Jeremiah 47:1 - Meaning and Application

As the Egyptians had often proved false friends, the Philistines had always been sworn enemies of God’s people, the Israel of God. They were especially dangerous because they lived so close by. David had humbled them greatly in his day, but they seem to have recovered and become strong again, until Nebuchadnezzar cut them off with their neighbors, which is the event foretold here.

The date of this prophecy is worth noticing. It was given before Pharaoh struck Gaza. We do not know exactly when the king of Egypt did this, whether in his march against Carchemish, on his way back after killing Josiah, or later when he tried to help Jerusalem. But Jeremiah mentions it to show that the word of the Lord came against the Philistines when they were still at their strongest. Their cities were in good shape, and no threat seemed near. Yet even then Jeremiah foretold their ruin. Pharaoh’s blow against Gaza soon after was only a foretaste, the beginning of sorrows for that land.

First, a foreign enemy, and a very powerful one, would come against them. “Waters rise up out of the north” (Jeremiah 47:2). Waters can stand for many people and nations (Revelation 17:15), or for overwhelming troubles (Psalm 69:1). Here they mean both. They rise from the north, where people normally expect fair weather and the wind that clears away rain. Instead, a terrible storm comes from that cold direction. The Chaldean army would sweep over the land like a flood. This may have happened before Jerusalem was destroyed, because in Gedaliah’s time, just after that, the Chaldean army seems to have been withdrawn from those parts.

The Philistine country was small, so such a huge army would quickly overwhelm it. When that happens, the people will lose heart and be filled with fear. The men will not be ready to fight. They will sit and cry like children. “All the inhabitants of the land shall howl,” so that lamenting will be heard everywhere. Jeremiah describes their terror with striking detail. Before there is any killing, the sound of horses stamping and chariots rattling will already frighten them deeply. In their panic, parents will seem to lose even natural love for their children, because they will not turn back to protect them or even see what becomes of them.

Their hands will be too weak to carry their children away, so they will give up any thought of saving them. They may become so shocked that they forget even their own children. Let no one be too attached to earthly comforts, even children, because distress may come so suddenly that people either wish they had none or forget that they do.

Third, the land of the Philistines would be plundered and laid waste, along with the nearby countries allied with them. It is “a day to spoil the Philistines,” because the Lord himself will spoil them (Jeremiah 47:4). Those whom God means to strip bare cannot escape it. If God is against them, who can be for them? Tyre and Sidon were strong, rich cities, and they usually helped the Philistines in trouble. But now they too would be caught in the same ruin, and God would cut off every helper left to them. People who trust in human help find it removed just when they need it most, and that leaves them in utter confusion.

It is not certain who “the remnant of the country of Caphtor” were. The Caphtorim were closely related to the Philistines (Genesis 10:14). Perhaps when their own country was destroyed, some survivors came and settled among their relatives, the Philistines, and were now ruined with them. Some places are named in particular, Gaza and Ashkelon (Jeremiah 47:5). Baldness had come upon them, either because invaders had stripped away their honor and wealth, or because they had shaved their heads in deep grief. The other cities in the plain or valley around them were cut off as well. Their fertile valley, once full of produce, would be spoiled and taken as plunder by the conquerors.

Fourth, these troubles would last a long time. Jeremiah, with his usual tenderness, first asks them, “How long will you cut yourselves?” (Jeremiah 47:5). This is how people in extreme grief and pain behave. How long and bitter this calamity would be, not just a wound, but a long wound. Then he turns from the effect to the cause. They are cutting themselves because the sword of the Lord is cutting them.

So he speaks to the sword itself: “O sword of the Lord, how long will it be before you rest?” (Jeremiah 47:6). He asks that it would go back into its sheath and shed no more blood. This shows the prophet’s real sorrow for war and desolation, even for the Philistines, whose land was being laid waste. War is the sword of the Lord. By it he punishes the sins of his enemies and defends his own people. But when war begins, it often lasts a long time. A drawn sword does not quickly return to the sheath. Some, once they draw it, even throw away the sheath because they love war.

Jeremiah then answers his own question and explains why the war must continue (Jeremiah 47:7). How can the sword be quiet when the Lord has given it a charge against certain places and has appointed it there? The sword of war receives its command from the Lord of hosts. Every bullet has its charge, though people call them blind bullets. They are guided by the God who sees all things. The war itself has its order from him. He says to it, “Go,” and it goes. “Come,” and it comes. “Do this,” and it does it, because he is commander-in-chief. And when the sword is drawn, it will not be sheathed until it has done the work assigned to it. Just as God’s word always accomplishes what he sends it to do, so do his rod and his sword.