Problem: Jeremiah predicted that Edom would be a place of permanent destruction. It would not be rebuilt. This was an incredible prediction at the time, because Edom was a fortress carved out of rock. And yet, Jeremiah predicted that it would be permanently destroyed.
Solution: (Jer. 49:16-17 NASB; c.f. Ezek. 25:12-14; Isa. 34:10:15) “As for the terror of you, the arrogance of your heart has deceived you, O you who live in the clefts of the rock, who occupy the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s, I will bring you down from there,” declares the LORD. 17 “Edom will become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss at all its wounds.”
At the time this was predicted, Edom was an impenetrable fortress. But in the seventh century AD, Edom was conquered by Muslim warriors (AD 636). Today, it is a place for tourists. It has never been rebuilt.[1]
[1] Geisler, Norman L. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1999. 613.
