Reflections on Jeremiah 47

Jeremiah 47 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Before the king of Egypt attacked the town of Gaza, the LORD told me to say to the Philistines:
   
2. I, the LORD, tell you that your land will be flooded with an army from the north. It will destroy your towns and sweep you away, moaning and screaming.
   
3. When you hear the thunder of horses and chariots, your courage will vanish, and parents will abandon their own children.
   
4. You refugees from Crete, your time has now come, and I will destroy you. None of you will be left to help the cities of Tyre and Sidon. *
   
5. The Anakim who survive in Gaza and Ashkelon will mourn for you by shaving their heads and sitting in silence.
   
6. You ask how long will I continue to attack you with my sword, then you tell me to put it away and leave you alone.
   
7. But how can my sword rest, when I have commanded it to attack Ashkelon and the seacoast?
   
   

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   Though various historical accounts record the events given in this chapter, they miss the true cause behind them as provided in 47:6-7 - the sword of the Lord. Following Jeremiah's prophecy against Egypt comes his prophecy against the Philistines. Though the fate of Philistia was brought about by Nebuchadnezzar ever-reaching conquests in the expansion of his borders, the true force behind it is the hand of the Lord. The Lord was wielding His sword through Nebuchadnezzar.  Though Nebuchadnezzar was a religious man, he did not worship Jehovah God, and thus was not His intentional servant.
   
   Philistia was caught in the middle of the struggle between Babylon and Egypt, as Egypt met the Babylonian forces on Philistine soil. The invasion by the Babylonians was likened to an overflowing wadi that flooded the land, destroying everything in its path. As they flooded the land of the Philistines, the onrush of the Babylonian force would be so swift and overpowering that Philistine fathers "will not turn back for their sons, because they will be utterly helpless." (47:3) The picture is given of a rushing flash flood that comes so quickly fathers are unable to turn back to save their sons, and must flee quickly to even save themselves.
   
   Let us not misunderstand, though. The fall of the Philistines was the result of God's judgment against them and not merely a victory in the Babylonian conquest. With the destruction of Philistia, the "sword of the Lord" was not silenced. It remained "restless" as we will see in the following chapters.