47:1 The Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. 

Jeremiah was not only a prophet to Judea, but he was also a prophet to the Gentiles. His second prophetic voice was directed towards the Philistines. The Philistines had always been a thorn in Israel’s side since the conquests of Joshua. God raised up Shamgar, Samson, Saul and David to deliver Israel from the Philistines. David finally defeated them and made them a tribute nation. Gaza was a Philistine city. Pharaoh Necho attacked Gaza around 609 or 601 B.C. This battle was described in the Babylonian Chronicles. Jeremiah prophesied to the Philistines before this battle, so the Philistines had no excuse.

47:2 “Look! Enemies are gathering in the north like water rising in a river. They will be like an overflowing stream. They will overwhelm the whole country and everything in it like a flood. They will overwhelm the cities and their inhabitants. People will cry out in alarm. Everyone living in the country will cry out in pain. 

The enemies in the north were Babylon and her tribute nations. This Babylonian confederacy would invade the Philistine land like an overflowing stream.

47:3 Fathers will hear the hoofbeats of the enemies’ horses, the clatter of their chariots and the rumbling of their wheels. They will not turn back to save their children because they will be paralyzed with fear. 

When the Philistine soldiers hear the Babylon chariots, then they would abandon their children and run away.

47:4 For the time has come to destroy all the Philistines. The time has come to destroy all the help that remains for Tyre and Sidon. For I, the Lord, will destroy the Philistines, that remnant that came from the island of Crete. 

The Babylonians would kill all of the Philistines. Tyre and Sidon were two powerful sister Phoenician cities on the coast of Israel. They would not be able to help the Philistines. The Philistines came from the island of Crete and settled in Israel.

47:5 The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning. The people of Ashkelon will be struck dumb. How long will you gash yourselves to show your sorrow, you who remain of Philistia’s power? 

Gaza and Ashkelon were two of the pentapolis (five) cities of the Philistines. These two Philistine cities would gash themselves in an attempt to gain the attention of their gods. 

47:6 How long will you cry out, ‘Oh, sword of the Lord, how long will it be before you stop killing? Go back into your sheath!Stay there and rest!’ 

God’s sword would not rest until all of the Philistines were killed.

47:7 But how can it rest when I, the Lord, have given it orders? I have ordered it to attack the people of Ashkelon and the seacoast. 

The sword which slaughters the Philistines cannot rest until Jehovah commands it to do so. The Philistines no longer exist as a nation. There will be no Philistines to enter into the Millennial Kingdom.