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Home » Bible Commentaries » English » Bell's Commentary » Jeremiah

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Jeremiah 49

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Verses 1-39

  1. Intro:
    1. Q: If God never gave the “Law of Moses” to any of the other nations, how can He hold them accountable for sins they’ve committed against Him & against humanity?
      1. Because of the witness of the world around them & their conscience within them, they were “without excuse”…& “guilty before God”!
    2. Recently nations haven’t acted any different, have they?
      1. (ww) “Innocent blood is shed legally as millions of babies are aborted in their mothers wombs. International terrorism, genocide, exploitation of people & material resources, war, crime, the abuse of children, & a host of other sins have stained the hands of a nation w/blood.”
    3. Is. 37:16 "O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
    4. “He bore with them in Longsuffering – but their day of opportunity ran out!”
  2. AMMON, EJECTED! (1-6)
    1. (1) Again, who was Ammon? (Lot’s son by his daughter!)
      1. The Ammonites moved into Israel when the Assyrians took the north captive, As if they weren’t going to return.
    2. Someone said, “Pessimists break mirrors just to make sure they live another seven years.” Even this wouldn’t have helped Ammon, their time was up.
    3. (2) “Milcom” – or Molech = “their king”; the Ammonite god.
      1. Also called “the reigning one”, yet he’d reign no more!
      2. (2b) They boasted their god was stronger than Israel’s!
        1. God would show them up by letting Israel take back possession of the land.
    4. (4) “Why do you boast in the valleys?”
      1. Their boast was in the fact that their valley was secure because mountains were on 3 sides!
      2. Boasting, be careful! - [Mongolian folklore] Two geese were about to start southward on their annual autumn migration, when they were entreated by a frog to take him with them. On the geese expressing their willingness to do so if a means of conveyance could be devised, the frog produced a long stalk of grass, got the two geese to take it one by each end, while he clung to it by his mouth in the middle. In this manner the three were making their journey when they were noticed from below by some men. The men loudly expressed their admiration for the device and wondered who had been clever enough to discover it. Whereupon the vainglorious frog opened his mouth to say, "It was I," lost his hold, fell to the earth, and was dashed to pieces. Moral: When you have a good thing going, keep your mouth shut!
    5. (4b) “Who will come against me?” Self-Confidence!
      1. Confidence is the feeling you have before you fully understand the situation.
      2. Have you noticed, “The strength that comes from confidence can quickly be lost in conceit.”
      3. Conceit is generally assumed as God's gift to little people. Be Careful!
      4. Nothing that they trusted in could protect them!
    6. I think self-reliance breeds another sin Thanklessness!
      1. Story – of a roofer who lost his footing & was sliding toward the edge of the roof, cried out to the lord for help, but kept sliding. Again he called but kept sliding. Until he got caught at the edge of the roof by a nail sticking up. His reply… “Never mind this nails got me!”
      2. Self reliance is usually reasoned like so: “I -by my stupidity - got into this mess; Therefore I – by my stupidity – will get out of it”
  3. EDOM, STRIPPED BARE! (7-22)
    1. ​​​​​​​Edomites were descendants to whom? (Esau, Jacobs older brother)
      1. Most believe this is where Sod & Gom was(very southern tip of the Dead Sea).
    2. They weren’t friendly to the Jews but Babylon was a common enemy which caused them to join forces against them.
    3. (7) “Wisdom” – They were known for their Wisdom.
      1. Obadiah even spoke of the Edomites as wise men(8).
      2. Yet, weren’t wise enough to stop Babylon.
    4. Their judgment was like: the stripping of a vineyard(9); getting drunk(12); the destroying of Sod & Gom(18); the attacking of a lion from the fertile Jordan thicket(19); & The swooping of an eagle(22).
    5. (11) “Widows & Orphans” – Ex.22:22-24 "You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. "If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; "and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”
      1. Q: Do you know a widow you could minister to? An orphan? An orphanage? {I just talked to Billie Rosmarino, they just harvested 40 -100lb. bags of rice from their own rice fields…yet they use 350 lbs. A week.} [They need more monthly supporters!]
        1. Oh how the heart of God loves & protects them – See Ps.68:4-6
    6. (16) Where Ammon trusted in their Valley, Edom trusted in their high hills! They thought they were impregnable.
      1. We know this place as the Rock City of Petra!
    7. (22) Eagle – like an eagle soaring over head, causing anxiety over all small rodents scampering for safety, yet finding no place to hide.
    8. Again Pride was the chief problem again!
      1. Spurgeon said, “The demon of pride was born with us; and it will not die one hour before us. It is so woven into the very warp and woof of our nature, that, till we are wrapped in our winding-sheets, we shall never hear the last of it.”
    9. It's my pride that makes me independent of God. It's appealing to feel I am the master of my fate; I run my own life, I call my own shots; I go it alone. When I am conceited, I am lying to myself about what I am. I am pretending to be God, and not man. My pride is the idolatrous worship of myself, and that is the national religion of hell.
