Jeremiah 49:1-6, Oracles Against the Nations: A Message for Ammon

The Ammonites were another people coming from a son of Lot with his younger daughter (Genesis 19:38). Like Moab, they lived east of the Jordan River. When Israel came to conquer Canaan, they first engaged in battle with these people on the east side of Canaan, and defeating them, took their land. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh were given these lands for their inheritance instead of land in Canaan. Ammon is present day Jordan.

^49:1 Concerning the Ammonites:

This is what Yahweh says: “Has Israel no sons? Has Israel no heir? Why then has Molek taken possession of Gad? Why do his people live in its towns? ² But the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites; it will become a mound of ruins, and its surrounding villages will be set on fire. Then Israel will drive out those who drove her out,” says Yahweh. ³ “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed! Cry out, you inhabitants of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; rush here and there inside the walls, for Molek will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.

When the Assyrian invasion took place, this area east of the Jordan was conquered and Gad was exiled. The Ammonites filled in the vacuum. Molek, their chief god, famous for demanding child sacrifice, had taken possession of Gad’s land. Ammon sponsored the assassination of Gedaliah, Babylon’s appointed governor of Judah (Jeremiah 40). But the days were coming, the day of Messiah, when Israel would retake this land. In the meantime, Babylon was coming to destroy Ammon’s capital city, Rabbah, and its surrounding villages, as well as Heshbon and Ai. Molek would go into exile with his worshipers.

⁴ Why do you boast of your valleys, boast of your valleys so fruitful? Unfaithful Daughter Ammon, you trust in your riches and say, ‘Who will attack me?’ ⁵ I will bring terror on you from all those around you,” declares the Lord, Yahweh Almighty. “Every one of you will be driven away, and no one will gather the fugitives.

⁶ “Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,”
declares Yahweh.

Ammon though herself impregnable as she lay in a valley between the mountains, but her trust in her riches and geography would prove useless. Yahweh would defeat them thoroughly. Yet, in the midst of this promise of judgment, as with Moab, there is a promise of restoration. There is favor for Lot’s children.

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Discussion Questions:

1. What other examples can you think of where a defeated people’s land was occupied?
2. Why do you think Yahweh mentions the god of the defeated people as also defeated?
3. What is the right way for us to think about our wealth and military advantages?