Jeremiah 47
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The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the Lord will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.
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Commentary
Chapter 47 is a prophecy against the Philistines.
At the time of the settlement of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, the Philistines had already established five city-states according to the Greek way of forming cities. When the ark of God was captured by the Philistines there were several miraculous happenings among them (1 Sam. 5and 6). God gave them enough evidence to believe in Him by guiding the two cows pulling the cart with the ark to go all the way to the town of Beth-shemesh (1 Sam. 6:12). However, there is no record in the Bible of the Philistines repenting and believing in the God of Israel.
In spite of many opportunities to believe in the true God, why didn’t the Philistines do so? After this prophecy the Babylonian army from the north, invaded the Philistine territory, and made it a part of the Babylonian empire.
In our society today we also see people similar to the Philistines having many opportunities to believe in God and yet have difficulty believing in Him. What is the reason for their disbelief? How can we help such people to change their ways and believe in God?
Yoshitaka Kobayashi,
Japan
