Jeremiah 48:1-11--Judgment on Moab (Part 1)

Jeremiah 48:1-11
English Standard Version

Judgment on Moab
48 Concerning Moab.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste!
    Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame and broken down;
2     the renown of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they planned disaster against her:
    ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’
You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence;
    the sword shall pursue you.

3 “A voice! A cry from Horonaim,
    ‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4 Moab is destroyed;
    her little ones have made a cry.
5 For at the ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;
for at the descent of Horonaim
    they have heard the distressed cry of destruction.
6 Flee! Save yourselves!
    You will be like a juniper in the desert!
7 For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
    you also shall be taken;
and Chemosh shall go into exile
    with his priests and his officials.
8 The destroyer shall come upon every city,
    and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
    and the plain shall be destroyed,
    as the LORD has spoken.

9 “Give wings to Moab,
    for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
    with no inhabitant in them.

10 “Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

11 “Moab has been at ease from his youth
    and has settled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
    nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
    and his scent is not changed.

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I'm going to split this lengthy chapter up into several smaller sections that I can handle over several days.  The LORD now gives Jeremiah a prophecy against the people of Moab.  It is uncertain if the people of Moab ever received this message or if this message was meant more for the people of Judah to hear that the people of Moab were finally going to be judged.  Like most of the other prophecies against nations so far, the major cities are prophesied against.

Everyone young and old would be in need of salvation.  There would be no point high or low that would be safe.  They are told their only hope is to run for their lives while there is still time (perhaps there would be some God-fearing Moabites that would read these words from the LORD through the prophet Jeremiah and heed them).  Why would the people of Moab be judged? The text tells us that it is because they trusted in their works and treasures--they did not trust in the LORD.  Their god Chemosh would not save them.  Even the priests of Chemosh would go into exile.  "The destroyer" will come on every city and no city will be spared.  No person will be safe,. not even the rich and powerful officials.  The LORD has sopiken and it will surely happen.

Moab has refused to defend Israel when they should have done so--they tried to act like what we would consider modern-day Switzerland and be neutral in every battle.  The LORD said this would not save them.  There would be an enemy set on conquering the entire world and he would not care that they did not want to be his enemy.  There would be no peace or negotiation.  The LORD says they should have fought for His people when they were in trouble and then, just maybe, He would have fought for them when they were in trouble.  So far, the LORD has protected them because of their relation to to Lot, the nephew of Abraham.  The LORD would not immediately allow His people to conquer them because they had originally been God-fearing people, but they quickly became like the pagan peoples around them.  More on this and the showdown between the LORD and the Moabite god Chemosh next time.