Jeremiah 48:21-33--Judgment on Moab (Part 3)

Jeremiah 48:21-33
English Standard Version
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21 “Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22 and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24 and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares the LORD.

26 “Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the LORD, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision. 27 Was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you wagged your head?

28 “Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
    O inhabitants of Moab!
Be like the dove that nests
    in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29 We have heard of the pride of Moab--
    he is very proud--
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
    and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his insolence, declares the LORD;
    his boasts are false,
    his deeds are false.
31 Therefore I wail for Moab;
    I cry out for all Moab;
    for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn.
32 More than for Jazer I weep for you,
    O vine of Sibmah!
Your branches passed over the sea,
    reached to the Sea of Jazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
    the destroyer has fallen.
33 Gladness and joy have been taken away
    from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
    no one treads them with shouts of joy;
    the shouting is not the shout of joy.

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The prophet Jeremiah is still prophesying against the kingdom of Moab.  While most of us wouldn't recognize these names or geological features, they were well-known to the people of Moab and those that travelled through the area.  The LORD says that Moab will be be judged (drunk with the wine that is in the cup of God's wrath) because Moab has exalted himself above the LORD (this could be talking about the nation of Moab as a whole, the king of Moab or he might be prophesying against the sins of Moab, the son of Lot (the founder of the kingdom of Moab) whose sin led this nation into rebellion against the LORD.  Sin has a way of being generational and having long-term consequences.  It's quite possible that as the sin of Canaan led all of the Canaanite peoples into rebellion against the LORD that the sin of Moab had the same effect on his descendants, the Moabites. 

The Moabites used to act as if they were morally superior to the children of Israel and they would cast judgment on them for the very things they were guilty of.  They put Israel in the same category as thieves (thieves are not thought well of at any time or in any society).  All the while, the Moabites did not see their own spiritual bankruptcy that was leading to their impending judgment.

The LORD does want to preserve the lives of those Moabites that will listen to Him though.  He tells those that will listen to get out of their cities.  Their fortifications will not help save them.  They instead need to run to the rocky places--the canyons and caves .  They are to take refuge like the birds and the beasts.  The LORD will offer protection to those who humble themselves in this manner and stop trusting in the work of their hands to save them.  They are a proud, arrogant, and haughty people, and that will be their downfall.

The LORD calls Moab insolent and says that all of the nations boasts are nothing but lies.  They claim to be strong enough to withstand whatever judgment the LORD can bring their way, but they are mistaken.  They are believing the lies of the devil.  They are deceived, but this will not save them.

The LORD will still be saddened by this judgment.  Even though these are Gentiles, they are loved by the LORD.  They were once a place that produced all kinds of fruit and grapes and wine that were exported far away to nations on the other side of the Great Sea.  Now "the destroyer" is going to come and destroy all of their vineyards and the richness of their land.  No longer would the people rejoice and celebrate at the time of the harvest.  No longer will there be joy as they press the grapes into wine.  All of the joy that Moab has will be removed and they will have nothing but weeping, sorrow, and mourning.  Their joy will be taken away, and it will not return.