Opening Prayer
Sovereign Lord, my heart’s desire is to draw closer to you. Help me to hear and apply what you would say to me in your Word today.
Read JEREMIAH 48:26-47
“Make her drunk,
for she has defied the Lord.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;
let her be an object of ridicule.
27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?
Was she caught among thieves,
that you shake your head in scorn
whenever you speak of her?
28 Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,
you who live in Moab.
Be like a dove that makes its nest
at the mouth of a cave.
29 “We have heard of Moab’s pride—
how great is her arrogance!—
of her insolence, her pride, her conceit
and the haughtiness of her heart.
30 I know her insolence but it is futile,”
declares the Lord,
“and her boasts accomplish nothing.
31 Therefore I wail over Moab,
for all Moab I cry out,
I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
32 I weep for you, as Jazer weeps,
you vines of Sibmah.
Your branches spread as far as the sea[a];
they reached as far as[b] Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
on your ripened fruit and grapes.
33 Joy and gladness are gone
from the orchards and fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy.
Although there are shouts,
they are not shouts of joy.
34 “The sound of their cry rises
from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,
from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,
for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35 In Moab I will put an end
to those who make offerings on the high places
and burn incense to their gods,”
declares the Lord.
36 “So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe;
it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth.
The wealth they acquired is gone.
37 Every head is shaved
and every beard cut off;
every hand is slashed
and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38 On all the roofs in Moab
and in the public squares
there is nothing but mourning,
for I have broken Moab
like a jar that no one wants,”
declares the Lord.
39 “How shattered she is! How they wail!
How Moab turns her back in shame!
Moab has become an object of ridicule,
an object of horror to all those around her.”
40 This is what the Lord says:
“Look! An eagle is swooping down,
spreading its wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth[c] will be captured
and the strongholds taken.
In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation
because she defied the Lord.
43 Terror and pit and snare await you,
you people of Moab,”
declares the Lord.
44 “Whoever flees from the terror
will fall into a pit,
whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare;
for I will bring on Moab
the year of her punishment,”
declares the Lord.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stand helpless,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
a blaze from the midst of Sihon;
it burns the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls of the noisy boasters.
46 Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
and your daughters into captivity.
47 “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in days to come,”
declares the Lord.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 48:32 Probably the Dead Sea
- Jeremiah 48:32 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts as far as the Sea of
- Jeremiah 48:41 Or The cities
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
The fortunes of all the nations and all their people are in God’s hands. Decide to surrender your life to the Lord and lead others to do the same.
Think Further
Moab is totally ruined and its destruction is described in many vivid metaphors. Its demise is territorial, social, religious, and economic. In its heyday, Moab was famed for overweening pride, conceit, and arrogant self-admiration. It was offensively contemptuous, boastful, and idolatrous. It did not take God into its reckoning. It defied God and ridiculed Israel. Therefore, it faced God’s total judgment. It is described as a despised drunk wallowing in its own vomit (v 26). It has lost its status, its land; it is homeless and stateless. Its military strength drains away as in childbirth, in its defenselessness it is picked on and shattered as if it was a discarded clay jar. Its famed vine groves and the wine that formed the basis of its economic success are ruined by God through his agent Nebuchadnezzar, who is likened to a bird of prey (v 40).
The destruction is so total that Jeremiah is moved to mourn with Moab (vs 32,36). The nation’s immediate future is bleak, with nowhere to turn; terror, snare, pit, and exile are its only choices. ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’1 However, in the midst of judgment, God remembers mercy and so promises to re-establish a remnant in Moab (v 47).
The reasons given for Moab’s harsh judgment are, first, that its people defied God (v 42) and, second, that they ridiculed Israel for no reason (v 27). The Bible makes it clear that there is only one God, the Lord (whom we know as the Father of our Lord Jesus). Therefore, worship of any gods, like Chemosh, and other forms of idolatry are defying God and incur his wrath.
Apply
Every person and nation will give account of themselves to God and receive his unbiased judgment. In Jesus, God has given a way by which we may be saved.
Closing prayer
Thank you, Father, that I can have peace with you through the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross for me. (Colossians 1:20)
Last Updated on December 13, 2023 by kingstar
