62. God's Friends and Enemies
Jeremiah 49:1-39 reminds us that God is filled with grace, even for his enemies.
In chapter 49 of Jeremiah, there are five nations that God singles out as his enemies, and when he describes what’s going to happen to them, it’s not good.
Destruction for the Ammonites
During Jeremiah’s day, the Ammonites led God’s people into idolatry and encouraged them to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. In 582 B.C. they unwisely attacked Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar conquered them.
Jeremiah 49:2 (CSB)
Therefore look, the days are coming— this is the Lord’s declaration— when I will make the shout of battle heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a desolate mound, and its surrounding villages will be set on fire.
Desolation and villages set on fire are not good.
Destruction for the Edomites
The Edomites are the Jew’s cousins because they both trace their ancestors back to Abraham. The Jews are of the line of Jacob and the Edomites are of the line of Esau.
Here’s what God says will happen to them.
Jeremiah 49:17–18 CSB
“Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be appalled and scoff because of all her wounds. As when Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the Lord, “no one will live there; no human being will stay in it even temporarily.
Again, it’s not good.
Destruction for Damascus
Damascus is the modern-day capital city of Syria with about 2.7 million people living in it. But it hasn’t always been so. When Damascus opposed God they were punished:
Jeremiah 49:24 CSB
Damascus has become weak; she has turned to run; panic has gripped her. Distress and labor pains have seized her like a woman in labor…Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares; all the warriors will perish in that day.
Damascus fell like other capitals of the region to the Assyrians in the 8th century, the Babylonians in the 7th, to the Persians in the 6th, the Greeks in the 4th, and to the Romans in the 1st century.
Destruction for Kedar and Hazor
Kedar and Hazor were nomadic tribes that lived in the Middle East and usually, nomadic groups were able to escape attacks, but not this time.
Jeremiah 49:28 CSB
This is what the Lord says: Rise up, attack Kedar, and destroy the people of the east! …Hazor will become a jackals’ den, a desolation forever. No one will live there; no human being will stay in it even temporarily.
Historical records show that the Babylonians destroyed these tribes around the year 599 B.C.
Destruction for Elam
The people of Elam lived in the area of southern Iran and they, too, were God’s enemies.
Jeremiah 49:36 CSB
I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Elam’s banished ones will not go.
God promises to defeat every one of his enemies because his justice must prevail. The sins of our nation and other nations must be brought to account otherwise God is not a just God.
God is Just
Ultimately, the nations won’t get away with invading and enslaving their own people or neighbors. Those that have killed the innocent, mistreated the poor, or ruled by terror, are all going to be brought to account.
And God has every right, as our Creator, to correct us when we sin. In fact, sin must be punished otherwise God’s not much of a ruler. Who would respect a King that let his people do whatever they wanted without consequence?
God’s Enemies
What makes someone an enemy of God? Jeremiah 49 lists four things.
1. Trusting in wealth
Jeremiah 49:4 CSB
Why do you boast about your valleys, your flowing valley, you faithless daughter— you who trust in your treasures and say, “Who can attack me?”
The Ammonites had some prime real estate that they thought would save them.
2. Trusting in wisdom
Jeremiah 49:7 CSB
About Edom, this is what the Lord of Armies says: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom rotted away?
Jeremiah is teasing a little here. Where’s your wisdom now, Edom?
The Edomites thought that their knowledge and intelligence would save them. They thought they were wise and perhaps in many ways they were, but not in the one way that mattered most.
3. Trusting in defenses and personal security
Jeremiah 49:16 CSB
As to the terror you cause, your arrogant heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock, you who occupy the mountain summit, though you elevate your nest like the eagles, even from there I will bring you down…Rise up, attack a nation at ease, one living in security. This is the Lord’s declaration. They have no doors, not even a gate bar; they live alone.
The Edomites had control of an area known as Petra, a place with narrow canyon walls which was easily defended. They had other fortresses, too, but none did much good when the Babylonians invaded.
Bolting the door and barring the gate are a good idea, but they don’t do much good when God, himself, is against you. It’s not wise for your ultimate trust to be in your ability to protect yourself.
What God’s enemies ultimately all have in common is that they trust in themselves. Rather than trusting in God, they do what seems right in their own eyes. They trust in their wealth, their wisdom, or their defenses.
So God destroyed these nations to show us what happens to those who trust in anything other than the one true God.
Who or what are we trusting in?
Grace for God’s Friends
Thankfully, chapter 49 isn’t all about justice for God’s enemies. It is also about grace for God’s friends.
Who are God's friends? Verse 11 tells us it’s those who trust in him.
Jeremiah 49:11 (CSB)
Abandon your fatherless; I will preserve them; let your widows trust in me.
Orphans and widows are ready to receive God’s grace because they are humble. Since God is their only friend, they trust in him, and he provides for them. God gives grace to the humble, to those that recognize their need for him, as it says in Psalm 146:9.
Psalm 146:9 CSB
The Lord protects resident aliens and helps the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
So, there’s grace for God’s friends, for those who trust in him, but surprisingly, there’s also...
Grace for God’s Enemies
In verse 6, God promises that the Ammonites, his enemies, will be restored:
Jeremiah 49:6 CSB
But after that, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites. This is the Lord’s declaration.
And Elam will be restored, too:
Jeremiah 49:39 CSB
Yet, in the last days, I will restore the fortunes of Elam. This is the Lord’s declaration.
Not all of God’s enemies are listed, but some of them are, and that’s good news for us.
What does it mean when an enemy nation is restored? It can mean political or economic restoration. But, there is an even more important type of restoration that the Bible speaks of, specifically regarding the nation of Elam, the Iranians of today.
Acts 2:4–9 (CSB)
Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites...
At Pentecost, the Elamites, along with many other enemies of God, heard the gospel in their language, and many received real spiritual restoration. And this restoration continues to this day.
Did you realize that there are more Iranian Christians alive today than at any other time in history? Iran has over 6,000 churches and 1.5 million Christians. And Christianity is still growing there.
God’s grace is present everywhere, among his friends and his enemies, which is good news since everyone was once an enemy of God (Romans 5:10). Praise God that his amazing grace is still available, even for his enemies.