Jeremiah 49:7-11 – Don’t assume , llve based on reality

Having declared what would happen to the Ammonites in Jeremiah 49:1-6, the prophet now turned to declare the judgment on the Edomites in verses 7-22. Who were the Edomites? They were the descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob. Their history tells us that their rivalry already began while in their mother’s womb. Esau was the one whom Jacob managed to supplant and made him sell his birth as the firstborn to him for a bowl of pottage. Their descendants the Edomites and the Jews were cousins. Their rivalry, which started with their fathers, persisted throughout the history of their existence.    

During the time of Moses, Numbers 20:14-21 reveal that the Edomites refused to permit the children of Israel to cross through their territory. And in the time of Judges, they even tried to seize Israel ( Judges 11). Psalm 137:7, we learn that Edom wickedly wished calamity would come upon that Jerusalem, that the Babylonians would burn the city to the ground.            

So here after the longest time of bitter rivalry and hostility, the message of the Lord concerning their destiny was pronounced in Jeremiah 49:7-22. This reflection will look at verses 7-11, the first five of the message Jeremiah said concerning them. The words of God to them in Verses 7-8 hinted that the Edomites took pride in their wisdom. They considered themselves smarter than people of their surrounding nations.  And since they were situated in the high rugged mountains, they had this false confidence and presumption that they had a good system of defense.  Mockingly Jeremiah told them that there was nowhere that could hide to be safe from God’s determined judgment of them.  Neither their wisdom nor their defense system.

Verses 9-10 indicate that God’s coming judgment upon them would be very thorough. Edom would be destroyed utterly. Two illustrations were used to describe how thorough the destruction would be. A vineyard worker would normally pick grapes that are ripe and leaves the unripe ones untouched, and a burglar who breaks into a house normally takes away what he wants and leaves the rest alone, but in the destruction of Edom, nothing would be left untouched.  God’s point was this: o matter where they would hide, God would ferret them out for destruction. However, God’s compassion would be demonstrated in His care for orphans and widows.

Lesson: don’t live a life based on assumption but on true knowledge. Look at how the word “assume” is spelled. Ass-u-me – when we assume, it makes an “ass of you and me.” Live life solidly and firmly grounded on the foundation and reality of God’s Word, don’t assume.