Jeremiah 49:1-6

A message concerning Ammon (49:1-6)

Like its brother nation Moab, Ammon was a distant relative of the nation Judah. (Ammon and Moab were descended from Lot; Judah was descended from Lot’s uncle, Abraham; cf. Genesis 12:5; Genesis 19:36-38). Ammon and Moab occupied part of the tableland region east of the Jordan River, which meant they were the immediate neighbours of Israel and Judah to the east.

About a century before the time of Jeremiah, Assyria had conquered the northern kingdom Israel and carried the people into captivity (2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 17:6). Ammon apparently then took the opportunity to seize the territory of Gad, one of Israel’s border tribes. But Ammon forgot that Israel was still God’s people. Jeremiah tells Ammon that it will be conquered and its capital, Rabbah, destroyed. Israel will then repossess its own territory (49:1-2). (Molech, or Milcom, was Ammon’s national god.)

Ammon was proud of the wealth it had built up and thought it was secure against attack. Jeremiah tells the Ammonites that economic prosperity will not save them when the enemy invades. They will be taken into captivity (3-5), though later a remnant will return to the homeland (6).