Jeremiah 49:23-27--Judgment on Damascus

Jeremiah 49:23-27
English Standard Version

Judgment on Damascus
23 Concerning Damascus:

“Hamath and Arpad are confounded,
    for they have heard bad news;
they melt in fear,
    they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee,
    and panic seized her;
anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
    as of a woman in labor.
25 How is the famous city not forsaken,
    the city of my joy?
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
    and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
declares the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.”

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Damascus was the capital city of Syria, and its name is being used to refer to the whole nation as Jerusalem was often used in prophecy to refer to all of Judah and Samaria used to refer to the northern kingdom of Israel.

The Syrians will be some of the last to fall.  Their hearts will be struck with fear as they hear of all the kingdoms around them who have fallen and they see the other mighty nations fall one by one.  The nation that was once strong will be seen as weak and feeble.  She will not have the strength to flee but instead will be overcome by panic.  The text describes the nation as a woman in labor who has great pain and sorrow.

The young men that stay behind to fight will be killed in the city squares.  All of the soldiers that defended her will die in that day of judgment.  The walls that protect the capital city will be burned with fire, and the fire will also destroy the strongholds of this once mighty army.