Jeremiah 48:12-20--Judgment on Moab (Part 2)

Jeremiah 48:12-20
English Standard Version
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12 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces. 13 Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

14 “How do you say, ‘We are heroes
    and mighty men of war’?
15 The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up,
    and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter,
    declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
    and his affliction hastens swiftly.
17 Grieve for him, all you who are around him,
    and all who know his name;
say, ‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
    the glorious staff.’

18 “Come down from your glory,
    and sit on the parched ground,
    O inhabitant of Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
    he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Stand by the way and watch,
    O inhabitant of Aroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
    say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
    wail and cry!
Tell it beside the Arnon,
    that Moab is laid waste.

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The LORD is going to destroy Moab, but first He will destroy everything that they take confidence in and will put them to shame.  He will destroy their strong men, their gods, and He will let their government officials and priests be taken captive and put into exile.  The surrounding people will mourn the loss of the kingdom of Moab as the LORD allows Assyria and Babylon to break and conquer it.  It will be defeated never to rise again.

The people of Moab will flee and scatter to become refugees of anyone who will have them.  Others were taken into exile by the Assyrians or Babylonians.  As they went out, they told the surrounding peoples how the LORD destroyed them and how their god Chemosh was unable to save them.  This was a warning and a witness to the reset of the Gentile nations that mistreated the people of the LORD that one day judgment may be coming upon them.  They should heed the LORD's warning and learn from the example of Moab before they are made an example for the other nations.  The people of Moab have completely lost their identity and I think it's fair to say that there are no more Moabites in existence.  A once strong a proud people was destroyed "overnight" (not literally, but figuratively speaking).  Their land was part of the Land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yet the LORD told the Israelites to wait and He would destroy the people of Moab when the time was right--they were not to raise a hand against these people who were their relatives.  They were to entrust the judgment of the Moabites to God, and here we have that judgment prophesied, and it will soon be fulfilled.