Jeremiah 49:28-39 - When God Judges Gentile Nations

<p style="text-align:center;">Jeremiah 49:28-39</p> <p style="text-align:center;">Steven R. Cook</p> <p>     God, who is “the Judge of all the earth” (Gen 18:25), had called Jeremiah to be His prophet, both to the Gentile nations (Jer 1:5, 10) and Judah (Jer 1:15-18; 2:1-2). Because Judah was in a special covenant relationship with God, Jeremiah was commissioned to speak to them first and to pronounce God’s “judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands” (Jer 1:16). The first part of the book of Jeremiah was written primarily to Judah (Jeremiah chapters 2-45). But after God judged His people, He fixed His canons against the surrounding Gentile nations (Jeremiah chapters 46-52). God, having already judged Egypt (Jer 46:1-26), Philistia (Jer 47:1-7), Moab (Jer 48:1-47), Ammon (Jer 49:1-6), Edom (Jer 49:7-22), and Damascus (Jer 49:23-27), now renders His judgments against Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor (Jer 49:28-33), and Elam (Jer 49:34-39).</p> <p>Judgment Against Kedar, Hazor, and the Men of the East</p> <p>     Jeremiah opens this pericope with a prophecy “Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the LORD, ‘Arise, go up to Kedar and devastate the men of the east’” (Jer 49:28). The Kedarites were a nomadic people descended from Ishmael (Gen 25:13), who later became known for their archery skills (Isa 21:16-17). They were also shepherds (Isa 60:7), lovers of war (Psa 120:5-7), and lived in unprotected villages (Jer 49:31). According to Radmacher, “The phrase men of the East is associated with the Arameans, Midianites, Amalekites, and other nomadic desert tribes (Gen 29:1; Judg 7:12).”<a href='#_ftn1'>[1]</a> Though this passage refers to Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, it’s message is to Nebuchadnezzar, as the Lord instructs him to attack and destroy the men of this region. The word devastate translates the Hebrew verb שָׁדָד shadad,