  4. DAMASCUS, FAINTHEARTED! (23-27)
    1. ​​​​​​​Capital of Syria.
    2. 3 things: they would be troubled like a restless sea(23); feeble like a sic patient(24a); & full of pain like a woman in travail(24b).
    3. Fainthearted - Someone asked an ex-paratrooper how many jumps he had made. He responded by saying, "None! I was pushed out 18 times!"
      1. Deut 20:3,4 ”… Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; 'for the LORD your God” is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' {spiritual battle this month! Don’t be fainthearted}
      2. Q: Do you know of someone who is fainthearted? What do we do? “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.” 1 Thes.5:14
  5. KEDAR & HAZOR, FEAR ON EVERY SIDE! (28-33)
    1. ​​​​​​​2 desert peoples: Kedar related to Ishmael.
      1. These 2 Arab nomadic nations lived by raising sheep & camels.
    2. (29) “Fear is on every side” – How do we reconcile this w/2 Tim 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of loveand of a sound mind.”
      1. God gives fear, or he doesn’t? (depends to whom!)
    3. (31) “They were guilty of living at ease, isolating themselves from others, & magnifying pride & arrogant self-confidence.” (ww)
      1. They didn’t need God they didn’t need people!
      2. Q: Do you find yourself becoming more & more isolated…watch out!
  6. ELAM, SCATTERED TO THE WIND! (34-39)
    1. ​​​​​​​Elam is found east of Babylon (way out there).
    2. (35) They were known for their archery. “I’ll break your bow!”
    3. (36) They were to be scattered like chaff form the wheat!
    4. (38) When a nation was defeated, the victors set up their kings throne in the city gate.
      1. That’s what God promised to do in Elam.
      2. That’s what God wants to do in our hearts – defeat our flesh & rule & reign!
      3. Q: Can you put your name in Elam’s place?
      4. Lordship! - “Can we accept Him as Savior & reject Him as Lord?”
        1. Make sure he is Lord of your life!
    5. “I will bring you back” – They will not find their way back, He will have to show them the path back!
      1. E. Stanley Jones tells of a missionary who got lost in an African jungle--nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. He found a native hut and asked the native if he could lead him out. The native said he could. "All right," said the missionary, "show me the way." The native said, "Walk." So they walked and hacked their way through unmarked jungle for more than an hour. The missionary got worried. "Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?" The native said, "Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path."
    6. “He bore with them in Longsuffering – but their day of opportunity ran out!”
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Verses 1-39

  1. Intro:
    1. Q: If God never gave the “Law of Moses” to any of the other nations, how can He hold them accountable for sins they’ve committed against Him & against humanity?
      1. Because of the witness of the world around them & their conscience within them, they were “without excuse”…& “guilty before God”!
    2. Recently nations haven’t acted any different, have they?
      1. (ww) “Innocent blood is shed legally as millions of babies are aborted in their mothers wombs. International terrorism, genocide, exploitation of people & material resources, war, crime, the abuse of children, & a host of other sins have stained the hands of a nation w/blood.”
    3. Is. 37:16 "O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
    4. “He bore with them in Longsuffering – but their day of opportunity ran out!”
  2. AMMON, EJECTED! (1-6)
    1. (1) Again, who was Ammon? (Lot’s son by his daughter!)
      1. The Ammonites moved into Israel when the Assyrians took the north captive, As if they weren’t going to return.
    2. Someone said, “Pessimists break mirrors just to make sure they live another seven years.” Even this wouldn’t have helped Ammon, their time was up.
    3. (2) “Milcom” – or Molech = “their king”; the Ammonite god.
      1. Also called “the reigning one”, yet he’d reign no more!
      2. (2b) They boasted their god was stronger than Israel’s!
        1. God would show them up by letting Israel take back possession of the land.
    4. (4) “Why do you boast in the valleys?”
      1. Their boast was in the fact that their valley was secure because mountains were on 3 sides!
      2. Boasting, be careful! - [Mongolian folklore] Two geese were about to start southward on their annual autumn migration, when they were entreated by a frog to take him with them. On the geese expressing their willingness to do so if a means of conveyance could be devised, the frog produced a long stalk of grass, got the two geese to take it one by each end, while he clung to it by his mouth in the middle. In this manner the three were making their journey when they were noticed from below by some men. The men loudly expressed their admiration for the device and wondered who had been clever enough to discover it. Whereupon the vainglorious frog opened his mouth to say, "It was I," lost his hold, fell to the earth, and was dashed to pieces. Moral: When you have a good thing going, keep your mouth shut!
    5. (4b) “Who will come against me?” Self-Confidence!
      1. Confidence is the feeling you have before you fully understand the situation.
      2. Have you noticed, “The strength that comes from confidence can quickly be lost in conceit.”
      3. Conceit is generally assumed as God's gift to little people. Be Careful!
      4. Nothing that they trusted in could protect them!
    6. I think self-reliance breeds another sin Thanklessness!
      1. Story – of a roofer who lost his footing & was sliding toward the edge of the roof, cried out to the lord for help, but kept sliding. Again he called but kept sliding. Until he got caught at the edge of the roof by a nail sticking up. His reply… “Never mind this nails got me!”
