In the realpolitik of ancient days, it was not looking good for the Egyptians; their mighty army with horses, lances, and armor would not be sufficient to the task of defending them from the Babylonians. The word of the Lord to Jeremiah showed him the vision of their warriors beaten down and fleeing in terror from the invading Babylonian army (Jeremiah 46:1-5).

It turns out that the Philistines would be in just as much trouble: the Babylonian army would come in like a flood and would overflow them, everyone will wail, and parents will not dare stop running to rescue their children (47:1-3).

And the same for the Moabites: though they have been at ease, trusting in their strong fortresses (48:7, 11), calamity is near at hand, and Moab’s scepter will be broken (48:16-17). “Let Moab wallow in his vomit” (48:26). “Moab shall be destroyed as a people, because he magnified himself against the Lord” (48:42). And yet – astonishingly, after a chapter of judgment and devastation – “I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, says the Lord” (48:47).

In the midst of all the wreckage of the Babylonian invasion, Israel is somehow preserved (46:27-28). It is not that they will escape punishment; we have seen it prophesied over and over throughout the book, and that remains true here: “I will chastise you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished” (46:28). The people of Judah will go into exile, but “Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease” when God saves them and their offspring from the land of their captivity (46:27). So: “have no fear, my servant Jacob, says the Lord” (46:28).

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We are afraid of many things, O Lord. When we sense the overwhelming destruction coming all around us, we fear that it will come to us as well. When we feel your chastisement upon us, we fear that it will last forever. Yet we will trust in you, O God: at your word we will press on, with courage.

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