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| Photo by Jim Tracy |
1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
Judah is no longer desired by God because of her sin.
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’s anger come upon you.
3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.
Maybe God will preserve Judah if they repent. Or at least preserve those who humble themselves before Him.
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
These are the major cities of the Philistines. Even they will be destroyed. In fact, they were totally eliminated and never existed again.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
The sea coast will be wiped totally clean so that all that will be left will be the poor shepherds. The large trade ports will be gone.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
After returning from their captivity, Judah settled the Philistine’s land as well as their own.
8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached My people, and magnified themselves against their border.
God says He has noticed the sins of Judah’s neighbors Moab and Ammon.
9 Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of My people shall spoil them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.
Babylon totally wiped out these nations also. Though most of their land remained uninhabitable, the Jews left to tend the land would settle what little was worth settling.
10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD will be terrible unto them: for He will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship Him, everyone from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.
The “Isles of the Heathen” were the islands in the Mediterranean, mostly belonging to Greece. This devastation will be so great that word will spread to the farthest known regions and they will respect Judah’s God
12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by My sword.
The word translated “Ethiopians” here is Kushi, meaning “descendant of Cush.” Cush was the grandson of Noah, a son of Ham. His descendants settled Mesopotamia (Nimrod), Arabia, Egypt and what we call Ethiopia today. Babylon did conquer all this territory.
13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
At the time of this prophecy, Assyria was the major power in the region. God is promising that Babylon will even destroy this nation that appears to be unconquerable.
14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for He shall uncover the cedar work.
The devastation would be so great that Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, would be a wilderness where wild animals and birds would be comfortable. This region is still largely unsettled today, though at the time of this prophecy it held the capital of Assyria, a city that took three days to just cross.
15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, "I am, and there is none beside me:" how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! Every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.
Assyria’s arrogance will be her own downfall. No one is too good to be conquered. This includes us, today.