What is the meaning of Jeremiah 49:25? How Jeremiah records the Lord’s own exclamation: “How is the city of praise not forsaken…?” (Jeremiah 49:25). • The single word “How” signals amazement and lament, much like Jeremiah’s earlier “How deserted lies the city” over Jerusalem (Lamentations 1:1). • God Himself voices surprise—not because He lacks foreknowledge, but to draw our attention to the shocking fall that is coming (cf. Isaiah 1:21; Ezekiel 26:17). • The tone reminds us that when judgment finally comes, it often arrives suddenly (1 Thessalonians 5:3) and leaves even seasoned observers stunned. is the city of praise The “city of praise” is Damascus, once renowned throughout the Near East. • Damascus had enjoyed centuries of prominence (2 Samuel 8:6; 1 Kings 11:24–25). Its marketplaces dazzled merchants (Ezekiel 27:18). • Saul of Tarsus headed there because it was still a spiritual center (Acts 9:2). • God’s choice of the title “city of praise” shows that He recognized its public esteem—yet He alone decides whether any city retains its standing (Psalm 33:10–11). not forsaken The rhetorical question stresses that Damascus will soon be abandoned. • “Forsaken” pictures residents fleeing a war-torn shell, as Judah’s people once did (Jeremiah 4:29). • Trust in alliances, walls, or wealth cannot avert the moment God decrees desolation (Psalm 127:1; Proverbs 21:31). • By asking “How…not forsaken,” the Lord exposes the city’s false sense of security—just as Babylon’s boast “I will be queen forever” ended in ruin (Isaiah 47:7–9). • The certainty of judgment here echoes Isaiah’s earlier oracle: “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins” (Isaiah 17:1). the town that brings Me joy? God once took “joy” in Damascus, for every city has value as His creation (Acts 17:26). • Like Nineveh before it (Jonah 4:11), Damascus had been granted seasons of mercy. • That privilege brought responsibility; when its violence and idolatry persisted (Amos 1:3–5), the joy turned to grief. • The Lord’s sorrow mirrors Christ’s weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44). He “does not willingly afflict” (Lamentations 3:33) but must judge persistent sin to uphold righteousness (Psalm 89:14). • Even in judgment, God’s heart is revealed: He desires cities—and people—to remain places of praise and joy (Zephaniah 3:17; Isaiah 62:4). summary Jeremiah 49:25 captures the Lord’s astonished lament over Damascus. Once celebrated as “the city of praise” and a “town that brings Me joy,” it will soon be deserted because its people trusted their fame instead of the living God. The verse warns every generation: worldly prominence cannot shield anyone from divine judgment, yet the very phrasing shows God’s grieving heart—He longs for cities to remain places that honor Him, not monuments to lost opportunity. |
    |