The Book of Jeremiah

Hebrew Study

Explanation

The oracle opens against Egypt and the army of "Pharaohnecho," crushed by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish on the Euphrates in 605 BC, the battle that made Babylon the world power. God mockingly commands Egypt to arm, "Order ye the buckler and shield... Harness the horses," and then shows the result: "Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back?... for fear was round about." Egypt had risen "like a flood," boasting, "I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city." Her mercenary allies, "the Ethiopians and the Libyans... and the Lydians," march with her, but it is useless, "for this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance." God Himself was behind the defeat; the battle was His "sacrifice in the north country." Then the searing image: "Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured." The proud nation that thought to flood the earth is left with an incurable wound, her shame heard among the nations, her mighty men stumbling and "fallen both together." The flood that rose to cover the earth was itself swept away.

Gospel Focus

Egypt's proud boast, "I will go up... I will cover the earth," is the voice of every empire and every heart that exalts itself, and its end is always the same. "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18); "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble" (James 4:6). The flooding Nile that meant to cover the earth was itself dried up in a day, because "the day of the LORD" comes on all that is lifted up. This chapter reminds us that history is not random; behind the rise and fall of nations stands the God who judges, and there is a final "day of vengeance" coming for all pride that will not bow (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). There is also mercy hidden in the warning "in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured." When God's judgment falls, no human remedy can heal it, not money, not armies, not clever plans. The only cure for the wound of sin and coming judgment is the one Egypt would not seek: humbling ourselves before God and receiving the healing He alone gives. Israel's incurable wound God Himself healed by grace (Jeremiah 30:17), and that healing is offered to all in Christ, "with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Do not trust the flood of your own strength; humble yourself before the God of the day of the LORD, and find the cure the proud never will.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

A second word foretells that Babylon will invade Egypt itself. God summons the Egyptian cities, "Migdol... Noph... Tahpanhes," to prepare, but their defense will crumble: "Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them." The foreign mercenaries in Egypt's pay will abandon her, crying, "let us go again to our own people... from the oppressing sword," and mocking, "Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed." Against this bluster stands the true King, "whose name is the LORD of hosts," who swears "As I live" that the conqueror will come as surely as Tabor and Carmel stand. Egypt, "a very fair heifer," fat and confident, will be struck by "destruction... out of the north," her mercenaries fleeing "like fatted bullocks" when "the day of their calamity" arrives. The invaders will strip her like woodcutters felling a forest, more numerous "than the grasshoppers." Then the heart of the judgment: "I will punish the multitude of No [Thebes], and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings... and all them that trust in him." Egypt's idols cannot save her. Yet even here God tempers judgment with a note of future mercy: "afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old." God's judgments, even on the nations, are not always the final word.

Gospel Focus

"Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise." How much of what the world fears turns out to be mere noise before God, the powers, the threats, the intimidating figures who seem so mighty and prove, in the end, all bluster. The true King, "whose name is the LORD of hosts," swears by His own life that His word will stand, and it does. This frees the believer from the fear of man and empire; "the nations are as a drop of a bucket... he taketh up the isles as a very little thing" (Isaiah 40:15). And note that God judges Egypt "with their gods." The idols in which people trust are exposed as powerless in the day of trouble; "they that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them" (Psalm 115:8). Whatever we lean on in place of God, wealth, status, human strength, is a false god that will fail us when we need it most. But even in this severe oracle shines a ray of grace: "afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old." God's judgments are real, yet His mercy can restore even a judged people, a hint of the wideness of His grace that reaches, in the gospel, to all nations, "in every nation he that feareth him... is accepted with him" (Acts 10:35). Fear not the noise of the world's Pharaohs; fear the King whose name is the LORD of hosts, and trust in Him alone, for every other refuge is a noise that passes.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

After the thunder of judgment on Egypt, the chapter ends with a gentle word for Israel, nearly identical to Jeremiah 30:10-11. "Fear not thou, O my servant Jacob... for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity." God's scattered people would be gathered and brought to "rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid." The ground of their courage is God's presence: "Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee." Then comes the great distinction that runs through all these oracles: "I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure." The nations under judgment, Egypt included, face "a full end"; but God's covenant people, though truly disciplined, "yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished," will never be utterly destroyed. Their suffering is corrective, measured, fatherly; the nations' is final. In the very chapter where God judges a great empire, He assures His own that they are held forever in His hand.

Gospel Focus

"Fear not... for I am with thee." Placed at the end of an oracle of terror on Egypt, this word shows the difference God's covenant makes. To the proud nations comes "a full end"; to God's people comes His presence and measured, loving discipline. This is the heart of the gospel's assurance. God's people are not exempt from hardship, He will "correct thee in measure," for "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth", but they are exempt from destruction, because God has bound Himself to them: "I am with thee." That presence is the deepest answer to fear the Bible knows, from "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5) to the name of the Saviour Himself, "Emmanuel... God with us." Whatever storm of judgment sweeps the nations, however dark the day, the believer can say, "the LORD is on my side; I will not fear" (Psalm 118:6). The One who makes "a full end" of proud empires will never make a full end of the humblest soul who trusts Him; His correction of us is measured, His presence with us is constant, and His promise never fails. Do not be dismayed by the shaking of the world; the God who judges the nations is with you, and if He is for you, none can be finally against you (Romans 8:31).