Jeremiah 49:1-6. Today we start the message to another one of Israel’s neighbors, the Ammonites. I say today but if you look at the posting dates you will notice it has been a few weeks since I last posted. If you have read this blog from the beginning you know early on that I struggled with the idea of staying “caught up”. I realized that reading the Bible is about a relationship and really there is no such thing as being “caught up”. I realize that in human relationships that if we are separated from someone fro a while that things happen in each others lives and when we get together we get “caught up” on those events. Our relationship with God is similar but different because we are separated from God physically but he is still present in terms of his care and power. In his physical absence God has given us the Bible like a love letter telling us about himself and what he has been (and will be) up to. So reading our Bibles is not a task to chek off of a list each day but a part of being in contact with our friend, God.
This past Sunday (11/2/14) was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. In connection with that one online company that I buy books from partnered with an organization called Voice of the Martyrs to send a magazine or newsletter to their customers for three months. I love missions and the fact that people of other cultures need to hear about Jesus and that there are believers in other places. Right now in Nigeria there is a group called Boko Haram that is kidnapping and killing Christians just because they are Christians. The group is a Muslim group and the leader insists that this is the clear teaching of Allah. The name of the group means “no western teaching”. It is interesting because Jesus was not a western guy he was Middle Eastern and Christianity also began there. God is not western or eastern or middle eastern he is the God of all people every where.
As I was reading those newsletters or magazines (at least two had come that I only recently read) I was impressed with several things. I saw that it was a big deal for many of these people to even have a Bible. I also saw what a sacrifice it could be to actually read your Bible. One of the things that these attackers regularly do is burn down churches and destroy all the Bibles and song books the people have. The same sorts of things happen in many places in the world, India, Indonesia, China, lots of places.
Two things impressed me as I read those stories, first we are very lucky here to have the freedom to own and read Bibles. The second thing I thought about is what these people do after their Bibles are destroyed. I got save at a church that was very serious about the Bible. In the college group that I attended they had groups that you could join to learn more about having a relationship with God; being a follower of Jesus. One of the things they encouraged was finding a quiet place spending some time each day reading your Bible. They called that time a “quiet time”. That is sort of what this blog is about, helping anyone who reads it as they spend time with God. I think the idea of doing it every day is great, I want to dio it every day. Cookie (my wife) and I have know each other since 1980 and we started dating in 1981. We have talked to each other every day in those more than 30 years even when we were in different parts of the country or world. But I realize that not all Christians have the ability to read their Bible every day and that it is not part of some religious duty. Staying in touch with God is part of a relationship and when and how is between those two people (in this cast each of us individually and God). I struggle with getting this blog done sometimes, not because I am being attacked by Boko Haram, but because of the attacks of daily life, work, housework, other relationships, serving God, and being tired. I hope you will all forgive my inconsistency, it does take some time each day to study and write these posts, and I feel responsible to be as correct and accurate as I can with God’s letters to us. On days when I don’t write it doesn’t mean that I’m not listening to God in other ways, through Christians songs or hearing sermons on the radio, and I find myself talking to God a lot when things get crazy. I hope you will use these posts to read each day, but if you can’t listen to God in other ways, think about what you have already learned from Him, and talk to Him to.
Back to Jeremiah, the Ammonites were descendants of a guy named Lot (Genesis 19:36-38, I know it’s a nasty story but that’s how humans roll most of the time). If you have read the “Old Testament Connection” you know that the Old Testament is a history of a certain family or group of people the descendants of Jacob (Israel, see “What’s in a Name”). Israel was a descendant of a guy named Abraham (for more read “The Old Testament Connection”). Abraham was sent on a journey by God and his nephew, Lot, went with him. As descendants of Lot the Ammonites were distant relatives of the Israelites. These descendants of Lot settled east of the Jordan River and north of the Dead Sea, North and east of the territory ruled by the Moabites. Historically they were occasionally at war with the Israelites after the Israelites settled the territory on both sides of the Jordan River. Saul and David (the first tow kings of the united nation of Israel) both had run ins with the Ammonites. In 722 BC after the Assyrians captured and scattered the 10 northern tribes of Israel (the Northern Kingdom also called Israel) The Ammonites took over land that had belonged to the tribe of Gad and submitted to Assyrian rule. When Assyria was defeated by the Babylonians the Ammonites transferred their allegiance to Babylon and assisted Babylon in some of it’s battles with the Southern Kingdom (Judah). According to Jeremiah 27:3 Ammon thought about joining a rebellion against Babylon in 594 BC. That plot never was followed through on but in 587 they joined Judah in rebelling against Babylon, the rebellion which brought the downfall of Jerusalem. In 596 the king of Ammon was a key player in the assassination of Gedeliah, Nebuchadnezzar’s governor of Judah. Ammon was again attacked by Nebuchadnezzar in 582 BC and later by Arabs. Soon after Ammon ceased to be a recognizable nation or kingdom. Rabbah was the capital of Ammon, today that city is known as Amman, the capital of Jordan.
