Sermons / Jeremiah / Jeremiah 47:1–7
Floods Reveal Foundations
Jeremiah 47 uses the picture of floodwaters to describe Babylon’s unstoppable sweep through Philistia. The chapter exposes misplaced trust and presses one claim: whatever you trust more than God will eventually let you down—floods reveal foundations.
The recording, chapter markers and searchable transcript appear here once the Sunday video is available.
In this message
- Whatever you trust more than God will eventually let you down.
- Fear exposes what you have really been trusting when life starts to shake.
- False gods always disappoint, even when they promise security, peace, or hope.
- God’s judgment is purposeful and holy, and the chapter ultimately points to Jesus as the place where justice is satisfied and mercy is extended.
- God may allow shaking in mercy, exposing weak foundations so you build on what cannot be shaken.
The passage
The verses Lee stops on. Read Jeremiah 47 in full.
Jeremiah 47:5
5Gaza will shave her head in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. You remnant on the plain, how long will you cut yourselves?
Beginning in verse 5, Jeremiah records something that almost seems strange to us. The Philistines begin shaving their heads. They begin cutting themselves. Why? Because this was a pagan expression of grief and worship. They believed that if they cried loudly enough, if they suffered enough...if they injured themselves enough...their gods would finally hear them. Does that remind you of another story? Do you remember the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel? (1 Kings 18:28 – 29) They danced. They shouted. They screamed. They cut themselves with knives. Hour after hour they tried to get Baal's attention. Nothing happened. Why? Because Baal wasn't real. He couldn't hear. He couldn't answer. He couldn't save. The Philistines had spent centuries trusting gods that had mouths but could not speak...eyes but could not see...ears but could not hear. And now, when judgment came those gods were silent.
Jeremiah 47:6
6“ ‘Alas, sword of the Lord, how long till you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still.’
The chapter ends with one of the most remarkable pictures in all of Jeremiah. Jeremiah begins speaking to the sword. "O sword of the Lord, How long before you rest?" Can you hear the emotion? Jeremiah has watched judgment after judgment after judgment. Egypt. Now Philistia. More nations still to come. Finally, the prophet cries out, "Lord, isn't that enough?" "Please put the sword away." But God answers. "How can it rest, when I have given it an assignment?"
Floods reveal foundations.
What we have seen
- Fear Reveals What We Trust - Can I tell you something I've learned?
- Some of you are in a flood right now.
- false gods always disappoint. Maybe today we don't bow before statues made of stone.
What is Jeremiah 47 mainly warning people about?
Jeremiah 47 is a warning about misplaced trust. Judah kept looking to other nations and alliances for rescue, and God’s answer was that those very nations would fall too. The coming “flood” shows how quickly what looks stable can collapse. The chapter presses a simple test: floods reveal foundations.
What do the “waters rising out of the north” mean in Jeremiah 47?
The “waters” picture an invading army, not a weather event. Babylon is described as an overflowing torrent sweeping through the region. The point of the flood image is that it doesn’t negotiate or care how impressive something looks; it exposes whether a foundation can stand. Floods don’t create foundations—they reveal them.
Why does Jeremiah 47 focus on judging other nations instead of only Judah?
Jeremiah 46–51 turns to the surrounding nations because Judah kept looking everywhere except God when trouble came. They ran horizontally—toward kings, armies, and alliances—instead of vertically. The judgments show that the things Judah was tempted to trust were not reliable saviours. God’s repeated call was to stop looking around and start looking up.
What does the chapter say about fear and trust?
Fear reveals what you trust. When life is stable it is easy to say “I trust God,” but when the flood comes your instincts show where your confidence really sits. The chapter’s panic scene is meant to show how overwhelming fear becomes when foundations fail. The question is not whether fear will come, but what it will expose.
If someone feels like they are “in a flood” right now, what does this chapter say to do?
People in a flood are invited to ask, “Lord, what are You trying to show me?” instead of only, “Why is this happening?” The flood may reveal trust in money, success, health, another person, or self. The aim is not to pretend trouble is small but to let it expose what you’ve been standing on. The promise held out is that if your foundation is Jesus Christ, you have nothing to fear.
Why were the Philistines shaving their heads and cutting themselves in Jeremiah 47?
The shaving and self-cutting are described as pagan expressions of grief and worship. The idea was that suffering loudly and visibly might get their gods to respond. The comparison is made to the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:28–29, who did the same thing for hours and got no answer. The point is that false gods are silent when judgment comes.
What are “false gods” today if people don’t bow to statues?
False gods today are anything that takes the throne of your heart more than Jesus. The list given includes success, money, politics, pleasure, comfort, careers, and self. These idols make promises they cannot keep: money cannot stop cancer, success cannot give peace, politics cannot save your soul, and relationships cannot forgive your sin. False gods always disappoint; only Jesus answers.
Does Jeremiah 47 portray God as cruel or angry without purpose?
God is presented as holy and just, not unpredictable or cruel. The “sword of the Lord” imagery is tied to the reality that sin must be judged and justice cannot be ignored. The chapter ends with God saying the sword cannot rest because it has been given an assignment. The weight of that is meant to sober, not to paint God as reckless.
How does Jeremiah 47 point to Jesus and the gospel?
Jeremiah’s picture of the sword of justice sets up the need for judgment to fall somewhere. The claim is that the sword ultimately comes to rest on Jesus Christ at the cross, where justice is satisfied rather than cancelled. Because Jesus paid for guilt, those who are in Christ do not face condemnation (Romans 8:1 is cited). The result is confidence that rests in Jesus rather than in self or circumstances.
What does Hebrews 12:26–29 add to the idea that floods reveal foundations?
Hebrews 12:26–29 is used to say God will shake what can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken may remain. The shaking is framed as love, not enjoyment of pain or anger at God’s children. Loss, diagnosis, hardship, and disappointment can expose quiet reliance on things that cannot last. The call is to be thankful for an unshakeable kingdom and to worship God with reverence and awe.
Where else scripture speaks
Every passage Lee reaches for. The ones he teaches from open here; the rest link out.
Passages picked up elsewhere in the series:
Take this with you
What Will Still Be Standing?
Keep going
Scripture shown in NIV. Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.