Monday after VaYakhel

Monday after VaYakhel

Weekday Reading

Jeremiah chapter 47 & 48

Jer 47:1 The word of YHWH that came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning the Pelishtim, before that Par`oh struck `Aza.

Generally translated “Philistines,” these are not the Arab peoples now claiming that title, though some people of real Philistine lineage may be still living in the area. The real Philistines were sea-faring peoples from Greek and Minoan lineage. So it’s possible that this prophecy refers to those areas. However, it is more likely that the prophecy refers to the cities that the Philistines used to inhabit, regardless of who is there now. The Arab Muslims are occupying those lands presently.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 47:2 Thus says YHWH: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein; and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.

For our future, this again appears to be referring to the False Messiah’s “counter invasion” of the Middle East, to take possession from Russia. He will have promised to return their sovereignty to them once they are “liberated,” but that is a lie.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 47:3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers don’t look back to their children for feebleness of hands;

Jer 47:4 because of the day that comes to destroy all the Pelishtim, to cut off from Tzor and Tzidon every helper who remains: for YHWH will destroy the Pelishtim, the remnant of the isle of Kaftor.

Jer 47:5 Baldness is come on `Aza; Ashkelon is brought to nothing, the remnant of their valley: how long will you cut yourself?

Jer 47:6 You sword of YHWH, how long will it be before you be quiet? put up yourself into your scabbard; rest, and be still.

Jer 47:7 How can you be quiet, seeing YHWH has given you a charge? Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore, there has he appointed it.

“Baldness” may refer to radiation poisoning, which makes hair fall out. Or, some other scourge may be in view.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 48:1 Of Mo’av. Thus says YHWH Tzeva’ot, the Elohim of Yisra’el: Woe to Nevo! for it is laid waste; Kiryatayim is disappointed, it is taken; Misgav is put to shame and broken down.

Recall: What used to be Moab is located in what we now call Jordan.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 48:2 The praise of Mo’av is no more; in Cheshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. You also, Madmen, shall be brought to silence: the sword shall pursue you.

Jer 48:3 The sound of a cry from Choronayim, desolation and great destruction!

Jer 48:4 Mo’av is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

Jer 48:5 For by the ascent of Luchit with continual weeping shall they go up; for at the descent of Choronayim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.

Jer 48:6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

Jer 48:7 For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be taken: and Kemosh shall go forth into captivity, his Kohanim and his princes together.

All Arab Muslims and non-obedient “Christians” will be removed from the entire Holy Land during the Messianic Kingdom, which will be an area stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, according to Elohim’s original promise to Abraham. That area includes what is now Jordan.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 48:8 The destroyer shall come on every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed; as YHWH has spoken.

Jer 48:9 Give wings to Mo’av, that she may fly and get her away: and her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein.

Jer 48:10 Cursed be he who does the work of YHWH negligently; and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood.

Jer 48:11 Mo’av has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.

Jer 48:12 Therefore, behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will send to him those who pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces.

Jer 48:13 Mo’av shall be ashamed of Kemosh, as the house of Yisra’el was ashamed of Beit-El their confidence.

The Muslims long ago built mosques on all the ancient holy sites of the land where they have taken over. Those righteous Muslims who survive and enter the Messianic Kingdom as some of the sheep, however, will be ashamed of the teachings of the Koran and their violence against the people of Israel. Righteous Gentiles of all nations will enter the Kingdom, we know, because Yeshua tells us that the criteria for entering the Kingdom as a subject is not the same as the criteria for entering as a King and Priest. Those included in the Parousia and the Resurrection of the Just must be Torah Observant Obedient Believers. Those who enter as sheep are the survivors of WWIII who are the Remnant of Israel and the Righteous Gentiles who assisted the 144,000 Israelite youths who will travel the world to teach Torah and Faith in Yeshua, and help the Tribulation communities of Believers (Matthew chp 25). In the same manner that righteous Geniles helped Jews during the first Holocaust, righteous Gentiles will help all of Elohim’s people during the Tribulation and will earn a place in the Messianic Kingdom for their good works. At that time, those who believed in false gods and false teachings will be ashamed of their former activities and beliefs, including their arrogance against the State of Israel.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 48:14 How say you, We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?

Jer 48:15 Mo’av is laid waste, and they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is YHWH Tzeva’ot.

Jer 48:16 The calamity of Mo’av is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast.

Jer 48:17 All you who are round about him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod!

Jer 48:18 You daughter who dwells in Divon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Mo’av is come up against you, he has destroyed your strongholds.