      2. Self reliance is usually reasoned like so: “I -by my stupidity - got into this mess; Therefore I – by my stupidity – will get out of it”
  3. EDOM, STRIPPED BARE! (7-22)
    1. ​​​​​​​Edomites were descendants to whom? (Esau, Jacobs older brother)
      1. Most believe this is where Sod & Gom was(very southern tip of the Dead Sea).
    2. They weren’t friendly to the Jews but Babylon was a common enemy which caused them to join forces against them.
    3. (7) “Wisdom” – They were known for their Wisdom.
      1. Obadiah even spoke of the Edomites as wise men(8).
      2. Yet, weren’t wise enough to stop Babylon.
    4. Their judgment was like: the stripping of a vineyard(9); getting drunk(12); the destroying of Sod & Gom(18); the attacking of a lion from the fertile Jordan thicket(19); & The swooping of an eagle(22).
    5. (11) “Widows & Orphans” – Ex.22:22-24 "You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. "If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; "and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”
      1. Q: Do you know a widow you could minister to? An orphan? An orphanage? {I just talked to Billie Rosmarino, they just harvested 40 -100lb. bags of rice from their own rice fields…yet they use 350 lbs. A week.} [They need more monthly supporters!]
        1. Oh how the heart of God loves & protects them – See Ps.68:4-6
    6. (16) Where Ammon trusted in their Valley, Edom trusted in their high hills! They thought they were impregnable.
      1. We know this place as the Rock City of Petra!
    7. (22) Eagle – like an eagle soaring over head, causing anxiety over all small rodents scampering for safety, yet finding no place to hide.
    8. Again Pride was the chief problem again!
      1. Spurgeon said, “The demon of pride was born with us; and it will not die one hour before us. It is so woven into the very warp and woof of our nature, that, till we are wrapped in our winding-sheets, we shall never hear the last of it.”
    9. It's my pride that makes me independent of God. It's appealing to feel I am the master of my fate; I run my own life, I call my own shots; I go it alone. When I am conceited, I am lying to myself about what I am. I am pretending to be God, and not man. My pride is the idolatrous worship of myself, and that is the national religion of hell.
  4. DAMASCUS, FAINTHEARTED! (23-27)
    1. ​​​​​​​Capital of Syria.
    2. 3 things: they would be troubled like a restless sea(23); feeble like a sic patient(24a); & full of pain like a woman in travail(24b).
    3. Fainthearted - Someone asked an ex-paratrooper how many jumps he had made. He responded by saying, "None! I was pushed out 18 times!"
      1. Deut 20:3,4 ”… Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; 'for the LORD your God” is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' {spiritual battle this month! Don’t be fainthearted}
      2. Q: Do you know of someone who is fainthearted? What do we do? “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.” 1 Thes.5:14
  5. KEDAR & HAZOR, FEAR ON EVERY SIDE! (28-33)
    1. ​​​​​​​2 desert peoples: Kedar related to Ishmael.
      1. These 2 Arab nomadic nations lived by raising sheep & camels.
    2. (29) “Fear is on every side” – How do we reconcile this w/2 Tim 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of loveand of a sound mind.”
      1. God gives fear, or he doesn’t? (depends to whom!)
    3. (31) “They were guilty of living at ease, isolating themselves from others, & magnifying pride & arrogant self-confidence.” (ww)
      1. They didn’t need God they didn’t need people!
      2. Q: Do you find yourself becoming more & more isolated…watch out!
  6. ELAM, SCATTERED TO THE WIND! (34-39)
    1. ​​​​​​​Elam is found east of Babylon (way out there).
    2. (35) They were known for their archery. “I’ll break your bow!”
    3. (36) They were to be scattered like chaff form the wheat!
    4. (38) When a nation was defeated, the victors set up their kings throne in the city gate.
      1. That’s what God promised to do in Elam.
      2. That’s what God wants to do in our hearts – defeat our flesh & rule & reign!
      3. Q: Can you put your name in Elam’s place?
      4. Lordship! - “Can we accept Him as Savior & reject Him as Lord?”
        1. Make sure he is Lord of your life!
    5. “I will bring you back” – They will not find their way back, He will have to show them the path back!
      1. E. Stanley Jones tells of a missionary who got lost in an African jungle--nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. He found a native hut and asked the native if he could lead him out. The native said he could. "All right," said the missionary, "show me the way." The native said, "Walk." So they walked and hacked their way through unmarked jungle for more than an hour. The missionary got worried. "Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?" The native said, "Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path."
    6. “He bore with them in Longsuffering – but their day of opportunity ran out!”
return to 'Top of Page'
JeremiahJer
Copyright Statement
These files are the property of Brian Bell.
Text Courtesy of Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on Jeremiah 49". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/jeremiah-49.html. 2017.
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