The Word Made Fresh
1The word of the LORD that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:
2The LORD says, “Look, waters are rising in the north
and will grow into a flood.
They will wash over the land and everything in it,
including the city and all its inhabitants.
The people will cry out
and everyone in the land shall weep
3at the noise of his horse’s hooves,
and the clatter of his chariots,
and the rumbling of their wheels.
Parents are not turning back for their children;
their hands are so weakened
4because of the day that is coming
when all the Philistines will be destroyed,
and every helper that remains
has been cut off from Tyre and Sidon.
For the LORD is destroying the Philistines,
the remnant of the coasts of Crete.
5Gaza is bald and Ashkelon is silent.
Those who remain continue to gash themselves.
6Sword of the LORD, how long until you are
put back into your scabbard?
Rest, and be still!
7But how can you rest when the LORD has commanded you
to go against Ashkelon and against the seashore.
That is where you are being sent.”
Commentary
1-7: The next oracle concerns Israel’s ancient enemy, the Philistines. The land of the Philistines will be overrun by first the Egyptians, then the Babylonians as those two powers vie for control of the profitable coastal trade routes. Tyre and Sidon, also located on the Mediterranean coast, are included in the judgment.
Takeaway
Jeremiah is prophesying what will happen to those nations that worshiped other gods, which is also the reason God condemned Israel. There is only one God; all other objects of worship are idols.