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"A voice declares from Dan"

Text: Jeremiah 4:15

LESSONS FROM HISTORY

Judah should have learned huge lessons from the history of Israel. The Northern nation was conquered by the Assyrians in 722. The Babylonians were even more powerful than the Assyrians.

“For a voice declares from Dan
And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim:
‘Make mention to the nations,
Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem,
That watchers come from a far country
And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.'”
Jeremiah 4:15-16

1. “For a voice declares from Dan”

a) The tribe of Dan was divided into two communities.

i) One part was in the Northernmost part of Israel.

ii) The other part was on the Western part of Judah.

b) Reference to Ephraim would suggest:

i) This was Dan, a part of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

ii) It was quite remote but it was not spared by the Assyrians.

c) What did the voice of Dan declare?

i) It declared “afflictions”.

ii) Dan suffered under the Assyrians as all of Israel suffered.

2. “And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim”

a) Mount Ephraim was not an actual range of mountains.

b) It may be rendered “the hills of Ephraim”.

c) Ephraim may simply be a reference to Israel.

d) The message of Ephraim must be heard.

i) It was a message of affliction.

ii) Ephraim was destroyed by the Assyrians.

iii) No one was spared, not even the northernmost tribe of Dan.

3. “Make mention to the nations, yes, proclaim against Jerusalem”

a) This was an urgent message.

b) It had to be proclaimed to the nations:

i) The neighbouring nations of Judah

ii) Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom etc.

c) Especially to Jerusalem

i) The message was one of affliction.

ii) The Babylonians would conquer the other nations too.

4. “That watchers come from a far country and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.”

a) The watchers

i) This was a term that described the invaders.

ii) The Babylonians were described as people watching the nations they were planning to invade.

b) They had particularly raised their voice against:

i) The cities of Judah.

ii) They were making plans to invade.

iii) Raising their voices was one of the ways to intimidate their enemies.