The Judgment of Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar & Hazor, & Elam

We’ve all heard the old saying, “The neighborhood is going downhill.” Well, Israel never watched its neighborhood go downhill because from its very beginning they lived in a bad neighborhood. Jeremiah’s prophecy is simply that the bad neighborhood is going down. These last few chapters of Jeremiah serve as a reminder that the Jews were surrounded by fierce enemies all around. They constantly lived with the threats of violence & warfare at their borders. Five of Israel’s enemies are mentioned in Jeremiah 49: to the east, the Ammonites (vv. 1–6); to the south, the Edomites (vv. 7–22); to the north, the Arameans (Damascus) (vv. 23–27); to the far east, the Elamites (vv. 34–39); & scattered throughout the area south & east of Israel, the tribesmen of Kedar (vv. 28–33). These are areas from which people have afflicted & threatened the Jews throughout history, down to this very day—Jordan, Syria, Iran, & the area occupied by Palestinian Arabs.