Judgment on Egypt
We now enter a new section of the book of Jeremiah. Chapters 46-51 are a series of prophecies against the nations. This first chapter addresses Egypt.
This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
Jeremiah 46:2
There was a major battle at the city of Carchemish in 605 BC between the two great powers of the day: Egypt and Babylon. The Babylonians had been gaining strength and had nearly wiped out the Assyrians. The Assyrian capital, Nineveh, had been conquered. Egypt, seeing the Babylonian rise to power, pushed up the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, making claim to the region, including Israel (see 2 Kings 23:29-35). They teamed up with what was left of Assyria to confront the Babylonians. They faced off at Carchemish. The fate of that battle would tip the scales in favor of the victor. Babylon prevailed, and Egypt retreated back to their land, licking their wounds. In the wake of that defeat, Jeremiah gave his prophecy.
Jeremiah compares Egypt’s rise to power to the flooding of the Nile (Jeremiah 46:7-8): “I will rise and cover the earth”. Each summer the Nile flooded, covering its floodplain. After a few months, the water subsided. Just as Egypt’s strength rose like the Nile, so it would also subside.
To Ponder…
- What metaphorical floods do you see in the world? Do you believe they’ll subside?