Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Jeremiah 47 Devotional

A Sword Under Orders

“How can it rest when the LORD has commanded it? He has appointed it against Ashkelon and the shore of its coastland.””Jeremiah 47:7 (BSB)

The word against the Philistines is short and stark. A flood rises from the north. At the thunder of hooves and chariot wheels, fathers are too weak to turn back for their own children (47:2-3). Gaza shaves its head in mourning, and Ashkelon falls silent (47:5). The chapter does not soften any of it.

Then someone cries out to the sword of the LORD, asking how long until it rests and pleading with it to return to its sheath (47:6). The answer is that it cannot be still, because the LORD has given it orders against Ashkelon and the coast (47:7). This judgment is not chaos or the random cruelty of an empire. It is under command, aimed by the LORD himself, and it stops only when he says so. A sword held by a just God is sobering, but never out of control. Micah says this same God does not stay angry forever, because he delights in steadfast love (Micah 7:18). You can bring him the hard questions such chapters raise.

To think about: What hard question about God's judgment would you be willing to bring honestly to him in prayer?

About Jeremiah 47: Judgment on the Philistines

The LORD pictures an invasion from the north sweeping over the Philistines like a flood, leaving fathers too weak to go back for their children. Gaza and Ashkelon mourn, and a plea for the LORD’s sword to rest is answered that it cannot stop, since He has given it its orders against them.

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