FRAMEWORKS: Jeremiah 48: A Word against Moab

 

[Preliminary Comment: The Moabites [to the south and west of the Dead Sea] had been another thorn in the side of Israel for many years: Saul fought them (1 Sam 14:47), David later subdued them (2 Sam 8:2). After Ahab died they rebelled (2 Kings 1:1, 3:5) against Joram but were routed by Joram, Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom (2 Kings 3:24). Later they simply took to raiding Israel every Spring (2 Kings 13:20). They were later subdued by Assyria until their power waned. Now this warning of their destruction comes from Jeremiah. As it is a simple straight forward warning we will not add verse notes. Reasons given for their destruction appear to be: pride [v.7,14,29], idol worship [v.13,35], resisting the Lord and ridiculing Israel [v.26,27]. There is hope at the end.]

 

 

v.1  Concerning Moab:

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

‘Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined.
    Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;
    the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.
v.2  Moab will be praised no more;
    in Heshbon people will plot her downfall:
    “Come, let us put an end to that nation.”
You, the people of Madmen, will also be silenced;
    the sword will pursue you.
v.3  Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,
    cries of great havoc and destruction.
v.4  Moab will be broken;
    her little ones will cry out.
v.5  They go up the hill to Luhith,
    weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim
    anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
v.6  Flee! Run for your lives;
    become like a bush in the desert.
v.7  Since you trust in your deeds and riches,
    you too will be taken captive,
and Chemosh will go into exile,
    together with his priests and officials.
v.8  The destroyer will come against every town,
    and not a town will escape.
The valley will be ruined
    and the plateau destroyed,
    because the Lord has spoken.
v.9  Put salt on Moab,
    for she will be laid waste;
her towns will become desolate,
    with no one to live in them.

v.10  ‘A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord's work!
    A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!

v.11  ‘Moab has been at rest from youth,
    like wine left on its dregs,
not poured from one jar to another –
    she has not gone into exile.
So she tastes as she did,
    and her aroma is unchanged.
v.12  But days are coming,'
    declares the Lord,
‘when I will send men who pour from pitchers,
    and they will pour her out;
they will empty her pitchers
    and smash her jars.
v.13  Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
    as Israel was ashamed
    when they trusted in Bethel.

v.14  ‘How can you say, “We are warriors,
    men valiant in battle”?
v.15  Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;
    her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,'
    declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
v.16  ‘The fall of Moab is at hand;
    her calamity will come quickly.
v.17  Mourn for her, all who live around her,
    all who know her fame;
say, “How broken is the mighty sceptre,
    how broken the glorious staff!”

v.18  ‘Come down from your glory
    and sit on the parched ground,
    you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,
for the one who destroys Moab
    will come up against you
    and ruin your fortified cities.
v.19  Stand by the road and watch,
    you who live in Aroer.
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
    ask them, “What has happened?”
v.20  Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.
    Wail and cry out!
Announce by the Arnon
    that Moab is destroyed.
v.21  Judgment has come to the plateau –
    to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
v.22      to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
v.23      to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
v.24      to Kerioth and Bozrah –
    to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
v.25  Moab's horn is cut off;
    her arm is broken,'
declares the Lord.

v.26  ‘Make her drunk,
    for she has defied the Lord.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;
    let her be an object of ridicule.
v.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?
v.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.

v.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.
v.30  I know her insolence but it is futile,'
declares the Lord,
    ‘and her boasts accomplish nothing.
v.31  Therefore I wail over Moab,
    for all Moab I cry out,
    I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
v.32  I weep for you, as Jazer weeps,
    you vines of Sibmah.
Your branches spread as far as the sea;
    they reached as far as Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
    on your ripened fruit and grapes.
v.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.

v.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.
v.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.
v.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.
v.37  Every head is shaved
    and every beard cut off;
every hand is slashed
    and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
v.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.
v.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.'

v.40  This is what the Lord says:

‘Look! An eagle is swooping down,
    spreading its wings over Moab.
v.41  Kerioth 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 labour.
v.42  Moab will be destroyed as a nation
    because she defied the Lord.
v.43  Terror and pit and snare await you,
    you people of Moab,'
declares the Lord.
v.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.

v.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.
v.46  Woe to you, Moab!
    The people of Chemosh are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
    and your daughters into captivity.

v.47  ‘Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
    in days to come,'
declares the Lord.

Here ends the judgment on Moab.

    

    

Continue to Chapter 49 

     

     

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