seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Jeremiah 47:1
This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:
2 This is what the Lord says:
“See how the waters are rising in the north;
they will become an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
the towns and those who live in them.
The people will cry out;
all who dwell in the land will wail
3 at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
at the noise of enemy chariots
and the rumble of their wheels.
Parents will not turn to help their children;
their hands will hang limp.
4 For the day has come
to destroy all the Philistines
and to remove all survivors
who could help Tyre and Sidon.
The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.[a]
5 Gaza will shave her head in mourning;
Ashkelon will be silenced.
You remnant on the plain,
how long will you cut yourselves?
they will become an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
the towns and those who live in them.
The people will cry out;
all who dwell in the land will wail
3 at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
at the noise of enemy chariots
and the rumble of their wheels.
Parents will not turn to help their children;
their hands will hang limp.
4 For the day has come
to destroy all the Philistines
and to remove all survivors
who could help Tyre and Sidon.
The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.[a]
5 Gaza will shave her head in mourning;
Ashkelon will be silenced.
You remnant on the plain,
how long will you cut yourselves?
6 “‘Alas, sword of the Lord,
how long till you rest?
Return to your sheath;
cease and be still.’
7 But how can it rest
when the Lord has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”
how long till you rest?
Return to your sheath;
cease and be still.’
7 But how can it rest
when the Lord has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”
a. Jeremiah 47:4 That is, Crete
This is from Bible-studys.org.
The Lord would use an army from the “north” as “an overflowing flood” to destroy the Philistines, and Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city of “Ashkelon” (in 604 B.C.). The Lord uses the kings and armies of the nations to accomplish His purposes. Nebuchadnezzar and his armies would become a “sword of the Lord”.
“Against the Philistines” (Isa. 14:29-32; Ezek. 25:15-17; Amos 1:6-8; Zeph. 2:4-7). Although Egypt’s Pharaoh-hophra conquered the Philistines (who lived on the coastal plain of Palestine), in Gaza and Phoenicia around 587 B.C. , Babylon appears to be the conqueror in this scene (“of the north”), at the same time as the invasion of Judah (588-586 B.C.).
The Targum is, "vengeance is come to the inhabitants of Gaza.'' It is become like a man whose hair is fallen from his head, or is clean shaved off. Its houses were demolished; its inhabitants slain, and their wealth plundered. A pillaged and depopulated place. Some understand this of shaving or tearing off the hair for grief, and mourning because of their calamities. Which agrees with the latter clause of the verse.
"Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley": This was one of the live cities of the Philistines; it lay north of Gaza. Herodotus calls Ashkelon a city of Syria, in which was the temple of Urania Venus, destroyed by the Scythians. Said to be built by Lydus Ascalus, and called so after his name. Of this city was Herod the king, and therefore called an Ashkelonite. It was now destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, but afterwards rebuilt and inhabited. And with it were destroyed the remainder of the cities, towns, and villages, in the valley, adjoining to that and Gaza. Or Ashkelon and Gaza, now destroyed, were all that remained of the cities of the valley, and shared the same fate with them. The Targum is, "the remnant of their strength.'' so Kimchi, who interprets it of the multitude of their wealth and power.
"How long wilt thou cut thyself?" Their faces, arms and other parts of their body, mourning and lamenting their sad condition. The words of the prophet signifying hereby the dreadfulness of it, and its long continuance.
"Baldness" is associated with extreme mourning. This would be for the great loss of life. Ashkelon was on the top of a mountain near the sea. Cutting themselves was a type of mourning as well. They might as well stop mourning. This judgement against them is of God.
Gotta say this..... this is not a chapter condemning those who cut themselves. I've heard a few preachers jumping on that.... don't it's not right. If you know a cutter.... don't add garbage on top of the garbage they are already toting around.... give them hope by simply being a trusting companion. The cutters I know are good kids that grew up under the shadow of 9/11. They have plenty to be worried about.... they don't need to worry about this chapter of the Bible.This is from the easy English site.
Originally the Philistines came from Caphtor, which was the island called Crete (Amos 9:7). It is from their name that we call the country 'Palestine'. We do not know when Pharaoh attacked Gaza. It may have been about 609 BC. That was when Pharaoh Necho was marching to help Assyria against Babylon.
In Jeremiah 46:7-8, Jeremiah had described the proud Egyptians. They were like the River Nile when it was flooding the land. Here, the Babylonians are like a flood that would flow over the country. People would hear the sounds of the horses and carts as they approached. And the people would cry out because they are afraid. Fathers would run away because they felt so weak. They would not return, even to rescue their children.
Tyre and Sidon were two cities in the region called Phoenicia. The Babylonians stopped the people so that they could not help the Philistines. People shaved their heads when they were very sad. And they cut their bodies too. They also did those things when they felt despair. A record in Babylon mentions that fact. The kings from Tyre, Sidon, Gaza and Ashdod were at the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Ashkelon in 604 BC. As a result, King Jehoiakim ordered the people in Jerusalem to go without food. Then Baruch had the opportunity to read Jeremiah's scroll. A list from a prison in Babylon mentions the amount of food that prisoners had each day. The names on the list include the king of Ashkelon and Jehoiachin, king of Judah.
And this is from Bibletrack .It's just interesting how that Gaza is still today a hotspot for violence in the Mideast. Why? Location, location, location - it just happens to be prime real estate on a major highway (so to speak). Located right there in southwest Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, if you're headed down to Egypt, you're probably going to choose to pass through Gaza to get there.
We simply don't know when Gaza was overrun by Pharaoh of Egypt. We aren't told in this prophecy which Pharaoh. Perhaps this prophecy was fulfilled when Pharaoh Neco would have passed through on his way to Carchemish in 609 B.C. That's the same time at which Josiah resisted Neco and was subsequently killed in II Kings 23:29-30. After Neco's defeat in Carchemish, he would have passed through Gaza on his way back home. Perhaps little ol' Gaza served as a consolation prize after his defeat by the massive Babylonian army in 605/604 B.C. Or...it could have been neither of these occasions. All we know is that it happened at the hand of the Egyptians. Since Judah's two kings following Josiah were both victimized and abused by Pharaoh Neco, this prophecy against Gaza was surely fulfilled during that time frame.
Before I go on.... I have to mention verse 3..... people were so terrified they left their babies. Just think..... they left their babies..... they ran without their own children......how terrifying it must have been......
IMHO.... reading the Old Testament.... it's easy to get the idea that only the descendants of Jacob [Israel] were responsible to God. Actually.... God created everybody and everything. It wasn't just Judah that was a Theocracy..... earth is a Theocracy..... and God has warned everyone.... He's jealous.
According to the Bible.... when the floods subsided..... only Noah and his sons were left to populate the earth. Noah was a descendant of Jacob [Israel]. So.... it only makes sense to say.... all of us who are now walking the earth are descendants of God's chosen people.... the descendants of Jacob [whom God renamed Israel]. So when God said those stupid human descendants of Jacob [Israel] were going to suffer the consequences of their sins.... he means the whole earth.
At this point.... I have to admit.... God does have a favorite son..... that's the direct descendants of David...... that's the line from Noah that Jesus walked into..... That said..... IMHO.... it's important to know that everyone everywhere is part of the original Theocracy set up during creation. God let's me think I have human kings.... after all God created imagination too..... stupid humans can all pretend to be kings, presidents, prime ministers.... whatever.... but in reality.... IMHO... all stupid humans are part of a Theocracy.... and IMHO.... I need to take a look at what the King has been telling me. God is King.... God is Jealous.