Jer 48:19 Inhabitant of `Aro`er, stand by the way, and watch: ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, What has been done?

Jer 48:20 Mo’av is disappointed; for it is broken down: wail and cry; tell you it by the Arnon, that Mo’av is laid waste.

Moab, like the State of Israel, trusts in treaties and agreements for protection and for their “rights.” Yet they, too, will be betrayed and disappointed by the lack of honor on the part of the False Messiah.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 48:21 Judgment is come on the plain country, on Cholon, and on Yahtzah, and on Mefa`at,

Jer 48:22 and on Divon, and on Nevo, and on Beit-Divlatayim,

Jer 48:23 and on Kiryatayim, and on Beit-Gamul, and on Beit-Me`on,

Jer 48:24 and on Keriyot, and on Botzrah, and on all the cities of the land of Mo’av, far or near.

Jer 48:25 The horn of Mo’av is cut off, and his arm is broken, says YHWH.

Jer 48:26 Make you him drunken; for he magnified himself against YHWH: and Mo’av shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.

Jer 48:27 For wasn’t Yisra’el a derision to you? was he found among thieves? for as often as you speak of him, you wag the head.

Jordan will (has already, actually) taken sides against their Kinsmen Israel, and will be punished for it.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 48:28 You inhabitants of Mo’av, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.

Jer 48:29 We have heard of the pride of Mo’av, [that] he is very proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.

Jer 48:30 I know his wrath, says YHWH, that it is nothing; his boastings have worked nothing.

Jer 48:31 Therefore will I wail for Mo’av; yes, I will cry out for all Mo’av: for the men of Kir-Heres shall they mourn.

Jer 48:32 With more than the weeping of Ya`zer will I weep for you, vine of Sivmah: your branches passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Ya`zer: on your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer is fallen.

Jer 48:33 Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Mo’av; and I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses: none shall tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting.

Jer 48:34 From the cry of Cheshbon even to El`aleh, even to Yahatz have they uttered their voice, from Tzo`ar even to Choronayim, to Eglat-Shelishi-Yah: for the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate.

Jer 48:35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Mo’av, says YHWH, him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods.

Jer 48:36 Therefore my heart sounds for Mo’av like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir-Heres: therefore the abundance that he has gotten is perished.

The Moabites are part of Abraham’s family, and Lot was righteous enough that the angels came to him to try and save his family before the destruction of Sedom and Amorah. It grieves Elohim when those who should be loyal kinsmen betray one another. And it also grieves Elohim that offshoots of Abraham’s family must be punished for their arrogance and disobedience. Elohim does not delight in bloodshed and destruction of any people, but especially on those who should in theory be closest to Him.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 48:37 For every head is bald, and every beard clipped: on all the hands are cuttings, and on the waist sackcloth.

Jer 48:38 On all the housetops of Mo’av and in the streets of it there is lamentation every where; for I have broken Mo’av like a vessel in which none delights, says YHWH.

Jer 48:39 How is it broken down! [how] do they wail! how has Mo’av turned the back with shame! so shall Mo’av become a derision and a terror to all who are round about him.

Jer 48:40 For thus says YHWH: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread out his wings against Mo’av.

Jer 48:41 Keriyot is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Mo’av at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Jer 48:42 Mo’av shall be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against YHWH.

That doesn’t mean no one descended from Moav will live, but their land will be part of the greater territory of Eretz Israel, and those of the lineage of Moab who are not obedient believers will be dispersed to live in other lands. As a nation, they will be finished.

Jeremiah, continued:

Jer 48:43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are on you, inhabitant of Mo’av, says YHWH.

Jer 48:44 He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Mo’av, the year of their visitation, says YHWH.

Jer 48:45 Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Cheshbon; for a fire is gone forth out of Cheshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sichon, and has devoured the corner of Mo’av, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.

Jer 48:46 Woe to you, O Mo’av! the people of Kemosh is undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity.

Jer 48:47 Yet will I rescind the captivity of Mo’av in the latter days, says YHWH. Thus far is the judgment of Mo’av.

Interestingly, it appears that after some length of time, the Moabites will be allowed to return to Eretz Israel. No timeframe is given (unlike Egypt, which is specifically told 40 years previously in prophecy), so we don’t know exactly when. Since these prophetic punishments occur during the Tribulation and the early Messianic Kingdom, we might speculate their will be allowed to return to their homeland sometime late in the Millennium, or possibly not until after Hasatan is released – the days that are “latter” to the Millennial Kingdom.