The Judgment of Ungated Complacency
Introduction: The Arrogance of the Unwalled
We live in an age that despises walls, gates, and bars. Our cultural elites tell us that such things are signs of bigotry, of exclusion, of a lack of enlightenment. They preach a gospel of open borders, open minds, and open morals. They believe that true security is found in having no defenses at all, in trusting the inherent goodness of man, and in a kind of soft, therapeutic universalism. They are, in short, the inhabitants of modern Hazor.
The spirit of our time is that of a nation at ease, dwelling securely. We are wealthy. We are comfortable. We are isolated from the hard realities that have plagued most of humanity for most of history. And so we have concluded that we are safe. We believe our 401(k)s are our fortress, our therapeutic platitudes are our bars, and our geographic location is our gate. We dwell alone, each man in his own little kingdom, convinced that because we bother no one, no one will bother us.
Into this comfortable, complacent, and profoundly arrogant worldview, the prophet Jeremiah speaks a word from Yahweh that is as sharp and unsettling as a midnight alarm. God has a quarrel with nations that are at ease in their godlessness. He takes particular offense at the security that is rooted in stuff, in isolation, and in a refusal to acknowledge Him as the only true defense. This passage is a divine declaration of war against the self-sufficient. And we must understand that the principle has not changed. The God who sent Nebuchadnezzar against Kedar and Hazor is the same God who governs the affairs of nations today. He still brings down the proud, and He still uses pagan kings as His battle-axe to do it.
The Text
Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down. Thus says Yahweh, "Arise, go up to Kedar And destroy the men of the east. They will take away their tents and their flocks; They will carry off for themselves Their tent curtains, all their goods, and their camels, And they will call out to one another, 'Terror on every side!' Run away, flee earnestly! Inhabit the depths, O inhabitants of Hazor," declares Yahweh; "For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you And purposed a purpose against you. Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease, Which inhabits its land securely," declares Yahweh. "It has no gates or bars; They dwell alone. Their camels will become plunder, And their many cattle for spoil, And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair; And I will bring their disaster from every side," declares Yahweh. "Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, A desolation forever; No one will inhabit there, Nor will a son of man sojourn in it."
(Jeremiah 49:28-33 LSB)
The Divine Summons (v. 28-29)
The prophecy begins by identifying the targets and the human instrument, but it makes the ultimate authority unmistakably clear.
"Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down. Thus says Yahweh, 'Arise, go up to Kedar And destroy the men of the east.'" (Jeremiah 49:28 LSB)
Notice the grammar of sovereignty here. History records that Nebuchadnezzar struck these people down. But the prophecy reveals who gave the order. It is Yahweh who says, "Arise, go up." Nebuchadnezzar is not a rogue agent acting on his own geopolitical ambitions. He is a tool, a hammer in the hand of the God of Israel. God is the one who directs the course of empires. The Pentagon does not have the final say. The Kremlin does not have the final say. The Lord of Hosts, Yahweh, has the final say. He tells kings when to rise and when to fall.
The judgment is a complete dismantling of their existence.
"They will take away their tents and their flocks; They will carry off for themselves Their tent curtains, all their goods, and their camels, And they will call out to one another, 'Terror on every side!'" (Jeremiah 49:29 LSB)
This is not simply a military defeat; it is an economic and cultural annihilation. For a nomadic people like Kedar, their tents, flocks, and camels were not just possessions; they were their livelihood, their home, their identity. God's judgment strips them of everything they trusted in. The very things that made them feel secure are the very things that are carried off as plunder. And what is the result? The ambient noise of their new reality is "Terror on every side!" This phrase, Magor-missabib, is Jeremiah's watchword for the overwhelming panic that seizes those whose false gods have failed them. When you build your life on anything other than the Rock of Christ, the day will come when the only thing you hear is the echo of your own terror.
The Indictment of Complacency (v. 30-31)
God now explains why this judgment is coming. He diagnoses the core spiritual disease of Hazor.
