Of Egypt concerning the army of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah.
Jeremiah 46 turns from Judah to the nations, and it starts with a dated disaster: Egypt's army crushed at Carchemish on the Euphrates. Why does a book about Jerusalem's fall record an Egyptian defeat, and why date it so exactly?
The verse names two kings who had already shaped Judah's recent history. Neco was the man Josiah had gone out to fight, and the man who put Jehoiakim on the throne in the first place.
This was the same energetic king whom Josiah attacked at Megiddo, on Neco's way to Carchemish. Josiah did it to his own ruin, and not at all by any design of the Egyptian king, who begged Judah's king in vain to leave him alone. Neco later deposed Jehoahaz and set up Eliakim as king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. But reverse was at hand. At Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar crushed his army. The result was not only the loss of all his possessions in Asia, but the shutting up of the king within his own land from then on.
Carchemish was more than one empire beating another. It marked the moment world power passed to Babylon, where Gentile rule began.
Egypt then sought to fill the scene of the world. It came up, conquered Judea, and met the power of Babylon at Carchemish. But its power was broken. Nebuchadnezzar became the head of gold over the whole earth, and the times of the Gentiles began. Those times are still running on, and will run until the Lord takes His great power and reigns.
The verse dates the battle by a king of Judah. That date also ties Judah's years to Babylon's.
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, comes into God-given prominence in Jeremiah's time. The times of the Gentiles began with him. Dominion is given to him, and taken away from Israel. There is a remarkable date given in Jeremiah in relation to this. For anyone who dates ancient history, it is probably the most important date in any ancient records. … Jeremiah mentions it no less than four times, in 25:1; 36:1; 45:1; and 46:2. … "The fourth year of Jehoiakim" is the "first year of Nebuchadnezzar."
Jeremiah's messages to the nations run from chapter 46 to chapter 51. Egypt comes first, and Egypt was where Judah kept running for safety.
In Jeremiah 46 Jeremiah denounces Egypt, where these foolish Jews had fled for security. Jeremiah 47 goes on to denounce Philistia, and then Moab (Jer. 48). All these countries were places to which the Jews looked for security.
So Judah watched its chosen shelter collapse. Egypt had always been that kind of support:
Egypt has been a breaking staff to Israel — a staff of reed, which offered much but never fulfilled its promises, bringing only ruin to all who trusted it. Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of the people of God. God had brought them out of that land, and in their own deliverance they had seen His judgment on it. Yet they could turn back to it again and again. It is an inconsistency that not one of us who knows himself can claim to be a stranger to!
Josiah died because he inserted himself into this very campaign. A good man went out against Neco without a word from God — and was warned by a foreign king that he was fighting the wrong opponent.
The earth's broken pots are at war among themselves. Why is the Lord's anointed mixing himself up in their quarrel, unless the Lord has told him to? Does he have such a word? No — the very opposite. Listen to Neco's protest: "What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest He destroy you."
Egypt wanted the top place among the nations; God had assigned it elsewhere. Yet the sentence on Egypt is not permanent.
These nations were all to fall under the power of Nebuchadnezzar. But some of them are to be restored in the latter day. Among them will be Elam, Egypt, Moab and Ammon. Not Philistia, though, not Damascus, not Hazor, and above all not Babylon. Chapters 50 and 51 set Babylon's destruction before us in great detail.
- Date. Jehoiakim's fourth year is Nebuchadnezzar's first. Jeremiah repeats this date four times, and it is one of the most important dates in all ancient records.
- Transfer. Carchemish broke Egypt's bid for world power. Dominion passed from Israel to Babylon, and the times of the Gentiles began.
- Refuge. Egypt is judged first because Judah kept fleeing there for safety. Egypt was a staff of reed: it promised much and brought ruin.
- Warning. Josiah's death at Megiddo shows the cost of entering a quarrel the Lord never gave him.
- Mercy. These nations all fall under Nebuchadnezzar. Yet Egypt is marked for restoration in a coming day; Babylon is not.
Make ready buckler and shield, and draw near to battle!
