Jeremiah 49:14

B. THE NATURE OF EDOM'S JUDGMENT (Jeremiah 49:14-18)

"I have heard tidings from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. For, behold, I have made thee small among the nations, and despised among men. As for thy terribleness, the pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah. And Edom shall become an astonishment: every man that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein."

"Thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rocks ..." (Jeremiah 49:15). Edom was probably the best fortified nation on earth when Jeremiah prophesied. The rocky vastness of Mount Seir, where Petra (Sela) was located, is a marvel even to this day for all who ever saw the place. Even yet it seems incredible that a nation with such a stronghold could be defeated.

Much of the little Book of Obadiah is incorporated into these prophecies by Jeremiah, and again we have evidence that Jeremiah was familiar with all that any of the prophets before him had written. Obadiah wrote during the ninth century B.C., and Jeremiah prophesied more than two centuries afterward. See Vol. 2 of the minor prophets series of commentaries for a full discussion of Obadiah.

Obadiah is not the only prophet who gave pronouncements of God's wrath upon the Edomites. Others are Ezekiel 25:12-14; 35:1-15; Joel 3:19; Amos 9:12; Isaiah 21:11-12; 34:5-7; 63:1-6. So far I have already commented upon all of these (except the ones in Ezekiel). To all of these, of course, there must also be added the prophecies against Edom through the prophet Jeremiah.

"Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities ..." (Jeremiah 49:18). What is meant here is that the destruction of Edom would be total and complete like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, and that the old seat of the nation would become uninhabited. This, of course, is true to this very day. The neighbor cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were Admah and Zeboiim (Genesis 18-19; Deuteronomy 29:23-25 )