"Run away, flee earnestly! Inhabit the depths, O inhabitants of Hazor," declares Yahweh; "For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you And purposed a purpose against you." (Jeremiah 49:30 LSB)
There is a divine irony here. God tells them to run and hide in the deepest places they can find, but it is a futile gesture. There is no depth that can hide you from the God who purposed a purpose against you. Your bunker cannot save you. Your remote cabin cannot save you. You cannot flee from the presence of the Lord when He has set His face against you. The only sane response is not to flee from Him, but to flee to Him.
And here is the heart of their sin:
"Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease, Which inhabits its land securely," declares Yahweh. "It has no gates or bars; They dwell alone." (Jeremiah 49:31 LSB)
This is a devastating portrait of secular modernity. A nation "at ease." Comfortable, sleepy, self-satisfied. A nation that "inhabits its land securely," not because of God's blessing, but because of its own perceived strength and isolation. And the giveaway is that "it has no gates or bars." They see no need for defenses because they see no real threat. They have defined sin down, they have dismissed the reality of evil, and they have certainly dismissed the reality of a holy God to whom they must give an account. They "dwell alone," which speaks of an arrogant individualism. They are not in covenant with God, and so they are not in true community with one another. They are a collection of autonomous individuals who believe their autonomy is their strength. God says it is the very thing that makes them ripe for judgment.
The Sovereign Plunder (v. 32-33)
The Lord declares precisely how He will execute this judgment, leaving no doubt as to who is in charge.
"Their camels will become plunder, And their many cattle for spoil, And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair; And I will bring their disaster from every side," declares Yahweh. (Jeremiah 49:32 LSB)
Again, their wealth is targeted. What they worship becomes worthless spoil for their enemies. But notice the specific detail: "those who cut the corners of their hair." This was a pagan practice, a marker of their idolatrous identity (cf. Lev. 19:27). God sees the details. He is not just judging a general attitude of complacency; He is judging their specific acts of rebellion and false worship. And then He says it plainly, twice for emphasis: "I will scatter... I will bring their disaster." God owns the disaster. He is not a frustrated spectator wringing His hands in heaven; He is the one who brings calamity upon the rebellious (Amos 3:6).
The result is not a temporary setback. It is total, permanent desolation.
"Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, A desolation forever; No one will inhabit there, Nor will a son of man sojourn in it." (Jeremiah 49:33 LSB)
This is the end of the line for a culture built on godless security. It becomes a wasteland, fit only for wild animals. It is erased from the map of human flourishing. This is what happens when men reject the cornerstone; the whole building eventually collapses into a heap of rubble, a haunt for scavengers. When a nation's soul dies, its cities eventually follow.
Conclusion: The City with Gates
The warning to Kedar and Hazor is a warning to every nation, and to every individual, that finds its security in anything other than the living God. The temptation to be a "nation at ease" is the great besetting sin of the prosperous West. We have no gates or bars because we have forgotten the wolf is real. We have forgotten that our only true defense is the fear of the Lord.
The judgment for this complacency is to be stripped of all our false comforts and to be left with nothing but "terror on every side." The judgment is to be scattered to the winds, to lose all cohesion and identity. The judgment is to become a cultural and spiritual desolation, a haunt of jackals.
But the gospel presents us with another city. Not a city with no gates, but a city whose gates are made of single pearls, which are never shut (Rev. 21:21, 25). That city, the New Jerusalem, is eternally secure, not because it is isolated or naive, but because its light is the Lamb, and its defense is the glory of God Almighty. Nothing unclean can ever enter it.
The call of the gospel is to flee from the coming desolation of Hazor and to run, by faith, through the open gates of the City of God. The judgment of God scatters the proud, but the grace of God in Christ gathers His people from every tribe and tongue. He does not strip us bare; He clothes us in His own righteousness. He does not leave us to terror; He gives us His perfect peace.
Do not be an inhabitant of Hazor, comfortable in your isolation, secure in your possessions, content in your ungated world. That is the path to desolation. Flee that city. Flee to Christ, who is our fortress, our high tower, and our only secure habitation forever.