Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Egypt is a very pretty heifer"
Text: Jeremiah 46:20
EGYPT AND HER MERCENARIES
Egypt had a very significant past. There were the glory days when Pharaohs built huge pyramids to house the rulers when they died. Those days were long over. But Egypt believed that if they hired mercenaries, they would still be formidable in battle.
“Egypt is a very pretty heifer,
But destruction comes, it comes from the north.
Also her mercenaries are in her midst like fat bulls,
For they also are turned back,
They have fled away together.
They did not stand,
For the day of their calamity had come upon them,
The time of their punishment.”
Jeremiah 46:20-21
1. “Egypt is a very pretty heifer, but destruction comes, it comes from the north”
a) “A very pretty heifer”
i) A heifer is a young cow that has not given birth yet.
ii) The nation fancies itself as young, pretty and strong.
iii) This phrase was used to mock Egypt for its folly.
b) “Destruction comes”
i) A heifer would not survive well in battle.
ii) “The north” was a common way of describing
enemies coming from the northerly direction.
iii) In context, this was a reference to the Babylonians.
2. “Also her mercenaries are in her midst like fat bulls,
for they also are turned back, they have fled away together.
They did not stand, for the day of their calamity had come upon them,
the time of their punishment”
a) Egypt had clearly hired mercenaries.
b) They were compared to “fat bulls”.
i) A very pretty heifer
ii) Fat bulls
iii) What chance would they have to defeat the mighty Babylonian army?
c) In battle:
i) The mercenaries had turned back.
ii) They fled
iii) They did not stand up against the enemies they were hired to fight.
d) Calamity
i) The battle of Carchemish was compared to a day of calamity.
ii) It was likened to a day of punishment for them.