Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him"
Text: Jeremiah 49:8
CALAMITY COMING TO DEDAN
Dedan was a prosperous trading city. It enjoyed a lucrative sea trade with cities like Tyre and Sidon. Trading of spices for incense brought much wealth to Dedan, a city of Edom.
“Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
The time that I will punish him.
If grape-gatherers came to you,
Would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
If thieves by night,
Would they not destroy until they have enough?”
Jeremiah 49:8-9
1. “Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will punish him”
a) To flee and to turn back.
i) This was the advice given.
ii) The people were so caught up with trading that they did not realize
that a great calamity was about to descend on Edom.
iii) Divine punishment would be meted out against Edom.
b) The city of Dedan would also be penalised together with all the cities of Edom.
2. “If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes”
a) The marauding Babylonians were coming to raid and to destroy Edom.
b) They were compared to grape-gatherers.
i) In Israel, the law of gleaning was practised.
ii) Not all the grapes would be harvested.
iii) Some of the grapes would be left behind for the poor of the land.
iv) But the Babylonians did not observe such laws!
v) When they attack Edom, no city would be spared.
3. “If thieves by night, would they not destroy until they have enough”
a) Another illustration made this even clearer.
b) The Babylonians were compared to destructive thieves.
c) When they come, they would plunder Edom.
d) They would steal and destroy every city till they are satiated.