In verse 1 we see that this message is to the Ammonites. Yahweh has a question for them, “Doesn’t Israel have any children, any heirs?” The question is asked because after the Assyrians scattered the people of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) the Ammonites inhabited the territory of Gad. But this was land that God had promised to the Israelite people as a permanent kingdom. God brought the destruction of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms but it was only for a time. Remember that the Judah was promised that they would return after 70 years in Babylonian captivity (if they would submit to Nebuchadnezzar and go, the people who ran to Egypt mostly forfeited that privilege). The actions of the Ammonites ignored God’s promises to the Israelites. If you think that the people around Israel didn’t know what God had to say check out the story of Rahab in Joshua chapters 2 and 6 some time. It is also important to know who “Malcam” (also translated Milcom or Molech) was. That was the name of the “god” that the Ammonites worshipped. So in this verse we see that the Ammonites were giving their false god credit for being able to live in the cities of Gad.
In verse 2 we see that because they had taken possession of Gad’s territory and figured that they were there to stay that Yahweh (LORD) was going to send invaders against Ammon. As we saw above both Nebuchadnezzar and Arabs invaded Ammon. Their capital city and the surrounding towns would be burned and left in a heap. Although the end of the verse might make it seem like Israel was the invader they were not and that part of the verse is still actually waiting for fulfillment in the future.
In verse 3 we see the people of two other cities inhabited by the Ammonites running around very upset. Of course anyone would be upset if their city were under attack (By the way this is no the same Ai as in Joshua). We see that the very “god” they though had given them the land would be “exiled”. The Hebrew word means “to be removed”. All of those who supported and trusted in Malcam would also be removed.
As Middle Eastern land goes the land of the Ammonites was pretty productive, that part of the land had rivers and streams and they were able to grow crops in the valleys of that hill country east of the Jordan. Because of their wealth (and maybe because of the more closed in terrain of thehills) they felt secure against attack. It’s hard to fight in the hills and who wants to destroy the guys who are feeding everyone anyway. According to verses 4-5 Yahweh, God of the Armies (host) is willing. According to theses verse the invaders would drive the Ammonites out of the land with no one to re-gather them. Verse 6 ends on a happy note though with Yahweh promising that he would “restore the fortunes of the sons of Ammon”.
It seems pretty interesting that Yahweh would restore the “fortunes of the sons of Ammon”. We don’t know what those fortunes are and maybe the present nation of Jordan is the fulfillment of this promise. I think that it is no less interesting that God promised to restore Judah and evidently the Northern Kingdom too. All of these people (as well as us) rejected and offended God repeatedly. But according to 1 John 2:2 Jesus died for the sins of all people through out all time. There will one day be a forever kingdom with a descendant of David on it’s throne, that king will be Jesus, and the kingdom will have people from every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 5:9, 7:9, 14:6) including Ammonites. The destruction of Ammon in these verses seems to have two related causes the people were prideful, trusting in their own situation and strength (in this case geographic and economic), and especially trusting in their own “god”. It was Yahweh who was behind the Assyrian victory, it was Yahweh who made the hills and streams, and it was Yahweh who would one day restore their fortunes. Because of who God is and what he is about (providing a way back to him and his forever kingdom, see “The Old Testament Connection”) I think that the fortunes relate to a restored relationship with him and that kingdom. That’s very cool that God loves his enemies so much that he would promise them a place with him, but it is also the fact that we all defect from him that causes him to use harsh measures to turn us around. From the beginning death and unpleasantness have been the consequences of turning away from God, but those consequences were given by God along with a promise that one day Eve’s descendant would make it all right, that is what Jesus has done (Genesis 3). We need to be careful to see the signs, understand who the true God is (Yahweh) and respond to his offer of good fortune in eternity.
Thank you god for not rejecting me. Jesus thank you for dying, being separated from the Father, in my place. Help me honor you with my life each day. Let me not rely on false gods or my own strength. Let me give you credit for the good in my life and listen to the message when bad things happen. Let me live for you and honor you until the day I join you in your kingdom.