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Harness the horses, and mount ye horsemen, and stand forth with helmets; polish the spears, put on the coats of mail!
Jeremiah's word against Egypt opens with a call to arms — horses, helmets, spears, armour — and God has already marked this army for defeat. The orders come from a prophet in Judah, not from Pharaoh, so who really directs the armies of the nations?
This call to arms belongs to a real battle. Commentators trace what became of the Egyptian king who marched out:
This was the same energetic king whom Josiah attacked at Megiddo as the king marched to Carchemish. The attack ruined Josiah, and it was no plan of the Egyptian ruler, who begged the king of Judah in vain to leave him alone. The Egyptian later deposed Jehoahaz and made Eliakim king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. But a reversal was at hand. At Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar completely routed his army. He lost all his territory in Asia, and from then on he could not move outside his own land.
Commentators also date this word and note how exactly it came true.
This Pharaoh tried to invade the territory of the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar defeated him in a battle at Carchemish, on the river Euphrates. Jeremiah gave this prophecy about eighteen years before Jerusalem fell, and all of it came true word for word.
Jeremiah 46 opens a run of chapters about the nations, and Egypt comes first. The reason lies in what Egypt wanted and what God had already settled:
Egypt would have liked first place among the nations. But Israel had failed and lost that place, and God had decided to give it to Babylon. So all the nations must be judged, and we see God's care and patience in giving them His word about it.
There is a second reason, closer to home. The nations named in these chapters are the ones Judah had been leaning on:
In Jeremiah 46 we have God's sentence against Egypt, where these foolish Jews had fled for safety. Jeremiah 47 brings the same sentence against Philistia, and Jeremiah 48 against Moab — because the Jews looked to all these countries for safety.
The verse lists gear that men trust their lives to. Judah had already watched an Egyptian army march out to help it, and learned what that help was worth:
The help of man is useless against the word of God. This was not the first time Egypt had proved a broken reed, piercing the hand of anyone who leaned on it. Pharaoh's army went home without striking a blow for Judah. That only delayed the siege. The Chaldeans soon came up again and destroyed the city with fire.
The same trust is a standing danger for anyone:
Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of God's people. God had brought them out of that land, and in their own rescue they had seen His judgment on Egypt. Yet again and again they could turn back to it. Sadly, no one who knows himself can claim to be free of the same inconsistency.
The chapter never lets Babylon take the credit for the victory:
In powerful language the prophet describes how Egypt's defenders break away before the unstoppable tide, "because the Lord drove them" (v. 15). God uses Nebuchadnezzar, but the work is still that of "the King whose name is the Lord of hosts" (v. 18).
That is why a prophet in Judah can give orders to an Egyptian army: the call to arm and the defeat that follows come from the same hand.
The armour comes off, but Egypt is not written off for ever. Commentators note a distinction running through these chapters:
All these nations were to fall under Nebuchadnezzar's power. But some of them will be restored in a coming day: Elam, Egypt, Moab and Ammon — but not Philistia, not Damascus, not Hazor, and above all not Babylon.
Commentators also say what the blow was for:
So for Israel's sake God Himself must break the staff they leaned on. He shows mercy in the end, and Egypt is not finally left to judgment, as Edom and Babylon are. Yet from now on Egypt must be a low kingdom — one that no longer invites the confidence it used to invite, and that its neighbours will trust no more.
- Word first. Jeremiah gave this call to arms about eighteen years before Jerusalem fell, and it came true at Carchemish. God speaks before He acts.
- Word to the nations. God sends His word to Egypt before the blow falls. Commentators call this His care and patience: He does not judge a nation without first telling it.
- Word against the armour. The verse names horse, helmet, spear and armour, and none of it saves. The help of man is useless against the word of God.
- Word behind the sword. Nebuchadnezzar wins the battle, but Egypt's defenders break because the Lord drove them. The real victor is "the King whose name is the Lord of hosts".
- Word beyond the ruin. Egypt falls under Babylon's power. Yet Egypt has a place among the nations God will restore; Babylon has none.