calves.
They too will turn back;
together they will flee, they will not stand their ground,
for the day of calamity is coming upon them—
the time of their punishment.
Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent,
for the enemy will advance in force;
with axes they will come against her
like woodsmen cutting down trees.
They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD,
dense though it may be,
for they are more numerous than locusts;
they cannot be counted.
The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame;
she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.”
0:23
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
Pray
Pray
Lord, Egypt trusted its army and its river, and both failed it. Keep me from leaning on what can be thrust down in a day. You are the King whose name is the LORD of Hosts. Amen.
God
The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I am about to punish Amon god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt with her gods and kings, and those who trust in Pharaoh. I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives—of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old, declares the LORD.
God
But you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid,
and do not be dismayed, O Israel.
For I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return to quiet and ease,
with no one to make him afraid.
And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid,
declares the LORD, for I am with you.
Jeremiah 46:28
Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you,
I will not completely destroy you.
Yet I will discipline you justly,
and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
Egypt and Jacob
Whiteboard
The great power fell, yet God promised Egypt a future, and promised His own people He would never make a full end of them.
You’ve experienced
Jeremiah 46
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A verse to carry with you
And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you.
Jeremiah 46:28
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